Stability characteristics of slender flexible cylinders in axial flow by the finite element method

The dynamics of flexible slender circular cylinders in axial flow having regard to their fluidelastic instability characteristics is an extensively studied problem in the literature. A finite element formulation of the problem is presented in this paper. The formulation has been validated with the analytical results of supported cylinders available in the literature. Additional numerical examples are presented for which analytical methods are difficult to formulate and do not exist in the literature, in order to bring out the breadth of application of the finite element method. © 1997 Academic Press Limited.