Vibration of a tube bundle in two-phase Freon cross-flow

Journal Article · Wed Nov 01 04:00:00 EST 1995 · Journal of Pressure Vessel Technology

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1115/1.2842130· OSTI ID:131622

Pettigrew, M J; Taylor, C E ^[1]; Jong, J H; Currie, I G ^[2]

---

1. AECL Research, Chalk River, Ontario (Canada). Chalk River Labs.
2. Univ. of Toronto, Ontario (Canada). Dept. of Mechanical Engineering

Two-phase cross-flow exists in many shell-and-tube heat exchangers. The U-bend region of nuclear steam generators is a prime example. Testing in two-phase flow simulated by air-water provides useful results inexpensively. However, two-phase flow parameters, in particular surface tension and density ratio, are considerably different in air-water than in steam-water. A reasonable compromise is testing in liquid-vapor Freon, which is much closer to steam-water while much simpler experimentally. This paper presents the first results of a series of tests on the vibration behavior of tube bundles subjected to two-phase Freon cross-flow. A rotated triangular tube bundle of tube-to-diameter ratio of 1.5 was tested over a broad range of void fractions and mass fluxes. Fluidelastic instability, random turbulence excitation, and damping were investigated. Well-defined fluidelastic instabilities were observed in continuous two-phase flow regimes. However, intermittent two-phase flow regimes had a dramatic effect on fluidelastic instability. Generally, random turbulence excitation forces are much lower in Freon than in air-water. Damping is very dependent on void fraction, as expected.

• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE
• OSTI ID: 131622
• Journal Information: Journal of Pressure Vessel Technology, Journal Name: Journal of Pressure Vessel Technology Journal Issue: 4 Vol. 117; ISSN JPVTAS; ISSN 0094-9930
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS
CROSSFLOW SYSTEMS
EXPERIMENTAL DATA
MECHANICAL VIBRATIONS
NUCLEAR POWER PLANTS
SIMULATION
STEAM GENERATORS
TUBES
TWO-PHASE FLOW