MODELING NOZZLE FLEXIBILITY

The addition of a nozzle flexibility element is meant to model the vessel shell flexibility. Assuming a rigid nozzle
would attract too large of reaction forces at the nozzle and would be too conservative for vessel design. AutoPIPE
nozzle flexibility element makes it very easy to estimate shell flexibility using several methods. For cylindrical
vessels, the WRC297 and Bijlaard are the preferred methods. For cylindrical tanks with large diameters (order of
100 feet), the API 650 method is the preferred method.
For reduced tee branches, the ASME class I piping formula is appropriate. For nozzles on spherical or tori-
spherical heads, the Spherical method is the most appropriate and is based on Bijlaard and is also part of the
BD5500 British piping code.
The nozzle element is a modified and simplified expansion joint element. While the expansion joint element has 6
stiffnesses, the nozzle element will have only 3 stiffnesses. The three stiffness are, radial, circumferential bending
and longitudinal bending stiffnesses. Two shear and torsion stiffnesses are not applied to the nozzle element. Also
for the nozzle element, the radial load due to pressure is not added as in the case of the flexible joint. The radial
pressure thrust can be added automatically in WinNozl when calculating nozzle stresses.
When modeling the nozzle, the length between the nozzle flange and vessel wall should be modeled as a pipe
element. The nozzle element should always be short; and the shorter it is the more accurate the model. It should
be centered at the wall of the shell since it is meant to model the bending flexibility of the shell wall. The best
way to model the nozzle flexibility element is to start it at outer face of the vessel and end it the inner face. The
total length would then be the vessel thickness
AutoPIPE will not calculate stresses in the nozzle or the connected vessel. It is recommended that the anchor
reaction forces calculated in AutoPIPE be used in WinNozl for evaluating nozzle as well as vessel or shell
stresses per the applicable ASME Div I or II, BD5500, KHK and API 650 codes.
AutoPIPE can transmit these forces directly to WinNozl to minimize errors.
Pressure Thrust on Vessel/Nozzle Junctions

Typical vessel/nozzle configuration showing the pressure thrust acting the

nozzle and interconnecting pipework.

Pressure Thrust

A
B

Anchor or Axial
Support

Figure 1

Where:

P = Internal design or operating pressure of the vessel and piping.

A = Inside pipe area of the nozzle.

The pressure thrust of concern is P*A acting on the “upstream” elbow in a

outward radial direction from the vessel nozzle. The balancing force (P*A) acts
on the vessel wall opposite to the nozzle as shown in Figure 1. It is assumed
this P*A acting on the vessel is resisted by the vessel support and not
considered in this load evaluation. The load on the vessel-nozzle junction will be
a function of the stiffness between the vessel anchor and load (including any

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nozzle flexibilities) (i.e. K1(x) , Spring 1), and the stiffness of the system (acting
in the X direction) upstream of the thrust load (i.e. K2(x), Spring 2) as shown in
figure 2 below.

Pressure Thrust (P*A)

Figure 2

The force F is in equilibrium with the two spring forces F1 and F2:

F = F1 + F2 (1)

The spring stiffness K and the displacement δ can be related as:

K1 = F1 / δ1
K2 = F2 / δ2

So:
F = δ1 * K1 + δ2 * K2

Since, δ1 = δ2, let’s denote it by δ:

So:
F = δ * ( K1 + K2 )
δ = F / ( K1 + K2 )

Pressure thrust load on the vessel-nozzle junction:

F1 = F * K1 / ( K1 + K2 ) (2)

If the piping system on the other side of the applied load (Spring 2) is stiff, for
example due to an anchor, then pressure thrust will be absorbed by the anchor.
Thus, the nozzle will experience very little direct axial stress. This can be seen
from equation 2. Note that a greater K2 results in a lower thrust force F1.

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Therefore, in this case including all of the pressure thrust into analysis will be
conservative. However if the pipe shown by spring 2 is flexible (maybe an
expansion loop or small diameter pipe with bends) then the nozzle will see more
of the force due to the pressure thrust. Therefore it is appropriate to analyze the
local vessel/nozzle stresses due to most of the pressure thrust load.

Pressure Thrust Guidelines

If the combined (membrane + bending) stresses exceed the allowable stress
with the applied full (pressure thrust option under combinations Load TAB) or
partial (applied load with correct sign under LOADS TAB) thrust load then it is
suggested to check the membrane and combined (secondary ) stress levels
with WRC368 option enabled and thrust load (or option) removed.

WinNOZL WRC368 within its geometric limits provides a good design check of
pressure stress levels which includes the full thrust load otherwise use FEA
analysis to obtain more accurate combined stresses.

If the full pressure thrust is acting on the vessel/nozzle junction e.g. nozzle with
a blind flange then FEA would generally be the most accurate analysis tool to
evaluate.

Note: FEA programs have limitations due to the accuracy of the type of
elements used e.g. many programs use thin shell elements which do not
capture transverse shear effects of thick shell elements.