Engineering » Thermal Stress Analysis

Prevent equipment failure and down time with thermal analysis

Process equipment is subject to high temperature and pressure as well as heavy loading. Component failure means costly repairs and down time.

Artisan has the tools and the engineering expertise to help prevent these problems. Our experienced engineers can spot potential problems that other companies cannot.

Our Finite Element Tools include:

Sample Stress Analyses

Piping Analysis

piping graphic

Complex piping arrangements were analyzed to better design a large column and a series of five Rototherms. Thermal analysis and redesign saved our customer the cost of more than three 20” piping expansion joints. The piping analysis was also used to determine the skirt and lug support loading on all the connected equipment and their supporting structure.

Heat Transfer Analysis

standard steam jetanalysis image 2This customer wanted to use a standard steam jet for a non-standard application. Start-up and operation parameters were severe because steam jet components were being heated at a rapid rate. Our engineers used Transient Finite element heat transfer analysis to learn that standard stainless steel parts would not uniformly heat, causing severe thermal discontinuity stress leading to part failure. The Cosmos M analysis was then used as a redesign tool for optimizing the part for the lowest thermal discontinuity stress. The low-stress design has yet to fail.

The standard design shown in the photo made a sharp transition between the nozzle and a thin conical shell. The fillet weld added a reasonable transition for routine application but was unsuitable for rapid increases in temperature.

analysis image 1The improved design for high temperature cyclic operation smoothly blended the cone to the steam nozzle, limiting the transient differential thermal strain. The picture of the 125 lb nozzle insert assembly shows the smooth transition at the 100% radiographed circumferential weld seam. The surfaces were also polished to reduce surface imperfection; thus increasing the fatigue limit of the material.

Thermal Stress Analysis

collar-graphic

New mechanical components are routinely checked for their effect on equipment performance. The collar shown below was designed to connect to a rotating shaft using setscrews. Too much deflection of the collar would cause interference during cold start of the equipment, so the part was analyzed then optimized to eliminate the risk of interferences.

FEA Analysis

rotor graphic

Artisan has the ability to analyze complex rotating equipment. In the analysis shown, a 6000 lb rotor was checked for blade strength, critical speed and dynamic deflection. Rotor design is often governed by rigidity and mechanical seal performance. When a different sealing solution was specified, FEA analysis of the rotor became a critical method of insuring final performance.