Strouhal Numbers for Heat Exchanger Tube Arrays in Cross Flow

Abstract

The prediction of tube or acoustic resonance due to cross-flow in heat exchangers is dependent upon knowledge of the flow characteristics for a given tube array geometry. For this, a Strouhal number relating a peak frequency in the turbulence spectrum to the velocity of the flow is required. The data available in the literature for this are rather confusing and the prediction methods appear somewhat contradictory. This paper reports the results from experiments conducted to determine Strouhal numbers for eight tube array models. These results together with the data available in the literature are then compared and appropriate conclusions drawn.