Experimental investigation of the effects of the coverage of helical strakes on the vortex-induced vibration response of a flexible riser

The effects of different helical strake coverage on the vortex-induced vibration (VIV) of a model flexible riser were studied experimentally, with the aim of further improving the understanding of VIV responses. Uniform and linearly sheared currents were simulated to study response parameters such as non-dimensional displacement, fatigue damage, suppression efficiency, and the comprehensive evaluation is further studied. Test results of the bare model for a uniform current showed that the behavior of both the standing wave and traveling wave dominated VIV displacement. However, for a linearly sheared current, traveling wave behavior dominated VIV displacement in the high-velocity range. The results of the straked model tests indicated that the response was strongly dependent upon the amount of coverage of helical strakes. The flexible riser with 75% strake coverage gave the best comprehensive evaluation in a uniform current, and 50% strake coverage gave the best comprehensive evaluation in a linearly sheared current.     

Cross-flow vortex-induced vibration reduction of a long flexible cylinder using 3 and 4 control rods with different configurations

Control rod is one of the common passive control methods to suppress the vortex-induced vibration (VIV) of cylindrical structures. In this paper, the experimental study is conducted to detailed understand the performance of multiple control rods in suppressing the cross-flow (CF) VIV for a long flexible cylinder. The influence of the spatial arrangement of 3 and 4 control rods on CF VIV response of the main cylinder is investigated in a towing tank. It is observed that the attack angle θ is a very significant parameter to affect the vibration response, dominant frequency and the VIV suppression efficiency of the main cylinder. Based on the suppression efficiencies analysis of VIV response in the present experimental investigation, the spatial arrangement of 3 control rods with θ = 40° and 4 control rods with θ = 30° is the best choice for suppressing the CF VIV response of the main flexible cylinder. Overall, the use of 4 control rods could reduce VIV more effectively than the application of 3 control rods.     

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.     

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.     

VIV response of a long flexible riser fitted with strakes in uniform and linearly sheared currents

An experimental investigation was conducted on a flexible riser with and without various strake arrangements. The aim of the present work was to further improve the understanding of the response performance of the vortex-induced vibration (VIV) of a riser with helical strakes. Two current profiles, including uniform and linearly sheared flows, were simulated. The uniform current was simulated by towing the riser model in one direction using the towing carriage, and the linearly sheared current was simulated by fixing one end of the riser and using a driven cantilever to traverse a circular arc. Based on the modal superposition method, the displacement responses were obtained from the measured strain. Strakes with different heights and pitches were analysed, and response parameters such as the displacement response and fatigue damage were studied. The results of the bare model test show that the lock-in phenomenon displays multi-order characteristics, and the VIV displacement decreases with an increased order of the lock-in regime. The results of the straked model test indicate that the response characteristics of a bare riser can be quite distinct from those of a riser with helical strakes, and the response performance depends closely on the geometry of the strake configuration.     

Validation of a finite difference method for the simulation of vortex-induced vibrations on a circular cylinder

The Karman Vortex Street generated by a circular cylinder is investigated by the numerical solution of the compressible Navier–Stokes equations in the incompressible Mach number range (Mach<0.3) using the Beam and Warming implicit scheme. The agreement with the fully incompressible projection method (Chorin, 1968) is fairly good while convergence time is very much better. The investigation suggests that the compressible Navier–Stokes equations may be used as an efficient alternative to study incompressible flows as well. Mach numbers just below 0.3 are enough to simulate incompressible flow behavior and at the same time do not cause numerical ill-conditioning in the solution. In addition, some relevant features of the vortices generated and carried by the wake of the cylinder could be fairly well captured.     

