Cantilevers attached with bluff bodies: vortex-induced vibrations

Vortex-induced vibrations are oscillatory motions experienced by a body interacting with an external flow. These vibrations can be harnessed for energy harvesting purpose. A cantilever beam with a cylinder attached at the free end represents the bluff-body oscillator of interest here. Vortex-induced vibrations of two adjacent bluff-body oscillators are studied by varying the transverse spacing between the oscillators. A finite element model of the system is used to numerically study the associated fluid–structure interactions. For the case with two oscillators, the effect of varying the oscillator spacing on the system response is studied. Dynamic mode decomposition is used for extracting coherent spatio-temporal structures in pressure fields. The system spectral response for the single oscillator and coupled oscillators cases are studied to examine the system dynamics. The obtained numerical results for the system dynamics are found to agree with previously reported experimental results in the literature. The present work can form a basis for constructing computational models of fluid coupled bluff-body oscillators and configuring arrays of bluff-body oscillators for energy harvesting.