The Use of “Fitness for Service” Assessment Procedures to Establish Allowable Flaw Sizes in Steel Cylinders

2004 ◽  
Vol 126 (2) ◽  
pp. 202-207 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mahendra D. Rana ◽  
John H. Smith
Keyword(s):  
High Pressure ◽  
Test Methods ◽  
Ultrasonic Test ◽  
Flaw Size ◽  
Safety Regulations ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Critical Flaw ◽  
Test Pressure ◽  
Assessment Procedures ◽  
Seamless Steel

As part of the U.S. Department of Transportation safety regulations, seamless steel cylinders that are used to transport high-pressure gases are required to be periodically retested during their lifetime [1]. The safety regulations have recently been revised to permit the use of ultrasonic methods for retesting steel cylinders. These ultrasonic test methods permit the quantitative determination of the size of any flaws that are detected in the cylinders. Therefore, to use these ultrasonic test methods it is required that quantitative, “allowable flaw sizes” be established to set acceptance/rejection limits for the cylinders at the time of retesting. Typical flaws that can occur in seamless steel cylinders during service are line corrosion, gouges, local thin areas of corrosion, notches, and cracks. To establish “allowable flaw sizes” for seamless steel cylinders, an assessment of typical flaws that occur in seamless cylinders was first carried out to establish the “critical flaw sizes” (e.g., depth and length or area) for selected types of flaws. The critical flaw size is the size of the flaw that will cause the cylinders to fail at either the designated test pressure or at the marked service pressure. The API Recommended Practice 579 “Fitness-for-Service” was used to calculate the critical flaw sizes for a range of cylinder sizes and strength levels [2]. Several hundred monotonic hydrostatic, flawed-cylinder burst tests were conducted as part of an International Standards Organization (ISO) test program to evaluate the fracture performance of a wide range of steel cylinders [3]. The results of these tests were used to verify the calculated “critical flaw sizes” that were calculated using the API 579 procedures. These results showed that the analysis conducted according to API 579 always underestimated the actual flaw sizes to cause failure at test pressure or at service pressure. Therefore, the “Fitness for Service” assessment procedures can be used reliably to establish the “critical flaw sizes” for cylinders of all sizes and strength levels. After the “critical flaw sizes” to cause failure of the cylinders at both the test pressure and the service were established, the “allowable flaw sizes” were calculated for a wide range of the cylinder types and strength levels. This was done modifying (reducing) the size of the “critical flaw sizes” for each cylinder by adjusting for fatigue crack growth that may occur during the use of the cylinder. This results in the final “allowable flaw size” criteria that are used for defining the acceptance or rejection of the cylinders during retesting. This paper presents the results of the analytical and experimental work that was performed to establish the “critical flaw sizes” and “allowable flaw sizes” for a wide range of high-pressure gas cylinders.

The Use of “Fitness for Service” Assessment Procedures to Establish Allowable Flaw Sizes in Steel Cylinders

2002 ◽  
Author(s):  
John H. Smith ◽  
Mahendra D. Rana
Keyword(s):  
High Pressure ◽  
Test Methods ◽  
Ultrasonic Test ◽  
Flaw Size ◽  
Safety Regulations ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Critical Flaw ◽  
Test Pressure ◽  
Assessment Procedures ◽  
Seamless Steel

