Turbulence-induced vibration of tube bundles subjected to cross-flow and loose support.

Flow-induced vibration of the tube bundles is an important issue in the security of a steam generator. Several investigations were performed to study the fluidelastic instability of the tube subjected to cross-flow. It should be noted that turbulence-induced vibration of the tube bundles subjected to cross-flow and loose support may cause a potential tube fretting wear and fretting fatigue when the flow pitch velocity is lower than the threshold of the fluidelastic instability. However, there is seldom theoretical analysis to study the vibration characteristics of the tube bundles considering the effect of the loose support. Therefore, a mathematical model of a single flexible tube in tube bundles subjected to turbulence random force and loose support was presented in this paper. An experiment was carried out to obtain the turbulence random forces acting on the tube bundle both in the entrance and intermediate regions. The influences of the turbulence force on the vibration characteristics of the tube were investigated. • Turbulence-induced vibration of tube bundles subjected to cross-flow was studied. • An envelope spectrum of turbulence excitation force was proposed. • The effects of loose support on the vibration characteristic of the tube were discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]