Passive Turbulence Control Research Articles

The Effect of Reynolds Numbers on Flow-Induced Vibrations: A Numerical Study of a Cylinder on Elastic Supports

In the field of fluid dynamics, the Reynolds number is a key parameter that influences the flow characteristics around bluff bodies. While its impact on flow around stationary cylinders has been extensively studied, systematic research into flow-induced vibrations (FIVs) under these conditions remains limited. This study utilizes numerical simulations to explore the FIV characteristics of smooth cylinders and passive turbulence control (PTC) cylinders supported elastically within a Reynolds number range from 0.8 × 104 to 1.1 × 105. By comparing the vibration responses, lift coefficients, and wake structures of these cylinders across various Reynolds numbers, this paper aims to elucidate how Reynolds numbers affect the flow and vibration characteristics of these structures. The research employs images of instantaneous lift changes and vortex shedding across multiple sections to visually demonstrate the dynamic changes in flow states. The findings are expected to provide theoretical support for optimizing structural design and vibration control strategies in high-Reynolds-number environments, emphasizing the importance of considering Reynolds numbers in structural safety and design optimization.

Interference Effects on Flow-Induced Oscillation of Three Tandem Cylinders With Passive Turbulence Control

Abstract The characteristics of flow-induced oscillation (FIO) of multiple tandem cylinders with passive turbulence control (PTC) change due to interference between PTC cylinders. Identifying positive and negative interferences is vital for designing marine structures involving PTC cylinders on elastic supports. Experiments on a single PTC cylinder, two PTC cylinders and three PTC cylinders in tandem were conducted to study the interferences due to placing an identical oscillating PTC cylinder upstream, downstream, and both upstream and downstream. Critical parameters (damping, stiffness) and Reynolds number (Re) are varied in the tests. The onset inflow velocity of oscillation is reduced and back-to-back vortex-induced vibration (VIV) and galloping is achieved, when placing interference cylinders in the vicinity of the basic oscillator. The interference due to the downstream cylinder enhances FIO of the basic oscillator. In the VIV region, one interference downstream cylinder is more effective than two interference downstream cylinders. In the galloping region, the enhancement improves for two interference cylinders for lower stiffness and damping ratios. The interference upstream cylinder tends to suppress FIO of the basic oscillator for higher stiffness. The suppression of one upstream cylinder is more vigorous than that of two upstream cylinders in the VIV region, and the opposite is true in the galloping region. When two interference cylinders are placed both downstream and upstream of the basic oscillator, its FIO is enhanced for the lower stiffness whilst it is suppressed for the higher stiffness.

Performance evaluation and optimal design for passive turbulence control-based hydrokinetic energy harvester using EWM-based TOPSIS

Passive turbulence control (PTC) in the form of square-shaped rods (SSR) is applied to improve the performance of the flow-induced vibration (FIV)-based energy harvester. The influence of SSR installation positions (θ) on the mechanical power and hydroelastic efficiency of SSR-cylinders is studied experimentally. Vortex-induced vibration (VIV) and VIV-galloping coupling modes are observed in this research. It is found that the SSR-cylinder with θ = 150° (VIV-galloping coupling) achieves the highest mechanical power, while the SSR-cylinder with θ = 180° (VIV) attains the highest hydroelastic efficiency. To evaluate the performance of energy harvesting and find the optimal design of the oscillator, the technique for order of preference by similarity to ideal solution (TOPSIS) is employed. The TOPSIS method considers both the average and maximum values of mechanical power and hydroelastic efficiency, with data-driven and adaptive weights estimated using the entropy weight method (EWM). It is indicated that the SSR installed at 150° obtains the optimal performance in a wide flow velocity range, followed by 140° and 70°. Finally, the effectiveness of the optimal design is validated by comparing it with other harvesters and the rationality of the proposed EWM-based TOPSIS method is analyzed in detail.

Hydrokinetic energy harvesting from slow currents using flow-induced oscillations

