An estimate of the circulation generated by a bluff body

A loss in circulation is sometimes cited in connection with bluff-body wakes as a result of comparing the circulation actually observed downstream with a well-known theoretical estimate of the total circulation generated by a cylinder. In an effort to better understand this reported loss in circulation, an alternative estimate of the circulation generated by a cylinder is derived by integrating the velocity on a closed loop containing the attached boundary layer. Predictions of the dimensionless circulation for a cylinder in cross flow are less than the previous theoretical estimate and agree with observed values. This suggests that the total circulation generated by bluff bodies may have been overestimated in the past, and that comparison of observed values with this overestimate is the origin of the perceived "loss" in circulation.