A modified wake oscillator model for vortex-induced vibration of circular cylinders for a wide range of mass-damping ratio

In this paper, the behavior of an elastically mounted cylinder, subjected to vortex-induced vibrations (VIV), is investigated by a low-dimensional model. The classical wake oscillator model, as a standard model, predicts the behavior of the system at high mass-damping ratios but fails in modeling the system at low mass-damping ratios. A modified wake oscillator model is introduced in order to describe the response of the system over a wide range of mass-damping ratios. The results of this new model are compared to experimental results from the literature and shown to be in good agreement. The new model can describe most of the features of vortex-induced vibration phenomenology, such as the Griffin plot and lock-in domains.     

A linear stability approach to vortex-induced vibrations and waves

The motion induced by vortex shedding on slender flexible structures subjected to cross-flow is considered here. This phenomenon of vortex-induced vibration (VIV) is analysed by considering the linear stability of a coupled system that includes the structure dynamics and the wake dynamics. The latter is modelled by a continuum of wake oscillators, distributed along the span of the structure. In the case of uniform flows over a straight tensioned cable, VIV are found to arise as an instability related to the merging of two waves. In the case of a cable of finite length, the selection of modes that experience lock-in with the wake is found using the same stability argument. In non-uniform flows, several unstable wave systems are identified, and competition between them is discussed. Comparison is then made with existing experimental and computational data of VIV of slender structures under uniform and non-uniform flows. Phenomena previously identified in these systems, such as mode switching when the flow velocity is varied, time sharing of the response between two frequencies, or the coexistence of several regions of VIV with different dynamics in the same structure, are discussed with the help of the proposed model.     

Wake modes of a cylinder undergoing free streamwise vortex-induced vibrations

Simultaneous measurements of the response of a circular cylinder experiencing vortex-induced vibrations (VIVs) in the streamwise direction and the resulting wake field were performed for a range of reduced velocities using time-resolved Particle-Image Velocimetry in the Reynolds number range 450–3700. The dominant vortex shedding mode was identified using phase-averaged vorticity fields. The cylinder response amplitude was characterised by two response branches, separated by a low amplitude region at resonance, as has been previously reported in the literature. During the first response branch the wake exhibited not only the symmetric S-I mode, but also the alternate A-II mode at slightly higher reduced velocities. For both modes, the vortices were observed to be shed at the cylinder response frequency, but rearranged downstream into a more stable structure in which the velocity fluctuations were no longer synchronised to the cylinder motion. A special case of the A-II mode, referred to as the SA mode, was found to dominate in the second response branch and the low amplitude region, while the far wake and the cylinder motion were synchronised (lock-in). A change in the timing of the vortex shedding with respect to the cylinder motion was observed between the low amplitude region and the second response branch. This is likely to correspond to a change in the fluid forcing and levels of excitation, and may explain the variation in the cylinder amplitude observed in this region. Lock-in and the second response branch were found to coincide with a contraction of the wake and an increase in strength of the shed vortices. This work reveals the inherent differences between the extensively studied case of transverse-only VIV and the streamwise-only case, which is crucial if the wealth of information available on transverse VIV is to be extended to the more practical two degree-of-freedom case.     

Lock-in of the vortex-induced vibrations of a long tensioned beam in shear flow

The occurrence of lock-in, defined as the local synchronization between the vortex shedding frequency and the cross-flow structural vibration frequency, is investigated in the case of a tensioned beam of length to diameter ratio 200, free to move in both the in-line and cross-flow directions, and immersed in a linear shear current. Direct numerical simulation is employed at three Reynolds numbers, from 110 to 1100, so as to include the transition to turbulence in the wake. The Reynolds number influences the response amplitudes, but in all cases we observed similar fluid–structure interaction mechanisms, resulting in high-wavenumber vortex-induced vibrations consisting of a mixture of standing and traveling wave patterns.Lock-in occurs in the high oncoming velocity region, over at least 30% of the cylinder length. In the case of multi-frequency response, at any given spanwise location lock-in is principally established at one of the excited vibration frequencies, usually the locally predominant one. The spanwise patterns of the force and added mass coefficients exhibit different behaviors within the lock-in versus the non-lock-in region. The spanwise zones where the flow provides energy to excite the structural vibrations are located mainly within the lock-in region, while the flow damps the structural vibrations in the non-lock-in region.     

