Suppression of Vortex-Induced Vibration and Phase-Averaged Analysis of the Wake Generated by a Circular Cylinder Covered with Helical Grooves

Abstract

The effect of triple helical grooves on the suppression of vortex-induced vibration (VIV) of a circular cylinder was investigated experimentally in a wind tunnel over Reynolds number in the range of 1 × 104 < Re < 4 × 104. It was found that the helical grooves were effective in suppressing VIV with the peak amplitude reduction of approximately 36%. In addition, the lock-on region was also reduced. To explore the mechanism for the suppression of VIV, experiments on flow structures for a stationary grooved cylinder were also conducted in a wind tunnel at a free stream velocity U∞ of 4.37 m/s, corresponding to a Reynolds number based on the bare cylinder diameter of about 3500. The data were then analyzed using the phase-averaged method to evaluate the coherent vortex structures in the wakes. The results for the stationary grooved cylinder showed that the grooves weakened vortex shedding in the near wake. In addition, the grooves also reduced the drag coefficient by 6.6%. These results help explain the reduction of VIV using helical grooves.