Transition waves and nonlinear interactions in the near wake of a circular cylinder

Transition waves and interactions between two kinds of instability-vortex shedding and transition wave in the near wake of a circular cylinder in the Reynolds number range 3 000-10 000 are studied by a domain decomposition hybrid numerical method. Based on high resolution power spectral analyses for velocity new results on the Reynolds-number dependence of the transition wave frequency, i.e. f(t)/f(s) similar to Re-0.87 are obtained. The new predictions are in good agreement with the experimental results of Wei and Smith but different from Braza's prediction and some early experimental results f(t)/f(s) similar to Re-0.5 given by Bloor et nl. The multi-interactions between two kinds of vortex are clearly visualized numerically. The strong nonlinear interactions between the two independent frequencies (f(t), f(s)) leading to spectra broadening to form the coupling mf(s) +/- nf(t) are predicted and analyzed numerically, and the characteristics of the transition are described. Longitudinal variations of the transition wave and its coupling are reported. Detailed mechanism of the flow transition in the near wake before occurrence of the three-dimensional evolution is provided.

Nonlinear analysis of pile foundation jacket platform

In this paper, the nonlinear collapse of the BOHAI-8 pile foundation jacket platform has been analyzed. The ultimate load and collapse process of two computational models of the structure are given. One model is of fixed support whose length is eight times the pile leg diameter and the other considers the nonlinearity of the soil-pile interaction.

Effect of nonlinear wave-current interaction on flow fields and hydrodynamic forces

A fifth-order theory for solving the problem of interaction between Stokes waves and exponential profile currents is proposed. The calculated flow fields are compared with measurements. Then the errors caused by the linear superposition method and approximate theory are discussed. It is found that the total wave-current field consists of pure wave, pure current and interaction components. The shear current not only directly changes the flow field, but also indirectly does sx, by changing the wave parameters due to wave-current interaction. The present theory can predict the wave kinematics on shear currents satisfactorily. The linear superposition method may give rise to more than 40% loading error in extreme conditions. When the apparent wave period is used and the Wheeler stretching method is adopted to extrapolate the current, application of the approximate theory is the best.

Dynamic analysis of arrest of buckle propagation on a beam on a nonlinear elastic foundation by FEM

Based on the dynamic governing equation of propagating buckle on a beam on a nonlinear elastic foundation, this paper deals with an important problem of buckle arrest by combining the FEM with a time integration technique. A new conclusion completely different from that by the quasi-static analysis about the buckle arrestor design is drawn. This shows that the inertia of the beam cannot be ignored in the analysis under consideration, especially when the buckle propagation is suddenly stopped by the arrestors.

On the velocity of buckle propagation in a beam on a nonlinear elastic-foundation

The paper revisits a simple beam model used by Chater et al. (1983, Proc. IUTAM Symp. Collapse, Cambridge University Press) to examine the dynamics of propagating buckles on it. It was found that, if a buckle is initiated at a constant pressure higher than the propagation pressure of the model (P-p), the buckle accelerates and gradually reaches a constant velocity which depends upon the pressure, while if it is initiated at P-p, the buckle propagates at a velocity which depends upon the initial imperfection. The causes for the difference are also investigated.