Lattice Boltzmann Simulation of Viscous Flow Over a Circular Cylinder for Reynolds Numbers of 20 to 200

With recent advancements in High Performance Computing (HPC) infrastructure and parallel computing, the Lattice-Boltzmann method has emerged as an efficient and parallelizable algorithm for Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) applications. The present study investigates the viscous flow over a circular cylinder as a validation test case using the Lattice Boltzmann Method (LBM) with OpenLB flow solver. Parallel numerical simulations are performed for the prediction of the drag coefficient and Strouhal number at different Reynolds numbers. Flow simulations are performed at Reynolds numbers ranging from 20 to 200 to observe both steady-state and unsteady flow characteristics by vortex shedding. Aerodynamic drag coefficient and Strouhal number are compared with previous experimental and numerical studies in the literature. The accuracy and reliability of the LBM method for simulations of separated vortical flows around a circular cylinder at low Reynolds numbers are discussed in detail. Computational cost analyses of the parallel simulations are also presented and discussed.