The initial oscillatory flow past a circular cylinder

This paper presents results obtained from an initial approximation for the flow around a circular cylinder in two-dimensional oscillating flow. The analysis is developed in terms of the scalar vorticity and stream function. An expansion in powers of time from the start of the motion is obtained using an exact analysis which extends the results of boundary-layer theory by taking into account corrections for finite Reynolds number. The time development of the physical properties of the flow are determined both by means of analytical expressions and by an accurate numerical procedure. The surface pressure, drag and surface vorticity are calculated and various estimates of the time of separation and the distance moved in this time are obtained. The phenomenon of steady streaming is not considered in this paper since the time of validity of the expansions is small. The agreement between the analytical and numerical results at small times is excellent.