Lock-in and drag amplification effects in slender line-like structures through CFD

Abstract

Lock-in and drag amplification phenomena are studied for a flexible cantilever using a simplified fluid-structure interaction approach. Instead of solving the 3D domain, a simplified setup is devised, in which 2D flow problems are solved on a number of planes parallel to the wind direction and transversal to the structure. On such planes, the incompressible Navier-Stokes equations are solved to estimate the fluid action at different positions of the line-like structure. The fluid flow on each plane is coupled with the structural deformation at the corresponding position, affecting the dynamic behaviour of the system. An Arbitrary Lagrangian-Eulerian (ALE) approach is used to take in account the deformation of the domain, and a fractional-step scheme is used to solve the fluid field. The stabilization of incompressibility and convection is achieved through orthogonal quasi-static subscales, an approach that is believed to provide a first step towards turbulence modelling. In order to model the structural problem, a special one-dimensional element for thin walled cross-section beam is implemented. The standard secondorder Bossak method is used for the time integration of the structural problem.