Numerical investigation on the suppression of VIV for a circular cylinder by three small control rods

Laminar flow past a circular cylinder with 3 small control rods is investigated by numerical simulation. This study is concerned with the suppression efficacy of vortex induced vibration by small control rods located around a main cylinder. The effects of the attack angle and rod-to-cylinder gap ratio on the hydrodynamics and vibration responses of the main cylinder are investigated. The attack angle of α = 45° is performed as the critical angle for VIV suppression of 3 control rods. The 3 control rods have no effect on VIV suppression when the attack angle is less than the critical angle. The 3 control rods have an excellent VIV suppression efficacy when the attack angle is larger than the critical angle. The transverse vibration frequency of the cylinder with 3 control rods is less than that for an isolated cylinder for all the configurations. The numerical results for the configurations of α = 45° & 60°, G/D = 0.6–1.2 show excellent suppression efficient among the cases investigated in this study. The best suppression efficient is found at α = 45°, G/D = 0.9 for 3 control rods. 2 rods in behind of the main cylinder perform more efficient than that of 1 rod in front for VIV suppression as the gap ratio of G/D less than 1.0.     

The effect of yaw angle on VIV suppression for an inclined flexible cylinder fitted with helical strakes

Experimental studies were carried out to investigate the response features of an inclined flexible bare cylinder as well as a straked cylinder in a towing tank, with the main purpose of further improving the understanding of the effect of yaw angle on vortex-induced vibration (VIV) suppression. Four yaw angles (a = 0°, 15°, 30°, 45°), which is defined as the angle between the cylinder axis and the plane orthogonal to the oncoming fluid flow, were tested. The cylinder model was towed along the tank to generate a uniform fluid flow. The towing velocity was in the range of 0.05–1.0 m/s with an interval of 0.05 m/s. The corresponding Reynolds number ranged from 800 to 16000. The strakes selected for the experiments had a pitch of 17.5D and a height of 0.25D, which is generally considered as the most effective configuration for VIV suppression of a flexible cylinder in water. The experimental results indicate that VIV suppression effectiveness of the inclined flexible straked cylinder is closely related to the yaw angle. The displacement amplitudes are significantly suppressed in both cross-flow (CF) and in-line (IL) directions at a = 0°. However, with increasing yaw angle, the suppression efficiencies of the CF and IL displacement amplitudes gradually decrease. In addition, the CF dominant frequencies of the straked cylinder obviously deviate from those of the bare cylinder at a = 0° and 15°. This deviation is substantially alleviated with increasing yaw angle. The IL dominant frequencies show less dependency on the yaw angle. Similar trends are also observed on the dominant modes of vibration and the mean drag coefficients.     

Passive VIV Reduction of An Inclined Flexible Cylinder by Means of Helical Strakes with Round-Section

A series of experimental tests of passive VIV suppression of an inclined flexible cylinder with round-sectioned helical strakes were carried out in a towing tank. During the tests, the cylinder models fitted with and without helical strakes were towed along the tank. The towing velocity ranged from 0.05 to 1.0 m/s with an interval of 0.05 m/s.Four different yaw angles(a=0°, 15°, 30° and 45°), defined as the angle between the axis of the cylinder and the plane orthogonal of the oncoming flow, were selected in the experiment. The main purpose of present experimental work is to further investigate the VIV suppression effectiveness of round-sectioned helical strakes on the inclined flexible cylinder. The VIV responses of the smooth cylinder and the cylinder with square-sectioned strakes under the same experimental condition were also presented for comparison. The experimental results indicated that the roundsectioned strake basically had a similar effect on VIV suppression compared with the square-sectioned one, and both can significantly reduce the VIV of the vertical cylinder which corresponded to the case of a=0°. But with the increase of yaw angle, the VIV suppression effectiveness of both round-and square-section strakes deteriorated dramatically, the staked cylinder even had a much stronger vibration than the smooth one did in the in-line(IL)direction.     

