Interaction between two circular cylinders in slow flow of Bingham viscoplastic fluid

The interaction between two circular cylinders was studied in the slow flow of a Bingham viscoplastic fluid in an infinite medium without any inertia effects. The configuration studied is that in which the flow direction is parallel to the centre line of the cylinders. Finite-element numerical simulations were used with an approximation by Papanastasiou's regularisation method. The case of high yield stress effect was particularly examined. The convergence of the solutions was examined in detail. Changes in the rigid zones, kinematics and stresses were determined in relation to the degree of interaction, which is a function of the distance between the cylinders and the effect of yield stress. The results compared with the case of a single cylinder show that yield stress reduces interaction effects. The transition between configurations with interacting cylinders and configuration with isolated cylinders was examined as a function of the effect of yield stress. Correlations were proposed for the drag coefficient and the stability criterion when the cylinders are interacting.