Proposal of New Upper Limit of Hydrostatic Test Pressure in KT-3 of ASME Section VIII Division 3

The current upper limit of hydrostatic test pressure in KT-3 of ASME Sec. VIII Division 3 is determined by general yielding through the thickness obtained by Nadai’s equation with a design factor of 0.866 (= 1.732/2). On the other hand, the upper limit of hydrostatic test pressure in 4.1.6 of the ASME Sec. VIII Division 2 is determined by general yielding through the thickness with a design factor of 0.95. In cases where a ratio of hydrostatic test pressure to design pressure of 1.43 similar to PED (Pressure Equipment Directive) is requested, the upper limit of hydrostatic test pressure may be critical for vessel design when material with a ratio of yield strength to tensile strength less than 0.7 is used. In order to satisfy the requirements in KT-3, it is necessary to decrease design pressure or increase wall thickness. Therefore, it is proposed to change the design factor of intermediate strength materials to obtain the upper limit of hydrostatic test pressure. In this paper, a new design factor to obtain the upper limit of hydrostatic test pressure is proposed and the validity of this proposal was investigated by burst test results and elastic-plastic analysis.

Study on Wall Thickness Eccentricity of Seamless Steel Tube

Wall thickness is measured by a micrometer on shells after piercing, hollows after rolling and tubes after stretch reducing in an Assel production line for seamless steel tubes. The characteristics of wall thickness eccentricity are exhibited, and the heredity and origin of wall thickness eccentricity are analyzed. Finally, the factors influencing wall thickness eccentricity are discussed. The results show that: (1) Wall thickness eccentricity originates from temperature eccentricity in cross section of round billets, comes into being on shells in piercing process, and is passed down to hollows and finally to tubes; (2) Bigger feed angle of piercing, smaller plug diameter and less stability of plug bar will increase wall thickness eccentricity, while complying to the influence of temperature eccentricity on round billets.