Thermal Hot Spot and Corrosion Damage in Conical Pressure Components

2011 ◽  
Vol 133 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Adibi-Asl ◽  
R. Seshadri

Structural integrity of an in-service component containing damage such as corrosion and thermal hot spot has to be evaluated regularly so as to certify the acceptance and safety of continued service of the component. In this paper, limit load solutions of a damaged conical shell, particularly local wall thinning and thermal hot spot, is investigated. The derived solutions are based on identifying the regions in the damaged component that directly participate in the plastic action (kinematically active). The concepts of reference volume and decay length are employed to identify the kinematically active regions in the damaged conical shell. The different solutions proposed in this paper are compared with the elastic-plastic finite element analysis. The results indicate that proposed solutions can be used with acceptable accuracy to make integrity assessment decisions.

Author(s):  
R. Adibi-Asl ◽  
R. Seshadri

Structural integrity of an in-service component containing damage such as corrosion and thermal hot spot has to be evaluated regularly so as to certify the acceptance and safety of continued service of the component. In this paper, limit load solutions of a damaged conical shell, particularly local wall thinning and thermal hot spot, is investigated. The derived solutions are based on identifying the regions in the damaged component that directly participate in the plastic action (kinematically active). The concepts of reference volume and decay length are employed to identify the kinematically active regions in the damaged conical shell. The different solutions proposed in this paper are compared with elastic-plastic finite element analysis. The results indicate that proposed solutions can be used with acceptable accuracy to make integrity assessment decisions.


Author(s):  
Pattaramon Tantichattanont ◽  
Seshu Adluri ◽  
Rangaswamy Seshadri

Corrosion damage and hot spots are typical of damages that can occur in ageing pressure vessels and pipelines used in industrial processes. Internal and external corrosion could be the result of corrosive products stored inside or harsh environmental conditions on the outside. Hot spots are caused by damage due to loss of refractory lining on the inside wall of pressure components or due to maldistribution of flow containing catalyst and reactive fluids. The structural integrity of such ageing components needs to be evaluated periodically to establish the continued suitability of the vessels under operating conditions. The present paper develops a method for Level 2 (as categorized by API 579) structural integrity evaluations of spherical pressure vessels containing local corrosion damage or hot spot. The decay lengths for spherical shells subject to local damages have been studied based on stretching and bending effects using elastic shell theories so as to identify the reference volume participating in plastic action. A limit for “local” corroded spot or hot spot is defined by the size of damage that an onset of pure membrane action occurs inside the damaged area. The size of damage indicating the crossover from dominance of stretching effects on the damage behavior to that of bending effects is also presented. The lower bound recommended “remaining strength factors” for spherical pressure vessels containing corrosion or hot spot are formulated by application of Mura’s integral mean of yield criterion and the improved lower bound mα-multiplier. Three alternative recommendations are proposed. The effectiveness of the proposed methods is evaluated and demonstrated through illustrative examples and comparison with inelastic finite element analyses.


Author(s):  
Huifeng Jiang ◽  
Xuedong Chen ◽  
Zhichao Fan

Heretofore, several kinds of codes are applicable to the structural integrity assessment for pipe containing defects, i.e. API 579, R6 and BS 7910 etc. In this paper, different methods from API 579-1/ASME FFS-1: 2007 and R6-2000 were employed to assess the integrity of pipe containing a circumferential through-thickness crack. However, there was a significant difference between the calculated load ratios by these two codes, although the calculated fracture ratios were very close. To verify these results, elastic-plastic finite element analysis was carried out to calculate the limit load and the load ratio. Additionally, the experimental results and our previous engineering experience were also referred to. The final results imply that the larger load ratio obtained from R6-2000 rather than API 579 code is more reasonable for the pipe with good fracture toughness.


Author(s):  
Adrian F. Dier ◽  
Philip Smedley ◽  
Gunnar Solland ◽  
Hege Bang

This paper reviews available static strength data and presents results of finite element analyses on first crack loads and ultimate loads of X-joints in tension. A critique of existing guidance for such joints is given. An examination of hot spot stress for such joints is presented, together with new capacity formulations based on test data. The new formulations are verified with reference to new data from a finite element analysis. The new capacity formulations will be of interest to regulatory authorities, to designers of new offshore installations and to engineers carrying out assessments of existing structures. It is also expected that the formulations will be considered by code drafting committees, e.g. for API RP2A, ISO 19902 and NORSOK, during code revisions. The paper demonstrates that present guidance is unduly conservative in two respects: (1) high γ joints (i.e. thin-walled chords) in the range 0.7 ≤ β ≤ 0.9 joints (i.e. moderately high brace/chord diameter ratios), and (2) joints with β = 1.0 having low γ. However, it is shown that present guidance may be optimistic for low γ joints with β < 0.9. The new capacity formulations proposed in this paper correct these deficiencies. As one example, the new formulations give an increase of 60% in capacity compared to existing guidance for a joint with β = 1.0 and γ = 10, not untypical of many joints in service. In the near term, the paper may be most appreciated by those involved with structural integrity assessment studies. There have been some recent examples where existing guidance has indicated that some primary structural joints are under-strength. This has prompted extensive numerical work to prove the adequacy of the joints. A worst case scenario would be the implementation of unnecessary offshore strengthening work.


