08/06/2016

AStepByStepIntroductiontoFEA

AStepbyStepIntroductiontoFEA
File:Sample6,LastUpdated:June16,2010,LB

WhyFEA?
Pressurevesselcoderulesexistfortheanalysisofsimpleobjects
likepipesandheadsandmorecomplexobjectslikeflangesand
nozzles.Wherethecoderulesexist,theyhavetobeused.
However,mostcoderulesdonotcalculaterealstresses.Thebest
theycandoisprovidepass/failacceptancecriteria.Coderulesdo
notexistformanypressurizedobjects.
FiniteElementAnalysis(FEA)providesamethodofanalyzing
complexgeometry,andwhentheresultsareinterpretedcorrectly,
pass/failcriteriacanbedetermined.BecausetheFEAcalculates
stresses,theresultscanalsobeusedtopredictacyclelife.
PVEngsample#6isasimplemanifoldblock.AsimplifieddescriptionoftheFEAprocessfollows.The
reporthastheseandotherpicturesandmoreindepthanalysis.Thisisastepbystepdescriptionofthe
processusedintheanalysis.
Othersamplesonourwebsiteshowmorecomplexanalysisinvolvingmultiplebodiesconnectedwith
bolting,studieswiththermalstresses,andobjectswithhigherstresseswheretheinterpretationof
stressestocoderulesismoredifficult.
Step1Createasolidmodeloftheobject
Asolidmodelofthemanifoldblockhasbeencreated.The
manifoldhasaseriesofpipethreadports.Themanifoldwillhave
pipesattachedinservicesoherepipeshavebeenaddedtothe
modeltosimulatetheloadsthattheygenerate.Manyofthemodel
shotsthatfollowhavethepipeshidden.Thestressinthepipesis
notaconcerninthisreport.
AtPVEngweuseSolidWorkstomakethesolidmodel.
Step2ChecktheDrawing
Thefirstqualitycontrolstepistocreateadrawingfromthesolid
model.Oncedimensioned,thedrawingcanbecomparedtothe
originalpartforaccuracy.

Step3Meshthemodel
TheFEAprogramdividesthesolidmodelintosmallregularshapes
here3sidedpyramidsareused.Althoughnostressformula
existsforthecomplexmanifoldshape,formulasdoexistforthe
smallpyramids.TheFEAprogramcancalculatethedeformation
(andthenstresses)ineachsmallsimplepyramidandcombinethe
resultsfortheoverallcomplexobjectdeformation(andstress).
AtPVEngweuseSolidWorksSimulationtodothemeshingandthe
followingstressanalysis.HereSolidWorkshasmeshedthe
manifoldandpipesinto290,000solidpyramidseach
approximately1/8"onaside.
TwomaterialpropertiesfortheSA479316stainlessmaterialarerequired1)themodulusofelasticity
(28,000,000psi)and2)Poisonsratio(0.27).SolidWorksusesthisinformationtocalculatehowmuch
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AStepByStepIntroductiontoFEA

eachelementdeformsunderload,andfromthat,whatthestressesoftheelementswillbe.Thecode
allowablestressforthismaterialis20,000psi.
Step4ApplyLoadsandRestraints
Themanifoldandallpipesarepressurizedontheinside.Herea
pressureof300psiisappliedtotheinsideofallthemanifoldand
pipesurfaces.

Onepipehasnocap.Itisfixedtoanchorthewholemodel.This
locationwillhavezerodisplacementandreactionforceswillbe
createdhere.
Morecomplexmodelscanhavemanymoreboundaryconditions,
andiftheyaresymmetrical,canbesplitinhalftoreducetherun
time.Herethemanifoldisnotsymmetric,sothemodelhasnot
beensplitinhalf.
Step5RuntheModelwith2QualityChecks
SolidWorksSimulationcalculatesthedisplacementandstressfor
eachelement(pyramid)inthemodel.Butbeforelookingatthe
results,somequickqualitychecks:firstlyqualitycheck#2
checktheerrorplotforelementswithpotentiallyhigherrors.
Thezonesofhigherror(>5%forpressurevessels)arelimitedto
areaswheretheshapeofthemodelisrapidlychanging(sharp
edgesortightradiiorotherchangesinshapeknownas
discontinuities).Alllargeareashavelessthan5%errortherefore
the1/8"meshisacceptable(acoursermeshcouldhavebeen
usedforthismodel).
Thepresenceofelementswith>5%errorhighlightsafactoflife:FEAneverproducesperfectresults
"AllFEAresultsarewrong"butwithgoodtechniques,theresultscanbeverygoodandveryuseful.
Weareanxioustogettothestressresults,butfirst,quality
check#3checkthereactionforces.Intheory,theanchored
endofthepipecreatesaforceequaltotheinsideareaofthepipe
xthepressurehere3.36in^2x300psi=1008lbs(imaginethe
pipeexplodingwiththisforceifitwascut).ThismatchestheFEA
reactionforceforthemodelat1009.6lbsandindicatesavery
goodrun.
Thissimplequalitycontrolcheckisextremelypowerfulfor
catchingmodelswithimproperanchoringormissedpressurized
areasorotherwrongloads.
Step6QualityCheckDisplacementPlots
SolidWorksSimulationcalculatesthedisplacementofthemodel
andthenfromthatthestresses.Itfollowsthatifthedisplacement
resultsarebad,soarethestressresults.
Qualitycheck#4checkthedisplacementplot.Thisisthe
lastqualitycheckbeforegettingtothestresses!Herethe
displacementofthemodelismagnified500x.Themodelis
stretchinglonger.Itisbulgingoutaroundthelargeinternal
passage.Theattachedpipesareexpanding.Allofthismakes
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AStepByStepIntroductiontoFEA

sensethestressresultsshouldmakesensetoo.
Step7StressResults
COSMOSconvertsthedeformationresultsintostressresults.The
stressescanbeseentobehigherinareasthathavemorelocal
deformation.Thestressineverylocationofthismodelisbelow
thecodeallowablemembranestresssoitpasses.
Higherstressedmodelswillhavestressesupto34xnominalcode
allowablesbutlimitedtosmallareas.Theartofpressurevessel
FEAisinterpretingwhentheseareasofhighstressareacceptable.
ThisisoftenthehardestpartofFEA.
Step8TheReport
PressurevesselcalculationsandFEAresultsareusuallyreviewedbyAuthorizedInspectorsand/orthird
partyengineers.Atthistime(May2013)fourprovinceshavedifferingrequirementsforwritingaFEA
report.Seehereformoredetails.Ourwebsitehasmanymoresampleswrittentomeetthese
guidelines.
ConvertingtheresultsofavisualmediumlikeFEAtoaprintedreportisalwayschallenging.Itis
importantnottounderestimatethechallengeinvolvedinwritingareporttomeetthesevarying
requirements,andtomeetvariousreviewersviewsonwhattheserequirementsreallymean.Itisnot
unusualforwritingthereporttotakehalfofthetotalprojecttime.
Downloads(pdfformat):

FullFEAReport
Drawing
2016PressureVesselEngineeringLtd.

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