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Fen Bilimleri Enstits Yl:2010 Cilt:22-1

THREE DIMENSIONAL VIBRATION ANALYSIS OF LIQUID-FILLED

*
PIPING SYSTEMS

Akikan Tayan Boru Hatlarnn Boyutlu Titreim Analizi

Ahmet ZBAY Vebil YILDIRIM

Makine Mhendislii Anabilim Dal Makine Mhendislii Blm

ZET
Bu almann teorik ksmnda, akkan (hava/su) dolu boru sistemlerinin
serbest titreim analizi iin tama matrisi yntemi (TMM) kullanlmtr.
Literatrde mevcut on drt adet lineer birinci dereceden diferansiyel denklemden
oluan denklem takm gz nne alnmtr. Teorik sonular desteklemek amac
ile deneysel alma da gerekletirilmitir.
Anahtar Kelimeler: Ak Kaynakl Titreim, Transfer Matris Metodu, Boyutlu
Titreim Analizi.

ABSTRACT
In the theoretical part of this work, the transfer matrix method (TMM) is
employed to study the free vibration analysis of liquid-filled (air/water) piping
systems. The existing governing equations which consist of a set of fourteen linear
differential equations of first degree are considered. A few experiments are also
completed to support the theoretical solutions.
Keywords: Flow-induced vibration, Transfer Matrix Method, Three Dimensional
Vibration Analysis.

Introduction
Piping systems are very important for many industrial applications. They
are used for conveying gases and fluids over a wide range of temperatures and
pressures. In some applications, like power or chemical plants, the failure of piping
systems can cause severe economic losses and even loss of human lives. Some
of the design or operation factors that may cause failures in piping systems are:
incorrect support, transient pressure changes, thermal stresses, and flow induced
vibration.
In this study, the free vibration behavior of air/water-filled 3D-piping
systems is first studied with the help of the transfer matrix method (TMM). The
existing governing equations in analytical form which consider the axial, transverse
and torsional vibration of such piping systems are handled in the analysis. ANSYS
software program and some experiments completed in this work are used to verify
the present theoretical results.

*
Doktora Tezi :PhD Thesis

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Material and Method

The transfer matrix method provides a quick and efficient analysis of
liquid-filled piping systems. The existence of bends, springs, orifices, valves,
accumulators, pumps, and such control instrumentations may be modeled easily in
the transfer matrix method without increasing the dimensions of the system
matrices (Pestel and Leckie,1963). Figure 1 shows a general pipe element. The z-
axis is considered coincident with the centerline of the pipe reach.

i-1
i
l
Figure 1. General Pipe Element

General Field Transfer Matrix

The state vector at any section i consists of the following dimensionless
elements.
T

U z P V Fz U x M y Fx l 2 U y M x Fy l
2
M zl

Z i y x z (1)
GJ p
*
l K l Ap E l EI p EI p l EI p EI p i
where U x ,U y ,U z indicates the pipe displacement amplitudes along x-, y-, and z-
directions, Fz denotes the axial force, Fx and Fy are the shearing force
amplitudes, M z is the torsional moment amplitude, M x and M y are the bending
moment amplitudes, x , y , z are the rotations about related coordinate axes,
G is the shear modulus, E is the Youngs modulus, I p is the moment of inertia
about the y-axis for the pipe wall, J p is the polar moment of inertia for the pipe
wall, A p is the cross-sectional area of the pipe, V is the fluid displacement
amplitude, P is the fluid pressure amplitude. Representing the Poisson ratio by ,
the modified modulus of elasticity is defined by
E
E*

1 2 (2)
and the modified bulk modulus is given by

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K
K* (3)
2K r
1 *
Ee
where r is the radius of pipe cross-section, K is the bulk modulus of the fluid, and
e is the pipe-wall thickness.
The relation between state vectors at two ends of the pipe reach shown in
Figure 1 is given by

Z i TL Z i1 (4)
where [TL] is referred to as the general field transfer matrix which is of the form
(Lesmez,1989; Akdoan,1992)
[ T fp ] 0 0 0
0 [ Txz ] 0 0
TL (5)
0 0 [ T yz ] 0

0 0 0 [ Ttz ]
where [Tfp] is the field transfer matrix for the liquid and axial pipe wall vibration, [Txz]
is the field transfer matrix for the transverse vibration in x-z plane, [Tyz] is the field
transfer matrix for the transverse vibration in y-z plane, and [Ttz] is the field transfer
matrix for the torsional vibration.
Assuming that the fluid is one-dimensional (the radial component of the
fluid velocity is zero), linear, and homogeneous, the flow is isotropic, the pressure
and fluid velocity are uniform over the cross-section, and the pipe wall is linearly
elastic, isotropic, prismatic, circular and thin-walled; the elements of those sub-
matrices are given below (Lesmez, 1989; Akdoan,1992):
Liquid and Axial Pipe Wall Vibration

b b
C2 C0 C3 C1 C2 C1 ( )C3
h h
2 C ( )C2 C0 ( )C3 C1 2C2
3

[ T fp ]

