ABSTRACT
Flow-induced vibration of shell and tube heat exchangers (STHEs) has been known for a long time. Heat exchanger tubes tend to vibrate under the inuence of crossow velocities, and if the amplitude of vibration becomes large enough, the tubes can be damaged by one or more of several mechanisms: (1) thinning due to repeated midspan collision, (2) impact and fretting wear at bafe plate and tube interface, and (3) fatigue or corrosion fatigue due to high wear rate. Tube failures are costly because they result in plant shutdown to effect expensive repairs. These problems can be very serious in nuclear heat exchangers. Therefore, it is important to ensure that the modern STHEs are free from FIV problems at all operating conditions.
