STV-15 Select Crossflow Velocity Distributions for Analyzing Tube Vibration Potential
Both the value and distribution of velocity along each span are important for proper assessment of tube vibration potential. Because of the disparity in spatial resolution between the small-scale finite element structural model of Xvib® and the larger scale incrementation scheme of Xist®, engineering judgment is required to populate the important crossflow velocity distribution in the Xvib input.
To assist Xvib users, we have computed typical crossflow profiles for vulnerable tubes in a number of conventional shell-and-tube heat exchanger configurations using computational fluid dynamics. Several examples illustrate how to apply these normalized profiles and indicate the magnitude of their effect on the fluidelastic instability ratio and the vortex shedding amplitude calculated using Xvib.