Step by Step Methods for WRC 107 (WRC 537) and

WRC 297 Checking in Caesar II

ASTS GLOBAL EDUCATION

What is WRC?
WRC or Welding Research Council is a Scientific Research Corporation, involved in
solving problems related to welding and pressure vessel technology. To date, they
have published more than 500 bulletins which solves various problems of engineering.

Importance of WRC 107 (WRC 537) and WRC 297 in Piping Stress
Analysis
Whenever Pressure Vessel or Heat exchanger (Static Equipment) nozzle loads exceed
the allowable values provided by Vendors (Equipment manufacturer) or standard project-
specific tables (guidelines), the piping stress professional is permitted to use WRC 107
(537)/297 (or any other FEA) to calculate the stresses at the Nozzle-Shell junction point
and compare the calculated stresses with allowable values provided by Codes. If the
stresses are found to be within allowable limit then the load and moment values can be
accepted without any hesitation.

However, there are some boundary conditions that must be satisfied before using WRC.
This small write up will try to explain the required details for performing WRC 107 (WRC
537) and WRC 297 using Caesar II and step by step method for performing WRC
check.

What is WRC 107 (WRC 537) and WRC 297?

Both WRC 107 (537) and WRC 297 bulletins deal with “local” stress states in the
vicinity of an attachment to a vessel or pipe. As indicated by their bulletin titles, WRC-
107 can be used for attachments to both spherical and cylindrical shells while
WRC-297 only addresses cylinder to cylinder connections.

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While both bulletins are used for nozzle connection. WRC-107 is based on a un-
penetrated shell, while WRC-297 assumes a circular opening in a vessel. Furthermore,
WRC-107 defines values for solid and hollow attachments of either round and rectangular
shape for spherical shells but drops the solid/hollow distinction for attachments to
cylindrical shells. WRC-297, on the other hand, is intended only for cylindrical nozzles
attached to cylindrical shells.

Boundary conditions for using WRC 107/ WRC 537

To determine whether the WRC 107/ WRC 537 bulletin can be used for local stress
checking the following geometry guidelines must be met:

d/D<0.33
Dm/T=(D-T)/T>50 (Here, T=Vessel Thickness, Dm=mean diameter of vessel)

Boundary conditions for using WRC 297

To determine whether WRC 297 bulletin can be used for local stress checking the
following geometry guidelines must be met:

1. d/D<=0.5
2. d/t>=20 and d/t<=100 (Here t=nozzle thickness)
3. D/T>=20 and D/T<=2500
4. d/T>=5
5. The nozzle must be isolated (it may not be close to a discontinuity) – not
within 2√(DT) on the vessel and not within 2√(dt) on the nozzle

Difference between WRC 107 (WRC 537) and 297

The major differences other than the boundary conditions mentioned above are listed
below:

1. WRC 107 calculates only the vessel stresses while WRC 297 calculates Vessel
stresses along with nozzle stresses.

2. WRC 297 is applicable only for normally (perpendicular) intersecting two cylindrical
shells whereas WRC 107 is applicable for cylindrical as well as spherical shells of any
intersection.

3. The attachments for WRC 297 checking must be hollow but WRC 107 analyzes
cylindrical or rectangular attachments that can be rigid or hollow.

4. WRC 297 is not applicable for nozzles protruding inside the vessel (Fig 1), Tangential
Nozzle (Fig 2), Nozzle at an angle (Fig 3).

5. Typically, WRC-107 is used for local stress calculations and WRC-297 is used for
flexibility calculations.

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 Fig. 1: Nozzles and Vessels for WRC

Limitations of WRC 107 (WRC 537) & WRC 297

Other than boundary conditions mentioned above there are few more limitations as
mentioned below:

1. Neither bulletin considers shell reinforcement nor do they address stress due to
pressure.
2. CAESAR II, PVElite & CodeCalc will not extrapolate data from the charts when the
geometric limitations mentioned above are exceeded. Extrapolated data may not be
appropriate.

WRC-107/ WRC-297 calculation Methodology in Caesar II

Inputs required for performing WRC checking

The following documents must be ready with you before you start to perform WRC
107/297 checking:

Equipment Details/ General Arrangement Drawing

Nozzle details
Line list

WRC Calculation Steps in Caesar II

Step 1: Perform Static analysis of the stress system and find out the nozzle loads
required for checking local stresses.

Step 2: Enter into the WRC module from Caesar II. Provide a file name for your job.
Refer to Fig. 2

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 Fig. 2: Opening WRC Module in Caesar II

Step 3: The following screen will appear. Enter the Nozzle data as shown in Fig. 3 below.

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 Fig. 3: WRC Input Screen in Caesar II

Step 4: Now enter the vessel details i.e, diameter, wall thickness, corrosion allowance,
and material (Fig. 4)

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 Fig. 4: Input Vessel Details in Caesar II

Step 5: Input vessel and Nozzle direction cosines, Internal design pressure and load and
moments values from Caesar static analysis output (Sustained, Expansion and
occasional as applicable).

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 Fig. 5: Entering Force Details

Step 6: On options, it is suggested not to change any parameter. Now click on analysis
to read the results. The output will inform you whether WRC checking is passing or
failing. Use results as per your requirements.

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 Fig. 6: Sample WRC Output Screen

For entering loads and moments as per local convention following description and figure
(Fig. 7) can be used for converting global forces into local forces.

Fig. 7: Force and Moment Direction Consideration

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As shown in Fig. 7, Stretch your right hand with the Middle finger along the Vessel
Centerline. Index Finger should parallel to nozzle centerline and should point in a
direction from nozzle towards entering the vessel. And Thumb should be perpendicular to
both. Then

1. The direction of the Index Finger represents +P.

2. The direction of Middle Finger represents +VL
3. The direction of Thumb represents +VC
4. ML will be positive if by applying right-hand thumb rule to ML, the direction of thumb
is the same as that of VC.
5. MC will be positive if by applying right-hand thumb rule to MC, the direction of
thumb is opposite to the direction of VL.
6. MT will be positive if by applying right-hand thumb rule to MT, the direction of thumb
is opposite to the direction of P.Get the loads and moments from CAESAR output.
Compare the direction of Forces and Moments in CAESAR output with conventional
Force and Moment directions and enter the values of P, VL, VC, MT, MC, and ML
accordingly.

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