Experiments on vertical slender flexible cylinders clamped at both ends and subjected to axial flow

Three series of experiments were conducted on vertical clamped-clamped cylinders in order to observe experimentally the dynamical behaviour of the system, and the results are compared with theoretical predictions. In the first series of experiments, the downstream end of the clamped-clamped cylinder was free to slide axially, while in the second, the downstream end was fixed; the influence of externally applied axial compression was also studied in this series of experiments. The third series of experiments was similar to the second, except that a considerably more slender, hollow cylinder was used. In these experiments, the cylinder lost stability by divergence at a sufficiently high flow velocity and the amplitude of buckling increased thereafter. At higher flow velocities, the cylinder lost stability by flutter (attainable only in the third series of experiments), confirming experimentally the existence of a post-divergence oscillatory instability, which was previously predicted by both linear and nonlinear theory. Good quantitative agreement is obtained between theory and experiment for the amplitude of buckling, and for the critical flow velocities.