The onset of flow-induced vibrations in a square tube array subjected to cross-flow

The need for accurate prediction of vibration and wear of heat exchangers in service has placed greater emphasis on improved modeling of the associated phenomenon of flow-induced vibrations. It was recognized that modeling of the complex dynamics of fluidelastic forces, that give rise to vibrations of tube bundles, requires a great deal of experimental insight. Accordingly, the prediction of the flow-induced vibration due to unsteady cross-flow can be greatly aided by semi-analytical models, in which some coefficients are determined experimentally. In this paper, the elastodynamic model of the tube array is formulated using the finite element approach, wherein each tube is modeled by a set of finite tube-elements. The interaction between tubes in the bundle is represented by fluidelastic coupling forces, which are defined in terms of the multi-degree-of-freedom elastodynamic behavior of each tube in the bundle. A laboratory test rig with an instrumented square bundle is constructed to measure the fluidelastic coefficients used to tune the developed dynamic model. The test rig admits two different test bundles; namely the inline-square and 45° rotated-square tube arrays. Measurements were conducted to identify the flow-induced dynamic coefficients. The developed scheme was utilized in predicting the onset of flow-induced vibrations, and results were examined in the light of TEMA predictions. The comparison demonstrated that TEMA guidelines are more conservative in the two configurations considered.