To harness marine hydrokinetic energy from slow flows, which constitute the majority of currents, tides, and rivers, new Passive Turbulence Control (PTC), consisting of large turbulence stimulators, is tested experimentally on circular cylinders on springs. This study experimentally investigates the effect of PTC on the onset of Flow-Induced Oscillations (FIO) and particularly the relative onset of Vortex-Induced Vibrations (VIV) and galloping. Experiments are conducted in the Low Turbulence Free Surface Water Channel, University of Michigan. Fixed are: mass ratio m* = 1.48, aspect ratio l/D = 10.29, and total damping ratio ζ = 0.04. Parameters are: cylinder diameter D, spring stiffness K, PTC location and height, and flow speed U∈[0.36 m/s-1.45 m/s]. Placing the leading edge of PTC at 40–60° induces high amplitude FIO while placement at 10–20° suppresses FIO. As PTC height increases, VIV and galloping initiate earlier and exhibit higher amplitude with a steeper slope. Lower spring stiffness initiates VIV earlier by reducing the oscillator natural frequency in water. Even though large PTC maintained its effectiveness in initiating galloping early, it has no effect on the earlier initiation of VIV, which starts at a nearly fixed reduced velocity. Lower spring stiffness and large PTC enable power generation at low current speed (0.2 m/s).

Enhancement of energy capture by flow induced motion of a circular cylinder using passive turbulence control: Decoupling strip thickness and roughness effects

Passive turbulence control of flow induced motion of a cylinder using strips has been practiced for over 30 years. The two distinct physical characteristics of strips: thickness and roughness, can have coupled effects on altering the flow induced motion. The experimental work discussed here decouples these two effects for augmented energy extraction. Tests with cylinders attached with strips of roughness varying from 0% to 100%, and thickness varying from 0.8% to 8.2% of the cylinder diameter, were performed (5000 < Re < 35600). The dynamic response of the configurations with rough strips was compared to that with smooth strips of same thickness. Mechanical power and energy transfer efficiencies were evaluated to analyze the power extraction potential of different configurations. Power generated by the smooth strip configurations was 1.25–5 times higher depending on the roughness ratio and flow velocity. Smooth strips also provided more operational stability, characterized by smaller values of the coefficient of variation of power and concentrated non-dimensional force-velocity states. These devices are the more efficient adaptation from an energy harvesting perspective at low velocities (<1.0 m/s), a range below the cut-in speed for most hydrokinetic turbines, thereby making energy extraction feasible from shallow rivers and slow-flowing streams.

A CFD Study of the Effects of Slots on Energy Harvesting from Flow-Induced Circular Cylinder Vibrations

In this paper, numerical investigations of the harnessed power from Flow-Induced Vibrations of a new modified circular cylinder are performed. The proposed cylinder modification consists in adding two slots located on the front surface of the cylinder, instead of the baseline configuration, usually applied, which consists of a Passive Turbulence Control in form two straight strips. The computations are based on the solution of the Unsteady Reynolds- Averaged Navier-Stokes equations (URANS) coupled with the dynamic equations system describing the cylinder motion, where turbulence is modeled using the two-equation SST k – ω model. The harvested and the harnessed powers are thereafter calculated according to the amplitude and the frequency of the cylinder oscillatory motion. The numerical results show that the slots lead to shift the flow separation point toward the leading edge, which involves higher hydrodynamic instabilities resulting in higher oscillations amplitudes, and thereby a significant enhancement of the harnessed power is noticed.

Enhancing Dynamic Response of Cantilevered Rectangular Prism Using a Splitter Plate as a Passive Turbulence Control in Water Tunnel

The effects of splitter plate as a passive turbulence control on the transverse vibration characteristics of a cantilevered rectangular prism with the different finite length (aspect ratio L/H) and depth ratios (side ratio D/H of 0.2 and 0.5) was investigated in a water tunnel. A splitter plate was installed behind the prism with a small gap and sufficient length to prevent vortex shedding intrusion. It enhances the response amplitude ascended linearly with respect to non-dimensional velocity. In the case of the prisms with critical points, interferences of amplitude signal spectra for the period of displacement vanished, yielding a uniform waveform on the response amplitude. Inserting a splitter plate improves the increment rate of the dynamic response of the test models. A brief numerical calculation was performed to find the quantities of flow features around a plain and rectangular prism with a detached splitter plate. The alteration of flow wake characteristics is found by diminishing unsymmetrical vortices shedding and reduce flow entrainment at the trailing edge. The essential findings of the prism with a detached splitter plate are the base pressure improvement, reducing drag force, and vanishing sharp peaks of wake FFT spectra.