2C2
1


C1 ( )2 C3 ( )C2 C0 2 C3 C1

b b
( C1 C3 ) C2 C3 C2 C0
h h
(6)
where
K*
af
2
(7.a)
f

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E
ap
2
(7.b)
p

2l 2
(7.c)
a 2f
2l 2
(7.d)
a 2p
b
2 2 (7.e)
d
r
b (7.f)
e
p
d (7.g)
f
E
h (7.h)
K*
1
2

12 2 4 (7.i)

1
2

22 4
2
(7.j)

12 22 1
(7.k)

C0 22 cos( 1 ) 12 cos( 2 ) (7.l)
2 2
C1 2 sin( 1 ) 1 sin( 2 ) (7.m)
1 2
C2 cos( 1 ) cos( 2 ) (7.n)
1 1
C3 sin( 1 ) sin( 2 ) (7.o)
1 2
In the above equations p and f are the densities of the pipe material and fluid,
respectively. a f and a p are the non-coupled fluid and axial pipe wall wave
speeds, and is the natural circular frequency.

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Transverse Vibrations in x-z and y-z Planes

C 0 C 2 C1 ( )C3 C2
1

C C
1
2
3

Txz C3 C 0 C 2 C1 C3 C2
C 2 ( 2 )C3 C1 C 0 C 2 C1 ( )C3

(C1 C3 ) C 2 C3 C 0 C 2
(8)

C 0 C 2 C1 ( )C 3 C2
1

C C
1
2
3

T
yz C 3 C 0 C 2 C1 C 3 C2
C 2 ( 2 )C 3 C1 C 0 C 2 C1 ( )C3

(C1 C 3 ) C 2 C 3 C 0 C 2
(9)
where
p Ap f A f 2 2
l (10.a)
GAp s
pI p f I f 2 2
l (10.b)
EI p
p Ap f A f
2l 4 (10.c)
EI p
1 1
12 ( ) 2 ( ) (10.d)
4 2
1 1
22 ( ) 2 ( ) (10.e)
4 2

12 22 1
(10.f)

C0 22 cosh( 1 ) 12 cos( 2 ) (10.g)
2 2
C1 2 sinh( 1 ) 1 sin( 2 ) (10.h)
1 2
C2 cosh( 1 ) cos( 2 ) (10.i)

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1 1
C3 sinh( 1 ) sin( 2 ) (10.j)
1 2
where A f is the cross-sectional area of the fluid and I f is the moment of inertia
about the y-axis for the liquid. The shape factor for cross section, s , is defined by
2(1 )
s (11)
4 3
Torsional Vibration about z-Axis
1
cos( ) sin( )
[ Ttz ] (12)
sin( ) cos( )

p
2 2 l 2 (13)
G

The overall transfer matrix U for the entire system is formed by
appropriate matrix multiplication of general field matrices and the related point
matrices for bends, springs, etc. (Pestel and Leckie, 1963) It may be noted that
when the orientation of the pipe reach is changed the general field transfer matrix
must be transformed in an appropriate manner in construction of the overall
transfer matrix.
For the pipe system supported at just two ends, 0 and L, the following
equation is used to determine the eigen-matrix after applying the boundary
conditions for both the fluid and the pipe.

Z L U Z 0 (14)
In this study the natural frequencies are found by the searching determinant
method.

Results and Discussion

One inch nominal diameter cooper pipe and two inch nominal diameter
steel pipes are used to examine the natural frequencies which are both in structural
and fluid modes. Table 1 lists the physical properties of the pipe materials, and
Table 2 presents the physical properties of the water.
Table1. Physical Properties of Pipe Materials
Copper Steel
Youngs Modulus ( E ) 97 GPa 157 GPa
Density ( ) 8350 kg/m
3
7600 kg/m
3

Inside Radius (r) 14 mm 28.15 mm

Thickness (e) 1 mm 3.6 mm
Poissons Ratio ( ) 0.35 0.28

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Table 2. Physical Properties of the Water

