Towards a Validation Database for Simulation of Fluidelastic Instability in Normal Triangular Heat Exchanger Tube Arrays

Models for fluidelastic instability are usually validated by comparing critical velocity predictions with experimental data. However, the scatter in this data make detailed validation problematic. As an initial step towards providing a validation database for fluidelastic instability, surface pressure measurements are presented for a cylinder in the third row of three normal triangular tube arrays (P/d = 1.32; 1.58; 1.97) with air cross flow. Surface pressure measurements were also made when the cylinder was statically displaced. Forces were calculated from the pressure measurements enabling an understanding of the force generation mechanism. The results show that the fluid force coefficients do not scale with the dynamic head but exhibit a dependency on Reynolds number and pitch ratio. However, no simple parametrisation was found for the lift force. Jet switching was found in P/d = 1.58 even when the tube was displaced. This phenomenon resulted in the large asymmetry observed in the pressure distribution around a static cylinder.