An Experimental Investigation of Viscoelastic Flow past a Circular Cylinder

Abstract

The drag forces of circular cylinders of infinite or finite span are examined in both Newtonian fluids and dilute polymer solutions. Using some circular cylinders with different ratios of length(l) to diameter(d), the drag forces in the Re range of 1 to 5×10⁴ and the pressure distributions in the Re range of 1.7×10⁴ to 5×10⁴ are measured. The results make it clear that (l) the drag forces decrease at R_e< 20 and increase at R_e> 20 with an increase of l/d, (2) the drag forces for dilute polymer solutions reduce more than those for Newtonian fluids at R_e< 1×10⁸.