Hydrokinetic energy conversion using flow induced oscillations of single-cylinder with large passive turbulence control

Various types of flow-induced oscillations (FIOs) have been implemented in development of marine hydrokinetic (MHK) energy converters. With passive turbulence control (PTC), energy harvesting starts at a flow speed of about 0.5 m/s. However, there is worldwide MHK energy available in even slower currents. In the present study, the effect of damping on FIO and power extraction is investigated for a converter with large turbulence stimulation (PTC) consisting of straight strips with a height of 15% of the cylinder diameter and placed symmetrically on the cylinder surface. The oscillating amplitude decreases, as the damping ratio increases, with unchanged sinusoidal pattern of the displacement time-history. The frequency ratio is also affected by damping especially in the VIV initial branch and transition region between VIV and galloping. An important flow characteristic of the large-PTC cylinder is that a recirculation region is formed behind the PTC, causing appreciable disturbance to the flow past the cylinder. Power can be harvested in the whole FIO range and the harnessed power maximum appears at the largest inflow velocity tested. However, the optimum of harnessing efficiency is located at the beginning of the VIV upper branch. The gap between VIV and galloping is bridged when large PTC is used, eliminating the drop in power and efficiency even at higher damping, which would be a weakness of regular-PTC cylinder for energy harvesting. The mechanism behind the variation of harnessing efficiency with inflow velocity and damping ratio is revealed, and the optimality criterion for the converter design is discussed.

Numerical investigations of three-dimensional flows around a cylinder attaching with symmetric strips

Minor changes to the surface of a cylinder can significantly influence the associated flow characteristics. This paper describes a three-dimensional numerical investigation of a cylinder attached with symmetric strips in a uniform flow at Re=3900. The location (20°≤α≤130°), thickness (0.01D≤t≤0.08D), and coverage (5°≤β≤100°) of the strips are selected for study. Two flow modes, patterns A and D, can be characterized in the flow around this passive turbulence control cylinder by their vortex enhancement and suppression effects. The Strouhal number of pattern A is very close to the response of a smooth cylinder. For cylinders with the upper strip located at α≤90° from the front stagnation point, the lift force correlation in the spanwise direction is enhanced by the forced flow separation. When the front edge of the upper strip is fixed at α=60°, the thickness of the strips plays a vital role: the drag and lift force increase linearly as the thickness increases, whereas the Strouhal number and the vortex shedding frequency decrease.

Resolvent-based predictions for turbulent flow over anisotropic permeable substrates

Abstract

Resolvent-based design and experimental testing of porous materials for passive turbulence control

An extended version of the resolvent formulation is used to evaluate the use of anisotropic porous materials as passive flow control devices for turbulent channel flow. The effect of these porous substrates is introduced into the governing equations via a generalized version of Darcy’s law. Model predictions show that materials with high streamwise permeability and low wall-normal permeability (ϕxy=kxx/kyy≫1) can suppress resolvent modes resembling the energetic near-wall cycle. Based on these predictions, two anisotropic porous substrates with ϕxy>1 and ϕxy<1 were designed and fabricated for experiments in a benchtop water channel experiment. Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) measurements were used to compute mean turbulence statistics and to educe coherent structure via snapshot Proper Orthogonal Decomposition (POD). Friction velocity estimates based on the Reynolds shear stress profiles do not show evidence of discernible friction reduction (or increase) over the streamwise-preferential substrate with ϕxy>1 relative to a smooth wall flow at identical bulk Reynolds number. A significant increase in friction is observed over the substrate with ϕxy<1. This increase in friction is linked to the emergence of spanwise rollers resembling Kelvin–Helmholtz vortices. Coherent structures extracted via POD analysis show qualitative agreement with model predictions.

Vortex-Induced Vibration Characteristics of a PTC Cylinder with a Free Surface Effect

The experimental study of vortex induced vibration needs to be carried out in water tunnel, but in previous associated simulation work, the water tunnel was treated as an infinite flow field in the depth direction with the effect of the free surface neglected. In the paper, the dynamic characteristics and physical mechanisms of a passive turbulence control (PTC) cylinder in a flow field with a free surface is studied, and the combined technique of a volume of fluid (VOF) method and vortex-induced vibration (VIV) was realized. In the range of Reynolds number studied in this paper (3.5 × 104 ≤ Re ≤ 7.0 × 104), the dynamic parameters (lift and drag coefficients), vortex structures, VIV response (amplitude and frequency ratios), and energy harvesting characteristics of a PTC cylinder under different flow conditions were obtained. The study found that: (1) the shear layer was made more unstable behind the cylinder by the free surface, which made it quicker to reach periodic stability, and the asymmetry shortened the initial stage of vibration of the oscillator, which made it easier to produce dynamic control of the motion of the oscillator; (2) the presence of the free surface only affected the positive amplitude ratio, but had almost no effect on the negative amplitude ratio; (3) the frequency ratio in the free surface flow was closer to the experimental data; (4) the presence of the free surface did not affect the detached vortex pattern in the flow around the stationary cylinder, but in the VIV, the lower the free surface height Z, the more vortices that were shed from the moving cylinder.

