Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
http://www.paper.edu.cn
Abstract
This paper discusses the plastic limit pressure of elbows without defects and with local thinned area in the extrados. Finite element
analysis (FEA) and experiments have been used. The results of FEA show that the limit load of elbows under internal pressure increases
with increasing wall thickness and bend radius of the elbow. The results are consistent with the calculated results by the Goodall formula,
the maximum error is 6.58%. By data tting of FEA, an empirical formula for the limit load of elbows with local thinned area in the
extrados has been proposed, which is validated by experiments.
r 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Elbow; Limit load; Finite element analysis; Local thinned area; Experiment
1. Introduction
Elbows are often considered to be the critical components in a piping system. Because of the bend radius,
elbows represent different performance from a straight
pipe. The elbow can not only change the direction of the
pipeline, but can also absorb the force and moment caused
by heat expansion because its rigidity is lower than the
connected straight pipe. The elbow is subjected to loads,
such as internal pressure, moment, torsion, and dead
weight. Under these loads the maximum stress in the piping
system occurs in the elbows and so elbows fail earlier than
the straight pipe and become the weakest part of the piping
system [1].
Because of corrosion, erosion, mechanical damage and
crack polishing, there are local thinned areas (LTAs) in an
elbow. The LTAs reduce the structural integrity, and may
affect the safety of the pipeline. For the safety evaluation of
an elbow with LTA(s), it is signicant to calculate the limit
load of an elbow with LTA(s) [2].
Zhang et al. [3] took the relation of different LTA
position to the limit load into consideration and deduced
0308-0161/$ - see front matter r 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.ijpvp.2006.08.003
Z.-X. Duan, S.-M. Shen / International Journal of Pressure Vessels and Piping 83 (2006) 707713
708
Nomenclature
t
P
P1
P0
PL
R
r
Do
Di
g
y
http://www.paper.edu.cn
ARTICLE IN PRESS
elbow thickness
internal pressure
equivalent pressure, P D2i =D2o D2i
plastic limit pressure of elbow without defects
plastic limit pressure of elbow
elbow bend radius
mean elbow radius
outer diameter of elbow
inner diameter of elbow
axial half-angle of local thinned area
circumferential half-angle of local thinned area
C
a
b
c
sf
Subscripts
T
F
G
4
test
nite element analysis
Goodall formula
formula (4)
P D2i =D2o D2i , where Do and Di are the outer and inner
diameters, respectively.
2.3. Meshing
Finite element analysis is performed using the software
ANSYS. The SOLID45 (3-Dimensional Structural Solid)
elements are used for the analysis (Fig. 2). A threedimensional mesh is created by taking 5 divisions in the
longitudinal direction of each straight segment and
approximately 20 divisions (more or less according to the
LTA and other dimensions, but more divisions in the LTA)
in the longitudinal direction of the elbow. In the
circumferential direction, about 15 divisions are taken
and in the depth direction 4 or 5 divisions are taken. In the
LTA, the mesh is rened taking more divisions in the
circumferential and longitudinal directions. The number of
nodes and elements are controlled by the non-dimensional
parameters a, b and c and the dimensions Do, t, R.
Table 1
FEA models of elbows without defects
No.
01
02
03
04
05
06
07
08
09
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
108 3
108 5
108 8
108 10
108 3
108 5
108 8
108 10
108 3
108 5
108 8
108 10
108 3
108 5
108 8
108 10
R (mm)
100
100
100
100
150
150
150
150
175
175
175
175
200
200
200
200
Goodall (PLG)
15.210
26.795
46.000
60.267
18.332
31.467
52.616
67.743
19.030
33.048
55.922
71.042
20.248
33.794
57.068
72.484
15.862
27.333
45.973
59.416
19.404
33.173
55.168
70.788
20.282
34.625
57.467
73.640
20.908
35.661
59.109
75.680
4.287
2.008
0.060
1.411
5.847
5.423
4.851
4.495
6.580
4.771
2.764
3.657
3.260
5.525
3.577
4.409
http://www.paper.edu.cn
ARTICLE IN PRESS
Z.-X. Duan, S.-M. Shen / International Journal of Pressure Vessels and Piping 83 (2006) 707713
709
Table 2
FEA models of elbows with LTA
No.
Dimensions
L01
L02
L03
L04
L05
L06
L07
L08
L09
L10
L11
L12
L13
L14
L15
L16
0.05
0.05
0.05
0.05
0.125
0.125
0.125
0.125
0.25
0.25
0.25
0.25
0.375
0.375
0.375
0.375
0.10
0.25
0.40
0.50
0.10
0.25
0.40
0.50
0.10
0.25
0.40
0.50
0.10
0.25
0.40
0.50
0.10
0.25
0.50
0.75
0.25
0.10
0.75
0.50
0.50
0.75
0.10
0.25
0.75
0.50
0.25
0.10
52.48
52.27
50.62
28.37
52.36
52.55
21.05
41.67
38.32
19.52
52.47
52.00
18.84
37.01
52.37
52.42
Inner
Inner
LTA
LTA
Inner
Inner
LTA
LTA
LTA
LTA
Inner
LTA
LTA
LTA
LTA
Inner
wall of intrados
wall of intrados
wall of intrados
wall of intrados
wall of intrados
wall of intrados
A
y
P1
P1
P
A
A
y
P
o
P1
P1
A-A
A-A
t
P
Di
P
P
C
(a)
Without defects
(b)
With LTA
http://www.paper.edu.cn
ARTICLE IN PRESS
Z.-X. Duan, S.-M. Shen / International Journal of Pressure Vessels and Piping 83 (2006) 707713
710
proposed in the engineering eld, such as the twice-elasticslope method, 3 times-elastic-slope method, twice-elasticdefect method, tangent intersection method, zero-curvature
method and 0.2% residual strain method. In this paper the
limit load is determined based on the loadstrain curves
using the twice-elastic-slope method which is described in
the ASME Boilers and Pressure Vessel Code [5]. The strain
in the loadstrain curve is the maximum von-Mises strain
of the elbow.
