A Numerical Study of the Effect of Vortex-Induced Vibrations on a Circular Cylinder Mounted under Elastic Support

Abstract

Vortex Induced Vibration (VIV) of structures is of practical interest to many fields of engineering. The particular case of a rigid cylinder mounted under elastic supports and constrained to oscillate in a single direction is modelled using OpenFOAM’s two-dimensional Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) equations with k-ω SST turbulence model. The model aimed for relativelly low Reynolds numbers (2500 ≤ Re ≤ 15000) and the results were compared with Khalak and Williamson’s experimental results with the intent of also evaluating maximum amplitude to diameter ratio, A/D, achieving good agreement between both computational and experimental data. Lift and drag coefficients, C