Frequency lock-in during nonlinear vibration of an airfoil coupled with van der Pol Oscillator

The frequency lock-in during the nonlinear vibration of a turbomachinery blade is modeled using a spring-mounted airfoil coupled with a van der Pol Oscillator (VDP) oscillator. The proposed reduced-order model uses the nonlinear VDP oscillator to represent the oscillatory nature of wake dynamics caused by the vortex shedding. The damping term in the VDP oscillator is assumed to be nonlinear. The coupled equations governing the pitch and plunge motion of an airfoil are used to approximate the vibration of a turbomachinery blade. Springs having cubic-order nonlinearity for their stiffnesses are used to mount the airfoil. The unsteady lift acting on the blade is modeled using a self-excited nonlinear wake oscillator. The model for wake dynamics takes into account the influence of blade inertia. The nonlinear coupled three degrees of freedom (dof) aeroelastic system is studied for instability resulting in the frequency lock-in phenomenon. The equations are transformed into non-dimensional form, and then the frequencies of the coupled system are plotted to demonstrate the frequency lock-in. Further, the method of multiple scales is used to derive modulation equations which represent the amplitude and phase of the oscillation. The results obtained using the method of multiple scales are compared with direct numerical solutions to verify the present modeling method. The steady-state amplitudes of the response are plotted against the detuning parameter, which represents the frequency response curve. Further, the sensitivity of non-dimensional parameters such as coupling coefficients, mass ratio, reduced velocity, static unbalance, structural damping coefficient and the ratio of uncoupled pitch and plunge natural frequencies on the frequency response is investigated. The study revealed that parameters such as mass ratio, reduced velocity, structural damping coefficient, and coupling coefficients have a stronger influence in suppressing the amplitude of vibration. Meanwhile, parameters such as the frequency ratio, static unbalance, reduced velocity, and mass ratio significantly affect the range of frequency in which the lock-in phenomenon happens. Further, linear perturbation analysis is done to understand the qualitative effect of the system parameters such as coupling coefficients, mass ratio, frequency ratio, and static unbalance on the range of lock-in.     

Free v/s forced vibrations of a cylinder at low Re

Free vibrations of a circular cylinder of low non-dimensional mass are investigated at low Reynolds numbers. Computations are carried out for 5% blockage. Lock-in is observed for a range of Re and is accompanied with hysteresis at both lower as well as higher Re ends of the synchronisation/lock-in region. It is well known that the lock-in regime for free vibrations depends on the non-dimensional mass of the oscillator. The results from the present computations are compared with the data for forced vibrations from Koopmann (Journal of Fluid Mechanics, 28, 501–512, 1967) on a Y _max/D vs. f* plot, where Y _max is the maximum oscillation amplitude and f* is the ratio of cylinder vibration frequency to the vortex shedding frequency for a stationary cylinder. Good agreement is observed for the critical amplitude needed for onset of synchronisation between the forced and free vibrations. The results from the free vibrations are compared to the predictions from the linear oscillator model by assuming that the forces on the cylinder are unaffected as a result of vibrations. It is found that, for low mass oscillators, the modification of vortex shedding frequency and lift coefficient due to cylinder oscillations leads to the enhancement of the lock-in regime.     

