A Study of Acoustic Resonance in a Staggered Tube Array

Abstract

Experimental laboratory research was performed to study the effect of test section width on the magnitude of acoustic resonance generated in a small pitch ratio staggered tube bank. Three different test section widths were studied: 505mm, 714mm, and 953mm. The results for acoustic resonance were compared to the tube bank data of Blevins and Bressler (1993, J. Sound Vib., 164(3), pp. 503–533), Ziada, Bolleter, and Chen (1984, ASME Symposium on Flow-Induced Vibrations, ASME, New York, Vol. 2, pp. 227–242); Ziada, Oengören, and Buhlmann (1989, J. Fluids and Struct., 3, pp. 293–324), and Fitzpatrick and Donaldson (1977, ASME J. Fluids Eng., 99, pp. 681–686). The present study showed that test-section width may be a significant factor in determining the maximum acoustic pressures generated by the flow. In particular, the simple relationship between maximum acoustic pressure and input energy parameter derived by Blevins and Bressler was not a reliable predictor for the array studied and will likely underpredict the maximum acoustic pressures in the lower modes of practical heat exchangers.

Acoustic resonance and pressure drop through a staggered tube bundle in a compact heat exchanger

“…Additional tests were carried out using anti-resonance baffles 0.2 mm thick. Anti-resonance baffles are usually used within a tube bundle to avoid acoustic resonance by increasing the natural acoustic frequency [23,24]. The first modes of the natural frequencies were The test apparatus consisted of a rectangular duct, a ring blower, an orifice, a bell mouth, and two tube bundles.…”

“…Acoustic resonance can occur when the vortex shedding frequency is close to the natural frequency of the transverse acoustic mode (f % f n ) [17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28], and the flow is prominently affected by the acoustic resonance [29,30]. Blevins and Bressler [18] found that acoustic resonance could cause the pressure drop that occurs through a tube bundle to increase significantly.…”

“…Blevins and Bressler [18] reported that the pressure drop caused by a tube bundle could be increased because of acoustic noise. Feenstra et al [23,24] found that the pressure drop was influenced by acoustic resonance over a wide range of flow velocities, and they fitted a curve to their experimental data. Hamakawa et al [25] showed that pressure drops through inline tube banks increased by acoustic resonance, but any resonance did not occur for staggered tube banks with small tube pitch ratios.…”

Acoustic resonance in a staggered tube array: Tube response and the effect of baffles

“…They reported measurements of Strouhal number and acoustic noise and developed a correlation to predict the loudness of the acoustic noise based upon Mach number and pressure drop across the tube array. In a recent study, Feenstra et al (2006) showed that the test-section width affected the maximum sound pressures achieved at resonance and, in particular, that wider test-sections produced higher sound pressure levels in the first five acoustic modes than predicted by Blevins and Bressler (1993).…”

Cross-Flow-Induced-Vibrations in Heat Exchanger Tube Bundles: A Review

“…(Eisinger & Sullivan , 2007) considers strong acoustic resonance with acoustic pressure reading 165 dB for package boiler at near full load, suppression of resonance (lower frequency) through baffle covering with downstream section and the development of another resonance (higher frequency) in the unbaffled upstream section. (Feenstra et al, 2006) carried out experimental investigation of the effects of width of test section for measuring the acoustic resonance with a small pitch rates staggered tubes. The conclusion was that the maximum acoustic pressure versus input energy parameter of Blevins and Bressler is not a reliable preditor and it over predicts.…”