Numerical simulation of shell-and-tube heat exchanger and study of tube bundle support

2nd International Workshop on Materials Science and Mechanical Engineering

机械制造;材料科学

Guo, Q.^1 ; Wang, J.S.^2 ; Wang, X.^2 ; Qian, C.F.^2

College of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, Xi'An Polytechnic University, China^1

College of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, China^2

关键词: Axial forces;    Axial stress;    Cross-section area;    Shell and tube heat exchangers;    Shell element;    Solid elements;    Solid shell element;    Stress calculations;   

Others  :  https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1757-899X/504/1/012060/pdf
DOI  :  10.1088/1757-899X/504/1/012060

学科分类：材料科学（综合）

来源: IOP

【 摘 要 】

In this paper, the method for numerical simulation of fixed tubesheet heat exchangers was analyzed and the support of the tube bundle was studied. It is found that for low or medium pressurized shell-and-tube heat exchangers, no matter which type of solid elements, solid-shell elements or shell elements is utilized for meshing the cylinder and tubes, the axial stresses at the cylinder and tubes as well as the tubesheet deflection are almost the same. The number of tubes has no effects on the hoop stress at the shell, but has significant effects on the axial stress. The less the number of the tubes, the larger the axial stress at the cylinder is. The tubesheet deflection and the action of the pressure on the outside surface of the tubes and inside surface of the cylinder affect the axial stress at the cylinder remarkably. Accurate stress calculation for the combined tubesheet, cylinder and tubes system should be performed using finite element method. The error would be large if the axial stress were simply calculated with the axial force divided by the axial cross section area bearing the load.