Experimental study of cactus-like body shape on flow-induced vibration mitigation of clustered cylinders

Vortex-Induced Vibration (VIV) is a major contributor to the fatigue damage of marine risers which are often arranged in an array configuration. In addition to helical strakes and fairings, studies have been strived in searching for possible VIV suppression techniques. Inspired by giant Saguaro Cacti, flexible cylinders of different cactus-shaped cross sections were tested in a water tunnel facility, and test results showed that cactus-like body shapes reduced VIV responses of a cylinder at no cost of significant increase of drag. A series of experiments were conducted on a pair of two tandem-arranged flexible cylinders and an array of four cylinders in a square configuration to investigate the effects of wake on the dynamic responses of cylinders and the VIV mitigation effectiveness of the cactus-like body shape. Results showed that the cylinders in a square configuration, either at the upstream or downstream positions, might have larger dynamic responses than those of a single cylinder. The cactus-like body shape could mitigate VIV responses of cylinders at upstream positions in an array configuration; however, similar to helical strakes, the mitigation efficiency was reduced on downstream cylinders. Note that the cactus-like cross-sectional shape investigated was not optimized for VIV suppression. The present study indicates that the modification of the cross-sectional shape of a cylinder to a well-designed cactus-like shape may be used as an alternative technique to mitigate the VIV of marine risers.