A Global Model for Flow-Induced Vibration of Tube Bundles in Cross-Flow

Abstract

This paper presents an approximate model which can be used for predictive analysis of industrial tube bundles subjected to cross-flow. A tube bundle in cross-flow is locally approximated, in a global sense, by a single-degree-of-freedom system, called the global system. The critical flow velocity can be predicted by computing the velocity at which the damping ratio of the global system becomes zero. In the stable region, tube response amplitude can be approximated by the amplitude of the global system response. In this approach, the knowledge of four fluid force coefficients is required to solve the problem. They are determined experimentally by dynamic response measurements. The global model so defined is compared with the simplified method usually used for industrial predictive analysis purposes. It is shown that the conventional method can be considered as a particular simplified case of the present model. Practical examples concerning square-in-line tube bundles are given. They show that the first results obtained with the global model are promising.