Numerical evaluation of passive control of VIV by small control rods

Flow past a circular cylinder with multiple small control rods is studied by numerical simulation for Re_D ranging from 1161.3 to 6387.1. The Reynolds-Averaged-Navier–Stokes (RANS) equations and shear stress transport (SST) k − ω turbulence model are used to calculate the vortex field, while a fourth-order Runge–Kutta method is employed for evaluating the structure dynamics of the cylinder group. Comparisons with experimental results demonstrate the validation of this method. This study is concerned with the vortex induced vibration (VIV) suppression efficacy of small control rods placed around a main cylinder. The effects of control rod number, diameter ratio, spacing ratio and Reynolds number on the hydrodynamics and vibration responses of the main cylinder are investigated. The reduced percents of in-line and cross-flow amplitudes and the increased percents of the whole cross-sectional area of cylinders and the drag coefficient are used to give a comprehensive evaluation. Results of simulation indicate that placing small rods with appropriate number at appropriate locations can achieve good suppression effectiveness at a wide range of Reynolds number. The numerical result for the case with nine control rods, diameter ratio of 0.15 and spacing ratio of 0.6 shows the best suppression effect among the cases investigated in this study.     

Application of Helical Strakes for Suppressing the Flow-Induced Vibration of Two Side-by-Side Long Flexible Cylinders

Helical strakes have been widely applied for suppressing the vibration of flexible cylinders undergoing vortexshedding in offshore engineering. However, most research works have concerned on the application of helical strakes for the isolated flexible cylinder subjected to vortex-induced vibration(VIV). The effectiveness of helical strakes attached to side-by-side flexible cylinders in vibration reduction is still unclear. In this paper, the response characteristics of two side-by-side flexible cylinders with and without helical strakes were experimentally investigated in a towing tank. The configuration of the helical strakes used in the experiment had a pitch of 17.5D and a height of 0.25D(where D is the cylinder diameter), which is usually considered the most effective for VIV suppression of isolated marine risers and tendons. The center-to-center distance of the two cylinders was 3.0D. The uniform flow with a velocity ranging from 0.05 m/s to 1.0 m/s was generated by towing the cylinder models along the tank. Experimental results, including the displacement amplitude, the dominant frequency, the dominant mode,and the mean drag force coefficient, were summarized and discussed. For the case where only one cylinder in the two-cylinder system had helical strakes, the experimental results indicated that helical strakes can remarkably reduce the flow-induced vibration(FIV) of the staked cylinder. For the case of two straked cylinders in a side-by-side arrangement, it was found that the performance of helical strakes in suppressing the FIV is as good as that for the isolated cylinder.     

Experiments with flexible shrouds to reduce the vortex-induced vibration of a cylinder with low mass and damping

Experiments employing a low-mass-damping cylinder have been conducted to determine the vortex-induced vibration (VIV) response of four suppressors of the flexible-shroud family. The VIV suppressors were inspired in the concept of the Ventilated Trousers (VT), a flexible shroud composed of a flexible net fitted with three-dimensional bobbins. Reynolds number varied between 5 × 10³ and 25 × 10³, while reduced velocity varied from 2 to 26. The VIV dynamic response showed that the VT suppressed the peak amplitude of vibration down to 40% of that of a bare cylinder. Other flexible shrouds also achieved suppression, but not as efficiently. Drag was reduced during the VIV synchronization range, but remained above the value for a bare static cylinder thereafter. Spectral analysis of displacement and lift revealed that, depending on the geometry and distribution of the bobbins, the flexible shroud can develop an unstable behavior, capturing energy from the wake and sustaining vibrations for higher reduced velocities. PIV measurements of the wake revealed that the entrainment flow through the mesh is necessary to extend the vortex-formation length of the wake; this mechanism only occurs for the VT mesh.     

Use of Helical Strakes for FIV Suppression of Two Inclined Flexible Cylinders in A Side-by-Side Arrangement

The experimental studies on flow-induced vibrations(FIV) reduction of two side-by-side flexible cylinders inclined at 45° by using the helical strakes were carried out in a towing tank. The main aim of the experiment is to check whether the helical strakes with a pitch of 17.5 D and a height of 0.25 D, which is considered as the most effective vibration suppression device for the isolated cylinder undergoing vortex-shedding, still perform very well to reduce FIV of two inclined flexible cylinders in a side-by-side arrangement. The vibration of two identical inclined cylinders with a mass ratio of 1.90 and an aspect ratio of 350 was tested in the experiment. The center-to-center distance between the two cylinders was 3.0 D. The uniform flow was simulated by towing the cylinder models along the tank.The towing velocity varied from 0.05 to 1.0 m/s with an interval of 0.05 m/s. The maximum Reynolds number can be up to 1.6×104. Three cases were experimentally studied in this paper, including two side-by-side inclined smooth cylinders, only one smooth cylinder fitted with helical strakes in the two side-by-side inclined cylinders system and both two cylinders attached with helical strakes. The variations of displacement amplitude, dominant frequency, FIV suppression efficiency and dominant mode for the two side-by-side inclined cylinders with reduced velocity were shown and discussed.     

