Vortex induced vibration – feasibility of energy extraction

Vortex Induced Vibrations (VIV) of circular cylinders may be utilized for generation of energy. Though, several experimental and numerical studies were carried out by various researchers for suppressing VIV, very limited literature is available on its use for energy extraction. In the present study, oscillation of the elastically mounted circular cylinder is investigated in a towing tank facility at Indian Institute of Technology Madras, India. The mass damping parameter (m*ζ) 0.0152 has been considered to be the main parameter characterizing the property of the elastically supported system. Focus has been laid on expanding the synchronization width where the oscillation amplitudes are at its maximum. In order to achieve this, a circular cylinder was subjected to periodic rotational oscillations and thereby an increase in lock-in width was observed. The tests were carried out at Re ranging between (0.3–4.0)×105.