An Experimental Study of the Effect of Tube-to-Tube Ties on Fluidelastic Instability in an In-Line Tube Array

An experimental study was conducted on the effect of tube-to-tube ties on the fluidelastic instability of an in-line tube array with a streamwise pitch ratio of 1.33 and a transverse pitch ratio of 2.0. Various arrangements of tubes clamped in the streamwise direction were examined. The results showed that clipping two tubes together had a stabilizing effect, but also exhibited substantial hysteresis. On the other hand, longitudinal clipping of three, four, or six tubes together increased the fluidelastic stability threshold by a factor of more than three. [S0094-9930(00)01501-8]