Analysis of fluid-structure interaction in a pipeline with symmetric and asymmetric branching conveying turbulent flow: A case study

Fluid-structure intraction analysis of conveying fluid pipe is one of the important issues in the oil and gas industries. In this study, one of the process lines of Biston Petrochemical Company containing Paraffin fluid (about 90%) and Olefin (about 10%) with two different symmetric and asymmetric designs has been investigated. The investigations consist of two parts: expreiments and modeling. In the modeling section, the pipeline is first simulated in Ansys-Fluent software and the finite element results are entered into the software design section as a one-way coupling. The results of exprimental studies and finite element modelig showed that the root of vibration of this line is turbulence and oscillating pressure of the fluid on the wall of the pipe and with a combination of elastic and fixed constraints, the displacements of the pipeline can be controlled. A good agreement between the simulation and the practical results has been seen. The results also showed that the amplitude of vibration after including supports is reduced to 94% in the asymmetric branch pipeline and up to 86% in the symmetric design. Therefore, the support has a significant effect on the results.