CFD Simulations of Drag and Separation Flow Around Ellipsoids

Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations are carried out for incompressible fluid flow around ellipsoid in laminar steady axisymmetric regime (20 . Re . 200). The ratio of the major to the minor axis of the ellipsoid are ranged over a/b = 0.5 to 2. A commercial finite volume package FLUENT was used to analyze and visualize the nature of the flow around ellipsoids of different axis ratio. The simulation results are presented in terms of skin friction coefficient, separation angles and drag coefficient. It was found that the total drag coefficient around the ellipsoid is strongly governed by the axis ratio as well as the Reynolds number. It was observed that the Reynolds number at which the separation first occur increase with axis ratio. Separation angels and drag coefficient for special case of a sphere (AR = 1) was found to be in good agreement with previous experimental results and with the standard drag curve. The present study has established that commerciallyavailablesoftware like FLUENT can provide a reasonable good solution of complicated flow structures including flow with separation.