Numerical simulation of a short flexible pipe subject to forced motion and vortex-induced vibration

A series of numerical simulations about a small scale(aspect ratio:63.2) flexible pipe undergoing forced harmonious oscillation and vortex-induced vibration(VIV) have been taken into account.The wake hydrodynamics and pipe deformation were accomplished by ANSYS MFX solution strategy designed for fluid-structure interaction(FSI) problem with well-performed LES model.The configuration of structured mesh,multi-domain design,different mesh stiffness admeasured by User Fortran ensured that the numerical task was competent to deal with large deformation related to this case.The introduction of instantaneous amplitude definition and modeless component decomposition method(Chen and Kim,2008) was helpful to reveal much more information from modal analysis.Most results from numerical simulation are generally consistent with those from model test(Choi and Hong,2000) via the comparison between them.As supplementary to model test,visualization of the vortex wake was also provided.It has been proved that the forced oscillation doesn't only excite a complicated dumbbell-like wake pattern around the outer thimble,but also results in inner flow inside the PVC pipe.The velocity of the inner flow increases with the frequency of forced oscillation.     

Experimental study and numerical simulation on vortex-induced vibration of flexible riser

In order to study the effect of internal flow on vortex-induced vibration of flexible riser, the experiment on the vortex-induced vibration of flexible riser transporting fluid in the current was conducted in the physical oceanography laboratory of Ocean University of China. Considering the internal flowing fluid and external marine environment, the dynamic response of the flexible riser was measured. The corresponding numerical simulation was performed using the wake oscillatory model considering the extensibility of the riser system. Both the experiment and the numerical simulation indicated that with the increase of internal flow speed, the response amplitude increases, while the response frequency decreases.     

近壁面柔性圆柱流致振动—拍击耦合特性试验研究

大跨度柔性悬跨海管的振动响应及管床碰撞会加剧管道的疲劳损伤,影响管道油气的安全输运。基于高速摄像非介入测试方法捕捉了近底床柔性悬跨海管的振动响应特征及管床拍击过程,对比分析了间隙比G/D及约化速度U_r对振动—拍击耦合响应的影响,辨识并提出了试验观测的管床拍击模式。研究结果表明：悬跨管的均方根振幅A_{z, rms}/D在前二阶主导模态下随约化速度U_r的升高先增大后减小;当间隙比减小时,共振区的振动频率减小,且一阶振动向二阶振动的过渡在更高的约化速度时发生,过渡时存在时间上的模态切换现象。振动平衡位置向远离壁面一侧偏移。根据悬跨管振动的主导模态与拍击特性,通过试验辨识了6种管—床拍击模式,包括一阶模态主导的小段拍击、大段拍击,一阶向二阶模态过渡时的Ⅰ、Ⅱ型拍击,以及二阶模态主导的单段拍击、双段交替拍击。     

不同固有频率比条件下圆柱双自由度涡激振动特性的数值研究

采用RANS方法,结合SST k-ω湍流模型,对不同顺流向与横顺流向固有频率的比值(即固有频率比,fnx/fny)条件下低质量比圆柱体的双自由度涡激振动进行了二维数值模拟。圆柱体的质量比为2.6,雷诺数范围为2 500~18 750,相应的约化速度范围为2~15,包括了经典试验中出现的整个锁定范围。通过研究发现,固有频率比是影响振动特性的重要参数,随着固有频率比的增加,响应幅值逐渐降低且向更高的约化速度偏移;在低约化速度范围内,固有频率比对顺流向和横流向振动之间的相位差以及升力频率有较大影响,从而得到各种不同偏向的8字形轨迹;最后对不同固有频率比条件下的尾涡模式进行了讨论,给出了对应不同约化速度时的尾涡模式。     

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.     

Numerical investigation on the gas entrainment of ventilated partial cavity based on a multiscale modelling approach

Ventilated cavitation which is acknowledged as an efficient drag reduction technology for underwater vehicle is characterised by the very disparate length and time scales, posing great difficulty in the application of this technology. A multiscale numerical approach which integrates a sub-grid air entrainment model into the two-fluid framework is proposed in this paper to resolve the complex flow field created by ventilated cavity. Simulations have been carried out for the partially ventilated cavity underneath flat plate, with special efforts putting on understanding the gas entrainment at the cavity tail and the bubble dispersion process downstream. The flow parameters including the void fraction, the bubble velocity and the bubble size distributions in and downstream of the ventilated cavity are fully investigated. Comparisons between the numerical results with the experimental data are in satisfactory agreement, demonstrating the potential of the proposed methodology. The ventilation rate effect on the cavity shape and bubbly flow parameters are further investigated, obtaining the law of bubble dispersion and the bubble size evolution. This research not only provide a useful method for the investigation on the multiscale multiphase flow, but also give insight on understanding the combined drag reduction mechanism resulted from large-scale cavity and microbubbles.     

