Deformations of a Highly-Flexible Circular Shell in Uniform Crossflow

We study the response of a flexible circular shell placed in uniform crossflow using computational fluid dynamics at Re < 500, calculated based on the incoming flow velocity and the initial diameter of the cylinder. The surface compliance effects of the shell are investigated as a fully coupled fluid-structure interactions problem. The circular shell is deformed due to its interactions with the incoming flow and undergoes some oscillations. The wake is observed to deviate from that of a rigid cylinder. The influence of the structure’s support on its response and its wake is studied as well.