Added Mass of Elastically Mounted Rigid Cylinder in Water Subjected to Vortex-Induced Vibrations

Vortex Induced Vibrations (VIV) of elastically mounted rigid cylinders, with low mass-damping parameter values, are strongly dependent on the added mass coefficient. This paper aims to contribute to the technical literature by presenting some results from experiments carried out at University of Sao Paulo – USP and at the Sao Paulo State Technological Research Institute – IPT. A cantilevered rigid cylinder was mounted on an elastic (leaf spring) two-degree-of-freedom device. The device is not only an elastic support, but acts also as a special mechanical transducer to measure accelerations/forces/displacements in the stream-wise (x) and the cross-wise (y) directions. A comprehensive experimental calibration of such a device was carried out, both “in air” and “in water”. The added mass coefficient in the cross-wise direction was indirectly determined from forces and acceleration measurements as a function of the reduced velocity. Results from time-domain and frequency-domain analyses are compared with those obtained by Vikestad et al. (2000) [1].Copyright © 2002 by ASME