Dynamic response of pipeline conveying fluid to random excitation

• Random excitation is replaced by a pseudo excitation for solving random response. • The larger fluid velocity results in the smaller the natural frequencies. • The standard deviation of response of pipeline under random excitation is obtained. An approach was presented to analyze the dynamic response of Timoshenko pipeline conveying fluid under random excitation. Considering the fluid–structure interaction and the effect of shear deformation, the dynamic equation of Timoshenko pipeline conveying fluid was established via the finite element method. The pseudo excitation method in conjunction with the complex mode superposition method was deduced to solve this equation. In the example, the natural frequencies of a cantilever pipeline with different velocities were determined. By the proposed method, the displacement and velocity of pipeline were calculated, and their power spectrum densities and spectral moments were also obtained. Then, the influences of fluid velocities on the natural frequencies and the standard deviation of dynamic response were researched.