Vibration characteristics of pressure pipelines at pumping stations and optimized design for vibration attenuation

Abstract

To explore the effects of different pressure pipeline layouts on pumping station pipeline vibration, this study establishes an ALGOR numerical model for pipeline flow considering fluid–structure interactions. A data acquisition and signal processing vibration test system is used to obtain vibration signals and verify simulation results including pipeline fluid velocity, fluid pressure, and transient stress. Based on the flow's vibration excitation characteristics, we consider structural vibration reduction technology and propose an optimized design scheme. As an example, we apply this approach to a pressure pipeline at the Ningxia Yanhuanding Pumping Station Project. Results show strong vibrations at the water inlet, the junction between the branch and main pipes, and the water outlet, with even stronger vibration at the inlet than at the outlet. In the optimized design scheme, adjusting the distance between the branch pipes only weakly reduces flow-generated pipeline vibration; increasing the pipe diameter and changing the main pipe's relative orientation show stronger effects. Vibration reduction is optimized for a main pipe dip angle of 2–5° relative to the branch pipes, simultaneously decreasing pumping station energy loss. These results provide a theoretical and practical basis for optimal design of pressure pipelines at high-lift pumping stations.