The flow past a bluff body can be controlled significantly by placing small rotating cylinders at appropriate locations. Computational results for control of $Re=104$ flow past a circular cylinder are presented. Two control cylinders of one-twentieth the diameter of the main cylinder rotate at a rate such that their tip speed is five times the free-stream speed of the flow. Computations are carried out for various values of the gap between the main and control cylinders. A stabilized finite element method is utilized to solve the incompressible Navier-Stokes equations in the primitive variables formulation. A gap value of one-tenth the diameter of the main cylinder is found to be close to the optimal value. Compared to the flow past an isolated cylinder a very significant reduction in the drag and unsteady forces is observed for the flow with control.

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