The FEA results are shown in Tables 1 and 2.
2.5.1. FEA results of elbows without defects
2.5.1.1. Variation of limit pressure with dimensions. The
variation of the limit pressure PL of elbows without defects
with R/Do and t/Do is shown in Fig. 4. Here, Do is the outer
diameter.
From the gures, it can be seen that when R/Do is kept
constant, the limit pressure increases with increasing
thickness. The relation of limit pressure with thickness is
close to linear. When t/Do is kept constant, the limit
pressure increases with increasing bend radius. The
inuence of thickness (t) on the limit pressure is greater
than the effect of bend radius.
2.5.1.2. Comparison of FEA results with available formula.
For a thin-walled elbow, Goodall [6] proposed the formula
for the limit pressure P0
P0
sf t 1 r=R
.
r 1 r=2R
(1)
80
75
70
70
R/Do=1.38889
65
R/Do=1.62037
60
R/Do=1.85185
55
t/Do=0.0463
50
t/Do=0.07407
PL (MPa)
PL (MPa)
60
R/Do=0.92593
50
40
t/Do=0.02778
45
t/Do=0.09259
40
35
30
30
25
20
20
15
10
0.02
10
0.03
0.04
0.05
0.06
0.07
0.08
0.09
0.10
0.8
1.0
1.2
t/Do
(a)
PL -t/Do
1.4
1.6
R/Do
(b)
Fig. 4. Variation of limit pressure with R/Do and t/Do.
PL -R/Do
1.8
2.0
2.2
2.4
http://www.paper.edu.cn
ARTICLE IN PRESS
Z.-X. Duan, S.-M. Shen / International Journal of Pressure Vessels and Piping 83 (2006) 707713
711
(2)
(3)
3. Experiments
3.1. Manufacture of the specimens
3.1.1. Manufacture of the LTA
Because the specimen is an elbow and the LTA is in the
curve of the elbow, it is difcult to ensure the dimensions
and precision of the defect using a mechanical method. For
satisfactory test results, the LTA is manufactured through
handcraft polishing. The structure of the specimens is
shown in Fig. 6. The dimensions of the 901 elbow in the
specimens are as follows:
(1) 108 mm 5 mm, without defects;
(2) 108 mm 5 mm, g 5.6251, y 451, C 1.25 mm;
(3) 108 mm 8 mm, g 11.251, y 901, C 6 .00 mm.
where
G a0:5 b0:1 c3 .
The tting curve is shown in Fig. 5.
The limit pressure of the elbow which belongs to Group
2 is smaller than that of the corresponding elbow without
defects, thus f a; b; co0:954.
So the limit pressure of an elbow with or without LTA
can be described by the following equations:
PL
sf t 1 r=R
f a; b; c,
r 1 r=2R
(4)
f a; b; c ming; 0:954,
(5)
(6)
0:5 0:1 3
Ga b c
(for the elbow without defects:
a b c 0, then G 0)
Because the range of LTA in this paper is Go0:21, the
restriction of the above equations is Go0:21.
3.1.2. Welding
A 901 elbow, 2 straight pipes and two at heads are
welded together to make the specimen (Fig. 6).
3.2. Experimental process
The purpose of the experiments is to determine the limit
pressure of the elbows. A 60 MPa pressure pump is used to
provide the pressure with water. Strain gauges are
distributed along the axis in the outer wall of the extrados
and the outer wall along the circumference of the
symmetrical area. When the pressure attains a given value,
the strain is measured. Finally, the loadstrain curve is
drawn, and the limit load is obtained.
3.3. Test results and analysis
The comparison between FEA results and test results is
shown in Table 3.
http://www.paper.edu.cn
ARTICLE IN PRESS
Z.-X. Duan, S.-M. Shen / International Journal of Pressure Vessels and Piping 83 (2006) 707713
712
08
150
08
50
150
R150
R1
108 8
108 8
A-A
A
108 8
150
150
108 8
Without defects
With LTA
Table 3
Comparison of results between nite element analyses and experiments
No.
Dimensions
Test PT (MPa)
FEA PF (MPa)
Error eF
Error e4
1
2
3
29.637
28.58
17.67
31.467
31.62
19.52
31.647
31.65
18.76
0.0617
0.1064
0.1046
0.0678
0.1074
0.0617
ARTICLE IN PRESS
http://www.paper.edu.cn
Z.-X. Duan, S.-M. Shen / International Journal of Pressure Vessels and Piping 83 (2006) 707713
[3] Zhang L, Wang Y, Chen J, et al. Evaluation of local thinned
pressurized elbows. Int J Press Ves Pip 2001;78:697703.
[4] Wang Y, Sun L, Fan D-S. Plastic limit load analysis of
elbow with local thinning. J Beijing Univ Chem Technol 2005;
32(1):625.
713
[5] ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code, Section III, Division 1,
Nuclear power plant components. New York, NY: ASME; 1992.
[6] Goodall IW. Lower bound limit analysis of curved tubes loaded by
combined internal pressure and in-plane bending moment. RD/B/
N4360, CEGB; 1978.