As part of the U. S. Department of Transportation safety regulations, seamless steel cylinders that are used to transport high-pressure gases are required to be periodically retested during their lifetime [1]. The safety regulations have recently been revised to permit the use of ultrasonic methods for retesting steel cylinders. These ultrasonic test methods permit the quantitative determination of the size of any flaws that are detected in the cylinders. Therefore, to use these ultrasonic test methods it is required that quantitative, “allowable flaw sizes” be established to set acceptance/rejection limits for the cylinders at the time of retesting. Typical flaws that can occur in seamless steel cylinders during service are line corrosion, gouges, local thin areas of corrosion, notches, and cracks. To establish “allowable flaw sizes” for seamless steel cylinders, an assessment of typical flaws that occur in seamless cylinders was first carried out to establish the “critical flaw sizes” (e.g. depth and length or area) for selected types of flaws. The critical flaw size is the size of the flaw that will cause the cylinders to fail at either the designated test pressure or at the marked service pressure. The API Recommended Practice 579 “Fitness-for-Service” was used to calculate the critical flaw sizes for a range of cylinder sizes and strength levels [2]. Several hundred monotonic hydrostatic, flawed-cylinder burst tests were conducted as part of an International Standards Organization (ISO) test program to evaluate the fracture performance of a wide range of steel cylinders [3]. The results of these tests were used to verify the calculated “critical flaw sizes” that were calculated using the API 579 procedures. These results showed that the analysis conducted according to API 579 always underestimated the actual flaw sizes to cause failure at test pressure or at service pressure. Therefore, the “Fitness for Service” assessment procedures can be used reliably to establish the “critical flaw sizes” for cylinders of all sizes and strength levels. After the “critical flaw sizes” to cause failure of the cylinders at both the test pressure and the service were established, the “allowable flaw sizes” were calculated for a wide range of the cylinder types and strength levels. This was done modifying (reducing) the size of the “critical flaw sizes” for each cylinder by adjusting for fatigue crack growth that may occur during the use of the cylinder. This results in the final “allowable flaw size” criteria that are used for defining the acceptance or rejection of the cylinders during retesting. This paper presents the results of the analytical and experimental work that was performed to establish the “critical flaw sizes” and “allowable flaw sizes” for a wide range of high-pressure gas cylinders.

Technical Basis for Acceptance/Rejection Criteria for Flaws in High Pressure Gas Cylinder

2009 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mahendra D. Rana ◽  
John H. Smith ◽  
Henry Holroyd
Keyword(s):  
High Pressure ◽  
Fatigue Crack ◽  
Fatigue Crack Growth ◽  
Crack Growth ◽  
Experimental Tests ◽  
Operating Conditions ◽  
Flaw Size ◽  
Critical Flaw ◽  
Test Pressure ◽  
Technical Basis

The objective of this paper is to present the technical basis used for developing acceptance/rejection limits for seamless, high pressure gas cylinders that can be used at the time of retesting the cylinders. The development of acceptance/rejection limits for cylinders is done in three steps. First, the “critical flaw sizes” (e.g. depth and length or area) for selected types of flaws are established by an analysis procedure that has been verified by experimental tests. Next the “allowable flaw sizes” are calculated by modifying (reducing) the size of the “critical flaw sizes” for each cylinder by adjusting for fatigue crack growth that may occur during the use of the cylinder. Finally the “acceptance/rejection criteria” is established to take into account other factors such as all the expected operating conditions that the cylinders may see in service and the reliability and detectability of the specific inspection equipment to be and to adjust the “allowable flaw sizes” to provide an additional margin of safety. This acceptance/rejection limits have been incorporated in recently published ISO Technical Report TR 22694: 2008 [1]. In this work, the API 579 “Recommended Practice for Fitness-for-Service” [2] was used to calculate the “critical flaw sizes” for a range of cylinder sizes and strength levels. For this study the “critical flaw size” is defined as the size of the flaw that will cause the cylinders to fail at the test pressure of the cylinder. The results of flawed-cylinder burst tests were used to experimentally verify the calculated “critical flaw sizes”. The “allowable flaw sizes” were then calculated by using well established fatigue crack growth rate data for steel and aluminum alloys to allow for the expected amount of fatigue crack growth that may occur during the specified retesting intervals. A limited number of tests were conducted to verify the “allowable flaw size” calculations. Further adjustments are made to the “allowable flaw sizes” to define the “acceptance/rejection criteria” to be used during cylinder retesting.

The Use of “Fitness for Service” Assessment Procedures to Establish Critical Flaw Sizes in High-Pressure Gas Cylinders

2003 ◽  
Vol 125 (2) ◽  
pp. 177-181 ◽  
Author(s):  
John H. Smith ◽  
Mahendra D. Rana ◽  
Clark Hall
Keyword(s):  
High Pressure ◽  
Experimental Work ◽  
Burst Pressure ◽  
Periodic Inspection ◽  
Critical Flaw ◽  
Analytical Procedures ◽  
Corrosion Pits ◽  
Assessment Procedures ◽  
Gas Cylinders

