Fluidelastic Instability of Flexible Tubular Cylinders Subjected to Two-Phase Internal Flow

Author(s):  
Christine Monette ◽  
Michel J. Pettigrew

The fluidelastic instability behaviour of flexible cylinders subjected to internal single-phase (liquid or gas) flows is now reasonably well understood. Although many piping systems operate in two-phase flows, so far very little work has been done to study their dynamic behaviour under such flows. This paper presents the results of a series of experiments to study the fluidelastic instability behaviour of flexible tubular cylinders subjected to two-phase internal flow. Several flexible cylinders of different diameters, lengths and flexural rigidities were tested over a broad range of flow velocities and void fractions in an air-water loop to simulate two-phase flows. Well-defined fluidelastic instabilities were observed in two-phase flows. The existing theory to formulate the fluidelastic behaviour under internal flow was developed further to take into account two-phase flow. The agreement between the experimental results and the modified theory is remarkably good. However, it depends on using an appropriate model to formulate the characteristics of the two-phase flows.

2011 ◽  
Vol 133 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sylviane Pascal-Ribot ◽  
Yves Blanchet

This paper presents the results of a series of experiments to study the influence of diameter on the loading of a single rigid cylinder subjected to air-water cross-flow. Five rigid cylinders of same length and different diameters (12.15×10−3 m to 31.9×10−3 m) were tested over void fractions ranging from 10% to 80%. The fluctuating lift forces on the cylinder are measured and represented in the form of power spectral density. A scaling model of these forces previously developed from one series of experiments with one tube diameter (12.15×10−3 m) is tested on these new results by investigating the effect of tube diameter D. Unlike single phase results where the force spectra vary as D3, it is shown that for two-phase flows, the force spectra vary as D2. The experimental data collapse remarkably well. Both local void fraction and flow regime appear to be sensitive parameters. It confirms the importance of a precise knowledge of the local characteristics of two-phase flows in the study of buffeting forces mechanisms.


Author(s):  
Sylviane Pascal-Ribot ◽  
Yves Blanchet

This paper presents the results of a series of experiments to study the loading of a single rigid cylinder subjected to air-water cross-flow. Five rigid cylinders of same length and different diameters (12.15×10−3 m to 31.9×10−3 m) were tested over void fractions ranging from 10% to 80%. The fluctuating lift forces on the cylinder are measured and represented in the form of power spectral density. A scaling model of these forces previously developed from one series of experiments with one tube diameter (12.15×10−3 m) is tested on these new results by investigating the effect of tube diameter D. Unlike single phase results where the force spectra vary as D3, it is shown that for two-phase flows the force spectra vary as D2. The experimental data collapse remarkably well. Both local void fraction and flow regime appear to be sensitive parameters. It confirms the importance of a precise knowledge of the local characteristics of two-phase flows in the study of buffeting forces mechanisms.


Author(s):  
Stephen Olala ◽  
Njuki W. Mureithi

In-plane instability of tube arrays has not been a major concern to steam generator designers until recently following observations of streamwise tube failure in a nuclear power plant in U.S.A. However, modeling of fluidelastic instability in two-phase flows still remains a challenge. In the present work, detailed steady fluid force measurements for a kernel of an array of tubes in a rotated triangular tube array of P/D=1.5 subjected to air-water two-phase flows for a series of void fractions and a Reynolds number (based on the pitch velocity), Re = 7.2 × 104 has been conducted. The measured steady fluid force coefficients and their derivatives, with respect to streamwise static displacements of the central tube, are employed in the quasi-steady model [1, 2], originally developed for single phase flows, to analyze in-plane fluidelastic instability of multiple flexible arrays in two-phase flows. The results are consistent with dynamic stability tests [3].


Author(s):  
Teguewinde Sawadogo ◽  
Njuki Mureithi

The time delay is a key parameter for modeling fluidelastic instability, especially the damping controlled mechanism. It can be determined experimentally by measuring directly the time lag between the tube motion and the induced fluid forces. The fluid forces may be obtained by integrating the pressure field around the moving tube. However, this method faces certain difficulties in two-phase flow since the high turbulence and the non-uniformity of the flow may increase the randomness of the measured force. To overcome this difficulty, an innovative method for extracting the time delay inherent to the quasi-steady model for fluidelastic instability is proposed in this study. Firstly, experimental measurements of unsteady and quasi-static fluid forces (in the lift direction) acting on a tube subject to two-phase flow were conducted. The unsteady fluid forces were measured by exciting the tube using a linear motor. These forces were measured for a wide range of void fraction, flow velocities and excitation frequencies. The experimental results showed that the unsteady fluid forces could be represented as single valued function of the reduced velocity (flow velocity reduced by the excitation frequency and the tube diameter). The time delay was determined by equating the unsteady fluid forces with the quasi-static forces. The results given by this innovative method of measuring the time delay in two-phase flow were consistent with theoretical expectations. The time delay could be expressed as a linear function of the convection time and the time delay parameter was determined for void fractions ranging from 60% to 90%. Fluidelastic instability calculations were also performed using the quasi-steady model with the newly measured time delay parameter. Previously conducted stability tests provided the experimental data necessary to validate the theoretical results of the quasi-steady model. The validity of the quasi-steady model for two-phase flow was confirmed by the good agreement between its results and the experimental data. The newly measured time delay parameter has improved significantly the theoretical results, especially for high void fractions (90%). However, the model could not be verified for void fractions lower or equal to 50% due to the limitation of the current experimental setup. Further studies are consequently required to clarify this point. Nevertheless, this model can be used to simulate the flow induced vibrations in steam generators’ tube bundles as their most critical parts operate at high void fractions (≥ 60%).


1995 ◽  
Vol 117 (4) ◽  
pp. 321-329 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. J. Pettigrew ◽  
C. E. Taylor ◽  
J. H. Jong ◽  
I. G. Currie

Two-phase cross-flow exists in many shell-and-tube heat exchangers. The U-bend region of nuclear steam generators is a prime example. Testing in two-phase flow simulated by air-water provides useful results inexpensively. However, two-phase flow parameters, in particular surface tension and density ratio, are considerably different in air-water than in steam-water. A reasonable compromise is testing in liquid-vapor Freon, which is much closer to steam-water while much simpler experimentally. This paper presents the first results of a series of tests on the vibration behavior of tube bundles subjected to two-phase Freon cross-flow. A rotated triangular tube bundle of tube-to-diameter ratio of 1.5 was tested over a broad range of void fractions and mass fluxes. Fluidelastic instability, random turbulence excitation, and damping were investigated. Well-defined fluidelastic instabilities were observed in continuous two-phase flow regimes. However, intermittent two-phase flow regimes had a dramatic effect on fluidelastic instability. Generally, random turbulence excitation forces are much lower in Freon than in air-water. Damping is very dependent on void fraction, as expected.


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