Abstract
A new simulation technique called the “system modal approximation” method for fluid transients in compound pipeline systems is developed and presented. Unlike existing approaches based on modal approximation of the input/ output causality of individual line elements, this new method is based on modal approximation of the frequency transfer function itself of the output (wanted variable) to the input (source), considering the total system dynamics This simulation technique also has these features only the numerical data of the frequency response of transfer matrix parameters of individual line element, which may be given from either theoretical model or experimental measurements, is needed, and the desired output variable alone can be calculated selectively in the time domain by a simple algebraic expression in the form of a recurrence formula For complex pipeline systems the superiority of this technique to other existing modal approximation-based methods in accuracy, easy applicability, flexibility, computation time, etc. is discussed with experimental comparisons.