Typical flaws that can occur in high-pressure seamless gas cylinders during service are: corrosion pits, line corrosion, gouges, local thin areas of corrosion, and cracks. The required periodic inspection of seamless cylinders requires that “critical flaw sizes” be established. To establish “critical flaw sizes” an assessment of typical flaws that occur in seamless cylinders was carried out using the analytical procedures described in the API Recommended Practice 579 “Fitness-for-Service.” To verify the API 579 analysis procedures, a number of hydrostatic tests were conducted on selected cylinders with various sizes of flaws to determine the burst pressure of cylinder containing flaws. These results showed that the analysis conducted according to API 579 reliably estimated the actual measured burst pressure of the cylinders for all flaw sizes and types. After the API 579 analysis procedures were verified by these experiments to reliably estimate the burst pressure of cylinders with various types of flaws, the “critical flaw sizes” to cause failure of the cylinders at selected pressures were determined by analysis. This paper presents the results of the analytical and experimental work that was performed on the assessment procedures to establish the “critical flaw sizes” in high-pressure gas cylinders.

Technical Basis for Acceptance/Rejection Criteria for Flaws in High Pressure Gas Cylinder

2010 ◽  
Vol 132 (6) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mahendra D. Rana ◽  
John H. Smith ◽  
Henry Holroyd
Keyword(s):  
High Pressure ◽  
Fatigue Crack ◽  
Fatigue Crack Growth ◽  
Crack Growth ◽  
Operating Conditions ◽  
Flaw Size ◽  
Technical Report ◽  
Critical Flaw ◽  
Technical Basis ◽  
Gas Cylinders

The objective of this paper is to present the technical basis used for developing acceptance/rejection limits for seamless, high pressure gas cylinders that can be used at the time of retesting the cylinders. The development of acceptance/rejection limits for cylinders is done in three steps. First, the “critical flaw sizes” (e.g., depth and length or area) for selected types of flaws are established by an analysis procedure that has been verified by experimental tests. Next the “allowable flaw sizes” are calculated by modifying (reducing) the size of the critical flaw sizes for each cylinder by adjusting for fatigue crack growth that may occur during the use of the cylinder. Finally, the “acceptance/rejection criteria” is established to take into account other factors, such as all the expected operating conditions that the cylinders may see in service, and the reliability and detectability of the specific inspection equipment to be used and to adjust the allowable flaw sizes to provide an additional margin of safety. This acceptance/rejection limits have been incorporated in a recently published ISO Technical Report No. TR 22694:2008 (2007, “Gas Cylinders—Methods for Establishing Acceptance/Rejection Criteria for Flaws in Seamless Steel and Aluminum Alloy Cylinders at Time of Periodic Inspection and Requalification,” The International Standards Organization, Geneva, Switzerland, Technical Report No. 22694). In this work, the API 579 “Recommended Practice for Fitness-for-Service” (2000, API 579: Recommended Practice for Fitness-for-Service, 1st ed., American Petroleum Institute, Washington, DC) was used to calculate the critical flaw sizes for a range of cylinder sizes and strength levels. For this study, the critical flaw size is defined as the size of the flaw that will cause the cylinders to fail at the test pressure of the cylinder. The results of flawed-cylinder burst tests were used to experimentally verify the calculated critical flaw sizes. The allowable flaw sizes were then calculated by using well established fatigue crack growth rate data for steel and aluminum alloys to allow for the expected amount of fatigue crack growth that may occur during the specified retesting intervals. A limited number of tests was conducted to verify the allowable flaw size calculations. Further adjustments are made to the allowable flaw sizes to define the acceptance/rejection criteria to be used during cylinder retesting.

Using CFD to Enhance the Preliminary Design of High-Pressure Steam Turbines

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Juri Bellucci ◽  
Federica Sazzini ◽  
Filippo Rubechini ◽  
Andrea Arnone ◽  
Lorenzo Arcangeli ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
High Pressure ◽  
Steam Turbine ◽  
Design Tool ◽  
Tip Clearance ◽  
Large Set ◽  
Preliminary Design ◽  
Steam Turbines ◽  
High Pressure Steam ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Pressure Steam

