Illuminating the complex role of the added mass during vortex induced vibration

The role of the added mass coefficient in vortex induced vibration (VIV) of the bluff body is complex and elusive. It is certain that decoding the relationship between the added mass and the vibration pattern will benefit the prediction and prevention of VIV. We present a study on VIV of a long flexible cylinder and forced vibration of a rigid cylinder, in a combination of experimental optical measurements and high-fidelity numerical simulation. We focus on uniform flow over a uniform cylinder at a fixed Reynolds number, Red = 900, but systematically varied the motion amplitude in the in-line ( Axd) and cross-flow direction ( Ayd), as well as the phase angle (θ) between the motions. We show that θ∈[π2,3π2] is associated with negative added mass coefficients in the cross-flow direction (Cmy < 0), and there is a strong correlation between the vortex shedding mode of “2P” or “P+S” and Cmy < 0.