Experimental and numerical contributions on flow-induced vibration in steam-generator-like tube bundles: A review

Water in the secondary loop of a nuclear power plant is vaporized in the steam generator tube bundle. At this stage, the bottom and top part of the tube bundle are subjected to a single and a two-phase cross flow, respectively. These flows induce tube vibration that might cause damage if too severe. Indeed, the study and the understanding of single and two-phase flow-induced vibrations in tube bundles is a topic of interest for nuclear safety. The present work addresses a review of the experimental and numerical contributions in the literature. First, experiments and their use are described and analyzed in terms of vibrations, but also in terms of fluid flow behaviors when it is available at a local scale. More recently, especially in two-phase flows, numerical works have allowed investigating local scales and their contributions to vibration phenomena. A discussion is finally proposed on bi-stability in experimental and numerical work and on the role played by the gas structure to cylinder size ratio in the two-phase damping.