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.