Steady viscous flow past a tapered cylinder

The three-dimensional nature of the viscous flow past a linearly tapered circular cylinder is examined at low Reynolds numbers. The numerical solution of the unsteady Navier-Stokes equations converges to a steady state. The primary flow in planes perpendicular to the cylinder axis is practically indistinguishable from the two-dimensional flow past a uniform cylinder. A secondary spanwise flow is observed in the stagnation zone going from the wide end towards the narrow end, whereas a secondary motion on the rear side goes in the opposite direction. In spite of this secondary flow, the length of the separation zone varies linearly with the local Reynolds number.