Dynamic Analysis

of
Fan Foundation
Mahendra Madhavan

Potential Power Plant Problems Requiring

Dynamic Analysis
Machinery Vibration
Piping Vibration
Heavy-load drops
Tornado missile impact
Dry cask accidents

Need for Vibration Analysis

Meet the vendors performance criteria
Industry guidelines or SCS standards
Operation / Maintenance
Vibration not generated or transmitted to other areas
Foundation is free from structural resonance
Vibration not annoying to people

Four basic components of Vibration

Mass (m)
Stiffness (k)
Damping (c)
Forcing Function (F)

Equation of motion
m x c x k x F (t )

F1 m a m x

F2 c v c x
F3 k x

How to quantify vibration

components?
Mass from Machine and
Foundation drawings
Stiffness and Damping from
DYNA5 (pile-soil interaction)
Force from vendor or make
an estimate

Fan Foundation
Mat foundation (Soil supported)
Pile / Caisson foundations

Types of Analysis
Modal Analysis
Response Analysis

Forced vibration of a damped system

Stiffness (k)

Damping (c)

Mass (m)

D
A
F

: Operating frequency
n: Natural frequency
: Damping ratio

m: Mass of the system

k: Stiffness of the system
DAF : Dynamic Amplification Factor

k
n
m

Vibration Acceptance Criteria (Commonly used)

(Vendors requirement and SCS Standards)
Natural freq away from 20% of operating freq

MODAL
ANALYSIS

Bearing Housing disp 0.125 mils pk-pk for 1 oz of

wheel unbalance at outer radius (Sensitivity check)
Shaft velocity 0.1 in/sec (balancing grade)
Dynamic stiffness of the foundation should be 11.987
x 106 lb/in per support.

RESPONSE
ANALYSIS

Wheel unbalance
(Sensitivity check)
F = m e 2

e=50 in

m = 1 oz.
1
1 lb s 2
m x
16 386 in

=2f
f = 900 rpm
900

15 Hz
60

F = 72 lb

1 oz of wheel
unbalance

The resulting displacement measured at

Bearing Housing 0.125 mils pk-pk
Peak to Peak

How to Prevent Vibration?

Trial sizing criteria
Single or two degree of freedom models
Detailed analysis using GTStrudl and Dyna5
GTStrudl for modal analysis and estimating the
natural frequency
Dyna5 is used to estimate soil-structure spring
stiffness and damping

Trial sizing criteria

Foundation Plan

Foundation/Soil Links to
GTSTRUDL Combined Model

Foundation/Soil Members in
GTSTRUDL Combined Model

Foundation/Soil Dynamic Properties

Y
Z

6 Members = 6 DOFs for

stiffness and damping

Vibration Modes

Longitudinal Sliding (Translation in X)

Vertical (Translation in Y)
Lateral Sliding (Translation in Z)
Rocking (Rotation about X)
Yawing (Rotation about Y)
Pitching (Rotation about Z)

Z
TYPICAL
MODES
OF
CONCERN

Isometric view

Longitudinal Sliding
(X Translation)

Y
Z

Vertical
(Y Translation)

Lateral Sliding
(Z Translation)

Y
X
Z

Rocking
(X Rotation)

Y
Z

Yawing
(Y Rotation)

Pitching
(Z Rotation)

Y
X
Z

Recent Analyses

Wansley 1 and 2 (Rock Foundation )

Bowen 3 and 4 (Pile Foundation over rock)

Single DOF, Using Hand calc

GTStrudl and Static pile stiffness

Bowen 1 and 2 (Pile Foundation over rock) changing soil

properties (density, shear waves, poisson etc.)
GTStrudl and DYNA5

Vibration Testing

In-situ testing to measure vibration for

acceptance

Use In-situ testing results to validate the math

model

Thank you
Questions ?