2020

Assignment – 1

Submitted to
Dr. Shanker Krishna

RIBADIYA PRASHANTKUMAR (16BPE170D)

 1. Introduction
Due to the fact that most of the piping design codes (ASME B 31.3, B31.1, B31.4, B 31.8, etc.) do not
address the vibration issues in a detailed fashion, the damaging effect is normally ignored during the
design stage and simple static analysis without attention to vibration is performed on piping systems.
At the same time, the vibration tendency of the piping system is increasing to a great extent due to
increased flow rates of process industries through pipes and usage of high strength thin-walled piping
(flexible) material during design. It is seen that Vibration causes many problems in operating plants and the
problem should be solved during the design phase. Major of the damaging effects of vibration can be
mitigated if proper design philosophy is taken while designing the system.

2. Cause of Piping Vibration

There are a variety of excitation mechanism which can be present in a piping system and can produce
vibration and finally failure resulting from fatigue. Few of those causes are listed below:

 Flow-induced Vibration: Caused by the turbulence of the flowing fluid.

 Mechanical forces from Equipment: Caused by the excitation forces of reciprocating and rotary
equipment’s like pumps, compressors, etc.
 Pressure Pulsations from reciprocating equipment.
 High-frequency Acoustic excitations generated by relief valves, control valves or orifice plates.
 Water Hammer (Surge) or Momentum changes due to sudden valve closure.
 Cavitation or vapor bubble collapse due to localized pressure drop.

 Due to sudden flashing of fluid.

Figure 1: Systematic Approach to Pipe Vibration

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There are two possible causes for pipe vibration in service: mechanical or hydraulic.

Mechanical Vibration
If the pipe is connected to vibrating equipment, then the pipe will follow the vibration of the equipment.
This type of pipe vibration caused by the vibration of attached equipment can be classified as
"mechanically induced". Note that the pipe vibration can be due to two possible sources: it can be directly
transmitted to the pipe at the equipment nozzle, or it can be transmitted to the pipe through supports
attached to the equipment skid or a flexible floor. The amplitude of the pipe vibration can simply be that of
the equipment or, if the equipment vibration frequency is close to a pipe natural frequency, the pipe can
amplify the pump or compressor mechanical vibration. In either case, the pipe vibration will tend to die out
at a certain distance due to friction and damping, and can be eliminated by decoupling the piping from the
equipment, for example by using flexible hose or bellows at the equipment nozzle.
Well-constructed, well-installed and well-balanced equipment such as pumps, fans or compressors do not
vibrate significantly. Equipment vibration is symptomatic of a shortcoming in installation or maintenance,
and the frequency of vibration can pinpoint to the cause of vibration. For example, if the rotating

Figure 2: Systematic Approach to Pipe Vibration

equipment is out of balance, it vibrates at one time the shaft rotation frequency. If the rotating equipment
is not well anchored to the floor, it is said to have a loose foot and will also vibrate at one time the shaft
rotation frequency.
Cause Frequency Direction
Equipment out of balance 1 x RPM Radial
Shaft axial misalignment 2 x RPM Radial
Shaft angular misalignment 1 x and 2 x RPM Radial and axial
Loose foot 1 x RPM Radial
Cracked support frame 2 x RPM Radial
Bearing clearance Multiples 1/2 RPM Radial
Misaligned belt 1 x RPM Axial
Table 1: Cause, Dominant Frequency and Direction of Vibration

In the case of a horizontal centrifugal pump, the axial vibration direction refers to a movement in the
direction of the shaft. The radial direction refers to a vibratory movement in any direction perpendicular to
the axial direction. As the pump casing vibrates, it will transmit this vibration to the inlet and outlet piping
through the suction nozzle or the discharge nozzle. If the pump discharge nozzle vibrates at a frequency f MS
(mechanical source frequency), the discharge pipe will vibrate, from the discharge nozzle to the first
support on the horizontal leg, and possibly beyond. If the mechanical natural frequency of this pipe span
fMP is close to fMS the pipe segment is in resonance with the source of vibration and will amplify the
vibration.

Hydraulic Vibration
A hydraulic induced vibration is due to continuous pressure pulses that cause the pipe to vibrate. The
pressure pulses could be clearly periodical or more random and turbulent. If the frequency of the pressure
pulses, the hydraulic source frequency f HS, is close to the acoustic frequency of the pipe cavity f AP, the pipe
will resonate and amplify the vibration.
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Pumps, compressors and fans deliver flow at an average pressure P, with small sinusoidal pressure
fluctuations dP(t) around the mean pressure. These pressure pulses reflect the packets of fluid delivered
downstream every time a vane passes in front of the outlet nozzle or every time a piston completes its
stroke. The dominant frequency of these pressure fluctuations dP(t) is summarized in Table below, where
RPM is the pump speed in revolutions per minute, and CPM is a piston's cycles per minute .