2006 ◽  
Vol 129 (3) ◽  
pp. 391-399 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Adibi-Asl ◽  
R. Seshadri

Cracks and flaws occur in mechanical components and structures, and can lead to catastrophic failures. Therefore, integrity assessment of components with defects is carried out. This paper describes the Elastic Modulus Adjustment Procedures (EMAP) employed herein to determine the limit load of components with cracks or crack-like flaw. On the basis of linear elastic Finite Element Analysis (FEA), by specifying spatial variations in the elastic modulus, numerous sets of statically admissible and kinematically admissible distributions can be generated, to obtain lower and upper bounds limit loads. Due to the expected local plastic collapse, the reference volume concept is applied to identify the kinematically active and dead zones in the component. The Reference Volume Method is shown to yield a more accurate prediction of local limit loads. The limit load values are then compared with results obtained from inelastic FEA. The procedures are applied to a practical component with crack in order to verify their effectiveness in analyzing crack geometries. The analysis is then directed to geometries containing multiple cracks and three-dimensional defect in pressurized components.


2020 ◽  
Vol 142 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jae-Sung Lee ◽  
Myung-Hyun Kim

Abstract Engineering critical assessment (ECA) is an evaluation procedure for structures with flaws and has been widely applied for assessing pipeline integrity. The standards for structural integrity assessment, including BS 7910, involve stress-based ECA, and they are known to produce overly conservative results. Therefore, strain-based ECA has been recently developed as an alternative approach. One of the effective methods for improving the accuracy of strain-based ECA is the reference strain method. However, only a limited number of studies have applied this method to welded pipelines. Therefore, a numerical analysis based on strain-based ECA was performed for girth-welded joints with a circumferentially oriented internal surface crack. Particular attention was given to the strength mismatch effects. The equivalent stress–strain curve in BS7910 was used to reflect the strength mismatch effects in the reference strain. The results of the proposed method were validated with the results of a finite element analysis (FEA) in terms of the J-integral. Previous methods and the proposed method exhibit a reasonable correlation of the J-integral in the case of over-matching (OM). In the under-matching (UM) cases, while the previous procedures tended to underestimate or excessively overestimate the elastic-plastic energy release rate in comparison with the FEA, the proposed method evaluated the J-integral of pipelines with sufficient accuracy.


Author(s):  
Jae Sung Lee ◽  
Myung Hyun Kim

Abstract Pipelines are effective means to transport oil and gas. It is essential to maintain the safety of pipelines with the increasing demand for oil and gas resource. Welded pipelines may suffer damage such as cracks during installation and operation, and the consequence evaluation for such damage is very important. Engineering critical assessment (ECA) is the evaluation procedure for structures with flaws and has been widely applied for assessing the pipeline integrity. Although main standards of structural integrity assessment including BS 7910 are stress-based ECA, it is known to produce overly conservative results. In this regard, strain-based ECA has been recently developed. One of the methods for improving the accuracy of strain-based ECA is the reference strain method. However, only few researches with reference strain method applied to welded pipes are available. Therefore, in this study, a numerical analysis based on the strain-based ECA is performed for strength mismatched girth welded joints with a circumferentially oriented internal surface crack. Equivalent stress-strain curve in BS7910 is employed to reflect the strength mismatch effects in the reference strain. This paper compares the results from the reference strain method and finite element analysis: J-integral and reference strain. Strain capacity of the reference strain method with strength mismatch is also discussed against stress-based ECA.


2006 ◽  
Vol 321-323 ◽  
pp. 724-728
Author(s):  
Nam Su Huh ◽  
Yoon Suk Chang ◽  
Young Jin Kim

The present paper provides plastic limit load solutions for axial and circumferential through-wall cracked pipes based on detailed three-dimensional (3-D) finite element (FE) limit analysis using elastic-perfectly plastic behavior. As a loading condition, both single and combined loadings are considered. Being based on detailed 3-D FE limit analysis, the present solutions are believed to be valuable information for structural integrity assessment of cracked pipes.


Author(s):  
J. Chattopadhyay ◽  
B. K. Dutta ◽  
H. S. Kushwaha

Integrity assessment of piping components with postulated cracks is very important for safe and reliable operation of power plants. Pipe bends or elbows are one of the very important piping components in any power plant. The existing equations of limit load of elbows have various shortcomings. Additionally, the test data on elbows are not so abundant in the literature. Against this backdrop, a comprehensive experimental and analytical program has been undertaken at Reactor Safety Division (RSD) of Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) to carry out fracture tests on through wall cracked elbows and also to propose new limit load formulas of through wall cracked elbow. The present paper describes the elbow test specimens, test set-up, test results, brief description of elastic-plastic finite element analysis, newly proposed collapse moment equations for through wall circumferentially cracked elbows and the comparison of test results with theoretical predictions.


Author(s):  
R. Adibi-Asl ◽  
R. Seshadri

Mura’s variational formulation for determining limit loads, originally developed as an alternative to classical methods, is extended further by allowing the pseudo-elastic distributions of stresses to lie outside the yield surface provided they satisfy the “integral mean of yield” criterion. Consequently, improved lower-bound and upper-bound values for limit loads are obtained. The mα estimation limit load method, reference volume method and the fitness for service assessment procedure (including corrosion damage and thermal hot spot damage), are all applications and extensions of the “integral mean of yield” criterion.


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