Suppression of vortex-induced vibration in low mass-damping circular cylinders using wire meshes

The effectiveness of wire meshes in suppressing vortex-induced vibrations (VIV) is investigated experimentally in this work. Geometries are inspired by the results of a recent study in which the sensitivity of VIV to localised perturbations in the wake of a cylinder free to oscillate, was investigated. A series of square wire meshes with different densities and sizes have been tested. The work focuses on the VIV response description as well as on the analysis of the drag force associated with the device. The physical mechanisms that lead to the VIV attenuation are also described after the analysis of the wake dynamics. Total suppression of VIV (more than 95%) is shown for reduced velocities up to more than 13. The suppression is achieved with drag reductions of 20% inside the lock-in region. In general most of the meshes investigated are able to attenuate partially VIV without increasing drag forces. (C) 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.