Flow-induced vibration and fretting-wear specifications to ensure steam-generator and heat exchanger lifetime performance

The current interest in refurbishment, life extension and new-build activity has meant a renewed emphasis on technical specifications that will ensure improved reliability and longer life. Preventing vibration and fretting-wear problems in steam generators and heat exchangers requires design specifications that bring together specific guidelines, analysis methods, requirements and appropriate performance criteria. The specifications must be firmly based on experimental data and field inspections. In addition, the specifications must be supported by theoretical analyses and fundamental scaling correlations, to cover conditions and geometries over the wide range applicable to existing components and probable future designs. The specifications are expected to evolve to meet changing industry requirements. This paper outlines the steps required to generate and support design specifications, and relates them to typical steam-generator design features and computer modeling capabilities. It also describes current issues that are driving changes to flow-induced vibration and fretting-wear specifications that can be applied to the design process for component refurbishment, replacement or new designs. These issues include recent experimental or field evidence for new excitation mechanisms, e.g., the possibility of in-plane fluidelastic instability of U-tubes, the demand for longer reactor and component lifetimes, the need for better predictions of dynamic properties and vibration response, e.g., two-phase random-turbulence excitation, and requirements to consider system 'excursions' or abnormal scenarios, e.g., a main steam line break in the case of steam generators. The paper describes steps being taken to resolve these issues. (author)