Month Year

PIPE STRESS ANALYSIS

- CONCEPTS
Satyashish Sahu

PIPE STRESS ANALYSIS CONCEPTS

What is piping stress analysis
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Analytical procedure to evaluate the stress state at

various points in a piping system.

Also known as flexibility analysis since it also helps

ascertain the required flexibility in the piping system

Helps determine displacements and forces / moments on

the hangers, supports, restraints, guides, stops and
anchors in the piping system

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PIPE STRESS ANALYSIS CONCEPTS

Contents
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Stress in pipes
Stress categories
Thermal behavior of pipes
Stress in piping components
External load categories
Piping supports
Spring hangers
Constant effort hangers
Friction
Piping codes
ASME B 31.1 - Power piping code

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Stress in pipes
Fig-1 Biaxial stress state in a pipe

sl = PDO/4t + BM/Z
Where BM = (Mx2+My2)1/2

sh = PDO/2t
t = TM/J
Where TM= Mz

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Stress in pipes
Fig-2 Mohrs circle of the biaxial stress state

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Stress in pipes
Stress in pipes
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Figure-1 shows the stresses in pipes. The various stresses included

in stress evaluation are:

Pressure Hoop stress

Pressure longitudinal stress
Bending & torsional stress due to weight of pipe, contents and insulation
Bending & torsional stress due to any point loads, wind loads,
earthquake loads, hammer loads
Bending & torsional stress due to restriction of thermal expansion

It is always assumed (in fact due care is taken to ensure) that plant
piping will consist of at least two perpendicular segments between
anchors. The Axial stresses due to thermal effects and also due to
any other external loading in such a case will be negligible and are
hence neglected in stress calculations. So also is buckling neglected.

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Stress categories
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Classification of stress
Primary membrane stress
This is the stress due to external loading of the pipe like weight,
point load, wind, earthquake
If this exceeds the allowable stress it will cause failure of the pipe
through continuous yielding

Secondary stress
This stress is not caused by any external loading but by such
physical tendencies as thermal expansion
This stress is self-limiting in nature. It relieves itself upon yielding.
It is due to this fundamental difference in behavior between
primary and secondary stress that these two stress categories
are treated very differently. These stresses are never added up
and have different allowable values

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Thermal behavior of pipes

Thermal shakedown / Stress range
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When a pipe is heated up, stresses are caused if the free thermal
movement of the pipe is restricted. Upon reaching the yield point, the
pipe starts yielding and the stresses as well as the thermal loads on
the restraints get relieved. This is called thermal shakedown. When
the pipe is cooled, it comes back to its original position and now the
stresses and restraint loads reappear but with opposite signs.
The difference between the hot stress and the cold stress is called
the stress range.

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Thermal behavior of pipes

Fig-3 Stress range
Total
stress range ST = Shy + Scy
where:
Shy = Hot yield strength
Scy = cold yield strength

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Stress in piping components

Stress intensification factors - SIF
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Elbows, branch connections and reducers will have a higher level of

stress when compared to a straight pipe for the same amount of
bending moment.

The factor by which the stress in the pipe component exceeds that of
the straight pipe is called SIF (stress intensification factor).

SIF of a component depends upon its geometry and is calculated

using empirical formulae available in piping codes.

For special components like Y-piece where no empirical relations are

available, SIF will have to be determined through a analytical
procedure like FEM.

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Stress in piping components

Relation between Elbow geometry and SIF
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Elbow / bend radius - Has inverse relation to SIF

Elbow diameter - Has direct relation to SIF
Elbow thickness - Has inverse relation to SIF

Relation between Branch geometry and SIF

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Header diameter - Has direct relation to header & branch SIFs

Header thickness - Has inverse relation to header & branch SIFs
Branch diameter - Has direct relation to branch SIF. Has no bearing
on header SIF
Branch thickness - Has direct relation to branch SIF. Has no bearing
on header SIF

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Stress in piping components

Relation between Branch type and SIF
The various branch types are listed with their SIF in the
increasing order
Welding Tee
Integrally reinforced fitting as per MSS SP 97
Reinforced fabricated Tee
Unreinforced fabricated Tee

Increasing
SIF

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External load categories

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Types of external loading on pipes

Sustained loading
These loads will act on the pipe throughout its operating tenure
and include
Dead loads like weight of pipe, insulation and inline
components
Live loads like weight of contents in the pipe

Occasional loading
These loads act on the pipe only for certain duration or during
abnormal operating conditions and include
wind
Dynamic loads like earthquake, hammer, safety valve thrust

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Piping supports
Types of pipe supports
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Rigid support - An inflexible restraint used primarily to carry the

sustained pipe loading. They cannot be used where there is upward
pipe movement.
Rigid hanger
Sliding base support
Variable effort (spring) support - A flexible spring used to carry the
sustained pipe loading while allowing for upward / downward pipe
movement. The supporting effort varies as the pipe moves up or
down.
Constant effort support - Used to carry the sustained pipe loading
while allowing for upward / downward pipe movement. The
supporting effort remains constant throughout the upward /
downward travel of the pipe.

