Turbulent bouyant flow and pressure variations around a circular cylinder in a cross uniform flow near the ground

A numerical analysis is made to improve our physical understanding of the turbulent buoyant flow near a circular cylinder close to the ground and also to determine the corresponding pressure variations and oscillations at the cylinder surface. It is based on an upwind finite difference scheme to solve the governing equations with a combination of Cartesian and cylindrical coordinates. The model developed is then used to simulate the shear flow over an aircraft fuselage immersed in a nearby fire on the ground. The results in terms of the velocity, temperature, smoke concentration, and pressure fields are obtained over a range of parameters including the fire size, strength and location, the fuselage size and elevation, and the shear flow velocity and distribution. A major influence on the physical phenomenon is the relative strength of buoyant flow due to the fire as compared to that of the shear flow.