The dynamics and stability of circular cylindrical shells containing and submerged in flowing fluid using a higher order boundary element method

This paper presents a higher order, three-dimensional boundary element method for investigating the dynamics and stability of elastic structures containing and/or submerged in flowing fluid. The method developed can be applied to any shape of elastic structures partially or completely in contact with fluid. In the mathematical model, it is assumed that the fluid is ideal (i.e. inviscid, incompressible and its motion is irrotational). The fluid—structure interaction forces are calculated using the higher order boundary element method, and the finite element method is employed for the structural analysis. In this study, it is assumed that the elastic structure vibrates in its in vacuo modes when it is in contact with flowing fluid, and that each mode gives rise to a corresponding surface pressure distribution on the wetted surface of the structure. The in vacuo dynamic properties of the dry elastic structure are obtained by using standard finite element software. In the wet part of the analysis, the wetted ...