Fluid-solid interaction simulations of an aeroelastic square prism in sinusoidal oscillatory flows

Abstract

This study numerically investigates the aerodynamic and aeroelastic characteristics of a square prism (aeroelastic model) and wind field around it in sinusoidal oscillatory flows (SOFs). The reliability of the fluid-solid interaction (FSI) simulation is validated by a free vibration test and wind tunnel tests in smooth flow and SOF. The effects of the amplitude and frequency of SOFs are studied at the mean wind speed of vortex-induced resonance. The results show that increasing the amplitude and frequency of SOFs will amplify the root mean square (RMS) along-wind and across-wind base shear forces of the aeroelastic model but decrease the RMS across-wind displacement at the top of the aeroelastic model. The spectral analysis of the base shear forces indicates that the influence of vortex shedding on the across-wind base shear force is reduced by either increasing the amplitude or increasing the frequency of SOFs. The mean and instantaneous wind fields around the aeroelastic model in SOFs and smooth flow are compared, and the wake characteristics of the aeroelastic model in SOFs are analysed by dynamic mode decomposition. It is observed that when the frequency of SOFs is 1.5 times as large as the fundamental natural frequency of the aeroelastic model, the regular vortex shedding process is substantially affected.