AN INTERPRETATION ON PRESSURE ELONGATION IN PIPING SYSTEMS Lo, Pang, Principal Stafl Encinitas © The W, W. Kellogg Company Houston, Texas ABSTRACT ‘Tye elongation of pipe due to internal pressure can have considerable effect on pipe stress analysts. Quing to ite stguificance, the pressure elonga- tion bas been included in many popular pipe stress computer programs. iovever, due to lack of proper interpretation, this so called pressure load case has often been wisapplied resulting in wiconservative analysis, This paper presente a brief derivation of the pressure elongation, describes the approach adopted by soot computer programs, investigates the nature of the otresa generated, and ex- plains the method of evaluating the stress 4n conglience with the Code teqeire- ments, NOMENCLATURE D - Moane“dioneter of pape & = Modulus of elasticity 4, ~ Circunferential sezain @, ~ Longitudinal strain P= Internal pressure R = Radius of curvature of bend r= Mean tagius af pipe » D/2 Sh ~ Cizcunferensial ox hoop stress $1 ~ Longituainel streas £ - Thickness of pipe P ~ Change of bend angle due te pressure # > Fossson'e ratio n6- Bend angie TRTRODUCTTON When piping 1s pressurized, ite entire inner surface is subjected to a unt- fore preavure loading. This pressure loading creates streages 4a the directions normal to the wall, parallel to the pipe axte, and tangential to the crosa sec- tional circle. At the oame time it elongates the pipe again dn the axfal and circumferential directions. The stretch in the axial direction ia generally re~ ferred to as pressure elongation, the effect of presoure elongation in a piping syetem is equivalent to thermal expansicn, It con create high bending stress An syanens vhich do not have adequate flexibility. The effect of pressure elongation 9 particularly importanc in pipeline de~ sign, It can vurpaee the thecusl expansion in a crows country transportation pipeline because of ‘the low temperature rise and thin wall conattuetion of the Line, Owing to ite oignificance, the pragsure elongation has beew included 12 romt of the pipe streas computer programs (1,2,3). However, this 0 called pressure load case han also frequently been aie-interpreted due to the gap ho- tween the ectul program formulation and the user's conception, Calculating deflection due co pressure loading in a piping system is a very complicated process. Au accurate result can only be obtained by wodeling the pipe with three dimensional shell elesents. Unfortuattely the three dimensional shell clement approach {a very contly and is not suitable for large volume pro- duction onalyues. ‘The current pipe etresa computer programs ate rlmost entire iy based on beam elenente. They ate not capable of handling internal redial lowding and hoop stress. This inability to include the radial pressure load makes the pressure load case less than what would be expected fron # three dimensional pressure analysis. Dye to this discrepancy, the pressure Load caae, AE mioapplied, com result in uisleading ansvers. The pressure elongation it generally insignificant in normml pleat piping. Im the following a brief derivation of pressure elongation ts made, the ap~ proach adopted by most computer programs is deactlved, the neture of the stress generated fs inventigated aad finally che method of evaluating the atress 15 ex Piained. The article ts intended to setve as an Intezpretation; therefore, effort ia placed painty on prenenting the phyetcal pictures rather then the rig~ crouse mathematical derivations. FRESSURE FLONGATION In a pressurized pipe, the entire faside wall sustains « uniform pressure P as shown tn Figure 1, Tile pressure loading develops a tei-oxtal stress in the pipe wall, The stress component notaal ta the pipe wall 1a generally smili snd will be ignored im this discussion. The pipe fs considered ’to te aubject te stresses Sh and 81 in clrevmferential and longitudinal directions respectively, From Yook's law and Poiaaaa's ratio the net strains in these two directions can be written as (4): = Sa - HSE a Bas o epee - @ = ‘The Elvet term of the right hand side of Equations (1) and (2) 49 the elon- gation due to the direct stress tn a given direction, witle the second term in the shrinkage ina given direction caused by the elongation in the perpendicular direction. The eleagation in ono direction depends on the stress an that éirecx tion as well as the etreas in the perpendicular direction, fa) Straight Pipe ‘Toe pressure atreas in a thin will etreight pipe can te determined by the 12Equivalent Temperature Rise °c, 9 Cy ad 20 30. 