Calculation of the flow about a sphere and the drag of the sphere under laminar and strongly turbulent conditions

To investigate the influence of a strongly turbulent incoming flow on the hydrodynamic drag of a body and occurrence of the early crisis of drag, a numerical experiment is conducted in which a free gas flow about a sphere is simulated for two cases, namely, for a laminar flow and for a strongly turbulent flow. Turbulence is simulated by assuming a high kinematic coefficient of turbulent viscosity. Calculation data lead us to conclude that the early crisis of drag at Reynolds numbers near 100, which shows up as a considerable (four-to sevenfold) decrease in the hydrodynamic force and the drag coefficient of the body, can be explained by the strong turbulence of the incoming flow.