MIT

13.012 Lecture:
Separated Flows and
Vortex Induced
Vibrations
A. H. Techet
24 Oct 2002
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Flow over a sphere
R = 15,000
Laminar Boundary Layer
Flow separates and breaks down
To turbulence downstream of sphere
R = 30,000
Turbulent Boundary Layer
Flow separates further aft
And is already turbulent
downstream of sphere
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Drag Coefficient on a Sphere

Smooth Sphere
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Classical Vortex Shedding from a

cylinder

l
h

Von Karman Vortex Street

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Drag coefficient for a cylinder

transition
Laminar BL Turbulent BL
Turbulent wake Turbulent wake

1.0

Rd = 300,000
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Alternately Shed Opposite
Sign Vortices

Image: Professor T.T. Lim - University of Melbourne

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Reynolds Number
Dependency
Rd < 5

5-15 < Rd < 40

40 < Rd < 150

150 < Rd < 300

Transition to turbulence in the wake

300 < Rd < 3*105

Transition to turbulence everywhere
3*105 < Rd < 3.5*106

3.5*106 < Rd
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Wake Instability
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Shear layer instability causes
vortex roll-up

• Flow speed outside wake is much higher than inside

• Vorticity gathers at downcrossing points in upper layer
• Vorticity gathers at upcrossings in lower layer
• Induced velocities (due to vortices) causes this
perturbation to amplify
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Vortex shedding dictated by

the Strouhal number
Image: Professor T.T. Lim - University of Melbourne

St=fsd/U
fs is the shedding frequency, d is diameter and U inflow speed
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Why study VIV?

Many direct applications to Ocean Engineering:

Cables, risers, platforms, islands in the wind

www.offshore-technology.com
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Classic VIV Catastrophe

If ignored, these vibrations can prove catastrophic to

structures, as they did in the case of the Tacoma Narrows
Bridge in 1940.
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Petrogras Rig Sinking off
Brazil

March 2001
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Additional VIV Parameters

• Reynolds Number
UD inertial effects
Re = ≈
v viscous effects
– subcritical (Re<3x105) (laminar boundary layer)

• Reduced Velocity
U
Vrn =
fn D

• Vortex Shedding Frequency

SU
fs =
D
– S≈0.2 for subcritical flow
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Strouhal Number vs. Reynolds
Number

St = 0.2
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Vortex Shedding Generates

forces on Cylinder
Uo Both Lift and Drag forces persist
on a cylinder in cross flow. Lift
FL(t) is perpendicular to the inflow
velocity and drag is parallel.
FD(t)

Due to the alternating vortex wake (“Karman street”) the

oscillations in lift force occur at the vortex shedding frequency
and oscillations in drag force occur at twice the vortex
shedding frequency.
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Alternate Vortex shedding causes

oscillatory forces which induce
structural vibrations

Rigid cylinder is now similar

to a spring-mass system with
a harmonic forcing term.

LIFT = L(t) = Lo cos ωst

DRAG = D(t) = Do cos (2ωst)
ωs = 2π fs
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“Lock-in”
A cylinder is said to be “locked in” when the frequency of
oscillation is equal to the frequency of vortex shedding. In this
region the largest amplitude oscillations occur.

Shedding ωv = 2π fv = 2π St (U/d)
frequency

Natural frequency ωn = m +k m
of oscillation a
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VIV in the Ocean

• Non-uniform currents
effect the spanwise
vortex shedding on a
cable or riser.
• The frequency of
shedding can be different
along length.
• This leads to “cells” of
vortex shedding with
some length, lc.
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Flexible Cylinders

Mooring lines and towing

cables act in similar fashion
to rigid cylinders except that
their motion is not spanwise
uniform.
t

Tension in the cable must be considered

when determining equations of motion
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Flexible Cylinder Motion Trajectories
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Wake Patterns Behind
Heaving Cylinders

f,A

U
U
f,A ‘2S’ ‘2P’

• Shedding patterns in the wake of oscillating

cylinders are distinct and exist for a certain
range of heave frequencies and amplitudes.
• The different modes have a great impact on
structural loading.
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Transition in Shedding
Patterns

A/d

Williamson and Roshko (1988)

Vr = U/fd f* = fd/U
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VIV Suppression
•Helical strake
•Shroud
•Axial slats
•Streamlined fairing
•Splitter plate
•Ribboned cable
•Pivoted guiding vane
•Spoiler plates
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VIV Suppression by Helical
Strakes
Helical strakes are a
common VIV suppresion
device.
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References
• Blevins, (1990) Flow Induced Vibrations,
Krieger Publishing Co., Florida.