Unsteady force measurements on a responding circular cylinder in the wake of an upstream cylinder

This paper presents force measurements during flow-induced vibration of a pair of circular cylinders with low mass ratio (m* = 2.0) and low damping (zeta = 0.7%) aligned in a tandem arrangement. A particular case with a gap of 3 diameters centre to centre is used to examine flow-interference mechanisms occurring on a downstream cylinder free to oscillate only in the transverse direction. The Reynolds number varies within the range 1500 < Re < 20000. A cylinder immersed in the wake of another can develop flow-induced oscillations persisting for a large range of reduced velocities. Oscillations are observed for reduced velocities, based on cylinder natural frequency measured in air, as high as 35. Apparently, the amplitude of oscillation is reaching a level of saturation of about 1.5 diameters, while the frequency of vibration is increasing at an approximate constant rate. As reduced velocity is increased two regimes of flow-induced vibration are observed: first vortex-induced vibration and then a wake-induced vibration regime. In addition, the presence of the second cylinder affects the dynamics of the upstream wake, but it is found not to synchronize the vortex shedding frequency of the upstream cylinder for the second regime of oscillations.