Xiao-Hua He

The Limit Load and Safety Assessment of Pressure Pipe With an External Pit Defect at High Temperature

Local pit is the common volume defect in high temperature pressure pipe which is widely used in the fields of electric plant, nuclear power station, petrochemical plant and so on. In this paper finite element analysis code ABAQUS was used to simulate limit load of high temperature pressure pipe with an external pit defect which is in service for 105 hours. Four-point bending loading model was applied to calculate the limit load of the pipe. There are three dimensionless factors: relative depth, relative gradient and relative length which characterized the shape of an external pit defect. Orthogonal test of three factors at four different levels was carried out to analyze the sequence of the influence of these three parameters. In present paper when the maximum principal strain reaches 2%, the corresponding load is selected as the limit load. According to this strain criterion and isochronous stress strain data of P91 steel, limit load of high temperature pressure pipe with an external pit was determined by using ABAQUS. Firstly, isochronous stress strain data was generated and was inputted into ABAQUS as equivalent elastic-plastic constitutive relation. Then, sustained load versus cumulative strain curves at high temperature during service was obtained after the simulation. At last, limit loads of high temperature pipe during service time was determined based on 2% total strain criterion. In order to obtain the safety assessment curve of high temperature pipe, five types of limit loads for pressure pipe with an external pit were needed: ultimate limit bending moment, limit internal pressure, limit bending moments at the pressure of 0.25PL ,0.5PL and 0.75PL individually. 16 sets of data formed 16 groups of curves which expressed the relationship between the ratio of limit pressure and the ratio of limit bending moment for defective pipe and non-defective pipe. Based on the calculation results of limit load for pipe with 16 kinds of defects, a set of limit load formulae were established through multiple nonlinear regression of relative depth, relative gradient and relative length. So the equations of limit load and safety assessment for pressure pipe with an external pit under combined loading of pressure and bending moment were obtained. The results could provide a reference for safety assessment of high temperature creep pressure pipe with local pit defect.Copyright

Study on Limit Load of Double Pipe Bend Combined Fittings

Pipe bends and double pipe bends combined fittings including Back-to-back pipe combination (BB) and Face-to-face pipe combination (FF) play an important role in pressure pipeline system. Their carrying capacity will affect the integrity and safe operation of whole piping system directly. In this paper plastic limit loads for double pipe bends combined fittings (BB and FF) are analyzed by finite element method with elastic-perfect-plastic constitutive relation and the corresponding limit load equations are proposed which extends the range of pipe geometry λ Results show that the limit load equations available in references fail to be used for double pipe bends combined fittings and are unsafe, especially for FF combination. The limit loads increase with pipe thickness and bend radius in the meantime. The value of r/t is the main factor affecting limit load solutions. Detailed analysis also demonstrates that with applied load increasing, initial yielding appears in the FF combination firstly and finally overall yielding will happen. While the stress situation of BB combination is close to that of a single pipe bend. Eventually these proposed finite element based results are validated with experiment data and shows that finite element based solutions are believable.Copyright

Comparison of the Limit Loads Between Defected Pressure Pipes With an Internal Pit and an External Pit at High Temperature

High temperature pressure pipes are widely used in power stations, nuclear power plants, and petroleum refinery, which always bear combined effects of high temperature, high pressure, and corrosive media, so the local pits are the most common volume defects in pressure pipe. Due to various reasons, the defects usually appear on the internal or external wall of pipe. In this paper, the dimensions of a defect were characterized as three dimensionless factors: relative depth, relative gradient and relative length. The main objects of study were the pipe with an internal pit and pipe with an external pit. Orthogonal array testing of three factors at four different levels was applied to analyze the sequence of the influence of three parameters. In present study, when the maximum principal strain nearby the location of the defects reaches 2%, the corresponding load is defined as the limit load, which is classified as two kinds of load type: limit pressure and limit bending moment. According to this strain criterion and isochronous stress strain data of P91 steel, the limit load of high temperature pipe with a local pit was determined by using ABAQUS. And in the same load condition of the pipe with the same dimensionless factors, the limit load of the internal defected pipe was compared with that of the external defected pipe. The results of this study can provide a reference for safety assessment and structural integrity analysis of high temperature creep pressure pipe with pit defects.Copyright

Finite Element Simulation of Limit Load of Components at High Temperature

The creep of materials makes it difficulty to determine the limit load of component at high temperature. In this paper, limit load was obtained by finite element simulation according to isochronous stress versus cumulative strain data and creep failure criterion at high temperature. Firstly, isochronous stress versus cumulative strain data of P91 steel was generated. In finite element analysis code ABAQUS, isochronous stress versus cumulative strain data was replaced by equivalent elastic-plastic constitutive relation. Then, sustained load versus cumulative strain curves at high temperature during service was obtained after finite element simulation. At last, limit load at high temperature during given working hours was determined based on the restriction of total strain at key point of specific component. The restriction of total strain which could also be regarded as long-term fracture strain was discussed in this paper. Finite element simulation of limit load of component at high temperature is simple and reasonable. Limit load of complex component at high temperature during given working hours can be obtained by this method. Using this method, limit loads of a pipe with local wall thinning defect and a branch junction at high temperature during given working hours were obtained as examples.