The Influence of Pipe Motion on the Integrity of Liquid-Filled Pipes Subjected to Pressure Transients

Abstract

This work presents a structural itegrity model for piping systems conveying liquids which takes the axial fluid-structure interaction into account. The model is used to numerically investigate the influence of pipe motion on the degradation of the piping when fast transients are generated by valve slam. The resulting mathematical problem is formed by a system of non-linear partial differential equations which is solved by means of an operator splitting technique, combined with a Glimm’s method. Numerical results obtained indicate that high piping flexibility may introduce a substantial increase in damage growth along the pipes.