Mode competition in streamwise-only vortex induced vibrations

Time-resolved Particle-Image Velocimetry (PIV) has been used to study mode competition and transient behaviour in the wake of a cylinder experiencing Vortex-Induced Vibrations (VIV) in the streamwise direction. The cylinder response regime contained two branches, occurring above and below the onset of synchronisation between the wake and the cylinder motion (lock-in). During the first branch, the wake exhibited both the S-I mode (in which two vortices are shed simultaneously per vibration cycle) and the alternate A-II mode (similar to the well known von Kármán vortex street). An extended PIV data set acquired in this region revealed mode switching between the S-I and A-II modes. A criterion based on Proper-Orthogonal Decomposition was developed to identify which mode was dominant as a function of time. The A-II mode was found to be dominant for over 90% of the instantaneous fields examined, while the S-I mode appeared to be more unstable.Symmetrically shed vortices were found to rearrange downstream into an alternate structure in which the wake was no longer synchronised to the cylinder motion. The dominant frequency of transverse velocity fluctuations was measured throughout the wake in order to study the effects of this breakdown in more detail. For the majority of the wake, the fluctuations occurred at the Strouhal frequency, while in a region in the near wake the fluctuations occurred at the frequency of the cylinder motion. It is thought that during the first response branch vortices are formed at the cylinder response frequency, but tend to quickly rearrange downstream into an alternate structure which is no longer synchronised to the cylinder motion. As a result, the fluctuating drag will be synchronised to the structural motion, and is capable of providing positive energy transfer in the apparent absence of lock-in. Finally, the spatial dependence of the frequency of velocity fluctuations throughout the wake is used to explain some of the conflicting results in the literature regarding streamwise VIV, and the implications for the general study of VIV are discussed.     

On the study of vortex-induced vibration of a cylinder with helical strakes

While the effect of helical strakes on suppression of Vortex-Induced Vibrations (VIV) has been studied extensively, the mechanism of VIV mitigation using helical strakes is much less well documented in the literature. In the present study, a rigid circular cylinder of diameter d=80 mm attached with three-strand helical strakes of dimensions of 10d in pitch and 0.12d in height was tested in a wind tunnel. It was found that the helical strakes can reduce VIV by about 98%. Unlike the bare cylinder, which experiences lock-in over the reduced velocity in the range of 5-8.5, the straked cylinder does not show any lock-in region. In exploring the mechanism of VIV reduction by helical strakes, measurements in stationary bare and straked cylinder wakes using both a single X-probe at four different Reynolds numbers, i.e. Re=10 240, 20 430, 30 610 and 40 800, and two X-probes with variable separations in the spanwise direction at Re=20 430 were conducted. It was found that vortices shed from the straked cylinder are weakened significantly. The dominate frequency varies by about 30% over the range of x/d=10-40 in the streamwise direction while that differs by about 37.2% of the averaged peak frequency over a length of 3.125d in the spanwise direction. The latter is supported by the phase difference between the velocity signals measured at two locations separated in the spanwise direction. The correlation length of the vortex structures in the bare cylinder wake is much larger than that obtained in the straked cylinder wake. As a result, the straked cylinder wake agrees more closely with isotropy than the bare cylinder wake. Flow visualization on the plane perpendicular to the cylinder axis at Reynolds number of about 300 reveals small-scale vortices in the shear layers of the straked cylinder wake. However, these vortices do not roll up and interact with each other to form the well-organized Karman-type vortices. Flow visualization on the plane parallel to the cylinder axis shows vortex dislocation and swirling flow, which should be responsible for the variations of the peak frequency in the streamwise as well as spanwise directions.     

两端铰接的细长柔性圆柱体涡激振动响应特性数值研究

目前细长柔性圆柱体涡激振动响应的研究方法主要包括实验方法、计算流体动力学方法以及半经验模型方法. 鉴于实验方法研究成本较高、计算流体动力学方法计算时间较长,本文基于尾流振子模型对线性剪切来流下两端铰接的细长柔性圆柱体涡激振动响应特性进行了半经验模型方法研究. 先建立了柔性圆柱体结构振子以及尾流振子之间的耦合模型,紧接着基于二阶精度中心差分格式对耦合模型先离散后迭代进行求解. 对不同剪切参数下柔性圆柱体涡激振动响应的振动波长、振动频率、振动位移以及响应频率随时间的变化特性等参数进行了分析. 分析结果表明:圆柱体的涡激振动响应由驻波和行波混合组成. 当无量纲弯曲刚度较小时,在圆柱体两端附近,驻波占主导;而在圆柱体中间段附近,行波占主导. 当无量纲弯曲刚度较大时,在圆柱体整个长度区间上均为驻波占主导. 随着剪切参数的增大,振动位移以及振动波长均逐渐减小,而振动频率和频率带宽均逐渐增大.      

