Flow-induced vibrations of Steam Generator tube bundles are a major concern for the operators of nuclear power plants. In order to predict damages due to such vibrations, EDF has developed the numerical tool GeViBus, which allows one to evaluate safety margins and thereafter to optimize the SG maintenance policy.
The software is based on a semi analytical model of fluid-dynamic forces and dimensionless fluid force coefficients which need to be assessed by experiment. The database of dimensionless coefficients is progressively updated in order to cover most of existing tube bundle configurations.
Within this framework, a new test rig was presented in a previous conference with the aim of assessing parallel triangular tube arrangement submitted to a two-phase cross-flow. This paper presents the fluid-induced forces measured on a set of flexible tubes placed in a triangular pitch bundle both in the lift and drag directions. Two-phase flow excitation spectra are presented as well.
