Study on In-Flow Fluidelastic Instability of Circular Cylinders Caused by Air Cross Flow (Triangular Arrays)

Author(s):  
Tomomichi Nakamura ◽  
Yoshiaki Fujita ◽  
Takuya Sumitani ◽  
Shinichiro Hagiwara

The in-flow instability of cylinder arrays corresponds to the in-plane instability of U-bend tubes in steam generators. This rarely occurring phenomenon has recently been observed in a nuclear power plant in U.S.A. For this reason, the importance of studying this instability has recently increased. The fluidelastic instability of a cylinder array caused by cross-flow was found to easily occur in air-flow and hardly in water-flow in our previous report. The present report introduces the results of this phenomenon in several patterns of triangular cylinder arrays in air-flow. The pitch spacing between cylinders is one of the parameters, which varies from P/D = 1.2 to 1.5, for a five-by-five cylinder array. The instability is examined both in the in-flow direction and in the transverse direction. The test cylinders are supported with thin plates to move in one direction. The number and the location of the flexibly supported cylinders are the other parameters. Differences between the instability in the in-flow and in the transverse direction are found. Among these differences the most important is the fact that the fluidelastic instability has not been observed for a single flexible cylinder in the in-flow direction, although it is observed in the transverse direction. However, the in-flow instability can be estimated with the Connors’ type formula as in the transverse direction.

2014 ◽  
Vol 136 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
Tomomichi Nakamura ◽  
Yoshiaki Fujita ◽  
Takuya Sumitani

The in-flow instability of cylinder arrays corresponds to the in-plane instability of U-bend tubes in steam generators. This rarely occurring phenomenon has recently been observed in a nuclear power plant in the U.S. For this reason, the importance of studying this instability has recently increased. The fluidelastic instability of a cylinder array caused by cross-flow was found to easily occur in air-flow and hardly in water-flow in our previous report. The present report introduces the results of this phenomenon in several patterns of triangular cylinder arrays in air-flow. The pitch spacing between cylinders is one of the parameters, which varies from P/D = 1.2 to 1.5, for a five-by-five cylinder array. The instability is examined both in the in-flow direction and in the transverse direction. The test cylinders are supported with thin plates to move in one direction. The number and the location of the flexibly supported cylinders are the other parameters. Differences between the instability in the in-flow and in the transverse direction are found. Among these differences the most important is the fact that the fluidelastic instability has not been observed for a single flexible cylinder in the in-flow direction, although it is observed in the transverse direction. However, the present preliminary results suggest that the in-flow instability may be estimated with the Connors' type formula as likely as in the transverse direction case.


Author(s):  
Tomomichi Nakamura ◽  
Shinichiro Hagiwara ◽  
Joji Yamada ◽  
Kenji Usuki

In-flow instability of tube arrays is a recent major issue in heat exchanger design since the event at a nuclear power plant in California [1]. In our previous tests [2], the effect of the pitch-to-diameter ratio on fluidelastic instability in triangular arrays is reported. This is one of the present major issues in the nuclear industry. However, tube arrays in some heat exchangers are arranged as a square array configuration. Then, it is important to study the in-flow instability on the case of square arrays. The in-flow fluidelastic instability of square arrays is investigated in this report. It was easy to observe the in-flow instability of triangular arrays, but not for square arrays. The pitch-to-diameter ratio, P/D, is changed from 1.2 to 1.5. In-flow fluidelastic instability was not observed in the in-flow direction. Contrarily, the transverse instability is observed in all cases including the case of a single flexible cylinder. The test results are finally reported including the comparison with the triangular arrays.


Author(s):  
Murilo M. Cicolin ◽  
Gustavo R. S. Assi

Experiments have been carried out on models of rigid circular cylinders fitted with three different types of permeable meshes to investigate their effectiveness in the suppression of vortex-induced vibrations (VIV). Measurements of amplitude of vibration and drag force are presented for models with low mass and damping which are free to respond in the cross-flow direction. Results for two meshes made of ropes and cylindrical tubes are compared with the VIV response of a bare cylinder and that of a known suppressor called the “ventilated trousers” (VT). All three meshes achieved an average 50% reduction of the peak response when compared with that of the bare cylinder. The sparse mesh configuration presented a similar behaviour to the VT, while the dense mesh produced considerable VIV response for an indefinitely long range of reduced velocity. All the three meshes have increased drag when compared with that of the bare cylinder. Reynolds number ranged from 5,000 to 25,000 and reduced velocity was varied between 2 and 15.


1985 ◽  
Vol 107 (4) ◽  
pp. 500-506 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. P. Paidoussis ◽  
S. J. Price ◽  
D. Mavriplis

This paper presents a semianalytical model, involving the superposition of the empirically determined cross flow about a cylinder in an array and the analytically determined vibration-induced flow field in still fluid, for the purpose of analyzing the stability of cylinder arrays in cross flow and predicting the threshold of fluidelastic instability. The flow field is divided into two regions: a viscous bubble of separated flow, and an inviscid, sinuous duct-flow region elsewhere. The only empirical input required by the model in its simplest form is the pressure distribution about a cylinder in the array. The results obtained are in reasonably good accord with experimental data, only for low values of the mass-damping parameter (e.g., for liquid flows), where fluidelastic instability is predominantly caused by negative fluid-dynamic damping terms. For high mass-damping parameters (e.g., for gaseous flows), where fluidelastic instability is evidently controlled by fluid-dynamic stiffness terms, the model greatly overestimates the threshold of fluidelastic instability. However, once measured fluid-dynamic stiffness terms are included in the model, agreement with experimental data is much improved, yielding the threshold flow velocities for fluidelastic instability to within a factor of 2 or better.


