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Influences of the helical strake cross-section shape on vortex-induced vibrations suppression for a long flexible cylinder

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Abstract

An experimental study on a bare flexible cylinder as well as cylinders fitted with two types of cross-sectioned helical strakes was carried out in a towing tank. The main purpose of this paper is to investigate the effects of strakes’ crosssection on the vortex-induced vibrations (VIV) suppression of a flexible cylinder. The square-sectioned and roundsectioned helical strakes were selected in the experimental tests. The uniform current was generated by towing the cylinder models along the tank using a towing carriage. The Reynolds number was in the range of 800–16000. The strain responses were measured by the strain gages in cross-flow (CF) and in-line (IL) directions. A modal analysis method was adopted to obtain the displacement responses using the strain signals in different measurement positions. The comparison of the experimental results among the bare cylinder, square-sectioned straked cylinder and roundsectioned straked cylinder was performed. The helical strakes can effectively reduce the strain amplitude, displacement amplitude, response frequencies and dominant modes of a flexible cylinder excited by VIV. And the mean drag coefficients of straked cylinders were approximately consistent with each other. In addition, the squaresectioned and round-sectioned strakes nearly share the similar VIV reduction behaviors. Sometimes, the strakes with round-section represent more excellent effects on the VIV suppression of response frequency than those with squaresection.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Hydraulic Engineering Simulation and Safety, Tianjin University, Tianjin, 300072, China

    Wan-hai Xu, Ying-sen Luan & Li-qin Liu

  2. Collaborative Innovation Centre for Advanced Ship and Deep-Sea Exploration, Shanghai, 200240, China

    Wan-hai Xu

  3. Institute of Mechanics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100190, China

    Ying-xiang Wu

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  1. Wan-hai Xu
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  2. Ying-sen Luan
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  3. Li-qin Liu
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  4. Ying-xiang Wu
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Correspondence to Li-qin Liu.

Additional information

Foundation item: This research was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 51479135, 51525803 and 51679167), the Science Fund for Creative Research Groups of the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 51621092), the Major State Basic Research Development Program of China (973 Program, Grant No. 2014CB046801), and the Natural Science Foundation of Tianjin (Grant No. 15JCQNJC07700).

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Xu, Wh., Luan, Ys., Liu, Lq. et al. Influences of the helical strake cross-section shape on vortex-induced vibrations suppression for a long flexible cylinder. China Ocean Eng 31, 438–446 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13344-017-0050-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13344-017-0050-1

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