Finite Element Simulation For Hydraulic Expanding Of Thick Tube Sheet

Heat exchanger, especially tube and shell heat exchanger, is widely used in petroleum and chemical industry. With the trend of large-scale pressure vessels, heat exchanger and tubesheet also become lager and thicker, for instance, the steam generator of the third generation advanced PWR has a thick tubesheet which reaches more than700mm. There are only a few researches on the thick tubesheet expanding and expanding order while there are a lot on hydraulic expanded joint. So it is necessary to make further efforts to research on the thick tubesheet expanding.The main work and results of this paper is as follows:(1) True stress VS strain curve of heat exchange tube and tube plate material was measured by material experiment, and Kohlpaintner equivalent diameter formula was proved still suitable for use.(2) The distribution law of the residual contact pressure of the thick tubesheet was studied, and the distribution law affected by tubesheet thickness, the initial gap and tube spacing was also studied.(3) The shortness affected by expanding pressure, thickness of tubesheet and initial gap was achieved while studying the tube shortness in expanding of thick tubesheet.(4) The order of expanding on expanding joints was researched, and the results showed that the expanding joint has influence only in the adjacent tube but not the further tubes.