The effect of tube mass on the flow induced response of various tube arrays in water

Abstract Experiments were run in a water tunnel to study the effect of mass ratio on the cross-flow induced response of heat exchanger tube arrays with a pitch ratio of 1·5. All four standard tube array geometries were examined and three different tube masses were used for each geometry. Response curves and frequency data are presented including Strouhal numbers, vorticity resonance amplitudes and fluidelastic stability thresholds.