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Piping supports
Types of pipe supports (cont)
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Thermal Restraint - This is usually a rigid element used to alter /

control the thermal growth of the piping system so as to bring the
terminal point forces / moments and thermal stresses under limit.
Axial restraint : Movement prevented in pipe axial direction
Transverse / Lateral restraint : Movement prevented in pipe transverse
direction

Guides - Guides are similar to bi-directional restraints but with the

primary purpose of guiding the pipe smoothly into the pipe axial or
lateral direction.
Transverse / Lateral guide : Pipe movement guided into the transverse
direction
Axial guide : Pipe movement guided into the pipe axial direction

Anchors - Anchors arrest all the six degrees of freedom of the pipe.
Anchors are sometimes inserted to completely separate two
connected pipes to enable the analyst to analyse the pipes
independently.

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Spring Hangers
Spring Hanger selection procedure
For spring hanger selection the following steps are required
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Calculation of weight balance load

The load that would act on the spring hanger if it were completely rigid
and the piping system was in static equilibrium under sustained loading
condition

Calculation of vertical free thermal movement

The thermal growth of the pipe under the influence of temperature I.e the
vertical pipe length x the coeff of thermal expansion

Selection of appropriate spring constant

An appropriate spring constant from a supplier catalogue based upon the
weight balance load and vertical thermal movement such that the load
variation between the cold and hot positions is within 25%.

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Spring Hangers
Hot setting / Cold setting of springs
There are two ways of setting the springs - Hot setting and Cold setting
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Hot setting - The spring is set such that it carries the weight balance
load in the hot position of the pipe

Cold setting - The spring is set such that it carries the weight balance
load in the cold position of the pipe.
The behavior of the piping system will vary under hot and cold setting
because the spring carries different loads under the two settings.
Fig-4 shows how exactly these two types of spring setting affect the
load carried by the spring.

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Spring Hangers
Weight balance
load

Fig-4 Hot / Cold setting

Spring cage movement

0%

Hot pos of
pipe
Cold
setting

Hot
setting
Cold pos of
pipe

100%

Load

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Spring Hangers
Spring hanger terminologies
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Cold load - The load carried by the spring when the pipe is in cold
position

Hot load - The load carried by the spring when the pipe is in hot
position

Installation load - The load the spring would carry when the pipe is at
its installation position I.e zero vertical displacement. The installation
load would be equal to the cold load provided the vertical pipe
displacement in the cold condition is zero. But this may not be the
case always.
The spring is pre-compressed to the installation load, locked and
then erected on the pipe.

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Constant effort Hangers

Constant effort hangers
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When pipe vertical movement is high (above 50 mm), it is usually not

possible to select variable effort hangers with load variation within
25%. In such a situation, constant effort hangers are used.

Constant effort hangers as the name suggests apply a constant effort

on the pipe throughout the complete range of the pipe vertical
movement.

The effect of the constant effort hanger is similar to that of supporting

the pipe with a chain-pulley-block system

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Friction
Frictional effects of pipe supports
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Friction at sliding surfaces of supports especially in hot pipes

generate significant forces which affect the pipe stresses as well as
the loads on anchors and restraints.

It is advisable to avoid sliding supports / restraints in hot critical

piping systems - like Main steam, Cold and Hot reheat piping
systems - and use instead the angulating types.

If sliding supports / restraints are used for critical applications, then

the sliding surfaces should be of rust free materials like stainless
steel / teflon and the appropriate friction coefficient must be included
in the analysis.

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Piping codes
Importance of piping codes in stress analysis
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Piping codes are industry specific. They outline the stress evaluation
criteria and also the design requirements specific to the industry over
which they have their jurisdiction.

The piping code lies at the heart of any stress analysis. A piping
system necessarily has to be qualified as per the stress criteria
established in the particular piping code.

The stress evaluation criteria - while largely based on the

fundamentals discussed earlier - differ from code to code, the
different criteria necessitated by the specific operating conditions
and requirements of the industry to which the particular code caters
to. The difference in the criteria are in some cases also attributed to
the historical circumstances / different committees that have
established the codes.

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Piping codes
Important ASME piping codes
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Power piping
Process piping
Pipeline transportation systems for
liquid hydrocarbons and other liquids
Refrigeration piping and heat transfer
components
Gas transmission and distribution piping
systems
Nuclear piping

ASME B 31.1
ASME B 31.3
ASME B 31.4
ASME B 31.5
ASME B 31.8
ASME section III

The ASME B 31.1 power piping code forms the basis for piping
design and stress analysis of all piping except Boiler internal
piping at ALSTOM.

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ASME B 31.1 - Power piping

code
Allowable stress
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The allowable stress for various ASTM piping materials at various

temperatures are listed in Appendix-A of the code.

The allowable stresses are actually reproduced from the ASME

Boiler & pressure vessel code, section II

Basis for allowable stress in ASME section II part D

Min of: R/4,

1.1/4 x Rt,

0.67 E,

0.67 Et,

0.67 Sr,

0.8 Sr min and 1.0 S

R = Specified minimum tensile strength at room temperature.

