Fundamental behavior of Vortex Self Induced Vibration (VSIV)

An experimental facility has been designed to study the transverse response of the vortex-induced vibration of a fully submerged horizontal cylinder under the influence of vertical harmonic oscillating motion. The study aims to analyze the vortex self-induced vibration (VSIV) phenomenon which occurs on steel catenary risers (SCR) connected to floating platforms in the deep offshore. These vibrations occur in the absence of a current due to the self-motion of the body caused by a source afar. The experiments were conducted in a tank at the LOC/COPPE/UFRJ (Laboratory of Waves and Current of COPPE, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro). The amplitude and frequency of transverse motion are calculated for various Keulegan-Carpenter numbers and reduced velocities. Thanks to both the use of recent instrumentation and very low damping pneumatic bearing, the paper complements the pioneering work by Sumer and Fredsoe (1988) by exhibiting for the first time the trajectories of the VSIV motion. These are classified based on their different configurations such as oval-shape, eight-shape, etc. The Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) tests are used to study the behavior of the flow around the cylinder during different trajectories of VSIV motion.