Plastic Limit Pressure Solutions for Elbows With Slant Through-Wall Cracks

For leak-before-break (LBB) assessment, an idealized through-wall crack (TWC) is typically postulated to determine the critical crack length of cracked piping. However, such an idealization in terms of crack shape can lead to underestimations of plastic limit pressure. Although many studies have been performed to obtain accurate limit load solutions for cracked straight pipes by considering realistic crack geometries, there is still a lack of information regarding slant TWC at elbow. Therefore, three-dimensional finite element (FE) models of an elbow considering the effects of slant TWC on plastic limit pressure are developed. The proposed FE model and analysis procedure were verified through comparisons to the existing solutions for idealized TWCs in elbow. On this basis, the effect of slant TWC on the plastic limit pressure is analyzed, and a closed-form solution of the plastic limit pressure is proposed, for an elbow containing a longitudinal or a circumferential through-wall crack.

Plastic limit load of ellipsoidal pressure vessel head with nozzle under internal pressure loading

A new method and numerical procedure for determining the plastic limit load in an ellipsoid-cylinder intersection using the elastic-plastic finite element analysis are presented. The proposed method is based on the maximum criterion of the rate of change of the relative plastic work. For the elastic-plastic analysis of the nozzle connections the 2D finite element method and plasticity theory with strain hardening are used. The results of the comparison of the plastic limit pressure obtained on the basis of different known criteria and the proposed criterion are presented. A parametric study of ellipsoidal heads with a nozzle under internal pressure loading was performed. The effects of nondimensional geometric parameters of shell intersection on the plastic limit pressure are discussed.

Strength Behavior of Hot-Tapped Pipeline Under Internal Pressure Load

The objective of this study is to investigate the strength behavior and plastic limit pressure of hot-tapped pipelines under an internal pressure load. Two full scale test models were fabricated for the experiment. A three-dimensional nonlinear finite element analysis was also carried out. The plastic limit pressure was determined approximately by use of the twice the elastic-slope criterion. The results indicate that plastic limit pressures obtained by experiment and finite element analysis are in good agreement. On the basis of the above results, a parametric analysis of the plastic limit pressure was carried out and resulted in the development of formulas useful for the design of hot-tapped pipelines.

Plastic Limit Pressure of Pressurized Cylinders With Hillside Nozzle

Cylinder-nozzle intersections are widely used in pressure vessel and piping industries. In order to get better mixing and energy exchange of the reactants, pipe-nozzle intersection with hillside nozzle is applied more and more widely. The purpose of this work is to investigate the plastic limit load of cylinders with hillside nozzle subjected to internal pressure. Three full-scale test models with different angles of the hillside nozzle were designed and fabricated specially for the test using strain gagues. 3-D finite element numerical simulations on the experimental models were performed. Based on both results, a group of basic data on plastic limit pressure defined by double elastic-slope method for cylinders with hillside nozzle is approximately obtained according to load-strain responses, and the plastic limit pressures determined by test and finite element analysis are in good agreement. The results indicate that the limit pressure increases with the increment of the angle of the hillside nozzle, and compared with radial nozzles in cylinders, the hillside nozzles have higher limit pressure, which can be served as the basis for developing a design guideline for pressurized cylinders with various angles of hillside nozzle.

Plastic Limit Solutions for Cracked Pipes Based on 3-D Finite Element Limit Analyses

Based on detailed 3-D FE limit analyses, the present paper provides tractable approximations for plastic limit pressure solutions for axial through-wall cracked pipe; axial (inner) surface cracked pipe; circumferential through-wall cracked pipe; and circumferential (inner) surface cracked pipe. In particular, for surface crack problems, the effect of the crack shape, the semi-elliptical shape or the rectangular shape, on the limit pressure is quantified. Comparisons with existing analytical and empirical solutions show a large discrepancy in circumferential short through-wall cracks and in surface cracks (both axial and circumferential). Being based on detailed 3-D FE limit analysis, the present solutions are believed to be the most accurate, and thus to be valuable information not only for plastic collapse analysis of pressurized piping but also for estimating non-linear fracture mechanics parameters based on the reference stress approach.