Nonlinear dynamic modeling and analysis of the fluid-transporting cracked pipe using the hybrid semi-analytical and finite element method

Abstract

The fatigue cracks may develop in the pipe systems due to long-term cyclic loading, which may cause catastrophic accidents. The finite element method (FEM) is usually adopted to simulate the stress singularity and breathing effect, resulting in expensive computational costs. Therefore, in this paper, an efficient hybrid semi-analytical and finite element (SA-FE) method is proposed to study the nonlinear dynamic characteristics of the fluid-transporting cracked pipe (FTCP) considering the breathing effect. Furthermore, the crack sensitivity parameters are obtained through bending-bending and bending-axial vibration analysis. For the SA-FE method, the semi-analytical method (SAM) and FEM are separately used to construct the dynamic models of the non-cracked and cracked regions, and the connection at the interface is performed by constraint equations. Subsequently, the validity of the modeling method is substantiated through both FEM and experimental tests. Finally, the effects of crack and fluid parameters on the dynamic characteristics of the FTCP are analyzed. The results indicate that changes in crack positions may trigger different-order mode switching, and continuous switching may occur between higher-order modes. In addition, the bending-bending and bending-axial coupling responses can effectively detect crack failures of the FTCP with varying levels of damage. The proposed model can offer valuable insights for fault diagnosis and health monitoring of FTCP.