Damping of Heat Exchanger Tubes in Two-Phase Flow: Review and Design Guidelines

Two-phase flow exists in many shell-and-tube heat exchangers such as condensers, evaporators, and nuclear steam generators. Some knowledge on tube damping mechanisms is required to avoid flow-induced vibration problems. This paper outlines the development of a semi-empirical model to formulate damping of heat exchanger tube bundles in two-phase cross flow. The formulation is based on information available in the literature and on the results of recently completed experiments. The compilation of a database and the formulation of a design guideline are outlined in this paper. The effects of several parameters such as flow velocity, void fraction, confinement, flow regime and fluid properties are discussed. These parameters are taken into consideration in the formulation of a practical design guideline.