Vortex Induced Vibrations of Finned Cylinders*

This article presents the results of a numerical simulation on the vortex induced vibration of various finned cylinders at low Reynolds number. The non-dimensional, incompressible Navier-Stokes equations and continuity equation were adopted to simulate the fluid around the cylinder. The cylinder (with or without fins) in fluid flow was approximated as a mass-spring system. The fluid-body interaction of the cylinder with fins and uniform flow was numerically simulated by applying the displacement and stress iterative computation on the fluid-body interfaces. Both vortex structures and response amplitudes of cylinders with various arrangements of fins were analyzed and discussed. The remarkable decrease of response amplitude for the additions of Triangle60 fins and Quadrangle45 fins was found to be comparable with that of bare cylinder. However, the additions of Triangle00 fins and Quadrangle00 fins enhance the response amplitude greatly. Despite the assumption of two-dimensional laminar flow, the present study can give a good insight into the phenomena of cylinders with various arrangements of fins.