Effect of Shear Flow on Flow Characteristics of The PTC Cylinder

In this paper, FLUENT software was used to simulate the flow characteristics of the passive turbulence control (PTC) cylinder in shear flow field. In the range of Reynolds number 3.5×104 ⩽Re⩽7.0×104, shear rate (K) and Reynolds number (Re) can affect the dynamic characteristics of the PTC cylinder. The results show that, in shear flow field, the trends of CDrms and CDrms of the PTC cylinder are the same as those in uniform flow field. When the parameter K is constant, CDrms and CDrms decrease with the increase of the parameter Re. When Re is constant, both CDrms and CDrms decrease with the increase of K. When Reynolds number is 3.5×104, the results about the wake shape of the PTC cylinder in the shear flow field show that the characteristics of the incoming flow will influence the pressure distribution to a greater extent and offset the influence of partial randomness to a certain extent. Compared with the randomness of KH instability of shear layer in the symmetric flow field, the difference of pressure distribution on the upper and lower surfaces of a cylinder in the shear flow field makes it easier to excite the periodic vorticity phenomenon.

Numerical investigation on interactive FIO of two-tandem cylinders for hydrokinetic energy harnessing

Flow induced oscillations (FIO) of two rough, rigid, tandem-cylinders on springs are investigated for hydrokinetic power conversion at Reynolds number 30,000 ≤ Re ≤ 120,000. Passive turbulence control (PTC) in the form of roughness strips is applied to enhance FIO 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 = 1,200N/m. Amplitude response, frequency response, interaction, energy harvesting, and conversion efficiency are presented and discussed. Results are compared to experimental data for validation and reveal how the interaction of two tandem cylinders may enhance the harnessed power. CFD provides complementary valuable information on visualization of wake and vortex structures. 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 tested. 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 timing of 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.

Enhancing Wind Energy Harvesting Using Passive Turbulence Control Devices

Aiming to predict the performance of galloping piezoelectric energy harvesters, a theoretical model is established and verified by experiments. The relative error between the model and experimental results is 5.3%. In addition, the present model is used to study the AC output characteristics of the piezoelectric energy harvesting system under passive turbulence control (PTC), and the influence of load resistance on the critical wind speed, displacement, and output power under both strong and weak coupling are analyzed from the perspective of electromechanical coupling strength, respectively. The results show that the critical wind speed initially increases and then decreases with increasing load resistance. For weak and critical coupling cases, the output power firstly increases and then decreases with the increase of the load resistance, and reaches the maximum value at the optimal load. For the weak, critical, and strong coupling cases, the critical optimal load is 1.1 MΩ, 1.1 MΩ, and 3.0 MΩ, respectively. Overall, the response mechanism of the presented harvester is revealed.

Renewable energy harvesting from water flow

ABSTRACTThe hydrokinetic energy of flowing water is plentiful, environment-friendly, renewable and can be harvested. This paper reports a new energy harvesting system using vortex-induced vibration (VIV). The proposed convertor harvests vibrations of a bluff body resulting from interaction of the alternating vortices created by the unsteady separation. These vortices are shed from the sides of the bluff body and form a pattern in the wake known as the von Kármán vortex street. The vortices create unsteady loading and induce vibrations with a predictable frequency and amplitude. Assisted by the bluff body with specific geometry and piezoelectric generators, the kinetic energy of the water flow can be converted into mechanical vibrations and electrical energy. In order to maximise the output energy of the harvester, the natural frequency of the mechanical system needs to lock into the frequency of the VIVs. Thus, the geometry of the bluff body has to be optimised to match the natural frequency of the convertor. This study examines the conceptual design of the physical model. The fluid–structure interaction model is applied to study the preliminary design. The maximum energy density that can be extracted by the proposed convertor from the water flow with velocities from 0.2 to 1 m/s is also estimated.Abbreviations: 1.CFD Computational Fluid Dynamics; 2.DC Direct Current (electricity); 3.FIM Fluid Induced Motion; 4.ODE Ordinary Differential Equation; 5.PTC Passive Turbulence Control; 6.VIV Vortex Induced Vibration; 7.VIVACE Vortex Induced Vibration Aquatic Clean Energy; 8.2D Two Dimensional

Efficient study of a coarse structure number on the bluff body during the harvesting of wind energy

ABSTRACTIn the present study, an energy harvester with coarse passive turbulence control (PTC) structure is represented to harvest piezoelectric wind energy. Wind tunnel experiments are conducted to investigate the influence of the PTC on the vibrational amplitude of the vortex-induced vibration and piezoelectric power output. Parametric studies of the PTC numbers and sizes are presented to determine the optimized PTC structure to enhance the efficiency of piezoelectric energy harvesting. The experimental results show that the specific parameters of θ= 60° and W = 8 mm are the most efficient PTC group for designing a vortex-induced vibration-based energy harvester with the coarse surface device.

