Experimental Development of Design Criteria to Limit Liquid Cross-Flow-Induced Vibration in Nuclear Reactor Heat Exchange Equipment

It is well known that a strong need exists for design criteria to limit liquid cross-flow-induced vibration in heat exchanger tube bundles. This need has become even more critical with the advent of the nuclear power industry and the large heat exchange systems that it employs. An extensive series of experimental vibration tests has been conducted on tube bundles of contemporary interest in a large water tunnel. The main objective of these tests has been to develop a design criterion to limit vibration amplitudes. It has been found that the main excitation mechanisms are turbulence, some vortex shedding, and hydroelastic instability. The results of these tests are correlated and presented in an orderly fashion. It is found that the most serious excitation mechanism is hydroelastic instability. Criteria are advanced for establishing upper velocity limits based on the experimental findings. The vortex shedding mechanism is found to only be a problem for tubes in the inlet region of some bundles. Strouhal numbers associated with observed resonances are tabulated and discussed. Tube response to random turbulence has been studied for numerous bundles but is found to be of secondary significance.