Passive Control of Flow-Induced Vibration(FIV) by Helical Strakes for Two Staggered Flexible Cylinders

Helical strake is a widely-used device for passive flow-induced vibration(FIV) control of cylindrical structures. It is omnidirectional and can effectively reduce FIV response amplitude. Studies on the passive FIV control for cylindrical structures are mainly concerned with a single isolated cylinder, while the influence of wake interference between multiple cylinders on FIV suppression devices is less considered up to now. In engineering applications,multiple flexible cylinders with large aspect ratios can be subjected to complex flow forces, and the effects of wake interference are obvious. The FIV suppression effect of helical strake of a common configuration(17.5 D pitch and0.25 D height, where D is the cylinder diameter) in two staggered cylinders system is still unknown. This paper systematically studied the FIV response of multiple cylinders system fitted with the helical strakes by model tests.The relative spatial position of the two cylinders is fixed at S = 3.0 D and T = 8.0 D, which ensures the cylindrical structures in the flow interference region. The experimental results show that the helical strakes effectively reduce the FIV response on staggered upstream cylinder, and the suppression efficiency is barely affected by the smooth or straked downstream cylinder. The corresponding FIV suppression efficiency on the downstream cylinder is remarkably reduced by the influence of the upstream wake flow. The wake-induced vibration(WIV) phenomenon is not observed on the staggered downstream cylinder, which normally occurs on the downstream straked cylinder in a tandem arrangement.     

A Numerical Investigation of Vortex-Induced Vibration Response and Fatigue Damage for Flexible Cylinders Under Combined Uniform and Oscillatory Flow

Vortex-induced vibration(VIV) for flexible cylinders under combined uniform and oscillatory flow is a challenging and practical issue in ocean engineering. In this paper, a time domain numerical model is adopted to investigate the characteristics of cross-flow VIV response and fatigue damage under different combined flow cases. Firstly, the adopted VIV model and fatigue analysis procedure are validated well against the published experimental results of a4-m cylinder model under pure oscillatory flows. Then, forty-five combined flow cases of the same cylinder model are designed to reveal the VIV response characteristics with different non-dimensional oscillation period T* and combined ratio r. The combined flow cases are classified into three categories to investigate the effect of r on cylinder's dynamic response, and the effect of T* is described under long and short period cases. Finally, fatigue analysis is carried out to investigate how the structural fatigue damage varies with the variations of r and T*. The captured characteristics of structural response and fatigue damage are explained through the VIV mechanism analysis.     

Tension and Drag Forces of Flexible Risers Undergoing Vortex-Induced Vibration

This paper presents the results of an experimental investigation on the variation in the tension and the distribution of drag force coefficients along flexible risers under vortex-induced vibration (VIV) in a uniform flow for Reynolds numbers (Re) up to 2.2×10⁵. The results show that the mean tension is proportional to the square of the incoming current speed, and the tension coefficient of a flexible riser undergoing VIV can be up to 12. The mean drag force is uniformly and symmetrically distributed along the axes of the risers undergoing VIV. The corresponding drag coefficient can vary between 1.6 and 2.4 but is not a constant value of 1.2, as it is for a fixed cylinder in the absence of VIV. These experimental results are used to develop a new empirical prediction model to estimate the drag force coefficient for flexible risers undergoing VIV for Reynolds number on the order of 10⁵, which accounts for the effects of the incoming current speed, the VIV dominant modal number and the frequency.     

The validity of the independence principle applied to the vortex-induced vibration of an inclined cylinder in steady flow

The validity of the independence principle applied to the vortex-induced vibration (VIV) of an inclined cylinder in steady flow is investigated by conducting numerical simulations. In order to create a perfect end-effect-free condition, periodic boundary condition is applied on the two end boundaries that are perpendicular to the cylinder. It is found that the response amplitude and frequency for an inclination angle of α = 45° agree well with their counterparts for α = 0°. The numerical results demonstrated the validity of the independence principle in the case of vortex-induced vibration, which has not been demonstrated by laboratory tests due to the difficulty in avoiding the end effects.     

