Streamwise Fluidelastic Forces in Tube Arrays Subjected to Two-Phase Flows

Abstract

Detailed unsteady fluid force and phase measurements for a single tube oscillating purely in the streamwise direction in a rotated triangular tube array subjected to air-water two-phase cross-flow have been conducted in this study for homogeneous void fractions between 0% and 90%. Additionally the streamwise steady forces were measured in two-phase flow at a Reynolds number (based on the pitch velocity), Re = 7.2 × 104. The results are compared to those previously obtained for transverse direction oscillations. The measurement results show that the magnitude of the force coefficients for both directions (drag and lift) is comparable both in trend and quantitatively. However, the phase in the drag direction is negative while that for the lift is positive. The range of variation of the phase is also significantly smaller for the drag direction. Noting that negative phase corresponds to positive damping and vice versa, this observation confirms previous findings of lack of instability in the drag direction for a single flexible tube in a rotated triangular tube array. The drag steady fluid force coefficients were found to increase with dimensionless displacement in the flow direction for the entire range of void fractions considered. The derivative of the measured steady fluid force coefficient, which is an important factor in fluidelastic instability study using the quasi-steady model, was found to remain positive in the drag direction. The effect of void fraction on the unsteady fluid force coefficient and other dynamic parameters such as hydrodynamic mass and damping are also discussed.