Drag and lift coefficients of inclined finite circular cylinders at moderate Reynolds numbers

The flow around two-dimensional cylinders at moderate Reynolds numbers has been much studied, both for cylinders perpendicular to the flow and for cylinders yawed to the flow. In contrast, yawed finite aspect ratio cylinders have received little attention. In this article we describe computer simulations of cylinders with aspect ratios 2 ⩽ L/D ⩽ 20 yawed at angles 0° ⩽ α ⩽ 90° relative to a free stream. The simulations were carried out for Reynolds numbers in the range 1 ⩽ Re ⩽ 40. The simulations show that the Independence Principle [Zdravkovich MM. Flow around circular cylinders, vol. 2: applications. New York: Oxford University Press; 2003[1]] is not accurate for α ⩽ 45°. We have also found that for all aspect ratios, the ratio of the lift to drag force reaches a maximum for 40° < α < 50°. Finally, we present CL and CD relationships as best curve fits to computational data.