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Abstract
This thesis considers the hydroelastic damping of cantilevered flat plates undergoing free vibration in flowing water. Of particular interest are plates with aspect ratios less than one. Experimental trials involving various aspect ratios are conducted in a high-speed water tunnel. The tests involve flow velocities well below those corresponding to hydroelastic instability, for which the hydroelastic damping is observed to increase linearly with flow speed. An unsteady, linear vortex lattice model is coupled to a structural dynamic plate model to predict flow-induced damping as a function of flow speed. The numerical model has been previously used with air, but never with water as the fluid medium. After validating the model, non-dimensional parameter studies are conducted to predict hydroelastic damping across a wide configuration space. The model is an efficient alternative to more expensive hydroelastic schemes and maintains accuracy for a wide range of parameters.