15 20 to {— 5 {2 odo pt 2 30 KS g 168 200 MPa Hoop Streax Figure 2, Significance of Pressure Elongation Figure 1. Pressure Loading 73static equiliteium between the pressure force and the stress force acting on a symmetrically cutoff section. That Le (4): Bye Poa @ 8, + Bp/ae w 1 Subsrituting Equations (3) and (4) in Equation (2), the longitudinal pressure elongation strain becomes, oy ap G = 2a oO The cdecumferential elongation, vhich is irrelevi at to this dfscussion, ts onit- ted. The algaificance of the pcessure elongation can be better visualtzed by converting it to equivalent tenperatute. Figure 2 shows the relation berveen pressure elongation in term of hoop sttens, and equivalent teaperature rise for fou carkon steel pipe. For plant piping the hoop stress is normally mintadned at Less then 15000 psi (103.4hFa) waich ds equivalent to @ teapevature inctease of 17.5°F (9.72%). Ta view of the high temperature range normally experienced in plant piping, the effect of pressure elongation in plant piping is insigni- Heant, Oa the other bend, the hoop stress in x cross couatty transportation pipeline can reach 30000 pat (206.84ra) or higher for high wtrength pipe. The equivalent tenperature rise due to pressure elongation can easily exceed 35°F (49.4400) which represents a high percentage of the deaign temperature rise. Taevefore, the pressure elongation is an important factor ta be considered in transportatien pipeline design. (b) Bend The preasurization at an eikey or bend 1s a complicated pracess. Even for thin wall bends there is no fully satisfactory stress andlysis for the effects ef internal preasure (5}. Au shown in Figure 3, when a segment of bend X-L-N-N ia pressurized tt moves to K'-L'-H'-n', Tte dimensions, bend angle, and bend radiug o21 change. To Anvestigate the bend deformation, the first atep to to establish the stresses in both circumferential ané longitudinal directions, Take the section a~becvd for tnetance, intuitively ve knew the longitudinal stress ie the sane ae in the cage of straight pipe. If an imaginary section ts cut along be we can hardly tell the difference between the section and straight plpe section. However, the hoop stress ie somewhat different, By cut~ ting off along the place of symmetry, the pipe wall a-b and cud will have te absorb the pressure acting at the shaded area. Couparing with an equivalent straight pipe section draws vith parallel dotted Lines, it is easily pictured that 2b takes more atreas than in the ease of scraight pipe vhile cd taken lees, By considering the bend as a continuvis torus, {t can be shown that the uecbrane stresses (average through the thickness of pipe) due to internal pressure are (6,7): §, 7 SP. ARSE at R= "Lt (6a) NRE TGS) = Be mee (68) Sh" BE 2 =D) s+ POPaE oy The next otep to to construct @ physical picture to see how the bend de- forms, When pressure 4s fatredaced to the bend, it stretches the pipe wall in ve¢dal as well as tn longitudinal directions, If the elengation rate is the sane in ali directions, the case becoues « rigid body expansion Just Like in therwal expansion. The bead angles rowalns the save (@” = @) but the bend radins fnoreases (R'>R). Ta the real ease, the slongatton rate in the radial Hrection is greater than that in the longitudinal direction due to higher mem 4Figure 3, Pressurization of Bends Self-limiting Stress Sustained Stress ~~, Figure 4, Stresses Caused by Internal Pressure 78brene stress in the cireunferentiei direction, ‘The bend will tend to flatcen raking the bend ongle souevhat gusller and. the bend radiue proportionally larger. ‘The change in bend angle and the change in bend radius can be assuming the average hoop stress Sy” P2/2t, we have timated by a fh. pevae 18) hye Ger Pp. x Geena + aF 7 ae (2D MED oper Wr = wenag ng = MEP + BRED (20) The new bend angie is thea determined by o's MAL SY (1 = #ppp/ tee 5 uy oF 1 @=s)pofier The change in bend angle 1s Pa a 412) abe? ~ Z2)PD The Lend angle decreases meaning the pressure tenda to open up the bend, How ever, this opening up effect should not be over euphasized. For exemple, a forged elbow may have s thicker wall at the crotch area which would greatly reduce the opening effect. The crocs wection of the bend vill also ovaiize