Temperature 25.0 C
Bulk Modulus ( K ) 2.2 GPa
Density ( ) 997.0 kg/m
3

The pipe configuration considered is shown in Figure 2. For simplicity the

length of each pipe is assumed to be equal in the following case studies.
L1

L2

L3

Figure 2. 3D-Bended Pipe Supported at Two Ends

If the length of the pipe is known, the fundamental frequency of an open-closed
liquid system is calculated by
cf
ff
4l (15)
where f f is the fundamental frequency of the liquid, and c f is the coupled wave
speed.
2 l 2 1 2 2
2

cf
2 2 b 2
a f a p 2 2 a f a f a p 2 2 2 b a f 2 4a f 2 a p 2
1 2
2 d d


(16)
In the above the related quantities are defined in Equations (7).
In order to measure any of the structural natural frequencies of the pipe
configurations, impact hammer test is applied. In this method, the structure is
excited by a hammer and this causes the system to vibrate while the structure is
monitoring with accelerometers and FFT analyzer. It gives significant peaks at its
natural frequencies in FFT spectrums.
The natural frequencies in fluid modes of the water-filled pipe system are
measured as explained below: Without any external disturbance the pressure
inside the pipe is taken about 2Bar. When the pipe is excited by an external
harmonic force, then the amplitude of the inside pressure gets start to fluctuate
about the pressure of 2bar. As the amplitude of the harmonic force increases, the

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amplitude of the inside pressure increases. When the external disturbed frequency
near the natural frequency of the liquid inside the pipe, due to the resonance
phenomena the amplitudes of the pressure become very large.
Example 1: 3D-Bended Steel Pipe with the Air
The theoretical and experimental results in the fundamental structural
mode of 3D-bended steel pipe with the air are presented in Table 3. For this
example FFT spectrums in tangential direction are shown in Figure 3.
Table 3. Natural Frequencies (Hz) of 3D-Bended Steel Pipe with the Air
(Fixed-Closed / Fixed-Closed) (L1=L2=L3=1.25m)
Present Study Equation
Modes ANSYS
TMM Experimental (15)
Structural 17.9003 20.10 20.699 -
Fluid 24.1988 - - 22.6783
Structural 33.8281 - 34.563 -
Structural 34.5657 - 34.839 -
Fluid 70.9162 - - 68.0348
Fluid 115.91 - - 113.391
Structural 122.079 - 122.09 -
Structural 122.249 - 122.30 -
Structural 174.064 - 174.72 -

Figure 3. FFT Spectrums in Tangential Direction of 3D-Bended Steel

Pipe with the Air (Fixed-Closed / Fixed-Closed) (L1=L2=L3=1.25m)

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Example 2: 3D-Bended Copper Pipe with the Water

The theoretical and experimental natural frequencies of 3D-bended copper
pipe (L1=L2=L3=3/7m=2.333m) with the water are presented in Table 4. In this
example, the fundamental frequency in the fluid mode is measured experimentally.
Figure 4 illustrates the experimental pressure-time history when the external
excitation frequency is equal to the fundamental liquid frequency (47.806Hz).

Conclusions
In this study, the free un-damped vibrational behavior of air/water-filled
piping systems is first studied with the help of the transfer matrix method (TMM).
The closed-form governing equations available in the literature, which consider the
axial, transverse and torsional vibration of such piping systems, are completely
used in this work and extended to 3-D pipe systems. The theoretical frequencies
based on the transfer matrix method are supported by some experiments
performed in this study. The results obtained in this work are also verified by the
finite element solutions using ANSYS. A very good harmony is observed between
experimental and theoretical results.
Table 4. Natural Frequencies (Hz) of 3D-Bended Copper Pipe with the Water
(Fixed-Closed / Fixed-Closed) (L1=L2=L3=3/7m=2.333m)
Present Study Equation
Modes ANSYS
TMM Experimental (15)
Structural 1.60477 - 1.6050 -
Structural 2.67282 - 2.6733 -
Structural 2.7081 - 2.7086 -
Structural 9.57339 - 9.5875 -
Structural 9.58258 - 9.5966 -
Structural 13.7737 - 13.839 -
Structural 13.8412 - 13.866 -
Structural 16.7317 - 16.917 -
Structural 17.0937 - 17.141 -
Structural 32.7067 - 33.223 -
Fluid 43.6206 47.806 - 45.7141

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40

35

30

25

20
Pressure
15
(Bar/10)
10

0
403
408
413
418
423
428
433
438
443
448
453
458
463
468
473
478
483
488
493
498
503
508
-5

-10
Time (s)

Figure 4. Experimental Pressure-Time History of 3D-Bended Copper Pipe with the

Water (Fixed-Closed / Fixed-Closed) (L1=L2=L3=3/7m=2.333m) when External
Excitation Frequency is equal to the Liquid Frequency (47.806 Hz).

References
PESTEL, E. C., and LECKIE, F. A., 1963, Matrix Methods in Elostomechanics,
McGraw-Hill, New York.
LESMEZ, M.W. 1989. Modal Analysis Of Vibrations In Liquid Filled Piping
Systems, PhD Thesis, Michigan State University.
AKDOAN, ., 1992, Dynamic Analysis Of Piping Systems Using Transfer Matrix
Method, MSc. Thesis, METU.

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