Suppression of Flow Induced Vibrations by Self Excited Oscillations of Two Hinged Plates

The study reported in this paper investigates the feasibility of utilizing the fluid energy,which is causing the vibrations, to suppress the flow induced vibration of a mechanical structure. A cantilever beam with uniform thickness and variable tip mass subjected to harmonic excitation is considered to simulate the oscillating structure (the primary system). Two hinged plates, as a secondary system, are attached at its free end to provide the flow induced dynamic suppression by tuning their characteristic vibration to the oscillation of the primary system. A computer program was developed to evaluate the optimum design parameters of the secondary system (absorber) at any flow speed for a given structure. Experimental verification of the response with the calculated optimum absorber at each flow speed was undertaken. The results show a good correlation between the predicted and the experimentally measured suppressed amplitudes of the primary system.