Anexperimentalstudyonabareflexiblecylinderaswellascylindersfittedwithtwotypesofcross-sectionedhelicalstrakeswascarriedoutinatowingtank.Themainpurposeofthispaperistoinvestigatetheeffectsofstrakes'crosssectiononthevortex-inducedvibrations(VIV)suppressionofaflexiblecylinder.Thesquare-sectionedandroundsectionedhelicalstrakeswereselectedintheexperimentaltests.Theuniformcurrentwasgeneratedbytowingthecylindermodelsalongthetankusingatowingcarriage.TheReynoldsnumberwasintherangeof800–16000.Thestrainresponsesweremeasuredbythestraingagesincross-flow(CF)andin-line(IL)directions.Amodalanalysismethodwasadoptedtoobtainthedisplacementresponsesusingthestrainsignalsindifferentmeasurementpositions.Thecomparisonoftheexperimentalresultsamongthebarecylinder,square-sectionedstrakedcylinderandroundsectionedstrakedcylinderwasperformed.Thehelicalstrakescaneffectivelyreducethestrainamplitude,displacementamplitude,responsefrequenciesanddominantmodesofaflexiblecylinderexcitedbyVIV.Andthemeandragcoefficientsofstrakedcylinderswereapproximatelyconsistentwitheachother.Inaddition,thesquaresectionedandround-sectionedstrakesnearlysharethesimilarVIVreductionbehaviors.Sometimes,thestrakeswithround-sectionrepresentmoreexcellenteffectsontheVIVsuppressionofresponsefrequencythanthosewithsquaresection.
