Effects of mass and damping ratios on VIV of a circular cylinder

In this study the basic characteristics of the dynamic response and vortex shedding from an elastically mounted circular cylinder in laminar flow is numerically investigated. The Reynolds number ranges from 80 to 160, a regime that is fully laminar. The governing equations of fluid flow are cast in terms of vorticity. The two-dimensional vorticity transport equation is solved using a vortex method. Effects of important parameters on the system response and vortex shedding are investigated; these include: mass ratio, damping ratio, Reynolds number and reduced velocity. The numerical results show that a decrease in either the mass ratio or damping ratio of the system can lead to an increase in both the oscillation amplitude and the reduced velocity range over which lock-in occurs. The results also suggest that the mass-damping parameter may characterize the system response adequately, although the effect of changing mass ratio appears to be a little more profound compared to damping ratio. Vorticity contour plots suggest that the vortex shedding occurs in the 2S mode, although a wake structure similar to the C(2S) mode appears at distances 15–20 diameters downstream in the lock-in region. The simulation results are in good agreement with previously published data.