Numerical investigation on vortex-induced motion of a pivoted cylindrical body in uniform flow

Abstract

Based upon our previous study presented in FSI 2011 (Numerical simulation of vortex-induced vibration of a pivoted cylinder using the spectral element method, Fluid Structure Interaction, 2011), we demonstrate by numerical computation the effect of cross-sectional shape of cylinder which is pivoted at the wake of the body for the energy extraction via enhancement of VIV motion. The fluid equation is solved by using a computer code based upon the spectral element method (SEM) with the help of the arbitrary Lagrangian-Eulerian (ALE) framework. At first, the circular shape is tested, and then ellipses, whose ratios of the minor axis to the major axis are 0.6 and 0.8, are compared with the case of the circular shape. We have found that ellipses enlarge displacements almost two times at Reynolds number 500. It was also found that increased drag forces contribute positively to the excitation torques. ？ 2013 WIT Press.