QJ) ac shown in Figuce 3 which further resists opening, In fact tests have shawn (8) that a miter bend when pressurized will close (shutting) the bend angle in the elsscic region. Owing to the above facta and uncertainties the application of bend opening effect varies with computer programs. Some pro- grams (1) ignore the opening effect and consider only the uniform elongation while others (2,3) consider varying degrees of the opening effect. precaee ANALYTICAL APPROACH A complete preasurtzation analysis roquires the upplication of the uniform Pressure load normal to the entire internal surface. The whole ayetem bas to be modeled with numerous small three dimonaioaal shell etonenta. Thin method, may be Zeayiblo to designing eritical vessels, but 4g vary dupractical, for perforning piping stress analysis, Moreover, a satisfactory elenent yat ban to be developed for simulating tho bend disturtion. in piping stress analysis, the systems are considered as a series of beans which exe not capable of handling the internal radial pressure. The pressure Joad is seidom applied directly to the system to achieve the elongation effect. ven the longitudinal pressure, which is within the beam elenent capability, can not be applied directly otherwise the system will give incorrect elongation vf Pn/Gce instend of the elongation given by Equation (5) The analytical. approach adopted by most of the computer programs ignores conpletely the origin of the pressure and vousiders only the net distortion ceased by the pressure. The programa work with Equations (5) and (12) and vensider these elongetions the same way ao they consider thermal. expanaten. ‘The so celled pressure load case ta somewhat misleading and should be nore accurately termed as pressure elongation load case. NATURE OF STRESS when piping 4s pressurized, rhe pipe shell develops stresses to resist the pressure. The stresses, 5, and Sy {a circumferential end longitudinal dirac- tions respectively, required for static equiltbriua with the pressuce are the 78sustained stresses. Their wagnitudes remain unchanged oven df the pipe yield an overstress Will cause the yield ro continue until either a new equilibriun ie reached or tho pipe fatls. Th addition to developing the sustained atresses in the shell, the pres gure alao creates elongation, Take Figure 4 ag an example; the elongation of the mais line probebly has very little effect on the valn Ise irsekE bee will have significant effect on the brench line. ‘The ettess im the branch created by the pressure elongation of the main line fa sclf-Limiting. Once the omount of Elongation, A, is reached the pive wil stop growiag, In the branch line, although bigh streas may be developed, the yielding, if any, will stop a8 soun ag the displacement at point A teaches the fixed elongation value, Therefore, at 4s clear that the strene reoulting from pressure elongation io not necessari~ Ly @ suorained atress. ‘The vustadned stress cen be calculated with simple Equations (3) and (4). Stress intensification factors may need to be included to compensate for the wneven streos distribution at some special componente, They are usually straight Forward. On the contrary, the self-limiting stress caused by the pressure elougation whieh in analogosa to thermal expansion ta very difficult to coleclate. A computerized analyale ig generally used to check this pre: sure elongation effect, The so-called presaure load case is created for thts purgose, CORE COMPLTANCE, The purpose of stress analysis da to ensure that the piping eyaten ie safe and couplies with Code requirements, Ii is necessary to find out how the Code requirements con be satisfied with the pressure load cage that actually con aiders only the preasure elongation effet. The Piping Codes (9, 10) have set different ctiteria or evaluating sus~ tained and aelf-liniting stresses because of different factors considered In tha analysie, To satdefy the mxinus sllowvable level for the sustained stress one jas to caloulate the vtresses caused by pressure, velght, and other sue tained loada, This often tenpte an analyst to use @ single weight plus pres sare load case and to coupare the atreas printout directly against the Cote allowable stress. This appreach can lead to honconservative analysis due to rhe following: (a). The weight plus pressure load case is actually the welght plus prus~ sure elongation load case, The stress