Kinematics and forces of a flexible body in Karman vortex street

Abstract

Experiments of a flexible filament in the wake of a cylinder and in free stream were conducted in a vertical soap film tunnel. The experiments distinctly visualized the movement of the filament. Based on the experimental kinematic results, a 2-d panel method was used to calculate the forces acting on the filament. The experiment and numerical results revealed that different from that in free stream, the filament in Karman vortex street flapped at the same frequency as the vortex street, and with smaller amplitude and larger curvature. The filament suffered an evident thrust in Karman vortex street, while a drag appeared in the case of free stream. The dependence of the drag coefficient on the phase relation between the movement of the filament and the Karman vortex street was also studied.