Study on pipeline self-excited vibration using transient fluid-structure coupling method

Vibration in pipeline system is a usual occurrence in industrial equipments. A transient fluid-structure coupling method, with data exchange between fluid and structure, is used in this paper to study the pipeline self-excited vibration under the interaction between pipe structure and internal airflow. The coupling method is based on large eddy simulation and dynamic mesh. Structured grids are used to make the displacements of grid nodes accurately calculated at each time step. The results of transient calculation show that when there is no external excitation and the given inlet mass flow rate is constant, the vibration and the pressure fluctuation of pipeline will occur, and the frequencies are close to the natural frequencies of structure and the acoustic frequencies. Furthermore, the higher the pressure inside the pipeline, the more intense the vibration and pressure fluctuation of the pipeline. By comparison of the experimental and numerical results, it is suggested that the calculation results of fluid-structure coupling are consistent with the practical situation, which indicates that the coupling method is effective and reasonable, and may be used in engineering practice.