Study of the Damping Mechanisms of Loose Spring Skirts on Vibrating Pipes

Damping of the loose spring skirt (LSS) of a vibrating pipe under operating conditions was studied experimentally and numerically. Motion images made using a high speed charge-coupled device (CCD) camera as well as acceleration signals were analyzed in order to correlate the physical states of the LSS pipe system with the vibration transmissibility (TM) through the pipe. Experiments on the pipe undergoing harmonic excitation demonstrate that the damping of the LSS is caused by the same mechanism as with a conventional impact damper. Measurements of the acceleration TM as a function of excitation amplitude verified that the momentum exchange between the pipe and the auxiliary spring is the cause of the damping produced by the LSS pipe. Another finding of this research is that the experimental representation of the resonance shift phenomenon is related to two main operating conditions, namely: 1) the driving frequency and 2) the excitation amplitude. This research demonstrated the occurrence of the resonance shift phenomenon through experimental mapping of the system response at increasing excitation amplitudes using frequency sweep tests. Simulations of the LSS pipe system based on principal coordinate and impact damping analysis were performed in order to investigate and provide better explanations for LSS pipe system damping mechanisms. As a result of this research study, a new damping mechanism is proposed which is different from previous damping models. This research study has also addressed more practical boundary and excitation conditions for LSS pipe systems.