Galloping instability and control of a rigid pendulum in a flowing soap film

A pendulum suspended in a fast flowing soap film may show sustained oscillations. The conditions necessary for self-excited motion to occur are outlined: a flow velocity above a threshold value along with geometrical constraints. The role of vortex shedding is discussed, and the observed instability is shown to be well-described by the galloping instability. Experimental results are supported by numerical simulations. Furthermore, we observe that the instability may be suppressed by attaching a long enough filament to the rear of the pendulum.     

Postcritical Behavior of Cables Undergoing Two Simultaneous Galloping Modes

Abstract. A nonlinear two degree-of-freedom model, describing a flexible elastic suspended cable undergoing galloping oscillations, is analyzed. By using a perturbative approach, the critical conditions occuring for different values of the aerodynamic coefficients are described. Two different type of critical conditions, corresponding to simple or double Hopf bifurcations are found. The nonlinear postcritical behavior of single taut strings in 1:1 primary internal resonance is studied through the multiple scale perturbation method. In the double Hopf bifurcation case the influence of the detuning between the critical eigenvalues on the postcritical behavior is illustrated. It is found that quasi-periodic motions, which are likely to occur in the linear field when the two critical frequencies are incommensurable, are really unstable in the nonlinear range. Therefore, the postcritical behavior of the string consists of stable periodic motions for any detuning values.Sommario. Viene analizzato un modello non lineare a due gradi di libertrappresentativo di un cavo elastico flessibile sospeso alle estremite soggetto ad oscillazioni galoppanti. Utilizzando un approccio perturbativo, vengono descritte le condizioni critiche per differenti valori dei coefficienti aerodinamici. Sono presenti due diversi tipi di condizioni critiche, corrispondenti a biforcazioni di Hopf semplici e doppie. Attraverso il metodo perturbativo delle scale multiple viene studiato il comportamento post-critico non lineare di singole stringhe tese in risonanza interna primaria 1:1. Nel caso di biforcazione doppia di Hopf viene illustrata l'influenza del detuning tra gli autovalori critici sul comportamento post-critico. Si trova che i moti quasi-periodici, presenti in campo lineare quando le due frequenze critiche sono incommensurabili, sono in realtinstabili in campo non lineare. Quindi, il comportamento post-critico della stringa risulta composto da moti periodici stabili per un qualsiasi valore del detuning.     

Behavior of detonation waves at low pressures

With respect to stability of gaseous detonations, unsteady behavior of galloping detonations and re-initiation process of hydrogen-oxygen mixtures are studied using a detonation tube of 14 m in length and 45 mm i.d. The arrival of the shock wave and the reaction front is detected individually by a double probe combining of a pressure and an ion probe. The experimental results show that there are two different types of the re-initiation mechanism. One is essentially the same as that of deflagration to detonation transition in the sense that a shock wave generated by flame acceleration causes a local explosion. From calculated values of ignition delay behind the shock wave decoupled from the reaction front, the other is found to be closely related with spontaneous ignition. In this case, the fundamental propagation mode shows a spinning detonation. Received 10 March 1997 / Accepted 8 June 1997     

Interference of vortex-induced vibration and transverse galloping for a rectangular cylinder

The phenomenon of interference between vortex-induced vibration (VIV) and galloping in the transverse degree of freedom was studied in the wind tunnel in the case of a spring-mounted slender rectangular cylinder with a side ratio of 1.5 having the short side perpendicular to the flow. The tests were carried out in a wide Scruton number range, starting from low values and increasing it in small steps by using eddy-current viscous dampers. This study helped understanding the dynamics of the interaction between the two excitation mechanisms and clearly highlighted the transition through four regimes of VIV-galloping interference. It was found that a high value of the mass-damping parameter is required to decouple the ranges of excitation of vortex-induced vibration and galloping completely, and for the quasi-steady theory to predict the galloping critical wind speed correctly. This conclusion is also relevant from the engineering point of view, as it means that structures and structural elements with ordinary mass-damping properties can exhibit sustained vibrations in flow speed ranges where no excitation is predicted by classical theories of vortex-induced vibration and galloping. Although most of the experimental tests were conducted in smooth flow at zero angle of attack, the paper also discusses the sensitivity of the results to a small variation of the mean flow incidence and to the presence of a low-intensity free-stream turbulence.     

