The proposed paper aims to perform a parametrical analysis of the flow around a rectangular cylinder with and without a splitter plate using numerical simulation. The main objective is that of studying the reduction in the drag coefficient of a rectangular cylinder when a splitter plate is located in the rear region. Variations in the L/D relation of the model as well in the smoothing radius of the sharp comers are also investigated. The results obtained in this paper can give insights for the analysis of the influence of the bilge keel on the roll damping of a ship.
Numerical simulations based on a Fractional Step Method on an two-dimensional unstructured finite element mesh method have been carried out for the parametrical analysis of a rectangular cylinder with and without splitter plate. The L/D (relation between the model length and height) and smoothing radius r of the sharp corners considered are: L/D= 1.5, 2.0 and 4.0 (where L = 1.0), r= 0.05, 0.075, 0.125 and 0.250. The splitter plate length was equal to 5.0 for all the cases considered. All the simulations were performed at Reynolds number 200. Primarily, comparisons in the drag coefficient and Strouhal number for a rectangular cylinder without splitter plate could be conducted and the results compared to literature data in order to validate the computational method. Experimental work is being carried out in the water tank facilities of IPT (São Paulo, Brazil) in a higher Reynolds number range. The work presented in this paper is a first attempt to simulate the flow around rectangular cylinders. It's author's intention to include a turbulence model in the next phase of this investigation. This study represents a first approach in order to study the influence of the bilge keel on the roll damping of a ship.
