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Comparison of the ASME, BS and CEN fatigue design rules for pressure...

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> Technical Knowledge > Published Papers > Comparison of the ASME, BS and CEN fatigue design rules for
pressure vessels (October 2003)
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Stephen Maddox BSc(Eng), PhD, FWeldI, CEng, TWI Ltd

Paper presented at IMechE seminar, 'Which Code for Pressure Vessels - ASME, BS or CEN?', 1 October 2003, London,
UK

1. Introduction
Revision of the fatigue design rules in BS 5500 (now PD 5500 [1] ), to bring them more into line with those in British
Standard specifications for other structures, was one of the most radical changes in recent years. [2] Subsequently,
similar rules for welded vessels, but allied more closely with those in Eurocode 3 [3] and the IIW fatigue design
recommendations, [4] were included in the new CEN pressure vessel rules, EN 13445. [5] Meanwhile, ASME VIII, [6]
which also contains fatigue design rules, continues to be used. This paper compares the fatigue design rules in these
three codes, identifies the main differences and considers them in the light of experimental evidence. It is known that
the rules in ASME VIII are currently under review and that major changes are likely to be made in the near future. In
view of this situation, rather less attention is paid to ASME than the other two codes.

2. Fatigue design methods

2.1 Basis
All three codes base fatigue design on S-N curves used in conjunction with Miner's rule to assess variable amplitude
loading. However, the basis of the design curves, their final forms and the ways in which they are used differ
significantly. This partly reflects differences in emphasis but also in design philosophy.
The ASME rules date back to the early 1960s [7] . They are based on the concept that the fatigue life of any component
or structure can be estimated from the S-N curve for the material concerned, as obtained from fatigue tests on small
polished specimens, by applying appropriate fatigue strength reduction factors (Kf). Initially, the design curves were
obtained from low-cycle fatigue tests conducted under strain control and they covered lives up to only 106 cycles.
Later, they were extended to very long lives 1011 cycles, presumably to enable potential fatigue damage from vibration
to be assessed. Even so, the overall design approach is clearly directed mainly at high-strain low-cycle fatigue
conditions. Furthermore, little attention is paid to weld details as sources of fatigue, implying that non-welded features,
such as crotch corners in nozzles, are expected to be the most critical locations.
In contrast, both BS and CEN place particular emphasis on the fatigue assessment of weld details. Furthermore, they
recognise the fact that the original ASME concept, that the plain material S-N curve can be simply factored to produce
a design curve for a structural detail, is not applicable to weld details. [2,8] Consequently, they provide completely
different design data for assessing plain material and weld details, with the latter based on those developed for
designing other welded structures (notably bridges and offshore structures). The data used to derive the design curves
for weld details relate more to high-cycle than low-cycle fatigue, but it has proved possible to adapt them to cover the
full range of endurances relevant to pressure vessels.

2.2 Design procedures

All three design codes provide 'screening tests' to enable further fatigue analysis to be avoided, generally based on a
limit to the number of stress cycles expected during the design life of the vessel. In addition, they all provide simplified
fatigue analysis procedures based on assumptions about the loading and fatigue resistance. Finally, they all provide a
detailed fatigue analysis procedure. These approaches are compared later.
Only ASME provides guidance on the use of special fatigue testing to prove a particular vessel or part, as a substitute
for design. Plans are in hand to provide a similar route in the CEN rules. Meanwhile, guidance in the CEN and BS codes
is confined to the use of special fatigue tests to validate or change a design curve for a particular detail. In all cases,
the results of the testing are analysed in such a way that they embody the same level of safety as the official design
curves.

4/1/2016 8:45 PM