均匀来流下尾翼型抑振装置效果试验研究

基于控制尾流,阻止立管尾流漩涡脱落转换路径的涡激振动抑制机理,设计三角形尾翼、片状尾翼及交错尾翼等三种抑振装置。三种抑振装置分别安装于立管模型表面,立管模型采用外径为18 mm的透明有机玻璃管。通过在均匀流场中进行安装有该抑振装置的立管模型涡激振动试验,研究三种抑振装置对立管涡激振动的抑制效率,并通过与配重裸管的涡激振动数据对比,分析抑振装置对立管动力响应的影响规律。研究结果表明,三种抑振装置均取得了明显的抑振效果,与配重裸管相比,安装片状尾翼及交错尾翼的立管模型抑制效率可达90%以上,安装三角形尾翼后立管模型振动频率略有减小,而安装片状尾翼及交错尾翼的立管模型没有明显的主导频率。     

Hydrodynamics of A Flexible Riser Undergoing the Vortex-Induced Vibration at High Reynolds Number

This study proposed a method to obtain hydrodynamic forces and coefficients for a flexible riser undergoing the vortex-induced vibration (VIV), based on the measured strains collected from the scale-model testing with the Reynolds numbers ranging from 1.34E5 to 2.35E5. The riser is approximated as a tensioned spatial beam, and an inverse method based on the FEM of spatial beam is adopted for the calculation of hydrodynamic forces in the cross flow (CF) and inline (IL) directions. The drag coefficients and vortex-induced force coefficients are obtained through the Fourier Series Theory. Finally, the hydrodynamic characteristics of a flexible riser model undergoing the VIV in a uniform flow are carefully investigated. The results indicate that the VIV amplifies the drag coefficient, and the drag coefficient does not change with time when the CF VIV is stable. Only when the VIVs in the CF and IL directions are all steady vibrations, the vortex-induced force coefficients keep as a constant with time, and under “lock-in” condition, whether the added-mass coefficient changes with time or not, the oscillation frequency of the VIV keeps unchanged. It further shows that the CF excitation coefficients at high frequency are much smaller than those at the dominant frequency, while, the IL excitation coefficients are in the same range. The axial distributions of the excitation and damping region at the dominant frequency and high frequency are approximately consistent in the CF direction, while, in the IL direction, there exists a great difference.     

Vortex-Induced Vibrations of A Long Flexible Cylinder in Linear and Exponential Shear Flows

A numerical study based on a wake oscillator model was conducted to determine the response performance of vortex-induced vibration(VIV) on a long flexible cylinder with pinned-pinned boundary conditions subjected to linear and exponential shear flows. The coupling equations of a structural vibration model and wake oscillator model were solved using a standard central finite difference method of the second order. The VIV response characteristics including the structural displacement, structural frequency, structural wavenumber, standing wave behavior,travelling wave behavior, structural velocity, lift force coefficient and transferred energy from the fluid to the structure with different flow profiles were compared. The numerical results show that the VIV displacement is a combination of standing waves and travelling waves. For linear shear flow, standing waves and travelling waves dominate the VIV response within the low-velocity and high-velocity zones, respectively. The negative values of the transferred energy only occur within the low-velocity zone. However, for exponential shear flow, travelling waves dominate the VIV response and the negative energy occurs along the entire length of the cylinder.     

Flow induced vibrations of a sharp edge square cylinder in the wake of a circular cylinder

The response of an oscillating circular cylinder at the wake of an upstream fixed circular cylinder was classified by different researchers as galloping, wake induced galloping or wake induced vibration. Furthermore it is already known that a sharp edge square cylinder would undergo galloping if it is subjected to uniform flow. In this study the influence of the wake of a fixed circular cylinder on the response of a downstream square cylinder at different spacing ratios (S/D = 4, 8, 11) is experimentally investigated. The subject appears not to have received previous attention. The lateral displacements, lift forces and the pressure data from gauges mounted in the wake of the oscillating cylinder are recorded and analyzed. The single degree of freedom vibrating system has a low mass-damping parameter and the Reynolds number ranges from 7.7 × 10² to 3.7 × 10⁴.In contrast to that for two circular cylinders in tandem arrangement, the freely mounted downstream square cylinder displays a VIV type of response at all spacing ratios tested. There is no sign of galloping or wake induced galloping with the square cylinder. With increase at the spacing ratio the cross-flow oscillations decrease. It is shown that the vortices arriving from the upstream fixed circular cylinder play a major role on the shedding mechanism behind the downstream square cylinder and cause the square cylinder to shed vortices with frequencies above Strouhal frequency of the fixed square cylinder (St = 0.13). The VIV type of oscillations in the downstream square cylinder is most probably caused by the vortices newly generated behind the square cylinder.     

