The Vortex Induced Oscillation of Elastic Structural Elements

The vibrations of structures in a transverse flow can be a great problem. It is well known that a strong vibration will result when the frequency of vortex shedding is close to the natural frequency of the structure. It is important to understand this "locked in" phenomenon. The Iwan-Blevins fluid-structure model has been proposed as a tool to study this phenomenon. The goal of this thesis is to extend this model by introducing a more general representation of the fluid-structure interaction force. The new model is compared with data on the lift coefficient of a circular cylinder vibrating in a steady flow and shows good agreement.