Hydrodynamic Forces on a Cylinder With a Flexible Splitter Plate Near the Free Surface

Abstract

Experiments were conducted on two splitter plates of different structural rigidities, attached to a rigid cylinder and exposed to cross-flow at different submergence depths in order to study the influence of free surface. It was found that the presence of flexible splitter plate results in drag reduction at all submergence depths when compared with a plain cylinder, with the reduction being dependent on the rigidity of the splitter plate. The lift force was also found to increase abruptly at low depths for the cases involving splitter plates. The results from the analyses of tip kinematics on flexible splitter plate indicated that it performs vertical oscillations symmetrically about its mounting position at high submergence depths but is displaced in one direction up to an order of cylinder diameter and undergoes minimal oscillations when located near the free surface.