• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.15 no.6
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• pp.3950-3960
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• 2014

In this study, the drag forces on a submerged square cylinder were analyzed using a three dimensional hydrodynamic model. The numerical results were compared with the experimental results to check the reliability of the numerical simulations, and the characteristics of the drag forces with the relative depths were analyzed by analyzing the pressure acting on the cylinder surface, which are normally difficult to measure experimentally. The numerical results showed that the drag forces acting on a submerged square cylinder originate mainly from the pressure forces, and component of the shear forces decreased with increasing relative depth. The pressure coefficient distributions showed that in the case of a low relative depth, a relatively high pressure was formed in the front of a cylinder, and a relatively low pressure was formed in the rear, which gives a high drag coefficient. In a high relative depth, the pressure in the front decreased and pressure in the rear increased, which is a similar phenomenon to that normally observed in two dimensional square cylinder flow. The effect of the static pressure was analyzed and the surface elevation difference between the front and rear zone of a cylinder has a limited effect on the drag forces. Finally, the numerical results showed that the drag forces acting on a submerged square are dominated by the dynamic pressure formed by three dimensional flow and the distribution of local surface elevation.