Abstract
This paper reports the results of experimental investigations of flow-induced loading on perforated and solid flat plates at zero incidence with respect to the incoming flow. The plates had a streamwise length to transverse thickness ratio of 23.5. The effect of the perforations was investigated for three different perforation diameters. The results corresponding to the perforated plates were compared with the reference case of the solid plate (no perforations) at five inflow velocities. We quantified the effect of the perforations on the unsteady fluid loading on the plate in terms of the variations of the corresponding Strouhal number, the mean drag coefficient and the fluctuating lift coefficient as functions of the Reynolds number and the perforation diameter. The results indicate that the loading was dominated by the dynamics of the wake. In particular, increasing the perforation diameter resulted in a wider wake, corresponding to the increase in mean drag coefficient and the decrease in the Strouhal number. Onset of coupling between the vortex shedding and the transverse oscillations of the plate was manifested as a rapid increase in the fluctuating lift coefficient, as the perforation diameter exceeds the plate thickness.