printed oot in sone of the prograns cones directly from the washer forees and momante, The sustained Longitudinal Pressure stress 19 oct inrluded. (b) Tee ewer forces and wonents created by weight loading may cancel with chose produced from presmure elongarion at some af che potare. This creates some Anconsistency in the analysis though it 1s not serious, One of cle avcepuable methods Jy ta rung weight Loud. cave aad o ther- mal plus ptessure elongation load case. The longitudinal weight stress 46 then either mmnually oF automatically added to the longitudinal sustained pressure atress which is calculated explicitly using Equation (4), The com bined arress is used co compare with che Code allovable sustained arress, Ta the evaluation of geli-Liadring stresses, thernul expansion and pressure elen~ zation can be combined in one single laad case, this in acceptable dua to the sitiiarity between these two displacement loadings. Mowever, it should be noted that in deaigning low temperature lines the inclusion of pressure elon gation will result in nonconservative analysis, the low temperature but unpresourized condition gives higher expansion (or contraction) stress and should be used. concLusTONS The so called presgure load analysia as-given by many computers pro- grare ia in fect wore accurately a presgure elongation Loud case, The result 7given by this fond case {9 generally less than what 1s expected from a fuil pressure load case analyais, This load cove con be very easily nisappited Yemulting in nonconservative analysia. Therefore it 18 important to know exactly vhat the computer program Je doing, Pressure elongation has « significant effect on long pipeline denign but has only a minor effect on process plant piping, The approach adopted by mont computer progrsms in handliag pressure load is to decouple the sustained pres- sare effect fron the elongation effect. The sustained stress can be essily calculated by the simple formula while the elongation effect 16 normally ana- lyzed by conptter methods in a way similar to thernal flexibility anslyste, ‘The sustained pressure atrose 4a then added to stvenser created by other sua tained losds auch as wedght and selamic forces. The strees generated by pres- sure elongaticn {9 coubined with thereal expansion and other dieplocement stresses. Thin decoupled analyots ig entirely satisfactory, In fact 4f one tg te comply with the Code teguirements, in separating sustained and dtaplece~ went stresses, the decoupled analysis 1a probably the oniy approach thit choult be used. ‘The inclusion of pretsure elongation does not necessarily reault in a wore conservative auaiysin. In low temperature piping auch as INC Lines, the imcluedon of pregeure elongation will off-set the piplag contraction and give lower total displacement stress. Since the piping can reach or stey ar @ jew Leaperatuxe condition when presguro in relieved, the antlyais should be done without the pressure elongation effect. ‘REFERENCES 1, YSROREK = Pipe Stress Andlyete Program," SIMFLEN User's Nanual, 10543 Aleott, Houston, Texas 77043. 2. Olwon, J. A, and Cramer, R, V., "Pipe Flexibility Analysis Prograa ‘WeC-218," Report No. 35-65, 1965,San Prancisce Bay Naval Shipyard, Mare Tsland Division. 3. Uathe, Ky J., Hilson, B.L.. and Petetaon, F, E., "SAPIV = A Struc~ tarel Analysis Progran far Static and Dynamic Responne of Linear Syatens," SESM Report EERG-73-11, 1973 Dopt. of Civil Engineering, University of Colifernia, Perkeley. 4, Tincphenko, 5., “Anatysia of Stress end Serainy Strengeh of Matertats, Pert I, 2nd ed, Ds Van Nostrand Ge., New York, 1956. 3. Brack, J. E., “Expaneion nod Flexibility," Piping Wandbook, Sth eds, edlted by King and Crocker, MeGraw-#ill, New York, 1967. 6. Den Hurtog, J. P., “Membrane Stress ia Shella," Advanced Strength of Materials, McGraw-Hill, New York, 1952. 7, ‘Dean, W. Rey "he Distoxthon of a Curved Tube due te Internal Press- sure," Phil. Mag., Vol. 28, Ser. 7, 1939, FP. 452-464, 8, Roche, ¥. R., and Saylac, C., “Comparivcn Between Expecimeotal and Computer Anlyais of the Behavior Under Preamure of a 90° Bend with aa Rilip~ tdeal Section.” Proceedings of the 2nd International Confor Vesael Technology, San Antonte, Texas, 1973., published by American Socdeyt of SeckenTeal Brgtavers. 9, ANSI B3i, Cede for Pressure Piping, published by ASHE, 10, ASHE, Holler and Pressure Vessel Code, Section IIT, Diviston 1. 78