Experimental Analysis of a Vertical and Flexible Cylinder in Water: Response to Top Motion Excitation and Parametric Resonance

Experiments with a vertical, flexible, and submerged cylinder were carried out to investigate fundamental aspects of risers dynamics subjected to harmonic excitation at the top. The flexible model was designed aiming a high level of dynamic similarity with a real riser. Vertical motion, with amplitude of 1% of the unstretched length, was imposed with a device driven by a servomotor. Responses to distinct exciting frequency ratios were investigated, namely, ft:fN,1 = 1:3; 1:1; 2:1, and 3:1. Cartesian coordinates of 43 monitored points positioned all along the span were experimentally acquired by using an optical tracking system. A simple Galerkin's projection applied for modal decomposition, combined with standard Mathieu chart analysis, led to the identification of parametric resonances. A curious finding is that the Mathieu instability may simultaneously occur in more than one mode, leading to interesting dynamic behaviors, also revealed through standard power spectra analysis and displacement scalograms.