Fluid Structure Interaction (FSI) is the basis of the working principle of Coriolis Mass Flowmeter (CMF). Up to now the description of this coupling has been done using some crude simplifications. Within this weak coupling approximation, the action of the fluid on the structure, the so-called Coriolis force, is easily derived from the structure movement. Clearly the fluid properties effects are out of the reach of this simple model. Nevertheless, CMF are very competetive and are used in many fluid (liquid and gas) flow metering applications. Therefore an "a priori" understanding of their behaviour is needed. This study presents the results achieved with ADINA, a multipurpose FE code with a special strength in FSI. The vibration characteristics of a clamped-clamped straight pipe conveying various fluids are calculated. The model consists of a pipe described as a shell and a real fluid. It is a computation starting from "first principles". The results compare quite well with the experimental and the theoretical values. In a Finite Element (FE) procedure the geometry and/or the material properties and/or the loads are readily changed. Therefore a tool is available for simulating and comparing different CMF designs.
Keywords:
Coriolis mass flowmeter simulation, fluid structure interaction
