Page 15 - Fluid-Structure Interactions Slender Structure and Axial Flow (Volume 1)

xii PREFACE

After extensive consultations with colleagues around the world, it became clear that there
was a great need for a monograph dealing exclusively with axial-flow-induced vibrations
and instabilities. This specialization translates also into a more cohesive treatment of the
material to be covered. The combination of axial flow and slender structures implies, in
many cases, the absence or, at most, limited presence of separated flows. This renders
analytical modelling and interpretation of experimental observation far easier than in
systems involving bluff bodies and cross-flow; it permits a better understanding of the
physics and makes a more elegant presentation of the material possible. Furthermore,
because the understanding of the basics in this area is now well-founded, this book
should remain useful for some time to come.
In a real sense, this book is an anthology of much of the author’s research endeavours
over the past 35 years, at the University of Cambridge, Atomic Energy of Canada in
Chalk River and, mainly, McGill University - with a brief but important interlude at
Cornell University. Inevitably and appropriately, however, vastly more than the author’s
own work is drawn upon.
The book has been written for engineers and applied mechanicians; the physical systems
discussed and the manner in which they are treated may also be of interest to applied
mathematicians. It should appeal especially to researchers, but it has been written for
practising professionals (e.g. designers and operators) and researchers alike. The material
presented should be easily comprehensible to those with some graduate-level under-
standing of dynamics and fluid mechanics. Nevertheless, a real attempt has been made to
meet the needs of those with a Bachelor’s-level background. In this regard, mathematics
is treated as a useful tool, but not as an end in itself.
This book is not an undergraduate text, although it could be one for a graduate-level
course. However, it is not written in rext-book format, but rather in a style to be enjoyed
by a wider readership.
I should like to express my gratitude to my colleagues, Professor. B.G. Newman for
his help with Section 2.2.1, Professors S.J. Price and A.K. Misra for their input mainly
on Chapters 3 and 6, respectively, Dr H. Alighanbari for input on several chapters and
Appendix F, and Professor D.R. Axelrad for his help in translating difficult papers in
Gernian.
I am especially grateful and deeply indebted to Dr Christian Semler for some special
calculations, many suggestions and long discussions, for checking and rechecking every
part of the book, and particularly for his contributions to Chapter 5 and for Appendix F,
of which he is the main creator. Also, many thanks go to Bill Mark for his willing help
with some superb computer graphics and for input on Appendix D, and to David Sumner
for help with an experiment for Section 4.3.
I am also grateful to many colleagues outside McGill for their help: Drs D.J. Maul1 and
A. Dowling of Cambridge, J.M.T. Thompson of University College London, S.S. Chen
of Argonne, E.H. Dowel1 of Duke, C.D. Mote Jr of Berkeley, F.C. Moon of Cornell,
J.P. Cusumano of Penn State, A.K. Bajaj of Purdue, N.S. Namachchivaya of the Univer-
sity of Illinois, S. Hayama and S. Kaneko of the University of Tokyo, Y. Sugiyama of
Osaka Prefecture, M. Yoshizawa of Keio, the late Y. Nakamura of Kyushu and many
others, too numerous to name.
My gratitude to my secretary, Mary Fiorilli, is unbounded, for without her virtuosity
and dedication this book would not have materialized.