Numerical Simulation of Turbulent Flow Physics in a Tube Array

Abstract

The prediction of fluid-elastic instabilities developing in a tube bundle is of major importance in the design of modern heat exchangers for nuclear reactor cooling to prevent accidents associated with fluid-elastic instabilities leading to flutter, material fatigue, shocks between beams and damage of the solid walls. The fluid-elastic instabilities in tube arrays appear in the laminar regime and persist in the high Reynolds number turbulent flow. They are governed by non-linear interaction between fluid-elastic instability and turbulence. It is of major importance for the design to accurately predict the unsteady loads under turbulent flow and the amplification of the fluid-elastic instabilities. This work focuses on the numerical simulation of turbulent flow in tube bundle and prediction of fluid-elastic instabilities.KeywordsStrouhal NumberTube BundlePredominant FrequencyCylinder WakeTube ArrayThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.