PIPING, TUBING & HOSING

Flow-induced vibration in piping systems

Flow-related vibration is a common cause of high-cycle fatigue, and challenges should be addressed to ensure
safety and reliability of piping systems.
Amin Almasi
July 30, 2020

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Flow-induced vibration is a serious risk to piping systems, and it is

usually under-estimated and overlooked. Based on some observations in
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modern plants and facilities, more than 25% of piping failures were due to
piping vibration and associated fatigue. A key factor is, while many piping
systems have been thoroughly checked for stresses, reaction loads and
other aspects of operation, they usually have not been checked for the
possibility of flow-induced vibration. This is a shortfall in modern piping
and fluid movement industries.

Flow-related vibration of the piping systems is a common cause of high-

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cycle fatigue in piping of plants and facilities. Failures of piping systems
due to flow-induced vibration or other types of flow-related vibration have
Accept All
been one of the major causes of unscheduled shutdown, downtime, fires
and explosions. However, the challenge of flow-induced vibration did not Piping, Tubing &
Hosing
receive a consistent or required level of attention to ensure both safety
What to consider
and reliability of piping systems. when replacing
your industrial…
Doug
This article focuses on practical notes and useful technical guidelines on Nordstrom
March 11,
2021
flow-induced vibration.
Piping, Tubing &
Hosing
Background Importance of
restriction orifice
Fluid structure interactions due to internal fluid flows are common sizing
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sources of problems, issues and even failures. Turbulent flows are known Prabhakara
Aug. 24,
2020
to sometimes generate significant levels of excitations and consequently,
vibrations of the piping and associated structures. Piping systems, valves, MOST READ
some devices and inlines can generate strong vibrations, transient pulses, Rosemount 319
cavitation effects and various types of flow instabilities. There have been Flushing Rings

many different forms of such problems including turbulence-induced

vibrations, fluid hammer, different types of vortex shedding, cavitation-
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induced vibrations and others. taps industry
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The study of flow-induced vibration of piping in the general form involves plate flowmeter
transmitter…
the coupling of fluid dynamics and piping structural vibration. The
problem is complicated, challenging and highly nonlinear in nature. It is
of great practical importance to many piping systems, especially whenever
this flow-induced vibration can lead to excessive vibration, operational
problems, fatigue and failure.

Flow-induced vibration

Flow-induced vibration affecting piping systems has been a phenomenon

for several decades. It is sometimes referred to as turbulence-induced
vibration. Flow-induced vibration has often affected small bore piping
connections.

Each type of flow-induced vibration can be described and analyzed as

different independent flow-related vibration phenomena. These can be
caused by a number of mechanisms such as:

Rapid changes in flow conditions or fluid properties caused by opening

valves, cavitation or large pressure variations leading to changes in fluid
conditions. A well-known example is those produced by pressure-
reducing devices.

Fluctuating flow past obstructions or objects in the flow, for example, tees,
piping fittings, thermowells or other intrusions in the flow.

Simplified physics
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The following is a simplified version of the physics involved in flow-

induced vibration. The roughness of the piping wall causes the friction
between the fluid particles and inside the piping. Due to the friction, the
flow velocity is decreased, and the pressure drop is increased. The flowing
fluid will reduce its velocity because of the roughness, which could be
described as very tiny ridges and valleys present on the inside surface of
the piping. The ridges and valleys oppose the motion of fluid particles.
The fluid particles, which are flowing near the wall surface, are affected.
The process in the microscopic level could be imagined as each and every
ridge and valley oppose the motion of fluid particles, resulting in three-
dimensional excitation forces on the piping; consequently, this can cause
the vibration of the piping. This is over-simplified physics to show how
flow-induced vibration is developed in typical piping.

Natural frequencies and modes

Every piping system has the tendency to vibrate at certain frequencies,

called natural frequencies. Every natural frequency is associated with a
definite and unique shape, called mode shape, which the replica dynamic
deformation will assume when vibrating at the frequency. The natural
frequencies and modes depend on the distribution of mass and stiffness
throughout the piping system, and the distribution is influenced by piping
diameter, material properties, wall thickness, location of lumped masses
(such as valves), piping supports and fluid density. A mode shape has the
locations of zero motion (node) and maximum motion (anti-nodes). The
response of the piping to an applied excitation depends on the
relationship between the frequency and pattern of the excitation and the
piping system’s natural frequencies/modes. When a piping system is
excited by a dynamic excitation with a frequency that coincides with one
of its natural frequencies, the system undergoes great displacements and
stresses. This phenomenon is known as resonance, and it can cause high
vibration, even fatigue, and subsequently, failure. Vibration generated in
the piping work may lead to high-cycle fatigue of components, such as
small-bore connections, or the failure at welds in the main piping itself.

Flow-induced vibration: Phenomenon and key parameters

Flow-induced vibration is usually a low-frequency phenomenon caused by

high flow velocities and turbulence at discontinuities in the piping (branch
connections, bends and similar) that excite low-frequency bending modes
in the piping.

