Response of a vortex flowmeter to impulsive vibrations

Experiments were performed to study the response of a vortex flowmeter to structural vibrations due to impulsive forces applied on the pipe. Vortex-shedding signals obtained by a piezoelectric sensor embedded in a vortex shedder were examined. Major findings are described as follows. First, by improving the design of the piezoelectric sensor, the sensor sensitivity to structural vibrations could be reduced. Specifically speaking, the noise component due to impulsive force with level up to 13.8 kN could be removed effectively from the output. Second, by applying repetitive impulsive forces on the pipe, characterized by a frequency greater than the vortex-shedding frequency, the quality of vortex-shedding signals measured was degraded substantially. This is explained as being due to suppression of vortex shedding, not a problem in conjunction with the characteristics of the sensor. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.