Methodology for predicting optimal friction support location to attenuate vibrational energy in piping systems

This research paper proposes a novel methodology for predicting the optimal location of friction supports to effectively mitigate vibrational energy in piping systems. The incorporation of friction forces in the dynamic characteristics of the system introduces inherent nonlinearity, making its analysis challenging. Typically, numerical solutions in the time domain are employed to circumvent the complexities associated with finding analytic solutions for nonlinear systems. However, time domain analysis (TDA) can be computationally intensive and demand significant computational resources due to the intricate calculations stemming from nonlinearity. To address this computational burden, this study presents an efficient approach based on linear analysis to predict the ideal position for installing friction supports as a replacement for fixed supports. Furthermore, we investigate the relationship between the installation positions of friction supports and their effectiveness in absorbing vibrations using the harmonic balanced method (HBM). Both methodologies are validated by comparing the obtained results with those obtained through time domain analysis (TDA) using the finite element method (FEM).