The prediction on in-line vortex-induced vibration of slender marine structures

The in-line (IL) vortex-induced vibration (VIV) that occurs frequently in ocean engineering may cause severe fatigue damage in slender marine structures. To the best knowledge of the authors, in existing literatures, there is no efficient analytical model for predicting pure IL VIV. In this paper, a wake oscillator model capable of analyzing the IL VIV of slender marine structures has been developed. Two different kinds of van der Pol equations are used to describe the near wake dynamics related to the fluctuating nature of symmetric vortex shedding in the first excitation region and alternate vortex shedding in the second one. Some comparisons are carried out between the present model results and experimental data. It is found that many phenomena observed in experiments could be reproduced by the present wake oscillator model.     

Three-dimensional numerical simulation of vortex-induced vibration of an elastically mounted rigid circular cylinder in steady current

Vortex-induced vibration (VIV) of an elastically mounted rigid circular cylinder in steady current is investigated by solving the three-dimensional Navier–Stokes equations. The cylinder is allowed to vibrate only in the cross-flow direction. The aim of this study is to investigate the variation of the vortex shedding flow in the axial direction of the cylinder and to study the transition of the flow from two-dimensional (2D) to three-dimensional (3D) for VIV of a cylinder. Simulations are carried out for a constant mass ratio of 2, the Reynolds numbers ranging from 150 to 1000 and the reduced velocities ranging from 2 to 12. The three-dimensionality of the flow is found to be the strongest in the upper branch of the VIV response and weakest in the initial branch. The 2S and 2P vortex shedding modes are found to coexist along the cylinder span in the upper branch, leading to strong variations of the lift coefficient in the axial direction of the cylinder. The difference between the flow transition from 2D to 3D in the VIV lock-in regime and that in the wake of a stationary cylinder is identified. The transition mode B found in the wake of a stationary cylinder is also found in the wake of a vibrating cylinder. The critical Reynolds number for flow transition from 2D to 3D of a cylinder undergoing cross-flow VIV at a reduced velocity of 6 is found to be greater than that for a stationary cylinder. For a constant reduced velocity of 6, the wake flow changes from 2D to 3D as the Reynolds number is increased from 250 to 300. Some 2D numerical simulations are performed and it is found that the 2D Navier–Stokes (NS) equations are not able to predict the VIV in the turbulent flow regime, while the 2D Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes (RANS) equations improve the results.     

Multi-frequency vortex-induced vibrations of a long tensioned beam in linear and exponential shear flows

The multi-frequency vortex-induced vibrations of a cylindrical tensioned beam of aspect ratio 200, free to move in the in-line and cross-flow directions within first a linearly and then an exponentially sheared current are investigated by means of direct numerical simulation, at a Reynolds number equal to 330. The shape of the inflow profile impacts the spectral content of the mixed standing-traveling wave structural responses: narrowband vibrations are excited within the lock-in area, which is limited to a single region lying in the high flow velocity zone, for the linear shear case; in contrast, the lock-in condition occurs at several spanwise locations in the exponential shear case, resulting in broadband responses, containing a wide range of excited frequencies and spatial wavenumbers. The broadband in-line and cross-flow vibrations occurring for the exponential shear current have a phase difference that lies within a specific range along the entire span; this differs from the phase drift noted for narrowband responses in linear shear flow. Lower vibration amplitudes, time-averaged and fluctuating in-line force coefficients are observed for the exponential shear current. The cross-flow force coefficient has comparable magnitude for both inflow profiles along the span, except in zones where the broadband vibrations are under the lock-in condition but not the narrowband ones. As in the narrowband case, the fluid forces associated with the broadband responses are dominated by high frequencies related to high-wavenumber vibration components. Considerable variability of the effective added mass coefficients along the span is noted in both cases.     

Nonlinear modeling of combined galloping and vortex-induced vibration of square sections under flow

In this paper, we propose a model for the transverse oscillation of a square-section cylinder under flow. The fluctuating transverse force due to vortex shedding is represented using a coupled nonlinear wake oscillator, while the unsteady force for galloping caused by the varying incidence angle effects is modelled using the quasi-steady approach. First, we analytically investigate the lift behavior and phase angle variation of the square cylinder under forced vibrations. Comparison with experimental data is used to determine the form of the coupling terms and its values. The present model shows advantages in predicting the phase angle, and it successfully captures the change in sign of the phase. Second, the proposed model is directly applied in predicting free oscillation cases without any tuning. The dynamical behaviors predicted by this model are compared with published experiments under different Scruton numbers, and reasonable agreement can be found. The results indicate that the model can not only be applied in simulating the “pure galloping” and “pure VIV,” but also is able to capture the interactions of VIV and galloping, including combined and separate VIV-galloping motions.

