Abstract: Turbulence models have a great impact on numerical simulations of the flows around a cylinder. In this study, six turbulence models have been selected to simulate flows around a single circular cylinder with a Reynolds number of Re = 3900 on a CFD software platform. Simulated hydrodynamic forces (lift and drag coefficients and St, etc.) and flow structures were examined and compared with previous measurements in the literature. The surface pressure distributions calculated using a the k-ε turbulence model and Reynolds stress turbulence model are more accurate and agree well with the measurements. The k-ε model is better in its overall flow simulations while the Reynolds stress model and SST k-ω turbulence model are more accurate in calculations of backflow zones and no-backflow cases respectively. The results would help the selection of turbulence models for simulation of flows around a circular cylinder.