Investigation on Fluid Induced Vibration of Heat Exchanger Beyond Pitch Ratio Range in TEMA Standards and GB/T 151

In new design of heat exchangers with high turbulence intensity and low pressure drop in the shell side, parameters or structures beyond the standards may be adopted and failure risk due to fluid induced vibration can increase. As pitch ratio is related with some significant parameters, the range of pitch ratio determines whether the FIV calculation could be established. In this research, FIV of heat exchangers with pitch ratio beyond the standards was investigated on mechanisms such as vortex shedding, turbulent buffeting and fluid elastic instability. Both theoretical and numerical methods have been applied during the study to get parameters beyond the pitch ratio range. Parameters related to pitch ratio such as additional mass coefficient C_m and damping ratio ζ were extended, and then verified by experiments. Calculating cases on several conditions were accomplished as well as comparation with literatures. The results and methods could be guidelines for the design of new type of heat exchangers and references in the amendment of relevant standards.