A method for the investigation of the aeroelastic behavior of very high aspect ratio cylinders

This document details the investigation of the aeroelastic behavior of very high aspect ratio cylinders. The difficulty in this investigation lies in the fact that there are two important length scales: the aspect ratio and the Reynolds number. The primary goal is to develop a method that properly represents both length scales during testing. The secondary goal is to develop a method that quantifies the cylinder motion. This paper describes a wind tunnel technique designed to account for the aspect ratio and the Reynolds number of a very high aspect ratio cylinder. This paper also describes the data acquisition and analysis techniques developed here to quantify the motion. As demonstrations, these techniques are then used here to study the motions of two cylinders that are the same in all ways except cross-sectional shape.