Two-Phase Flow-Induced Forces on Bends in Small Scale Tubes

Two-phase flow occurs in many situations in industry. Under certain circumstances, it can be a source of flow-induced vibrations. The forces generated can be sufficiently large to affect the performance or efficiency of an industrial device. In the worst-case scenario, the mechanical forces that arise may endanger structural integrity. Thus, it is important to take these forces into account in designing industrial machinery to avoid problems during operation. Although the occurrence of such forces is well known, not much is known about their magnitudes because, unfortunately, the amount of experimental data available in literature are rather limited. This paper describes the experiments performed to measure forces in 6 mm diameter tubing containing a bend. Experiments are performed on bends of different radii, with the bend positioned horizontally or vertically. The experimental results are analyzed based on flow regime and bend configuration. A comparison with available experimental results for bigger internal pipe diameter shows a general good agreement. To improve future predictions, a simple model based on momentum exchange is proposed to estimate the forces generated by multiphase flow. The proposed model shows a good agreement with the experimental data.