Experimental Study on Response Performance of VIV of A Flexible Riser with Helical Strakes

Laboratory tests were conducted on a flexible riser with and without helical strakes. The aim of the present work is to further understand the response performance of the vortex induced vibration (VIV) for a riser with helical strakes. The experiment was accomplished in the towing tank and the relative current was simulated by towing a flexible riser in one direction. Based on the modal analysis method, the displacement responses can be obtained by the measured strain. The strakes with different heights are analyzed here, and the response parameters like strain response and displacement response are studied. The experimental results show that the in-line (IL) response is as important as the cross-flow (CF) response, however, many industrial analysis methods usually ignore the IL response due to VIV. The results also indicate that the response characteristics of a bare riser can be quite distinct from that of a riser with helical strakes, and the response performance depends on the geometry on the helical strakes closely. The fatigue damage is further discussed and the results show that the fatigue damage in the CF direction is of the same order as that in the IL direction for the bare riser. However, for the riser with helical strakes, the fatigue damage in the CF direction is much smaller than that in the IL direction.     

Experimental Study on Response Performance of VIV of A Flexible Riser with Helical Strakes

Laboratory tests were conducted on a flexible riser with and without helical strakes. The aim of the present work is to further understand the response performance of the vortex induced vibration(VIV) for a riser with helical strakes. The experiment was accomplished in the towing tank and the relative current was simulated by towing a flexible riser in one direction. Based on the modal analysis method, the displacement responses can be obtained by the measured strain. The strakes with different heights are analyzed here, and the response parameters like strain response and displacement response are studied. The experimental results show that the in-line(IL) response is as important as the cross-flow(CF) response, however, many industrial analysis methods usually ignore the IL response due to VIV. The results also indicate that the response characteristics of a bare riser can be quite distinct from that of a riser with helical strakes, and the response performance depends on the geometry on the helical strakes closely. The fatigue damage is further discussed and the results show that the fatigue damage in the CF direction is of the same order as that in the IL direction for the bare riser. However, for the riser with helical strakes, the fatigue damage in the CF direction is much smaller than that in the IL direction.     

On splitter plate coverage for suppression of vortex-induced vibrations of flexible cylinders

Experimental results show how vortex-induced vibration (VIV) amplitudes of flexible cylinders can be reduced up to a 90% by covering less than half of the length of the cylinder with splitter plates elastically mounted to the surface of the cylinder.The VIV amplitude reduction takes place along with drag coefficient reductions of up to a 50% for the reduced velocities investigated.     

Instantaneous multi-mode identification and analysis of vortex-induced vibration via a mode decomposition method

The dynamic characteristics of marine risers/pipes often present serried modes with various frequencies due to high levels of structural flexibility and slenderness, especially when the flow velocity is non-uniformly distributed along the span. Therefore, the vortex-induced vibration (hence VIV) for slender risers/pipes is usually characterized by multi-mode motions. In this paper, by means of a newly developed empirical mode decomposition (EMD) method which contributes to more efficient instantaneous multi-mode identification and analysis, new characteristics of a multi-mode “lock-in” vibration process of a large-scale flexible pipe subject to shear flow were discussed. Because the two-degree vibration along the span can be analyzed simultaneously, the effects of multi-mode VIV were investigated systematically. From the given illustrative examples, it was found that the vibration energy diffusion between the fluid and the structure, and among the participating modes, may be repeatable and reversible, or even irreversible, which causes VIV to be highly intricate. The coexistence of multiple modes, energy transfer, and mode switching/jump is observed when the reduced velocity is relatively high. The multi-dominant mode phenomenon is also found in both cross-flow (CF) and in-line (IL) VIVs. Energy transfers between the CF and IL directions occasionally occur, and CF VIV is apt to dominate the vibration process, because it is superior to IL VIV with the increment of the reduced velocity.     

Experimental Investigation on Vortex-Induced Vibration of Steel Catenary Riser

Steel catenary riser(SCR) is the transmission device between the seabed and the floating production facilities. As developments move into deeper water, the fatigue life of the riser can become critical to the whole production system, especially due to the vortex-induced vibration(VIV), which is the key factor to operational longevity. As a result, experimental investigation about VIV of the riser was performed in a large plane pool which is 60 m long, 36 m wide and 6.5 m deep. Experiments were developed to study the influence of current speed and seabed on VIV of SCR. The results show that amplitudes of strain and response frequencies increase with the current speed both in cross-flow(CF) and in-line(IL). When the current speed is high, multi-mode response is observed in the VIV motion. The amplitudes of strain in IL direction are not much smaller than those in CF direction. The seabed has influence on the response frequencies of riser and the positions of damage for riser.