Vortex-induced vibration of a circular cylinder with nonlinear stiffness: prediction using forced vibration data

Nonlinear Dynamics - Vortex-induced vibration (VIV) systems with stiffness nonlinearity have received increasing attention because the stiffness nonlinearity can broaden the effective flow velocity...     

Phenomena and modeling of piezoelectric energy harvesting from freely oscillating cylinders

We investigate energy harvesting from vortex-induced vibrations of a freely moving rigid circular cylinder with a piezoelectric transducer attached to its transverse degree of freedom. The power levels that can be generated from these vibrations and variations of these levels with the freestream velocity are determined. A mathematical model that accounts for the coupled lift force, cylinder motion, and harvested voltage is presented. Linear analysis is performed to determine the effect of the electrical load resistance of the transducer on the natural frequency of the cylinder and the onset of synchronization (the shedding frequency is equal to the cylinder oscillating frequency) region. The impact of the nonlinearities on the cylinder response and harvested energy is investigated. The results show that the load resistance shifts the onset of synchronization to higher freestream velocities. For two different system parameters, the results show that the nonlinearities result in a hardening behavior for some values of the load resistance.     

Weighted Dunkl transform inequalities and application on radial Besov spaces

In Dunkl theory on $\mathbb R ^d$ which generalizes classical Fourier analysis, we prove first weighted inequalities for certain Hardy-type averaging operators. In particular, we deduce for specific choices of the weights the $d$ -dimensional Hardy inequalities whose constants are sharp and independent of $d$ . Second, we use the weight characterization of the Hardy operator to prove weighted Dunkl transform inequalities. As consequence, we obtain Pitt’s inequality which gives an integrability theorem for this transform on radial Besov spaces.     

Insights on the unsteadiness and stall effects on the characteristics and responses of continuous wing-based systems

Nonlinear Dynamics - The effects of the aerodynamic loads on continuous wing-based systems can be represented using a quasi-steady or a fully unsteady reduced-order modeling. Frequently, the...     

Control of cross-flow-induced vibrations of square cylinders using linear and nonlinear delayed feedbacks

We investigate the effectiveness of linear and nonlinear time-delay feedback controls to suppress high amplitude oscillations of an elastically mounted square cylinder undergoing galloping oscillations. A representative model that couples the transverse displacement and the aerodynamic force is used. The quasi-steady approximation is used to model the galloping force. A linear analysis is performed to investigate the effect of linear time-delay controls on the onset speed of galloping and natural frequencies. It is demonstrated that a linear time-delay control can be used to delay the onset speed of galloping. The normal form of the Hopf bifurcation is then derived to characterize the type of the instability (supercritical or subcritical) and to determine the effects of the linear and nonlinear time-delay parameters on their outputs near the bifurcation. The results show that the nonlinear time-delay control can be efficiently implemented to significantly reduce the galloping amplitude and suppress any dangerous behavior by converting any subcritical Hopf bifurcation into a supercritical one.     

Modeling and identification of freeplay nonlinearity

A nonlinear analysis is performed for the purpose of identification of the pitch freeplay nonlinearity and its effect on the type of bifurcation of a two degree-of-freedom aeroelastic system. The databases for the identification are generated from experimental investigations of a pitch-plunge rigid airfoil supported by a nonlinear torsional spring. Experimental data and linear analysis are performed to validate the parameters of the linearized equations. Based on the periodic responses of the experimental data which included the flutter frequency and its third harmonics, the freeplay nonlinearity is approximated by a polynomial expansion up to the third order. This representation allows us to use the normal form of the Hopf bifurcation to characterize the type of instability. Based on numerical integrations, the coefficients of the polynomial expansion representing the freeplay nonlinearity are identified.     

Aeroelastic analysis and nonlinear dynamics of an elastically mounted wing

The response of an elastically mounted wing that is free to plunge and pitch, supported by nonlinear translational and torsional springs, and interacting with an incoming stream is analyzed. A tightly coupled model of the wing flow interaction is developed. A three-dimensional code based on the unsteady vortex lattice method is used for the prediction of the unsteady aerodynamic loads. The response of the wing shows a sequence of static and dynamic bifurcations and chaotic motions when increasing the flow speed. Pairs of stable solutions are observed over the different response regimes. The effects of the gust and structural nonlinearity on the wing's response are also investigated. The results show that gust may lead to jumps between the pairs of solutions for static and dynamic equilibrium responses without impacting the boundaries of the different response regimes. As for the effect of the structural nonlinearity, increasing the nonlinear coefficient of the stiffness of the torsional spring yields lower static deflections and amplitudes of the limit cycle oscillations.     

Performance enhancement of wing-based piezoaeroelastic energy harvesting through freeplay nonlinearity

We investigate experimentally how controlled freeplay nonlinearity affects harvesting energy from a wing-based piezoaeroelastic energy harvesting system. This system consisits of a rigid airfoil which is supported by a nonlinear torsional spring (freeplay) in the pitch degree of freedom and a linear flexural spring in the plunge degree of freedom. By attaching a piezoelectric material (PSI-5A4E) to the plunge degree of freedom, we can convert aeroelastic vibrations to electrical energy. The focus of this study is placed on the effects of the freeplay nonlinearity gap on the behavior of the harvester in terms of cut-in speed and level of harvested power. Although the freeplay nonlinearity may result in subcritical Hopf bifurcations (catastrophic for real aircrafts), harvesting energy at low wind speeds is beneficial for designing piezoaeroelastic systems. It is demonstrated that increasing the freeplay nonlinearity gap can decrease the cut-in speed through a subcritical instability and gives the possibility to harvest energy at low wind speeds. The results also demonstrate that an optimum value of the load resistance exists, at which the level of the harvested power is maximized.