Experimental and numerical investigations of axisymmetric wave propagation in cylindrical pipe filled with fluid

Acoustic wave propagation in fluid-filled cylindrical pipe with arbitrary thickness is investigated numerically and experimentally. The vibrational properties of the coupled fluid-pipe system are evaluated by a layerwise approach, which is similar to the finite-strip method. In this approach, the thick cylindrical wall is divided into a number of thin cylindrical layers in the thickness direction. The displacements in the thickness direction for each layer are approximated by linear-shape functions. The governing equation is obtained by using an energy minimization principle. The dispersion curves, distribution of vibrational energy between pipe wall and contained fluid, and displacement fields are examined. The dependence of the dispersion curves on wall thickness is discussed. Two PZT ring transducers adhered to the outer surface of pipe are used as source and receiver, respectively. The propagating waves generated by burst signals are measured. To localize transient signal both in time and frequency domains, the discrete wavelet transform is applied to decomposing the receiving signal into several components. Each component is limited to a narrower bandwidth. Therefore the frequency-dependent group velocity is estimated. The experimental and numerical results are compared.