Fluid-structure interaction and cavitation in a single-elbow pipe system

The simultaneous occurrence of fluid-structure interaction (FSI) and vaporous cavitation in the transient vibration of freely suspended horizontal pipe systems is investigated by numerical simulation and physical experiment. Extended waterhammer and beam equations, including the relevant FSI mechanisms, are solved by the method of characteristics. Column separation and cavitation are accounted for by a lumped parameter model. Close agreement is found between numerical results and unique experimental data obtained in a single-elbow pipe system. The study aims at a validated numerical model for combined FSI-cavitation phenomena, which can be incorporated in, and so enhance, conventional waterhammer /pipe-stress computer codes.