Enhancing vortex-induced vibrations of a cylinder with rod attachments for hydrokinetic power generation

Junlei Wang, Wei Zhao, Zhen Su, Guojie Zhang*, Pan Li, Daniil Yurchenko

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

63 Citations (Scopus)
271 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

A new converter consisting of a circular cylinder on an end-spring is proposed to harness hydrokinetic power from water flow and tides. Two cylindrical rods with a small diameter are attached to both sides of a cylinder parallel to the axis of symmetry of the cylinder above and below the stagnation point. It is inspired by the trembling of cables with ice attached in barely noticeable winds. Numerical CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) simulations are carried out using a two-dimensional Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes equations solver, which is based on ANSYS Fluent using User-defined Function. It is found that two small-diameter cylindrical rods attached to the main cylinder at 55° to 65° with respect to the incoming flow significantly expand the aeroelastic instability range for the main cylinder thereby increasing the generated power. The water flow energy harvester with this structure harvests energy exceeding the onset speed of VIV and is sustained over a wide water speed range.

Original languageEnglish
Article number106912
JournalMechanical Systems and Signal Processing
Volume145
Early online date28 Apr 2020
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Nov 2020

Keywords

  • Attached structures
  • Flow-induced motion (FIM)
  • Galloping
  • Hydrokinetic energy
  • Vortex induced vibration (VIV)

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Control and Systems Engineering
  • Signal Processing
  • Civil and Structural Engineering
  • Aerospace Engineering
  • Mechanical Engineering
  • Computer Science Applications

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