Behavior of vortex-induced vibration of a circular cylinder near a deformable wall with two degrees of freedom in steady flow

The behavior of vortex-induced vibration of a two-degree-of-freedom cylinder near a deformable wall in steady flow is investigated experimentally.The typical phenomenon of the two-degree-of-freedom cylinder’s VIV is discussed.The influences of initial gap between the cylinder and the wall on the dynamic responses of the cylinder are analyzed.The comparison is made about dynamic responses of the cylinder with one and two degrees of freedom.Experimental results show that the vibration of the cylinder near a deformable wall with a small value of initial gap-to-diameter ratios can generally be divided into two phases.The initial gap-to-diameter ratios have a noticeable influence on the occurrence of transverse vibration.The transverse maximum amplitude of the cylinder with two degrees of freedom is larger than that of the cylinder with one degree of freedom under the condition with the same values of other parameters.However,the vibration frequency of the cylinder for the two degrees of freedom case is smaller than that for the one degree of freedom case at the same value of Vr number.     

Force and flow characteristics of a circular cylinder with uniform surface roughness at subcritical Reynolds numbers

The main purpose of this study is to establish a better understanding of the relationship between drag reduction and surface roughness. Experiments were conducted to measure the force and flow characteristics of a circular cylinder with different types of artificial surface roughness over the range 6 × 10³ < Re < 8 × 10⁴ (Re is based on the cylinder diameter D). The roughness cylinder was formed by covering the exterior surface of the cylinder with uniformly distributed (1) sandpaper, (2) netting, and (3) dimples. The roughness coefficient ranged from k/D = 0.0028 to 0.025 (k is the roughness height). A detailed quantitative measurement of the flow field around the cylinder using Particle Imaging Velocimetry (PIV) was carried out. The hydrodynamic force coefficients (drag and lift) of the rough cylinders are compared against those of a smooth cylinder measured under the same flow conditions. It is found that certain configuration of surface roughness significantly reduces the mean drag coefficient of the cylinder, particularly at large Reynolds numbers. In addition, the root-mean-square (r.m.s.) lift coefficient of the rough cylinders is considerably lower than that of a smooth cylinder.     

Effect of traveling wave on the vortex-induced vibration of a long flexible pipe

It is expected that the vortex-induced vibration response of long flexible tubular structures exposed to a shear current will consist of multiple modes of standing and traveling waves simultaneously. The vibration characteristics of traveling wave caused by VIV and its effect on the vibration form for a flexible pipe model are presented in this paper. Two methods are proposed to reveal the characteristics of standing and traveling waves from the perspective of an instantaneous illustration and a time-averaged statistical analysis separately. The first is associated with the adoption of an illustration method depending upon an instantaneous local upper envelope to identify the dominance of the standing or traveling wave. It is found that the in-line and cross-flow wave types show synchronization in that the wave types are mostly changeless or occasionally transform from one type to the other nearly simultaneously. In both the in-line and cross-flow directions, it is evident that the vibration response is not dominated by the standing wave characteristics but can often be characterized by the alternate presence of a traveling wave and a hybrid standing-traveling wave. The second method is associated with the adoption of the significant strain peak concept proposed to estimate the occurrence of the peak strain response and fatigue damage risk. It is found that the strain peak value attributed to in-line static strain accounts for a large proportion of the final equivalent significant strain peak near the pipe end with high reduced velocities, especially when the flow velocity is high. With the occurrence of a hybrid pattern of standing-traveling wave for higher velocities, the distribution of the significant cross-flow strain peak becomes uniform and its corresponding wave shape is apt to be flat.     

