Study of Buffeting Excitation Acting on Coil Tube Bundles in Cross Flow

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Abstract The amplitudes induced by random excitation forces on the tubes bring continuous friction between the tube and supports, which results in gradual failure of the tubes due to fretting wear. Therefore, it is very important to determine the envelope lines of the random excitation force spectrum for the coil tube. To the authors' knowledge, there are no published studies on the normalized force spectrum of coil tubes. In this paper, a simplified three-layer experimental model was established. The robustness of the numerical method was demonstrated by comparing the experimental and simulated results, including the vibration response and the fluid excitation force spectrum. Then, a semi-empirical equation for predicting the dominant frequency of turbulent buffeting was constructed by employing the threshold envelope method. Through the observation of time-history and root-mean-square (RMS) data, it was found that the pitch diameter ratio between adjacent tube layers, a, had the greatest influence on the force coefficients. The smaller a is, the larger the force coefficients are. The pitch diameter ratio in the same layer, b, and helix angle, α, had little effect on the force coefficients. With the increase of α, the flow instability in the shell-side flow enhanced and the fluctuation of force coefficients became larger. Finally, the mechanisms of the tube position, Reynolds number (Re), and bundle structure on the normalized force spectrum were studied. The normalized envelope force spectrum for coil tubes was proposed as the guidelines to predict and evaluate the random excitation force acting on the tubes.