Claims
- 1. A reduced-vibration tube array comprising:a plurality of tubes in a fixe arrangement, each tube having an inner surface; a plurality of tunable damping members each positioned within a corresponding one of said tubes; each damping member resembling an elongated strip having a first contoured interface region characterized by predetermined quantity of bracing points for selectively contacting said inner surface of said corresponding tube, said first interface region being sized and shaped in accordance with said tube such that said bracing points of said first interface region are spaced apart a predetermined, first vibration-reducing distance from said tube inner surface at equilibrium; whereby mechanical interaction between said bracing points located on said elongated strip and said tube inner surface is effective to reduce vibration by a damage-reducing degree and whereby said damping members are adapted to impart desired fluid flow and mechanical interaction properties selected in accordance with predetermined tube parameters.
- 2. The reduced-vibration tube array of claim 1, wherein said first interface region is substantially-serpentine, being characterized by a plurality apexes.
- 3. The reduced vibration tube array of claim 2, wherein at least one of said damping members is fixed in place with respect to said corresponding one of said tubes.
- 4. The reduce vibration tube array of claim 3, wherein said at least one damping member is fixed via a crimped relationship with said a corresponding one of said tubes.
- 5. The reduced vibration tube array of claim 2, wherein said apexes are spaced longitudinally in accordance with at least one attribute selected from the group consisting of damping optimization and flow resistance control.
- 6. The reduced vibration tube array of claim 2, wherein said apexes are spaced radially in accordance with at least one attribute selected from the group consisting of optimized mass distribution of said damping member and vibration-controlling spacing of said damping members.
- 7. The reduced vibration tube array of claim 2, wherein said first interface is substantially-helical shaped, being further characterized by a predetermined pitch.
- 8. The reduced-vibration tube array of claim 2, wherein a first of said plurality of damping members has a right-handed pitch and a second of said plurality of damping members has a left-handed pitch.
- 9. The reduce-vibration tube array of claim 1, wherein said first interface region is substantially-helical shaped, being characterized by a predetermined pitch.
- 10. The reduce-vibration tube array of claim 9, wherein said predetermined pitch is selected in accordance with at least one attribute selected from the group consisting of damping optimization, flow resistance control, and flow rotation control.
- 11. The reduced-vibration tube array of claim 10, wherein at least one of said damping members is fixed in place with respect to said corresponding one of said tubes.
- 12. The reduced-vibration tube array of claim 11 wherein said at least one damping members is fixed via a crimped relationship with said corresponding one of said tubes.
- 13. The reduced-vibration tube array of claim 1, wherein said first interface region is arcuate, being characterized by at least one apex having a predetermined magnitude.
- 14. The reduced-vibration tube array of claim 13, wherein said predetermined magnitude is selected in accordance with at least one attribute selected from the group consisting of optimized mass distribution of said damping member and vibration-controlling spacing of said damping members.
- 15. The reduced-vibration tube array of claim 14 wherein at least one of said damping members is fixed in place with respect to said corresponding one of said tubes.
- 16. The reduced-vibration tube array of claim 15, wherein said at least one damping member is fixed via a crimped relationship with said a corresponding one of said tubes.
- 17. The reduced-vibration tube array of claim 1, wherein at least one of said damping members includes a second contoured interface region characterized by a predetermined quantity of bracing points for selectively contacting said inner surface of said corresponding tube, said second interface region being sized and shaped in accordance with said tube such that said bracing points of said second interface region are spaced apart a second predetermined, vibration-reducing distance from said tube inner surface at equilibrium.
- 18. The reduced-vibration tube array of claim 17, wherein said second vibration-reducing distance rang from between about 0.000 inches to about 0.006 inches.
- 19. The reduced-vibration tube array of claim 1, wherein at least one of said damping members includes a flared end.
- 20. The reduced-vibration tube array of claim 1, wherein said first vibration-reducing distance ranges from between about 0.000 inches to about 0.006 inches.
STATEMENT OF GOVERNMENT INTEREST
The government of the United States of America has certain rights in this invention pursuant to contract no. DE-FC21-95MC32267 awarded by the U.S. Department of Energy.
US Referenced Citations (5)