The Coupled Vibration Analysis For Vertical Pumps And The Pump Station

Abstract

At the engineering stage of pump stations, the evaluation of the pump vibration is an important consideration. Finite element Method (FEM) is an effective method for prediction of vibration and avoidance of resonance phenomena. At large-sized vertical pumps, stiffness of the foundation structure has a considerable effect on the natural frequencies. Usually, pumps are installed on a high rigidity foundation. In such a case, enough accuracy is obtained by a pump unit model supported by spring elements equivalent to the foundation stiffness. However, if pumps are installed on a low rigidity foundation, there is a possibility that the following problems occur: Vibration interaction between pumps; Vibration increase by the resonance of pump excitation frequencies and foundation natural frequencies. For these cases, the coupled vibration analysis of the pumps and the pump foundation structure is effective in obtaining low vibration levels. The coupled vibration analysis enables an evaluation including interaction vibration of several structures by using the coupled model of these structures. This presentation shows the case study of the coupled vibration analysis for three pumps and a pump station. For the case study, the vibration levels of pumps were well below the vibration limits, because the prior review for the structure of the pump station was performed effectively by the analysis before the construction of the pump station.