Experimental investigation of wind-induced vibrations of main cables for suspension bridges in construction phases

The main cables of suspension bridges show a changing cross-sectional shape with the evolution of construction phases, and they may suffer from severe wind-induced vibrations at certain conditions. The primary objective of this research was to examine the aerodynamic performance of the main cable in construction phases and to develop appropriate countermeasures to eliminate the potential wind-induced vibrations. Two cross-sections with different shapes of a main cable were chosen, and a series of wind tunnel tests were performed in a reduced wind velocity range of 32–366 using elastically mounted sectional models. Galloping occurred for the two cross-sections under certain wind incidence angles when a critical velocity was reached. No obvious hysteresis phenomenon of galloping was observed in the tests. The steady amplitude of galloping increased linearly with wind velocity and the increasing rate almost kept constant for different structural damping ratios. The aerodynamic nonlinearity, rather than the structural damping nonlinearity, is the main source leading to the limited amplitude oscillation. An empirical expression of galloping amplitudes for the two cross-sections was derived based on the test data. Meanwhile, the critical wind velocity was studied in a Scruton (Sc) number range of 108–4196 (as varied by changing the initial structural damping ratio between 0.093% and 3.62%). Results showed that the Den Hartog criterion was applicable to forecast the possibility of galloping, but not able to estimate the critical wind velocity for the main cable. Linear fitting method can be used to predict the critical velocity based on the experimental data. Finally, three vibration mitigation measures were studied, and a combination of structural and aerodynamic measures was recommended for galloping mitigation of main cables.     

Transverse galloping of circular cylinders fitted with solid and slotted splitter plates

The galloping response of a circular cylinder fitted with three different splitter plates and free to oscillate transverse to a free stream has been investigated considering variations in plate length and plate porosity. Models were mounted in a low mass and damping elastic system and experiments have been carried out in a recirculating water channel in the Reynolds number range of 1500 to 16 000. Solid splitter plates of 0.5 and 1.0 diameter in length are shown to produce severe galloping responses, reaching displacements of 1.8 diameters in amplitude at a reduced velocity of around 8. Fitting a slotted plate with a porosity ratio of 30% also caused considerable vibration, but with a reduced rate of increase with flow speed. All results are compared with the typical vortex-induced vibration response of a plain cylinder. Force decomposition in relation to the body velocity and acceleration indicates that a galloping mechanism is responsible for extracting energy from the flow and driving the oscillations. Visualisation of the flow field around the devices performed with PIV reveal that the reattachment of the free shear layers on the tip of the plates is the hydrodynamic mechanism driving the excitation.     

Rotational Galloping of Two Coupled Oscillators

Abstract. We will consider nonlinear rotational galloping for two mechanically coupled seesaw oscillators in steady cross-flow, where mechanical coupling consists of a torsion spring. This oscillator system may be viewed as a mechanical two d.o.f. model for the study of rotational galloping of a continuous elastic structure. Using a quasi-steady modelling approach as model equations two coupled nonlinear oscillators are obtained. Depending on the stiffness of the torsion spring and the natural frequencies of the two oscillators either a non-resonant or 1:1 internal resonant system is found. Assuming the windforce to be relatively small an asymptotic analysis based on averaging is presented for both cases.Sommario: Vengono considerate le oscillazioni galoppanti rotazionali non lineari di due oscillatori disposti in bilico su un fulcro (seesaw oscillators) soggetti a un flusso trasversale stazionario e accoppiati meccanicamente attraverso una molla di torsione. Questo sistema oscillatorio può essere interpretato come un modello meccanico a due gradi di libertà per studiare il galoppo rotazionale di una struttura continua elastica. Modellando le azioni indotte dal flusso in modo quasi-statico, si ottengono due oscillatori non lineari accoppiati. A seconda della rigidezza della molla di torsione e delle frequenze naturali dei due oscillatori, si ottiene un sistema non risonante o in risonanza interna 1:1. Assumendo che le forze del vento siano relativamente piccole, viene presentata per entrambi i casi un'analisi asintotica basata sul metodo della media.     

Usefulness of passive non-linear energy sinks in controlling galloping vibrations

The suppression of vibration amplitudes of an elastically-mounted square prism subjected to galloping oscillations by using a non-linear energy sink is investigated. The non-linear energy sink consists of a secondary system with linear damping and non-linear stiffness. A representative model that couples the transverse displacement of the square prism and the non-linear energy sink is constructed. A linear analysis is performed to determine the impacts of the non-linear energy sink parameters (mass, damping, and stiffness) on the coupled frequency and onset speed of galloping. It is demonstrated that increasing the damping of the non-linear energy sink can result in a significant increase in the onset speed of galloping. Then, the normal form of the Hopf bifurcation is derived to identify the type of instability and to determine the effects of the non-linear energy sink stiffness on the performance of the aeroelastic system near the bifurcation. The results show that the non-linear energy sink can be efficiently implemented to significantly reduce the galloping amplitude of the square prism. It is also shown that the multiple stable responses of the coupled aeroelastic system are obtained as well as the periodic responses, which are dependent on the considered non-linear energy sink parameters.