Large-eddy simulation of the flow past a circular cylinder at sub- to super-critical Reynolds numbers

Large-eddy simulation of turbulent flow past a circular cylinder at sub- to super-critical Reynolds numbers is performed using a high-fidelity orthogonal curvilinear grid solver. Verification studies investigate the effects of grid resolution, aspect ratio and convection scheme. Monotonic convergence is achieved in grid convergence studies. Validation studies use all available experimental benchmark data. Although the grids are relatively large and fine enough for sufficiently resolved turbulence near the cylinder, the grid uncertainties are large indicating the need for even finer grids. Large aspect ratio is required for sub-critical Reynolds number cases, whereas small aspect ratio is sufficient for critical and super-critical Reynolds number cases. All the experimental trends were predicted with reasonable accuracy, in consideration the large facility bias, age of most of the data, and differences between experimental and computational setup in particular free stream turbulence and roughness. The largest errors were for under prediction of turbulence separation.     

Model test of the surface and submerged vehicles with the micro-bubble drag reduction

This study is based on the effective experiment observation and measuring technology to discuss the interaction influence between liquid turbulent boundary layer and a crowded group micro-bubbles. It is in order to understand and quantify the micro-bubbles clouds inside the turbulent boundary layer to eliminate the capacity of skin friction drag. Whenever the micro-bubbles are over supplied, pile up effect happened which makes micro-bubbles to integrate to each other as a large-size air film. Although they still have the drag reduction effect, the efficiency of drag reduction slowed down at this transition period. In the experiment of vertical type circulating water tunnel, when 1 μm porous medium is at 7 m/s flow speed, the C_v value at 0.056 has the best drag reduction efficiency of 26%. While 10 μm porous medium is at the same flow speed, the drag reduction efficiency is only around 23%.     

动波浪壁圆柱绕流三维数值模拟

利用计算流体力学软件Fluent开展了三维动波浪壁圆柱绕流的数值模拟,建立了三维运动波浪壁圆柱模型,通过C语言自编程序实现波浪壁面的运动控制,并保证壁面变形时网格的高质量。在来流速度u=0.125 m/s、雷诺数Re=12 500的情况下,开展了动波浪壁波动速度w=0、0.062 5、0.125、0.187 5 m/s四个工况的计算分析,并比较了不同波动速度对流场结构、升力、阻力特性的影响。结果表明:动波浪壁圆柱能有效抑制流动的分离,消除交替脱落的尾涡,从而消除周期振荡的升力;在消除卡门涡街的同时,圆柱后驻点处的涡量值随波动速度增加而增加,其原因在于波形移动加大了壁面流体的速度,从而减小了圆柱前后的压力差,减小了阻力;随着波动速度的增大,平均阻力系数呈明显下降趋势,当波动速度为来流速度的1.5倍时,平均阻力系数相对于光滑圆柱下降了53.76%。     

An experimental investigation of hydrodynamic coefficients for a vertical truncated rectangular cylinder due to regular and random waves

The research into hydrodynamic loading on ocean structures has concentrated mostly on circular cross-section members and relatively limited work has been carried out on wave loading on other cross-sections such as rectangular sections. These find applications in many offshore structures as columns and pontoons in semi-submersibles and tension-leg platforms. The present investigation demonstrates the behaviour of rectangular cylinders subject to wave loading and also supplies the hydrodynamic coefficients for the design of these sections.This paper presents the results of wave forces acting on a surface piercing truncated rectangular cylinder set vertically in a towing tank. The experiments are carried out in a water depth of 2.2 m with regular and random waves for low Keulegan–Carpenter number up to 6. The rectangular cylinder is of 2 m length, 0.2 m breadth and 0.4 m width with a submergence depth of 1.45 m from still water level. Based on Morison equation, the relationship between inertia and drag coefficients are evaluated and are presented as a function of KC number for various values of frequency parameter β, for two aspect ratios of cylinders, equals to 1/2 and 2/1. Drag and inertia coefficients obtained through regular wave tests are used for the random wave analysis to compute the in-line force spectrum.The results of the experiments show the drag and inertia coefficients are strongly affected by the variation in the aspect ratios of the cylinder. The drag coefficients decreases and inertia coefficients increases with increase in Keulegan–Carpenter number up to the range of KC number tested. The random wave results show a good correlation between measured and computed force spectrums. The transverse forces in both regular and random waves are found to be small compared to in-line forces.