Two Tandem Cylinders With Turbulence Stimulation in FIV Power Conversion: CFD With Experimental Verification of Interaction

Abstract

Flow induced vibrations of two rough, rigid, tandem-cylinders on springs are investigated for power conversion for Reynolds number 30,000 ≤ Re ≤ 120,000. Passive turbulence control (PTC) in the form of roughness strips is employed to enhance FIV and increase the power harness efficiency of the VIVACE (Vortex Induced Vibration for Aquatic Clean Energy) converter. Numerical simulations are performed using two-dimensional, Unsteady Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes equations with the Spalart-Allmaras turbulence model. The center-to-center spacing ratio d / D of the two cylinders is set as 2.0 or 2.57 with mass ratio m* = 1.343 , damping ratio ζ = 0.26, and stiffness K = 1,200 N/m. Amplitude response, frequency response, interaction, energy harvesting, and conversion efficiency are presented and discussed. The main conclusions are: (1) In the VIV region at Re = 60,000, the amplitude response, frequency response, harnessed power, and power conversion efficiency of the upstream cylinder is the same for the two spacing ratios. Due to the shedding effect, the motion of the downstream cylinder for spacing ratio d/D = 2.0 is more severely suppressed than spacing ratio d/D = 2.57, which reduces the harnessed power and conversion efficiency for the downstream cylinder. (2) In the galloping region at Re = 110,000, due to the different impingement of the shed vortices on the downstream cylinder, the upstream cylinder harnesses more power and has higher energy conversion efficiency for spacing ratio d/D = 2.0 than d/D = 2.57.