Study on the effect of geometry and material property on collapse pressure of a helical steam generator tube under external pressure

In this paper, a numerical study was conducted to analyze the effect of the geometry (tube thickness, ovality, and helical diameter) and material properties of once through steam generator tubes subjected to external pressure on collapse pressure. The outer diameter of the steam generator tube was fixed at 17 mm, and the tube thickness was changed to 2.5 mm, 2.29 mm, and 1.27 mm. Ovality was considered for three cases of 0 %, 4 %, and 8 %, and three cases for helical diameter were considered: 577 mm, 937 mm, and 1297 mm. As material properties, elastic perfectly plastic property that ignores plastic hardening and real material property that reflect plastic hardening were considered. At the helical diameter (D_m/d_o ≥ 34) considered in this paper, the effect of collapse pressure due to helical bending did not appear on ovalities and both material properties. On the other hand, the wall thickness affected the collapse pressures according to the material properties when ovality occurred (>0 %). This is explained because the collapse mechanism varies depending on the thickness.