Cause of Vibration Dominant Frequency Direction of Vibration

Vane pass No. of vanes x RPM Radial
Piston motion No. of pistons x CPM Random
Table 2: Frequency of Pressure Fluctuations

Another source of turbulent flow that could cause vibration is flashing and cavitation. Flashing is the
formation of vapor bubbles in a liquid, as a result of local pressure drops below vapor pressure, particularly
where flow is forced through an orifice or a partially closed valve. Cavitation is the subsequent collapse of
the vapor bubbles. These phenomena are often accompanied by local popping sounds, as if there was
gravel in the pipe, and result in erosion of the pipe wall when the bubbles collapse repeatedly close to the
pipe wall. Cavitation is particularly troublesome in centrifugal pumps where it can cause erosion of the
pump casing, pressure imbalance and vibration. To avoid cavitation, pump suction must be designed to
provide a net positive suction head (NPSH), for example by providing a vertical drop of the pump inlet
piping to increase the static head. To further minimize the pressure drop at the pump inlet, the flow rate Q
should be minimized and the inlet pipe diameter should be maximized. Manufacturers will normally specify
inlet pipe 1 or 2 sizes larger than pump nozzle. Eccentric reducers are used at the pump nozzle to avoid the
entrapment of air pockets at the top of the pipe.
The accumulation of air, or more generally of a gas entrained by a liquid, upstream of a pump may take
some time. However, at a certain point, the air or gas pocket becomes sufficiently large and enters the
pump, blocking the liquid flow in the pump. Fluid may continue to pass through the air or gas filled pump,
but this will be through a reduced liquid flow cross section and therefore at higher velocity and lower
pressure. In the best of cases, the liquid will entrain the gas out of the pump. In either case, the liquid will
not be uniformly distributed in the pump, which will lead to imbalance and vibration.

3. Prevention and Mitigation

1. Eliminate the Source

The best solution to a vibration problem is obviously to eliminate its source. Mechanical sources of
vibration are typically easier to pinpoint and to eliminate by fixing the rotating equipment. Most
maintenance departments have personnel expert in equipment vibration analysis and diagnostics.

2. Good Layout and Supports

 A very flexible piping system, such as a spring-hung system, will exhibit large amplitudes of
vibration. It is necessary to provide rigid guides in a piping system to prevent excessive
vibration. In particular, support heavy in-line components such as large valves. On hot systems,
guides have to be placed judiciously to allow for expansion.

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  Avoid long pipe spans with fundamental frequencies within 20 % of rotating equipment
frequencies.
 The design of piping systems prone to vibration should avoid points of high stress concentration
where vibration induced fatigue failure are known to have occurred, such as unreinforced
branch connections. Replace sharp pipe-on-pipe fabricated branch connections by smooth,
contoured integrally reinforced branch connections, to avoid the formation of vortices in the
flow.

3. Preoperational Testing
Of all the prevention and mitigation measures, this one is the most effective: monitor the line when
placed in service for the first time or when returned to service after modifications.

4. Reducing Turbulence and Cavitation

The reduction or elimination of cavitation must first rely on the proper hydraulic design of the
piping system and sizing of pumps, compressors and valves. One way of reducing pulsation due to
vortex shedding is to divide the flow area into narrow channels by using dividing vanes in elbows or
valves with a tortuous flow path for a large diameter bend used in waterworks, and a ball valve.

5. Pulsation Damper
Pressure pulses created by positive displacement pumps can be reduced by reducing the flow rate
and pump speed (strokes per minute). In practice, these may not be viable solutions. Instead, a
common solution is to add a pulsation damper downstream or upstream of the pump, depending
on where the pressure pulses are of concern. A few practical guidelines regarding pulsation
dampers:
(a) The damper volume should be a minimum of 15 pump strokes.
(b) The damper can be placed off a full outlet tee.
(c) The damper should be no further than ~ 40 diameters from the pump.
(d) Any pipe between the tee and damper should be straight, short, preferably no more than ~ 15
diameters, and should have the full size of the header.

6. Damping
The amplitude of vibration can be reduced by damping the piping system. This may be achieved by
adding shims of rubber or other vibration damping materials around the pipe at adjustable
supports, or by using specially designed viscous dampers.
The damping necessary to reduce the amplitude of vibration from Ro to R is
ω 2
1−
( )
ωn Ro 2
ζ=
1
2 ω
ωn
√( R ) −1

ζ = damping coefficient
ω = circular frequency of the forcing function, 1/sec
ωn = circular frequency of natural frequency, 1/sec
RO = amplitude of vibration without damping
R = amplitude of vibration at damping ζ

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Note that unless ω ~ ωn the damping ζ, required to achieve a given reduction R/RO will be difficult
to achieve in practice. This means that viscous damping is only practical close to resonance ω ~ ωn.

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