Flow-induced vibrations of dual-cylinders in axial flow via LES simulations

Abstract

The axial-flow-induced vibration of fuel rods in the nuclear power plant is closely related to nuclear safety. In this article, a numerical study is performed on vibration of two elastic cylinders arranged side-by-side in axial flow. Large eddy simulation is employed to predict the turbulent flow. The numerical method has been verified using the experimental root-mean-square vibration amplitude of a single cylinder. A wide range of inflow velocities u∗, incident turbulence intensity Tu and space ratio P/D have been examined, where D and P are the diameter and centre-to-centre distance of the cylinders, respectively. The results show that the vibration amplitudes increase with an increasing u∗, comparable to the case of a single cylinder in axial flow. However, the two cylinders could bend outwards during a relatively high u∗ and low Tu. Although Tu significantly affects the amplitudes of the cylinders, it does not change the vibration frequency and the critical velocity at which buckling instability occurs. As the gap between the two cylinders is sufficiently small, the vibration amplitude enhances significantly due to the pronounced hydrodynamic interaction between the two elastic cylinders and surrounding fluid. The direction of buckling is no longer random but fixed.