Heat transfer and thermal stress analysis in grooved tubes

Abstract

Heat transfer and thermal stresses, induced by temperature differences in the internally grooved tubes of heat transfer equipment, have been analysed numerically. The analysis has been conducted for four different kinds of internally grooved tubes and three different mean inlet water velocities. Constant temperature was applied from the external surface of the tube. Energy and governing flow equations were solved using finite difference scheme. Finite element method (FEM) was used to compute the thermal stress fields. Grooving effects on the thermal stress ratio have been discussed. As a result, maximum thermal stress occurs in the case of p = d for all water inlet velocities. The maximum thermal stress ratio positions inside the tube have been indicated as MX for all investigated cases. In the light of the thermal stress values, various designs can be applied to reduce thermal stress in grooved tubes.