     

Numerical study of flow-induced vibrations of cylinders under the action of nonlinear energy sinks (NESs)

An isolated two-dimensional circular cylinder with two linear degrees of freedom, parallel and perpendicular to the free-stream direction, and owning a nonlinear energy sink (NES) is investigated by fluid–structure interaction (FSI) simulations to assess vortex-induced vibrations (VIV) at moderate Reynolds numbers. Subsequently, the wake-induced vibration (WIV) of a pair of identical cylinders under the action of two NES in a tandem arrangement and in a proximity–wake interference regime is explored using the same approach. The NES parameters (mass, nonlinear stiffness and damping) are investigated to determine their effects on the dynamic response of a single degree of freedom (in transverse flow direction) coupled system by a reduced-order model based on an experimentally validated van der Pol oscillator. The CFD model coupled with FSI method is also validated against VIV experimental data for an isolated cylinder in a uniform flow. The study is aimed to investigate the effect of the passive suppression NES device on VIV and WIV. The amplitude response, trajectories of cylinder motion and temporal evolutions of vortex shedding are obtained by conducting a series of numerical simulations. It is found that placing a tuned NES in the cylinders can provide good suppression effect; however, the effectiveness is function of the reduced velocity.     

Parametric excitations and lock-in of flexible hydrofoils in two-phase flows

This work introduces a reduced-order method to study the parametric excitations and lock-in of flexible hydrofoils caused by unsteady two-phase (cavitating) flow. The reduced-order method is based on a 1-DOF structural model coupled with a van der Pol wake oscillator with empirically derived relations for the variation in lift, cavity-length, and cavity-shedding frequency as a function of a non-dimensional cavitation parameter. The results are compared with several available data from both numerical simulations and experimental measurements. The frequency content of both the predicted and measured vibrations suggested that, in addition to the primary cavity-shedding frequency and the hydrofoil natural frequencies, unsteady two-phase flows may excite additional modulated frequencies due to time-varying fluid-added mass effects. The results show that these frequency modulations might cause the flexible hydrofoil to undergo higher-order resonances, as well as parametric resonances. While the maximum deformations for the primary and higher-order resonances were observed to damp out, parametric resonances might persist even with realistic fluid damping coefficients (4–12%). It was observed that with higher effective foil flexibility, the cavity-shedding frequencies may be significantly modified from the rigid foil trends, and may instead lock-in with the system natural frequencies.     

Two-degree-of-freedom vortex-induced vibrations of a circular cylinder at Re=3900

The vortex-induced vibrations of an elastically mounted circular cylinder are investigated on the basis of direct numerical simulations. The body is free to move in the in-line and cross-flow directions. The natural frequencies of the oscillator are the same in both directions. The Reynolds number, based on the free stream velocity and cylinder diameter, is set to 3900 and kept constant in all simulations. The behavior of the coupled flow-structure system is analyzed over a wide range of the reduced velocity (inverse of the natural frequency) encompassing the lock-in range, i.e. where body motion and flow unsteadiness are synchronized. The statistics of the structural responses and forces are in agreement with prior experimental results. Large-amplitude vibrations develop in both directions. The in-line and cross-flow oscillations are close to harmonic; they exhibit a frequency ratio of 2 and a variable phase difference across the lock-in range. Distinct trends are noted in the force-displacement phasing mechanisms in the two directions: a phase difference jump associated with a sign change of the effective added mass and a vibration frequency crossing the natural frequency is observed in the cross-flow direction, while no phase difference jump occurs in the in-line direction. Higher harmonic components arise in the force spectra; their contributions become predominant when the cylinder oscillates close to the natural frequency. The force higher harmonics are found to impact the transfer of energy between the flow and the moving body, in particular, by causing the emergence of new harmonics in the energy transfer spectrum.     

Multiscale Higuchi’s fractal dimension method

Nonlinear Dynamics - We investigate the closed-loop control of a circular cylinder showing lock-in phenomena due to vortex-induced vibrations (VIV). The control action was implemented by a...     

