A theory for fluidelastic instability of tube-support-plate inactive modes

Conference · Mon Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1990

OSTI ID:6019521

Cai, Y; Chen, S S ^[1]; Chandra, S ^[2]

---

1. Argonne National Lab., IL (USA)
2. Northeast Utilities Service Co., Hartford, CT (USA)

Fluidelastic instability of loosely supported tubes, vibrating in a tube support plate (TSP)-inactive mode, is suspected to be one of the main causes of tube failures in some operating steam generators and heat exchangers. A mathematical model, which incorporates all motion-dependent fluid-forces based on the unsteady flow theory, is presented here for fluidelastic instability of loosely supported tubes exposed to nonuniform crossflow. In the unstable region associated with a TSP-inactive mode, the tube motion can be described by two linear models: TSP-inactive mode when tubes do not contact with the TSP and TSP-active mode when tubes contact the TSP. A bilinear model, consisting of these linear models, is presented in this paper to simulate the characteristics of fluidelastic instability of loosely supported tubes in the stable and unstable region associated with TSP-inactive modes. The analytical results are compared with published experimental data; they agree reasonably well. The prediction procedure presented for fluidelastic instability response of loosely supported tubes is applicable in the stable regions of TSP-inactive mode. 25 refs., 10 figs., 2 tabs.

• Research Organization: Argonne National Lab., IL (USA)
• Sponsoring Organization: DOE; USDOE, Washington, DC (USA)
• DOE Contract Number: W-31109-ENG-38
• OSTI ID: 6019521
• Report Number(s): CONF-910602-2; ON: DE91006001
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

42 ENGINEERING
420400* -- Engineering-- Heat Transfer & Fluid Flow
BOILERS
DATA
DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS
EQUATIONS
EQUATIONS OF MOTION
EXPERIMENTAL DATA
FAILURE MODE ANALYSIS
FAILURES
FLUID FLOW
HEAT EXCHANGERS
INFORMATION
MATHEMATICAL MODELS
MECHANICAL STRUCTURES
MECHANICAL VIBRATIONS
NUMERICAL DATA
OSCILLATIONS
PARTIAL DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS
PLATES
STEAM GENERATORS
SUPPORTS
SYSTEM FAILURE ANALYSIS
SYSTEMS ANALYSIS
THEORETICAL DATA
TUBES
VAPOR GENERATORS