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A Finite Element-Based Investigation
A Finite Element-Based Investigation
for Pipe Bends within and outside the Limitations of ASME B31 Piping Codes.
Anindya Bhattacharya
Senior Engineer (Stress analysis) CEng; abhattacharya@cbi.com
Daniel Long
Technical Head Pipe Stress Engineering CEng; dlong@cbi.com
CB&I UK Ltd, London W2 6LG
Phone: +44 (0) 20 7052 5668
Fax: +44 (0) 20 7053 3737
SUMMARY
Bends are the most common type of pipe fittings because of their ability to warp and ovalize
under the action of bending moments. They provide added flexibility and hence increased
stress with respect to straight pipes. Two parameters are of importance to express the
increased stress and flexibility effects of the pipe bends the stress intensification factor
(SIF) and flexibility factor. The stress intensification factor can be defined as the ratio of the
bending moment at which a straight piece of pipe fails after a specified number of cycles to
that at which a pipe bend of the same diameter and wall thickness fail under the same
number of cycles. The flexibility factor is defined as the ratio of rotation of a pipe bend to
that of a straight pipe of same diameter, wall thickness and length under the action of the
same bending moment.
ASME B31.3 [1] and other B31 piping codes present empirical formulas for stress
intensification and flexibility factors for different pipe fittings. Stress intensification factors
are based on the work of Markl [2] using displacement controlled fatigue tests on piping
components. Flexibility factors are based on both analytical solutions by Von Karman and
experimental validations [2]. The code cautions against use of these factors for a diameter
over thickness ratio of 100. Also, as far as pipe bends are concerned, the code does not
address the use of these factors for bends with welded attachments like trunnion supports
for piping systems. Pipe stress analysis is usually done using beam based finite element
analysis. Stress intensification factors are used to modify the computed stresses at the
fittings and flexibility factors are used to modify the stiffness matrix.
In this paper, a shell-based finite element analysis (FEA) has been undertaken to:
Re-visit the stress intensification factors and flexibility factors for pipe bends for
diameter and thickness ratio less than 100, as well as to see the effect of increasing
diameter and thickness on these factors.
Check for the effect of welded pipe supports on these factors.
Provide a technical back-up for simplified methods used in beam-based finite element
programmes to simulate the effect of pipe supports welded to bends.
Two FE codes, FEBend (a part of FE/Pipe V.4.111) and ABAQUS version 6.9 have been
used for the above study.
eq.1 [2]
where i=stress intensification factor, Sf= stress range to failure, N=no. of cycles to failure
3. A finite element based approach on computation of flexibility factors [6]
Simulating the flexibility factor using FEA will involve the following steps (element to be
used 8-node reduced integration shell element in both the FE codes;. in ABAQUS [10]
this element is designated as S8R):
Model the bend with straight pipe attachments of 1D, 2.5D, 6D, 10D respectively in
different models. (D stands for pipe nominal diameter.)
Fix one end of the bend in all six DOF; apply bending moments using kinematic [10]
coupling at the other end.
Add a straight pipe of length equal to the bend, i.e. (2 R)/4 where R=1.5D. As the
nominal diameter of the pipe, D has to be modelled of same material, wall thickness
and boundary conditions and loading as that of the bend. The boundary condition for
the straight pipe will be the same as that of the bend in terms of constraint and loading.
End rotation will be computed.
Measure the rotation at the free end of the bend (with straight pipe attachments) which
will be comprised of the bend rotation plus the rotation of two straight ends. The
rotation of the straight ends can be approximated using the formula ML/EI where
symbols have the usual meaning. The rotation of the bend only will be the magnitude
of rotation computed using FEA at the free end, minus the sum of the rotation of the
two straight ends (approximately equal to 2.ML/EI).
Compute the ratio of the rotation computed in the above two steps. This is the flexibility
factor. Since this factor will be a function of the attachment lengths, the actual value to
be used in an analysis shall be the one coming close to that using B31 formula for
flexibility factor. For an analysis correctly done, the values of flexibility factor come
close to that of B31.3 for straight lengths close to 6D. A value at 2.5D is recommended.
This will provide the necessary conservatism. This is independent of D/T values.
For the correctness of model, check the end rotation for the straight pipe against the
value ML/EI.
4. A finite element based approach on computation of stress intensification factors
Stress intensification factor can also be expressed in a simplified way as the ratio between
peak stresses in a component to that of nominal stress in a component. Nominal stress in a
part can be taken as M/Z for the applied bending moment. Stress intensification factors can
also be computed for primary and secondary stresses (as required in the ASME SEC III
code). For generation of peak-SIF in pipe bends using an FE model, the following
procedure was used - ASME B31 piping codes (here, for the purpose of this paper, we refer
to ASME B31.3 only) use SIF based on a ratio of actual stress due to application of bending
moment to that of the nominal stress in a girth (circumferential) butt weld due to the same
bending moment. Hence, B31-SIF = Actual stress in part due to bending moment, M upon
stress in girth butt weld due to M. Girth butt welds have stress intensification factors
between 1.7 and 2.0 [9] and are material dependent. Thus, conservatively, the true peak
stress in a girth butt weld due to a moment, M can be expressed as:
Peak stress in a girth butt weld (due to M) = 2(M/Z).
M is the moment in the pipe with the butt weld, and Z is the section modulus of the pipe with
the butt weld. Therefore in terms of the nominal stress in a straight pipe without a girth butt
weld, B31-SIF can be expressed as [9].
B31.3 SIF =
In terms of ASME Section VIII, Div.2, App-5 and finite element analysis (FEA) work, we
could use the following equation interchangeably with the previous equations:
SIF =
or,
SIF =
The peak alternating stress, (Pl+Pb+Q+F) is usually determined from finite element
analysis. Normally, the peak stress is the product of the secondary stress and a fatigue
strength reduction factor (FSRF) [3]. For instance,
Pl+Pb+Q+F = FSRF(PL+Pb+Q)/ 2
eq.2
To implement this concept in FE analysis, the steps that were followed are:
FE discritization of the piping model.
Applying a bending moment at the free end of the model (the model is a cantilever).
Compute peak stress in the part.
Compute the nominal stress in the attached piping.
Insert the peak stress and the nominal stress in the above equation to get the B31-SIF.
To remove the effect of boundary conditions on the result, parametric study showed a value
of >5D as the minimum required straight pipe length, which has been used in the model.
Mesh grading has been done such that the mesh size in the location of interest is less than
0.5 RT where R is the shell mean radius and T is the shell thickness.
The computation of the peak stress in the part requires the computation of the secondary
stresses in the part and the multiplication of the value with fatigue strength reduction factors
(FSRF) at the location of interest. According to [3] load driven stresses at locations of gross
structural discontinuity are secondary stresses. Hence the stresses generated at the bend
under the action of bending moments belong to the category (Pl+Pb+Q). To generate peak
stress amplitude, equation 2 is used. FSRF is 1, as the highest stress locations are not
weld locations.
7. Results and
discussions
7.1 For pipe bends
without attachments
The two FE codes used
show a similar trend in
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