Two Tandem Cylinders With Passive Turbulence Control in Flow-Induced Vibration: Relation of Oscillation Patterns to Frequency Response

Flow-induced vibrations (FIV) are conventionally destructive and should be suppressed. Since 2006, the Marine Renewable Energy Laboratory (MRELab) of the University of Michigan has been studying FIV of multiple cylinders to enhance their response for harnessing hydrokinetic power from ocean, river, and tidal currents. Interactions between multiple cylinders in FIV enable high power-to-volume ratio in a converter consisting of multiple oscillators. This paper investigates experimentally the relation between oscillation patterns and frequency response of two cylinders in tandem. All experiments are conducted in the recirculating channel of the MRELab for 30,000 &lt; Re &lt; 120,000. Phase analysis reveals three dominant patterns of oscillation of two tandem cylinders by calculating the instantaneous phase difference between the two cylinders. This phase difference characterizes each major pattern. Pattern A is characterized by small lead or lag of one cylinder over the other. In pattern B, there is nearly 180 deg out of phase oscillations between the cylinders. In pattern C, the instantaneous phase difference changes continuously from −180 deg to +180 deg. Using frequency spectra and amplitude response, oscillation characteristics of each cylinder are revealed in vortex-induced vibration (VIV) and galloping. Pattern A occurs mostly in galloping when the first cylinder has higher stiffness. Pattern B occurs seldom and typically in the initial VIV branch and transition from VIV to galloping. Pattern C occurs in the upper and lower VIV branches; and in galloping when the lead cylinder has lower stiffness.

Flow-Induced Vibration and Hydrokinetic Power Conversion of Two Staggered Rough Cylinders for 2.5 × 104 &lt; Re &lt; 1.2 × 105

Flow-induced vibration (FIV), primarily vortex-induced vibrations (VIV), and galloping have been used effectively to convert hydrokinetic energy to electricity in model-tests and field-tests by the Marine Renewable Energy Laboratory (MRELab) of the University of Michigan. It is known that the response of cylinders with passive turbulence control (PTC) undergoing vortex shedding differs from the oscillation of smooth cylinders in a similar configuration. Additional investigation on the FIV of two elastically mounted circular cylinders in a staggered arrangement with low mass ratio in the TrSL3 flow-regime is required and is contributed by this paper. The two PTC-cylinders were allowed to oscillate in the transverse direction to the oncoming fluid flow in a recirculating water channel. The cylinder model with a length of 0.895 m and a diameter of 8.89 cm, a mass ratio of 1.343 was used in the tests. The Reynolds number was in the range of 2.5 × 104 &lt; Re &lt; 1.2 × 105, which is a subset of the TrSL3 flow-regime. The center-to-center longitudinal and transverse spacing distances were T/D = 2.57 and S/D = 1.0, respectively. The spring stiffness values were in the range of 400 &lt; K (N/m) &lt;1200. The values of harnessing damping ratio tested were ζharness = 0.04, 0.12 and 0.24. For the values tested, the experimental results indicate that the response of the upstream cylinder is similar to the single cylinder. The downstream cylinder exhibits more complicated vibrations. In addition, the oscillation system of two cylinders with stiffer spring and higher ζharness could initiate total power harness at a higher flow velocity and obtain more power.

Rigid cylinder with asymmetric roughness in Flow Induced Vibrations

Flow Induced Vibrations (FIV) of a single, rigid, circular cylinder with one-sided PTC (passive turbulence control) are investigated experimentally and numerically for Reynolds number 30,000 ≤ Re ≤ 110,000. Comparisons of response are made between symmetric and one-sided PTC-cylinder. For the one-sided configuration, different PTC location angles for the one-sided configuration are applied to initiate the asymmetrical FIV, which is studied in detail. A user-defined function, combined with dynamic-mesh is established in a commercial solver. At different flow speeds in the vortex induced vibration (VIV) and galloping ranges, flow-field details and displacement time-history at selected positions of the cylinder are presented and discussed. Conclusions of the asymmetrical oscillation and the effect of selective roughness are drawn with respect to the flow speed, damping ratios and the PTC locations angle at the end.