Numerical study of the vortex-induced vibrations of a cantilevered pipe with a concentrated mass end using a wake oscillator model

Abstract

In this paper, a numerical study based on a wake oscillator model has been carried out to determine the vortex-induced vibration (VIV) response characteristics of a flexible cantilevered pipe with a concentrated mass at the free end. First, a coupled model consisting of a cantilevered pipe and a wake oscillator is established, followed by discretization of the model and an iterative solution using the second-order central difference method. The displacement response and frequency response characteristics for different flow velocities and concentrated end masses have been compared. The numerical results reveal that the maximum value of the structural vibration displacement occurs at the bottom; i.e., free boundary end, for the cantilevered pipe with a concentrated mass at the free end. The dominant vibration mode typically shows a stepwise increase for an increase of the maximum flow velocity. As the vibration mode is transmitted from a lower order to a higher one, the vibration displacement of the structural end decreases fast. As the concentrated end mass increases, the dominant vibration mode shows a stepwise decrease, and as the vibration mode is transmitted from a higher order to a lower one, the vibration displacement of the structural end experiences a sharp increase.