Non-linear flow-induced vibrations in deformable curved bodies: A lattice Boltzmann-immersed boundary-finite element study

The dynamic response of a deformable curved solid body is investigated as it interacts with a flow field. The fluid is assumed to be viscous and the flow is nearly incompressible. Fluid dynamics is predicted through a lattice Boltzmann solver. Corotational beam finite elements undergoing large displacements are adopted to idealize the submerged body, whose presence in the lattice fluid background is handled by the immersed boundary method. The attention focuses on the solid's deformation and a numerical campaign is carried out. Findings are reported in terms of deformation energy and deformed configuration. On the one hand, it is shown that the solution of the problem is strictly dependent on the elastic properties of the body. On the other hand, the encompassing flow physics plays a crucial role on the resultant solid dynamics. With respect to the existing literature, the present problem is attacked by a new point of view. Specifically, the author proposes that the problem is governed by four dimensionless parameters: the Reynolds number, the normalized elastic modulus, the density and aspect ratii. The formulation and the solution strategy for curved solid bodies herein adopted are introduced for the first time in this paper.