This paper focuses on the use of the CFD for improving a steam turbine preliminary design tool. Three-dimensional RANS analyses were carried out in order to independently investigate the effects of profile, secondary flow and tip clearance losses, on the efficiency of two high-pressure steam turbine stages. The parametric study included geometrical features such as stagger angle, aspect ratio and radius ratio, and was conducted for a wide range of flow coefficients to cover the whole operating envelope. The results are reported in terms of stage performance curves, enthalpy loss coefficients and span-wise distribution of the blade-to-blade exit angles. A detailed discussion of these results is provided in order to highlight the different aerodynamic behavior of the two geometries. Once the analysis was concluded, the tuning of a preliminary steam turbine design tool was carried out, based on a correlative approach. Due to the lack of a large set of experimental data, the information obtained from the post-processing of the CFD computations were applied to update the current correlations, in order to improve the accuracy of the efficiency evaluation for both stages. Finally, the predictions of the tuned preliminary design tool were compared with the results of the CFD computations, in terms of stage efficiency, in a broad range of flow coefficients and in different real machine layouts.

Influence of Turbulent Flow Characteristics and Coherent Vortices on the Pressure Recovery of Annular Diffusers: Part A — Experimental Results

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marcus Kuschel ◽  
Bastian Drechsel ◽  
David Kluß ◽  
Joerg R. Seume
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
High Pressure ◽  
Static Pressure ◽  
Turbulent Transport ◽  
Axial Flow ◽  
Pressure Recovery ◽  
Turbulence Structure ◽  
Reynolds Stresses ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Operating Points

Exhaust diffusers downstream of turbines are used to transform the kinetic energy of the flow into static pressure. The static pressure at the turbine outlet is thus decreased by the diffuser, which in turn increases the technical work as well as the efficiency of the turbine significantly. Consequently, diffuser designs aim to achieve high pressure recovery at a wide range of operating points. Current diffuser design is based on conservative design charts, developed for laminar, uniform, axial flow. However, several previous investigations have shown that the aerodynamic loading and the pressure recovery of diffusers can be increased significantly if the turbine outflow is taken into consideration. Although it is known that the turbine outflow can reduce boundary layer separations in the diffuser, less information is available regarding the physical mechanisms that are responsible for the stabilization of the diffuser flow. An analysis using the Lumley invariance charts shows that high pressure recovery is only achieved for those operating points in which the near-shroud turbulence structure is axi-symmetric with a major radial turbulent transport component. This turbulent transport originates mainly from the wake and the tip vortices of the upstream rotor. These structures energize the boundary layer and thus suppress separation. A logarithmic function is shown that correlates empirically the pressure recovery vs. the relevant Reynolds stresses. The present results suggest that an improved prediction of diffuser performance requires modeling approaches that account for the anisotropy of turbulence.

The Processing of Ultrafine-Grained Materials Using High-Pressure Torsion

2007 ◽  
Vol 558-559 ◽  
pp. 1283-1294 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cheng Xu ◽  
Z. Horita ◽  
Terence G. Langdon
Keyword(s):  
Plastic Deformation ◽  
Grain Size ◽  
High Pressure ◽  
High Pressure Torsion ◽  
Metallic Materials ◽  
Grain Sizes ◽  
Ultrafine Grained ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Ultrafine Grained Materials ◽  
Thin Disks

It is now well-established that processing through the application of severe plastic deformation (SPD) leads to a significant reduction in the grain size of a wide range of metallic materials. This paper examines the fabrication of ultrafine-grained materials using high-pressure torsion (HPT) where this process is attractive because it leads to exceptional grain refinement with grain sizes that often lie in the nanometer or submicrometer ranges. Two aspects of HPT are examined. First, processing by HPT is usually confined to samples in the form of very thin disks but recent experiments demonstrate the potential for extending HPT also to bulk samples. Second, since the strains imposed in HPT vary with the distance from the center of the disk, it is important to examine the development of inhomogeneities in disk samples processed by HPT.

Validation of MISES Two-Dimensional Boundary Layer Code for High-Pressure Turbine Aerodynamic Design

2009 ◽  
Vol 131 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Philip L. Andrew ◽  
Harika S. Kahveci
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
High Pressure ◽  
Operating Cost ◽  
Design Tool ◽  
Operating Conditions ◽  
Aerodynamic Design ◽  
High Pressure Turbine ◽  
Reduce Operating Cost ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Dimensional Boundary

Avoiding aerodynamic separation and excessive shock losses in gas turbine turbomachinery components can reduce fuel usage and thus reduce operating cost. In order to achieve this, blading designs should be made robust to a wide range of operating conditions. Consequently, a design tool is needed—one that can be executed quickly for each of many operating conditions and on each of several design sections, which will accurately capture loss, turning, and loading. This paper presents the validation of a boundary layer code, MISES, versus experimental data from a 2D linear cascade approximating the performance of a moderately loaded mid-pitch section from a modern aircraft high-pressure turbine. The validation versus measured loading, turning, and total pressure loss is presented for a range of exit Mach numbers from ≈0.5 to 1.2 and across a range of incidence from −10 deg to +14.5 deg relative to design incidence.

