Vibrations of an Intermediately Supported U-Bend Tube

Abstract

Vibrations of an intermediately supported U-bend tube fall into two independent classes as an incomplete ring of single span does, namely, the in-plane vibration and the coupled twist-bending out-of-plane vibration. Natural frequencies may be expressed in terms of a coefficient p which depends on the stiffness ratio k, the ratio of lengths of spans, and the supporting conditions. The effect of the torsional flexibility of a curved bar acts to release the bending stiffness of a straight beam and hence decrease the natural frequency. Some conclusions for an incomplete ring of single span may not be equally well applicable to the U-tube case due to the effects of intermediate supports and the presence of the supporting straight segments. Results of the analytical predictions and the experimental tests of an intermediately supported U-tube are in good agreement.