Author(s):  
Tomomichi Nakamura ◽  
Hiroshi Haruguchi ◽  
Hiroyuki Nakajima ◽  
Toyohiro Sawada ◽  
Kozo Sugiyama

The importance of the in-flow oscillation of a single cylinder in cross-flow has been highlighted since an accident in a FBR-type reactor. In-flow oscillations have also been observed in tube arrays. This report is an experimental study on this phenomenon using totally nine cylinders in a water tunnel. Six cases, one single cylinder, two & three cylinders in parallel & in tandem, and a nine cylinder bundle, are examined. Every cylinder can move only in in-flow direction. The motion of cylinders is measured by the strain gages and by a high-speed digital video camera. The results are compared with the visualized vortex motion.


Author(s):  
Gustavo R. S. Assi ◽  
Peter W. Bearman

Experiments have been carried out on two-dimensional devices fitted to a rigid length of circular cylinder to investigate the efficiency of pivoting parallel plates as wake-induced vibration suppressors. Measurements are presented for a circular cylinder with low mass and damping which is free to respond in the cross-flow direction. It is shown how VIV and WIV can be practically eliminated by using free to rotate parallel plates on a pair of tandem cylinders. Unlike helical strakes, the device achieves VIV suppression with 33% drag reduction when compare to a pair of fixed tandem cylinders at the same Reynolds number. These results prove that suppressors based on parallel plates have great potential to suppress VIV and WIV of offshore structures with considerable drag reduction.


Author(s):  
Paul Feenstra ◽  
Teguewinde Sawadogo ◽  
Bruce Smith ◽  
Victor Janzen ◽  
Helen Cothron

The tubes in the U-bend region of a recirculating type of nuclear steam generator are subjected to cross-flow of a two-phase mixture of steam and water. There is a concern that these tubes may experience flow-induced vibration, including the damaging effects of fluidelastic instability. This paper presents an update and results from a series of flow-induced vibration experiments performed by Canadian Nuclear Laboratories for the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) using the Multi-Span U-Bend test rig. In the present experiments, the main focus was to investigate fluidelastic instability of the U-tubes subjected to a cross-flow of air. The tube bundle is made of 22 U-tubes of 0.5 in (12.7 mm) diameter, arranged in a rotated triangular configuration with a pitch-over-diameter ratio of 1.5. The test rig could be equipped with variable clearance flat bar supports at two different locations to investigate a variety of tube and support configurations. The primary purpose of the overall project is to study the effect of flat bar supports on ‘in plane’ (‘streamwise’) instability in a U-tube bundle with realistic tube-to-support clearances or preloads, and eventually in two-phase flow conditions. Initially, the test rig was designed for tests in air-flow using an industrial air blower. Tests with two-phase Freon refrigerant (R-134a) will follow. This paper describes the test rig, experimental setup, and the challenges presented by simulating an accurate representation of current steam generator designs. Results from the first series of tests in air flow are described.


2012 ◽  
Vol 204-208 ◽  
pp. 4598-4601
Author(s):  
Jie Li Fan ◽  
Wei Ping Huang

The two-degrees-of-freedom of vortex-induced vibration of circular cylinders is numerically simulated with the software ANSYS/CFX. The VIV characteristic, in the two different conditions (A/D=0.07 and A/D=1.0), is analyzed. When A/D is around 0.07, the amplitude ratio of the cylinder’s VIV between in-line and cross-flow direction in the lock-in is lower than that in the lock-out. The in-line frequency is twice of that in cross-flow direction in the lock-out, but in the lock-in, it is the same as that in cross-flow direction and the same as that of lift force. When A/D is around 1.0, the amplitude ratio of the VIV between in-line and cross-flow in the lock-in is obviously larger than that in the lock-out. Both in the lock-in and in the lock-out, the in-line frequency is twice of that in cross-flow direction.


2001 ◽  
Vol 123 (4) ◽  
pp. 448-453 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stuart J. Price

The use of Connors’ equation, or variations thereof, to predict the velocity at which fluidelastic instability occurs in cylinder arrays subject to cross-flow has become ubiquitous. The implicit assumption being that this equation accurately models the physics of fluidelastic instability, and all that is required is to find the “correct” value of Connors’ constant. The evidence for and against this assumption is examined in this paper. Other theoretical models of fluidelastic instability are reviewed and compared with Connors’ analysis. In addition, evidence from experimental data is considered. It is concluded that there are many deficiencies associated with Connors’ equation, and that if better “design guides” are to be obtained, more emphasis must be put on examining the physics of fluidelastic instability.


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