Flow induced oscillation of two rigid rectangular plates in a side-by-side configuration

Abstract

The present work is an experimental study of two oscillating rigid plates placed in side-by-side configuration, hinged at their leading edges, subjected to low subsonic flow. This problem is investigated using smoke-wire flow visualization, hot-wire anemometry, and time resolved particle image velocimetry. It is found that beyond a critical Reynolds number, the plates set into oscillatory motion. This critical Reynolds number depends on the gap between the plates. It is also seen that this value of Reynolds number, at lower values of gap to thickness ratio (<7) is significantly higher than that of the single plate configuration value. The frequency and amplitude of the oscillating plates at various gaps and Reynolds numbers have been studied and compared with the characteristics of an oscillating single plate. It is also found that depending on the gap and acceleration of the free-stream, there exist two modes of oscillation - (i) in-phase and (ii) out-of-phase. For gap to thickness ratio less than 10, only in-phase oscillations take place for all values of free-stream velocity considered in the present work, whereas, when this ratio is greater than 10, the mode of oscillation depends on the initial conditions up to a certain free-stream velocity, beyond which the plates switch to in-phase mode. Smoke wire flow visualization technique along with time resolved particle image velocimetry reveal that the vorticity distributions around the plates are responsible for the initiation of the two modes of oscillations.