Investigation of flow past a cylinder embedded on curved and flat surfaces

Abstract

A discrete exterior calculus investigation of flow past a stationary cylinder of circular, triangular, or square cross section embedded on a spherical or cylindrical surface shows insignificant effect of the embedding surface curvature. The contributing parameters, such as the magnitude of the Gaussian curvature term relative to the magnitude of the viscous term around the cylinder and the effect of the geometrical constraint, are insignificant. Is the dynamics of the flow past bluff bodies universal?