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.