Experimental investigation of the whirl and generated forces of rotating cylinders in still water and in flow

The whirl and generated forces of rotating cylinders with different diameters placed in still water and in flow are studied experimentally. For the rotating cylinders in still water, the Same Frequency Whirl (SFW) and Different Frequency Whirl (DFW) have been identified and illustrated. The corresponding SFW and DFW areas are divided. The Root Mean Square (RMS) values of the generated force coefficient dramatically increase in the defined ranges of Resonance I and Resonance II. For the rotating cylinders in flow, the hydrodynamics, SFW and DFW are illustrated. The hydrodynamic, SFW and DFW areas are divided. The RMS values of the generated forces in the range of Resonance II are much smaller than those in still water due to the generated lift forces. The discussion suggests that the frequency of the DFW may equal multiple times or one-multiple times that of the rotating frequency: the whirl direction of the DFW with multiple times the frequency of the rotating frequency is the same as the rotating direction. The whirl direction of the DFW with one-multiple times frequency of the rotating frequency is opposite to the rotating direction.