Parametric instabilities of a periodically supported pipe conveying fluid

Parametric instabilities of a periodically supported pipe conveying fluid have been studied. Three different methods have been used to determine the regions of instability. In the first method, Bolotin's concept is used along with the knowledge of approximate mode shapes of the pipe. In the second method Bolotin's concept is used directly without recourse to any mode shape approximation. Both of these methods become unwieldy for a large number of spans. In the third method a wave approach is used which renders the amount of computation independent of the number of spans. Numerical results have been presented to show the effects of various parameters on the regions of instability of a two-span pipe.