Publication

Abstract :

Background

Vortex-induced vibrations (VIVs) can significantly reduce the fatigue life and structural integrity of bluff-body structures operating in fluid environments. Effective passive vibration suppression is therefore essential.

Methods

A cubic nonlinear energy sink (CNES) with nonlinear cubic damping was proposed to suppress VIVs of an elastically mounted circular cylinder. A reduced-order cylinder–wake–CNES model was developed using a Van der Pol wake oscillator and solved numerically.

Results

The model showed excellent agreement with experimental data, with a peak amplitude error of 1.8% and an R² of 0.992. Parametric analysis demonstrated improved vibration suppression with increasing mass ratio, nonlinear damping, and stiffness. Energy analysis showed that the CNES extracted approximately 75% of the vibration energy, achieving a maximum peak displacement reduction of 73.68%.

Conclusions

The proposed CNES provides an effective passive approach for VIV suppression through enhanced energy transfer and dissipation, with potential applications in offshore risers, pipelines, bridge cables, chimneys, and wind turbine towers.