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

Technical Report · Sat Sep 01 04:00:00 EDT 1990

OSTI ID:6146574

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

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1. Argonne National Lab., IL (USA). Materials and Components Technology Div.
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 failure in some operating steam generators and heat exchangers. This report presents a mathematical model for fluidelastic instability of loosely supported tubes exposed to nonuniform crossflow. The model incorporates all motion-dependent fluid forces based on the unsteady flow theory. In the unstable region associated with a TSP-inactive mode, tube motion can be described by two linear models: TSP-inactive mode when tubes do not strike the TSP, and TSP-active mode when tubes do strike the TSP. A bilinear model (consisting of these linear models) presented in this report simulates the characteristics of fluidelastic instability of loosely supported tubes in stable and unstable regions associated with TSP-inactive modes. Analytical results obtained with the model are compared with published experimental data; they agree reasonably well. The prediction procedure presented for fluidelastic instability response of loosely supported tubes is applicable to the stable and unstable regions of the TSP-inactive mode. 25 refs., 21 figs.

• Research Organization: Argonne National Lab., IL (USA)
• Sponsoring Organization: DOE; USDOE, Washington, DC (USA)
• DOE Contract Number: W-31109-ENG-38
• OSTI ID: 6146574
• Report Number(s): ANL-90/38; ON: DE91009676
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

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42 ENGINEERING
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ANALYTICAL SOLUTION
BOILERS
COMPARATIVE EVALUATIONS
CROSSFLOW SYSTEMS
DATA
DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS
EQUATIONS
EQUATIONS OF MOTION
FAILURES
FLUID FLOW
HEAT EXCHANGERS
INFORMATION
MATHEMATICAL MODELS
MECHANICAL STRUCTURES
MECHANICAL VIBRATIONS
MOTION
NUMERICAL DATA
PARTIAL DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS
PLATES
STABILITY
STEAM GENERATORS
SUPPORTS
THEORETICAL DATA
TUBES
UNSTEADY FLOW
VAPOR GENERATORS
WEAR