Vortex-induced vibration of two elastically coupled cylinders in side-by-side arrangement

Vortex-induced vibration (VIV) of two elastically coupled circular cylinders in side-by-side arrangement is investigated numerically. The Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes equations are solved by the finite element method for simulating the flow and the equation of motion is solved for calculating the vibration. The mass ratio (the ratio of the mass of the cylinder to the displaced fluid mass) is 2 and the Reynolds number is 5000 in the simulations. Simulations are carried out for one symmetric configuration (referred to be Case A) and one asymmetric configuration (referred to be Case B). In both Case A and Case B, the primary response frequencies of the two cylinders are found to be the same both inside and outside the lock-in regimes. Five response regimes are found in both cases and they are the first-mode lock-in regime, the second-mode lock-in regime, the sum-frequency lock-in regime and two transition regimes. When the vibration is transiting from the first- to the second-mode lock-in regimes, the vibration of each cylinder contains both first- and the second-mode natural frequencies, and the vibrations are usually irregular. In the transition regime between the second-mode lock-in and the sum-frequency lock-in regimes, the response frequencies of both cylinders increases with an increase in the reduced velocity until they are close to the sum of the two natural frequencies. In both cases, the lower boundary reduced velocity of the total lock-in regime (the sum of the five lock-in regimes) is about 3 and the upper boundary reduced velocity is about 11 times the first-to-second-mode natural frequency ratio.     

Piezoelectric energy harvesting from concurrent vortex-induced vibrations and base excitations

We investigate the potential of using a piezoelectric energy harvester to concurrently harness energy from base excitations and vortex-induced vibrations. The harvester consists of a multilayered piezoelectric cantilever beam with a circular cylinder tip mass attached to its free end which is placed in a uniform air flow and subjected to direct harmonic excitations. We model the fluctuating lift coefficient by a van der Pol wake oscillator. The Euler–Lagrange principle and the Galerkin procedure are used to derive a nonlinear distributed-parameter model for a harvester under a combination of vibratory base excitations and vortex-induced vibrations. Linear and nonlinear analyses are performed to investigate the effects of the electrical load resistance, wind speed, and base acceleration on the coupled frequency, electromechanical damping, and performance of the harvester. It is demonstrated that, when the wind speed is in the pre- or post-synchronization regions, its associated electromechanical damping is increased and hence a reduction in the harvested power is obtained. When the wind speed is in the lock-in or synchronization region, the results show that there is a significant improvement in the level of the harvested power which can attain 150 % compared to using two separate harvesters. The results also show that an increase of the base acceleration results in a reduction in the vortex-induced vibrations effects, an increase of the difference between the resonant excitation frequency and the pull-out frequency, and a significant effects associated with the quenching phenomenon.     

A harmonic balance technique for the reduced-order computation of vortex-induced vibration

We present a harmonic balance (HB) method to model frequency lock-in effect during vortex-induced vibration (VIV) of elastically mounted circular cylinder and a flexible riser section in a freestream uniform flow. The fluid flow and structure are coupled by a fixed-point iteration process through a frequency updating algorithm. By minimizing the structural residual in the standard least-square norm, the convergence of HB-based fixed-point algorithm is achieved for a range of reduced velocity. To begin with, the HB solver is first assessed for a periodic unsteady flow around a stationary circular cylinder. A freely vibrating circular cylinder is then adopted for the reduced-order computation of VIV at low Reynolds numbers of Re=100 and 180 with one- and two-degrees-of-freedom. The coupled VIV dynamics and the frequency lock-in phenomenon are accurately captured. The results show that the HB solver is able to predict the amplitude of vibration, frequency and forces comparable to its time domain counterpart, while providing a significant reduction with regard to overall computational cost. The proposed new scheme is then demonstrated for a fully-coupled three dimensional (3D) analysis of a linear-elastic riser section undergoing vortex-induced vibration in the lock-in range. The results reveal the 3D effects through isosurfaces of streamwise vorticity blobs distributed over the span of flexible riser section. In comparison to time domain results, the 3D flow-structure interactions are accurately predicted while providing a similar speed up rate that of 2D simulations. This further corroborates that the HB solver can be extended to 3D flow-structure dynamics without compromising efficiency and accuracy.