Critical Flaw Size Evaluation in Butt-Fusion Joints of HDPE Pipes

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Kalyanam ◽  
P. Krishnaswamy ◽  
E. M. Focht ◽  
D.-J. Shim ◽  
F. W. Brust ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Structural Integrity ◽  
Nuclear Industry ◽  
Flaw Size ◽  
Fusion Process ◽  
Pipe Material ◽  
Element Analysis ◽  
Hdpe Pipe ◽  
Asme Code ◽  
Critical Flaw ◽  
Pipe Joints

The integrity of high density polyethylene (HDPE) piping and fusion joints are a topic of interest to the nuclear industry, regulators, ASME code, and the plastics pipe industry. The ASME Code Case N-755-1 has been approved and addresses the use of HDPE in safety related applications. Over the last few years some of the concerns identified with the parent HDPE pipe material and the fusion joints have been addressed while others are still being resolved. One such unresolved concern is the effect of the fusion process on the integrity of the joint, specifically, the introduction of flaws during the fusion process. The potential impact of flaws in the fusion joint on the service life of the HDPE piping is being evaluated. The current study calculates stress intensity factors (SIF) for circumferential flaws and uses them to evaluate the potential structural integrity of HDPE fusion joints in pipes. The recent API 579-1/ASME FFS-1 standard provides SIF (KI) solutions to various semi-elliptical and full-circumferential (360°) surface cracks/flaws on the outer surface (OD) and the inner surface (ID). The API 579-1/ASME FFS-1 standard SIF tables and finite element analysis (FEA) of selected cases were used to develop simplified SIF relations for full-circumferential surface flaws that can be used for plastic pipes with diameters ranging from 101.6 mm (4 inch) through 914.4 mm (36 inch) and dimensional ratios (DRs) from 7 through 13. Further, the SIF of embedded flaws akin to lack-of-fusion regions was evaluated. The results from this study serve as precursors to understanding and advancing experimental methods to address important issues related to the critical tolerable flaw size in the butt-fusion joint material and were utilized to select the specimen tests and hydrostatic pipe tests used to evaluate various joining processes. Further, they will help with understanding the essential variables that control the long-term component integrity and structural performance of HDPE pipe joints in ASME Class 3 nuclear piping.

scholarly journals Minimizing Polymorphic Risk Through Cooperative Computational and Experimental Exploration

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher R. Taylor ◽  
Matthew T. Mulvee ◽  
Domonkos S. Perenyi ◽  
Michael R. Probert ◽  
Graeme Day ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Crystal Structure ◽  
High Pressure ◽  
Structure Prediction ◽  
Experimental Approach ◽  
Significant Risk ◽  
Free Energy Calculations ◽  
Crystal Structure Prediction ◽  
Crystal Forms ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Solid Form

<div> <p>We combine state-of-the-art computational crystal structure prediction (CSP) techniques with a wide range of experimental crystallization methods to understand and explore crystal structure in pharmaceuticals and minimize the risk of unanticipated late-appearing polymorphs. Initially, we demonstrate the power of CSP to rationalize the difficulty in obtaining polymorphs of the well-known pharmaceutical isoniazid and show that CSP provides the structure of the recently discovered, but unsolved, Form III of this drug despite there being only a single known form for almost 70 years. More dramatically, our blind CSP study predicts a significant risk of polymorphism for the related iproniazid. Employing a wide variety of experimental techniques, including high-pressure experiments, we experimentally obtained the first three known non-solvated crystal forms of iproniazid, all of which were successfully predicted in the CSP procedure. We demonstrate the power of CSP methods and free energy calculations to rationalize the observed elusiveness of the third form of iproniazid, the success of high-pressure experiments in obtaining it, and the ability of our synergistic computational-experimental approach to “de-risk” solid form landscapes.</p> </div>

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