Abstract
A discrete vortex method which is developed for the numerical analysis of unsteady separated flow past a bluff body is presented. In this method, the flow past the body is assumed to be a potential flow except in the region of free shear layers which shed downstream from separation points. Then the free shear layers are approximated by discrete vortices and the body is represented by vorticity distributions. This method can be easily applied to the bluff body of complicated shape. The method is applied to the calculations of unsteady separated flows past a square prism, a circular cylinder and two bridge sections. The unsteady fluid forces acting on these sections in a stationary state or in motion are obtained. The calculated results are compared with experiments and a good agreement is shown.
