Piping Systems: See the Strain
Before the Flange Cracks
Pipework carries the vibration energy of every machine connected to it — yet it is almost never instrumented. VibraVizja® visualises pipe vibration, pressure pulsation effects and support deficiencies across complex piping networks, simultaneously, in one measurement.
Process piping is structurally connected to every machine it's attached to — a pump, a compressor, a refiner. That machine's vibration energy inevitably propagates through the pipe system, and if the supports weren't designed to damp it, the result is cyclic bending loads that lead to material fatigue, cracked welds and flange failures — often at locations many metres from the excitation source.
Common Vibration Sources in Piping
Mechanical Excitation
Vibration transmitted directly from a connected rotating machine — a pump, compressor, or refiner — propagating through the entire pipe run.
Hydraulic Pulsation
Pressure fluctuations caused by reciprocating pumps or control valves, generating vibration independent of the machine's running speed.
Thermal Stress
Thermal expansion of the pipework during startup and operation can introduce additional static loading on supports already subject to dynamic vibration.
Support Resonance
When the natural frequency of a pipe section or its support coincides with the excitation frequency, local vibration amplification can far exceed the level of the source itself.
Why a Vibration Route Isn't Enough
Individual sensors placed at a handful of points measure separately, at separate moments — they don't show how the entire pipe run moves as one system. And that spatial relationship is exactly what decides which supports actually need reinforcing.
How VibraVizja® Helps
A full-field measurement captures the operational deflection shape (ODS) of the entire pipe run simultaneously — showing exactly where vibration energy is concentrated and which supports are carrying the highest cyclic load.
Pipe Bridle Fatigue at a Paper Mill — Nouvelle-Aquitaine, France
A vibration route confirmed elevated vibration but couldn't say which section to reinforce. One full-field measurement revealed the global vibration mode of the entire system.
→ Read Case StudyFour root causes of piping vibration failure and how vibration amplification makes each one visible.
How catching pipe support design deficiencies at commissioning prevents recurring structural failures.
See Other Applications
Piping Diagnostics: Questions
Does the measurement work on thermally insulated piping?↓
The method needs a visible, vibrating surface, so a fully insulated section has to be measured at an exposed point — a joint, a flange, a support bracket, or a short run without lagging. In practice most installations have enough of these points along the run to build a full picture of how the system behaves.
How do you tell pressure-pulsation vibration apart from support resonance?↓
Hydraulic pulsation generates vibration at the operating frequency of a reciprocating pump or control valve, regardless of how the support structure behaves. Support resonance only appears when that excitation frequency coincides with the natural frequency of a specific span — so the same pulsation source can be harmless at one point on the run and trigger strong resonance a few metres further along. A full-field measurement shows directly where that's happening.
How much piping can be assessed in a single measurement?↓
It depends on the installation's geometry, but the advantage of a full-field measurement is that it captures the entire visible span between support points in the camera's frame at once — not just one bracket at a time, the way a conventional point sensor does. For longer runs, a series of shots along the pipe run can be combined into one coherent picture of how the whole system behaves.
Does the method work on buried or fully enclosed piping?↓
Not directly — the optical measurement needs a line of sight to a vibrating surface, so buried or fully enclosed sections have to be assessed at the nearest accessible point, for example where the pipe emerges from the ground or from its enclosure.
See What VibraVizja® Finds in Your Piping
We travel anywhere in Poland and run a live measurement on your pipework while it's running at full load — no production stop, no sensors, nothing attached.
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