Influence of Vibration Dampers on the Vortex-Induced Force and Flow Characteristic of Deep-Water Jacket Pipe

Abstract

Vibration dampers are widely used in power transmission line vibration reduction. In order to use them for wind-induced vortex-induced vibration (VIV) suppression of jacket pipes, the effect of the vibration dampers on the vortex-induced force is studied using the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) method. The range of Reynolds numbers in simulations is in the critical interval, and the Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes (RANS) equations and shear stress transport (SST) k-ω turbulence model are used to calculate the pipe with vibration dampers. The lift coefficient of the pipe is reduced by about 65% after the vibration dampers are installed. The effect of vibration dampers on the lift force and drag force is little affected by the change of wind speed. The same number of vibration dampers are installed in two rows, and the vortex shedding frequency is reduced by about 16% compared with that for one row. The vibration dampers destroy the wake vortex of the high-velocity areas around the pipe, thereby reducing the pipe’s lift coefficient and the vortex-induced force. The vibration dampers have no obvious influence on the vortex far from the pipe.

Keywords

• deep-water jacket pipe
• wind-induced VIV
• high Reynolds number
• vibration damper
• flow field influence analysis