Numerical and experimental studies on reconfiguration of flexible beam with point buoyancy

In nature and engineering, a uniform flexible beam with point buoyancy is common, such as water lily and stem, kelp, buoy and mooring, and deep-sea flexible riser. Response to a flexible beam with point buoyancy is more complicated than that of a flexible beam. Therefore, this paper conducts theoretical numerical and water tank drag experimental research on the drag reduction problem of flexible beams with point buoyancy. First, a governing equation with point buoyancy is established. Then, an explicit iterative numerical method is proposed to solve large geometric nonlinear differential equations. Finally, numerical and experimental methods studied the drag reduction phenomenon of flexible beams with point buoyancy. The results show that the reconfiguration shape of flexible beam with point buoyancy is no longer self-similar, and there are locally bending points in beam deformations. It is found that the Vogel exponent curve fluctuates due to the non-self-similarity of the deformation shape. Moreover, as the buoyancy gets more excellent, the fluctuation range of Vogel values becomes more profound.