A study of vibroacoustic coupling between a pump and attached water-filled pipes

This paper presents a model for the vibroacoustical behavior of a pump coupled with water-filled pipes. Coupling between (a) the pump and the inlet and outlet pipes, and (b) the pipe wall and the fluid contained in the pipe, is investigated through analytical modeling and numerical simulation. In the model, the pump is represented by a rigid body supported by multiple elastic mounts, and the inlet and outlet pipes by two semi-infinite water-filled pipes. The vibration characteristics of the coupled system under the excitation of mechanical forces and fluid-borne forces at the pump are calculated. The results enhance our understanding about how the input mechanical and fluid excitation energy at the pump is transmitted to the pipes and how to relate the piping vibroacoustical response to the excitations at the pump. This study assists in predicting dynamic stress in pipes for given excitations at the pump, and in developing methods to identify the nature (fluid or mechanical) of the excitation forces at the pump using the vibration and dynamic pressure measurements on the pump/pipe system.