AERODYNAMICS AND DYNAMICS OF RECTANGULAR PRISMS WITH MOMENTUM INJECTION

A structural member with rectangular cross-section is frequently encountered in civil, mechanical and ocean engineering applications. Structural loading in terms of steady and unsteady pressure fields, susceptibility to flow-induced instabilities, etc., for tall buildings, bridges, offshore platforms, marine risers and a wide variety of other configurations have been of interest to engineers. Recent progress in engineering materials and computer-aided design has led to structures with reduced stiffness, making them prone to wind, earthquake, as well as ocean-wave and current-excited oscillations. The present research is aimed at understanding these issues at a fundamental level through a comprehensive study of moving-surface boundary-layer control (MSBC) as applied to two-dimensional rectangular prisms with reference to drag reduction and suppression of flow-induced vibrations. Extensive wind-tunnel tests, complemented by quasisteady analysis and flow visualization study, suggest that the concept of MSBC represents a versatile tool for drag reduction and suppression of both vortex resonance and galloping type of instabilities.