Rt = Specified minimum tensile strength at the temperature.
E = Yield point (0.2% proof stress at room temp)
Et = Yield point (0.2% proof stress at the temp)
Sr = Average stress at the temp to cause rupture at the end of 100,000 hr.
Sr min = Minimum stress at the temp to cause rupture at the end of 100,000 hr.
S = Average stress at the temp to produce an elongation of 1% (creep) in 100,000 hr.

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ASME B 31.1 - Power piping

code
Other important data
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The thermal expansion data for the various materials are listed in
Table B-1 of Appendix-B of the code.

The modulus of elasticity data for the ferrous materials are listed in
table C-1 of Appendix-C of the code.

The formulae for the SIF and flexibility factors for various pipe
components are listed in Table D-1 of Appendix-D of the code.

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ASME B 31.1 - Power piping

code
Comments on allowable stress values of Appendix-A
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The values listed include weld joint efficiency factors where

applicable. Weld joint efficiencies affect only the hoop direction and
not the longitudinal pipe direction. Since in stress analysis, we are
interested in the longitudinal stresses only, the allowable stress for
stress calculation must be obtained by dividing the values from
appendix-A by the appropriate weld efficiency factor.

The actual stress may exceed the allowable for occasional short
periods by the following factors:
15% for events duration < 8 hrs at any one time and 800 hrs/year
20% for events duration < 1 hrs at any one time and 80 hrs/year

The allowables may be exceeded due to external occasional loads or

due to pressure-temperature excursions (which would bring down the
allowables).

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ASME B 31.1 - Power piping

code
Comments on allowable stress values of Appendix-A
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The allowable stress in shear can be taken as 80% of the allowables

listed in appendix-A.

The allowable stress in bearing can be taken as 160% of the

allowables listed in appendix-A.

The stress in pipe during hydrotest can be considered as high as

90% of yield stress.

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ASME B 31.1 - Power piping

code
Code qualification equations
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Stress due to sustained loads (Clause 104.8.1 of B31.1)

SL = (PDO/4Tn) + (0.75iMA/Z) < 1.0Sh
Where MA = resultant moment loading on cross section due to all sustained loads

The above relation can be easily derived by considering the stress

state of fig-1 and applying the Maximum shear stress theory.
From maximum shear stress theory, failure would occur when the
max shear stress is > half of allowable stress in tension.
Max shear stress can be calculated from mohr's circle (fig-2) as follows:
2tmax = 2 x radius of mohr's circle
= {( sh-sl)2 + 4t2}1/2
2

2 1/2

= {(PDO /4t + BM/Z) + 4 (TM/J) }

2

1/2

2 1/2

= {(PDO /4t) + (M/Z) + 2 . PDO /4t . BM/Z}

Where M = (Mx +My +Mz )
= PDO/4t + M/Z ( by substituting BM with M; this makes the calculated tmax slightly conservative)
To avoid failure, PDO/4t + M/Z < Sh
Incorporating fitting SIF into the above eqn gives the 31.1 code eqn for sustained stresses
PDO/4t + 0.75iMA/Z < Sh

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ASME B 31.1 - Power piping

code
Code qualification equations (cont)
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Stress due to occasional loads (Clause 104.8.2 of B31.1)

(PDO/4Tn) + (0.75iMA/Z) + (0.75iMB/Z) < k.Sh
Where MB = resultant moment loading on cross section due to all occasional loads
k = stress exceeding factor (1.15 or 1.20 depending on occasional load
duration)

Thermal expansion stress range (Clause 104.8.3 of B31.1)

SE = iMC / Z < SA + f (Sh-SL)
Where MC = range of resultant moments on cross section due to thermal expansion
SA = Allowable stress range
= f (1.25 Sc + 0.25 Sh)
Sc = basic material allowable stress (appendix-A) at cold temperature
Sh = basic material allowable stress (appendix-A) at hot temperature
f = stress range reduction factor for cyclic loading (= 1 for general power
plant applications)

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ASME B 31.1 - Power piping

code
Code qualification equations (cont)
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Understanding allowable stress range

From figure-3, Total stress range
ST = Shy + Scy
= 1.5 Sh + 1.5 Sc
Taking only 83.3% so as to have margin,
ST = 1.25 Sh + 1.25 Sc
Thus for thermal expansion, the allowable stress range
SA = 0.25 Sh + 1.25 Sc (deducting 1.Sh for sustained loading)
Incorporating the fatigue factor gives the 31.1 code equation
SA = f .(0.25 Sh + 1.25 Sc)

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ASME B 31.1 - Power piping

code
Important code considerations
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Modulus of elasticity - The code stipulates that the stress must be

evaluated considering the cold modulus of elasticity. However, forces
and moments on anchors and restraints can be evaluated
considering the hot modulus.

Corrosion allowance and mill tolerance - The stress analysis

including evaluation of restraint loads is to be done on the nominal
pipe thickness. Corrosion allowance and mill tolerance are not
considered.

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