Lift and drag forces on a cylinder in the wake of an upstream cylinder

摘要

Marine riser clusters are widely used in offshore engineering. In the present paper, the hydrodynamic influence of an upstream cylinder on a downstream one is considered. In particular, the mean lift and drag forces on the downstream cylinder are estimated based upon the free streamline theory. Comparison between the numerical results and the experimental data shows a good agreement in the subcritical Reynolds number range. This is the first step towards analysing possible fluid-elastic instability of a riser cluster which may play a detrimental role in causing riser clashing in deep water