Numerical Simulation and Analysis of Lid-Driven Cavity Flow and Flow Around a Cylinder*

This paper explores a computational investigation of two classical fluid dynamics problem- lid driven cavity flow and flow around a cylinder- simulated at varying Reynolds numbers using Ansys Fluent and OpenFOAM. The primary goal is to reproduce and compare the physical flow behavior observed in both solvers under matched boundary conditions, mesh

configurations, and fluid properties, rather than to compare solver performance. Simulations for a square cavity case at Reynolds number of 10,100,10000, and for the flow around a

cylinder case at Reynolds number of 180 were produced. The results capture key flow features including primary vortex formation, vortex shifting with increasing Reynolds number, and

the onset of vortex shedding in the cylinder wake. A modified geometry, clipped, is examined at low Reynolds number to observe the sensitivity of flow patterns to subtle geometric changes.

Both solvers showed strong agreement in flow features such as vortex formation, displacement, wake development, and Von Karman vortex street, confirming the accuracy of

the numerical setup and the reliability of both tools when configured consistently.