Unsteady galloping of sharp-edged bluff bodies: experimental observations on the effect of the wind angle of attack

Light-weight or low-damped structures may encounter the unsteady galloping instability that occurs at low reduced wind speeds, where the classical quasi-steady assumption is invalid. Although this unsteady phenomenon has been widely studied for rectangular cross sections with one side perpendicular to the incidence flow, the effect of the mean wind angle of attack has not been paid enough attention yet. With four sectional models of different side ratios and geometric shapes, the presented research focuses on the effect of the wind angle of attack on unsteady galloping instability. In static tests, comparatively strong vortex shedding force was noticed in the middle of the range of flow incidence where the lift coefficient shows a negative slope. In aeroelastic tests with a low Scruton number, the typical unsteady galloping, which is due to an interaction with vortex-induced vibration and results in unrestricted oscillation initiating at the Karman vortex resonance wind speed, was observed for the wind angles of attack that characterize relatively strong vortex shedding force. In contrast, for the wind angles of attack with relatively weak shedding force, an "atypical" unsteady galloping was found to occur at a reduced wind speed clearly higher than the Kármán-vortex resonance one. These observations are valid for all four wind tunnel models. One of the wind tunnel models (with a bridge deck cross section) was also tested in a turbulent flow with an intensity about 9%, showing only the atypical unsteady galloping. However, the wind angle of attack with the comparatively strong vortex shedding force remains the most unfavorable one with respect to the instability threshold in low Scruton number conditions.