Flow-induced vibration is driven by flow velocity. A key parameter is the

dynamic pressure, which is density multiplied by square of velocity (ρv2).
This induced vibration is usually from turbulent mixing with boundary
layer separation and pressure pulsations at piping discontinuities (bends,
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vibration, and often longitudinal beam modes, in the piping with visible
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piping movement or shaking. This tends to affect smaller diameter, low
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with factors that consider piping diameter, wall thickness and a range of
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There is a risk of flow-induced vibration for relatively thin-walled piping

subjected to flows with relatively high velocity. It is well-known that flow-
induced vibration occurs at locations where high turbulence is present,
such as downstream of a combining tee, pressure-reducing device, etc.
However, the type of excitation depends on the piping system. Flow-
induced vibration usually initiates beam mode vibration. In other words,
for small diameter piping, the beam mode vibration constitutes the lowest
natural frequency mode, and then this mode is expected to be excited first.
For thin-walled large-diameter piping, the shell mode vibration of the
piping might present lower natural frequency than the one of the beam
mode vibration. Then, the shell mode might be excited first. In some cases
of thin-walled large-diameter piping, the turbulence generated at the flow
turbulence section creates the large pressure fluctuation and leads to shell
mode vibration.

High velocity flows and acoustic-induced vibration

Acoustic-induced vibration is generated by turbulence and shock waves

immediately downstream of a high flow rate, high pressure drop,
pressure-reduction device or similar situations where turbulence and
shock waves exist. This generates high frequency circumferential vibration
in the piping. The generated circumferential vibration usually has no
visible piping movement. This vibration can lead to fatigue failures at
asymmetric piping discontinuities such as branch connections and welded
pipe supports.

Pressure-reducing devices, such as relief valves, control valves and orifice

plates, can generate high-velocity flows downstream. The sound power
level is a function of the pressure drop across the device, the upstream
pressure, the mass flow through it, the molecular weight and the
temperature. This acoustical energy propagates downstream of the valve
or device where the resulting vibration can cause failures due to fatigue —
sometimes, in just a few hours or days of operation.

Acoustic-induced vibration is driven by flow rate and pressure drop and

tends to affect large-capacity relief, depressuring and blowdown systems.
The acoustic energy in this immediate area near the pressure-reduction
device is due to an intense nonpropagating sound field (turbulence and
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shock waves). This sound field decays with distance, nominally in the
length of around 10 diameters, and results in acoustic energy propagating
down the piping as a plane wave together with higher order modes.
The acoustic energy can excite the high-frequency circumferential-mode
vibration, affecting asymmetric discontinuities in the piping such as
branch connections, small bore connections and welded piping supports.
These asymmetric discontinuities also act as points of stress
intensification for this shell mode vibration.

Usually, the first branch connection downstream of the pressure-reducing

device is seriously affected by this excitation. Too often, this is the
discharge lead connection to sub-header or header. This effect can be
further compounded by the potential for additional flow-related
excitations, emphasizing the risk and importance of adequate
reinforcement for this first branch connection after the device.

Recommendations and solutions

In cases where a piping system is prone to flow-induced vibration, there

are a few options to solve or mitigate such a problem. The final goal is to
eliminate the frequency match between the flow-induced excitation
frequency and the piping natural frequency. One way is to increase the
diameter of the piping, which in turn, increases the weight and cost of the
whole system. The second option is a better support configuration for the
piping. The latter solution is usually preferred because it does not produce
any change in the operational parameters of the piping, and the additional
cost is usually low. For instance, a piping section with two-support can be
improved to a three-support system to solve such a problem. 

For another example, when appropriate, all piping supports should be U-

bolts, clamps or similar with full circumferential bands. This leads to
more rigid piping and an increase of the natural frequency of the first
mode and other modes of the piping section. Therefore, the natural
frequency can be moved well above the excitation frequency. However,
care should be taken with these approaches. Some degree of flexibility is
always needed for any piping to deal with thermal movements.

The aforementioned solutions — and generally, many modern guidelines

to deal with flow-induced vibration — point toward increasing piping
stiffness to reduce the likelihood of dynamic problems and failures.
However, care should be taken with this approach to ensure that the
impact on thermal stresses is also considered. A stiff piping system with
less flexibility using many supports or restrictive support scheme (such as
U-bolts, clamps, etc.) may offer high natural frequency and a far less
possibility of flow-induced vibration, but thermal stresses and reaction
loads might be high, even exceeding the limits. Therefore, optimization is
required.

Another recommendation to mitigate some risks of flow-induced

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vibration in small bore piping systems has been to increase the piping wall
thickness. The increased stiffness and stress reduction, resulting from
increasing the wall thickness, are usually beneficial in terms of stiffness,
stress or local reinforcement. As a rough indication, doubling the wall
thickness decreases the stress by a nominal factor of two. However, there
may be hesitancy to include the heavier walled piping because of the
increased cost.

Typically, the ratio of diameter to thickness (D/t) should be reduced in

high-energy piping systems, although it is difficult to note numerical
values for this ratio. Some experts suggest D/t2 is a better measure for the
comparison and assessment. 

Amin Almasi is a lead mechanical

engineer in Australia. He is a
chartered professional engineer of
Engineers Australia (MIEAust
CPEng – Mechanical) and IMechE
(CEng MIMechE) in addition to a
M.Sc. and B.Sc. in mechanical
engineering and RPEQ (Registered
Professional Engineer in
Queensland). He specializes in
mechanical equipment and
machineries including centrifugal,
screw and reciprocating compressors, gas turbines, steam turbines,
engines, pumps, condition monitoring, reliability, as well as fire
protection, power generation, water treatment, material handling and
others. Almasi is an active member of Engineers Australia, IMechE,
ASME and SPE. He has authored more than 150 papers and articles
dealing with rotating equipment, condition monitoring, fire protection,
power generation, water treatment, material handling and reliability.
He can be reached at [email protected].

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