The studies currently on soft galloping (SG) and hard galloping (HG) are scarce. In this study, SG and HG of spring-mounted triangular prisms in a water channel are investigated experimentally. A power take-off system (PTO), a spring system, additional weights, and different triangular prisms were used to achieve the variations in damping coefficient c, system stiffness K, oscillation mass m and section aspect ratios α, respectively. The present paper proves that the VIV (vortex-induced vibration) lower branch can be observed in the SG response. In SG response, VIV branches are incomplete while the galloping branch is complete, and galloping can be self-initiated only in the self-excited region. On the contrary, in HG response, VIV branches are complete, the galloping branch is incomplete, and galloping can only be initiated by external excitation at a velocity exceeding the critical velocity. As c and m increase, or K and α decrease, the oscillation mode of a triangular prism gradually transitions from SG to CG (critical galloping), and continues to HG. The amplitude in VIV branch is the main reason causing the onset of galloping in SG response. A critical damping coefficient c_c, which is dependent on m, K and α, is proposed to predict the occurrences of SG, CG and HG. When c < c_c, SG occurs; when c > c_c, HG occurs; when c = c_c, CG occurs.

The flow induced vibration and energy extraction of an equilateral triangle prism elastically mounted in a water channel are investigated experimentally at different system damping ratios ζ_total with the constant oscillating mass M_osc and system stiffness K. A power take-off system with a variable damping function is developed. The translation-rotation equation of the vibration system deduced in the study indicates that the total oscillating mass includes the material mass, and the equivalent mass due to the rotation of the gears and rotor. Besides, increasing load resistance can result in a decrease in ζ_total when K and M_osc remain unchanged. The prism experiences, in turn, soft galloping, hard galloping 1 and hard galloping 2 with increasing ζ_total. As ζ_total increases up to 0.335, only the vortex-induced vibration is observed because the extremely high ζ_total prevents the prism from galloping. The response amplitude decreases with the increasing ζ_total. In addition, higher ζ_total promotes the galloping to start at a higher reduced velocity. The galloping characteristics of the prism, including large amplitude responses in an extremely large range of flow velocities, excellent vibration stationarity, and steady vibration frequencies, are beneficial for improving energy conversion. The prism can extract hydraulic energy for the flow velocity U > 0.610 m/s. The harnessed power P_out and the energy conversion efficiency η_out increase with increasing ζ_total in the galloping zone. The maximum P_out and η_out reach 53.56 W and 40.44%, respectively. The optimal system damping ratio for extracting energy is the maximum system damping ratio that the prism can overcome to experience stable galloping.

Flow-induced motion (FIM) performs well in energy conversion but has been barely investigated, particularly for prisms with sharp sections. Previous studies have proven that T-section prisms that undergo galloping branches with high amplitude are beneficial to energy conversions. The FIM experimental setup designed by Tianjin University (TJU) was improved to conduct a series of FIM responses and energy conversion tests on a T-section prism. Experimental results are presented and discussed, to reveal the complete FIM responses and power generation characteristics of the T-section prism under different load resistances and section aspect ratios. The main findings are summarized as follows. (1) Hard galloping (HG), soft galloping (SG), and critical galloping (CG) can be observed by varying load resistances. When the load resistances are low, HG occurs; otherwise, SG occurs. (2) In the galloping branch, the highest amplitude and the most stable oscillation cause high-quality electrical energy production by the generator. Therefore, the galloping branch is the best branch for harvesting energy. (3) In the galloping branch, as the load resistances decrease, the active power continually increases until the prism is suppressed from galloping to a vortex-induced vibration (VIV) lower branch with a maximum active power P_harn of 21.23 W and a maximum η_out of 20.2%. (4) Different section aspect ratios (α) can significantly influence the FIM responses and energy conversions of the T-section prism. For small aspect ratios, galloping is hardly observed in the complete responses, but the power generation efficiency (η_out,0.8 = 27.44%) becomes larger in the galloping branch.