Vortex Shedding from Stationary and Vibrating Bluff Bodies in a Shear Flow.

If a fluid is in relative motion past a stationary bluff, or unstreamlined, structure and the vortex shedding frequency approaches one of the natural frequencies of the structure, then resonant flow-induced oscillations of the structure can occur when the damping of the system is sufficiently low. These resonant oscillations are accompanied by a lock-on or capture of the vortex shedding frequency by the vibration frequency over a range of flow speeds, and this lock-on effect causes the wake and the structure to oscillate in unison. The periodic lift and the mean drag forces are amplified as a result of the vibrations, and changes in these fluid forces are closely related to the changes that occur in the flow field in the near wake of the body. Many practical ocean and wind engineering situations involve lightly-damped structures that are located in flows of air or water that are nonuniform along the length of the structure. The primary difference between a uniform flow and a shear flow is the presence and added complexity, in a shear flow, of vorticity whose vector is normal to the plane of the flow. When the incident flow approaches the body this vorticity is turned into the flow direction and interacts with the vortices which are shed from the body into the wake.