PIPE STRESS ANALYSIS

INTRODUCTION

Dr. Ir. Haryadi

Background
A piping system is the most efficient and common means of
transporting fluids from one point to another.
Within a petrochemical complex, acres and acres of piping can be
seen running in every direction and at many different levels.
Piping constitutes 25% to 35% of the material of a process plant,
requires 30% to 40% of the erection labor, and consumes 40% to 48%
of the engineering man-hours .
The actual importance of piping, however, can far exceed these
percentages. An entire piping system is composed of a large number
of components.
The failure of just one single component has the potential to shut
down the entire plant or, worse yet, cause serious public safety
problems.
In spite of this, piping is generally considered a low-technology
subject in the academia.
Very few colleges teach the subject, leaving engineers to gain this
knowledge only through actual practice in the field.
2

Piping system design steps

1.

2.

3.

4.

Process engineers, basing on process requirements and plant

capacity, determine, among other things, the flow path, the flow
medium and quantity, and operating conditions. They then putall
this information into process flow diagrams.
Material specification engineers assign suitable categories of
specifications for the piping system based on the process flow and
reactivity of the contained fluid. Each specification is applicable to
certain combinations of fluid types, temperature ranges, and
pressure ranges.
System engineers combine process flow diagrams, material
specifications, and equipment data sheets to create operational
piping diagrams. Piping diagrams are generally combined with the
necessary instrument and control circuits to become piping and
instrument diagrams (P&IDs).
Piping designers, in coordination with other disciplines, conceive an
overall plant layout, perform a piping routing study, determine the
pipe rack locations, and place the actual piping that connects to
designated points.
3

Piping system design steps

Piping mechanical engineers check the stresses and
supports of the systems.
Using the P&IDs, they develop operating modes so
that all the expected operating conditions are
properly analyzed.
Proper supports and restraints are selected and
placed to optimize the overall cost and
performance of the systems.
They also design or specify piping specialty items,
such as expansion joints, flue heads, special
connections, spring hangers, vibration supports,
and so forth.
4

SCOPE OF PIPE
STRESS ANALYSIS

Purpose of pipe stress analysis

1. Ensure structural integrity:
This involves the calculation of stresses in the pipe
due to all design loads.
Necessary procedures are taken to keep the stress
within the code allowable limits.
This code stress check is the basic assurance that
failures from breaks or cracks will not occur in
thepiping.

Purpose of pipe stress analysis

2.

Maintain system operability:

A piping itself can be very strong, yet the system may not be operable due to
problems in the connecting equipment.
Flange leakage, valve sticking, high stress in the vessel nozzle, and excessive
piping load on rotating equipment are some of these problems.
The work required in maintaining the system operability is generally much
greater than that required in ensuring the structural integrity.
This is mainly attributable to the lack of coordination between engineers of
different disciplines.
Rotating equipment manufacturers, for instance, design non-pressure parts,
such as support and base plate, based mainly on the weight and the torque of
the shaft. Then they specify the allowable piping load with that design,
disregarding the fact that some practical piping load always exists and needs to
be accommodated.
The allowable loads they provide are generally much too small to be practical.
Unfortunately, these allowable values go unchallenged, mainly because the
industry as a whole gives no incentives to manufacturers to produce equipment
that can resist the extra piping load.
If more and more engineers would request the extra strength or give
preferential treatment to manufacturers that produce stronger equipment, an
optimal solution might eventually be reached. Until such time comes, piping
mechanical engineers should be prepared to spend three times as
7

PIPING COMPONENTS AND

CONNECTING EQUIPMENT

MODES OF FAILURE
Static Stress Rupture
The pipe will fail when it is stressed to
beyond its strength, as measured by
testing.
That is the definition of the strength of
the material. Static stress means no
time element is involved.
The failure occurs as soon as stress
reaches the limit.
The area under the curve represents
the energy required for the failure.
This area is also referred to as the
energy absorbing capacity, or the
toughness.
Static rupture:
Ductile rupture
Brittle rupture.

 Some materials, on the

other hand, become
brittle because of
temperature change.

Impact test requirement of mild carbon steel pipe (A53, A-106, A-135, etc.)
10

MODES OF FAILURE
Fatigue Failure

11

MODES OF FAILURE
Creep Rupture
At high temperature environments, the pipe will continue to
deform under a sustained stress.
The pipe may fail after a certain period even if the stress is
much lower than the ultimate strength of the material.
The phenomenon is called creep and the failure is called
creep rupture.
Creep occurs only at high temperature, or rather is
detectable only at high temperature.
At creep temperatures, the material has a definite life against
a sustained stress.
The science of creep is finding out the relationships among
stress, temperature, and the time to failure of a material
with various compositions and physical properties.
12

MODES OF FAILURE -Creep

13

MODES OF FAILURE
Stability Failure
The pipe can also fail
due to stability, which
is caused mainly by
compressive stress.
The stability problem
occurs mainly on large
thin wall shells and
pipes.
However, it may also
occur on thick pipes in
a deep water
environment. Under
external pressure, the
first priority is to get
some idea about the
potential buckling of a
long segment of unstiffened pipe.

14

MODES OF FAILURE
Miscellaneous:
corrosion,
erosion,
stress corrosion,
hydrogen attack

15

PIPING CODE

16

 Engineers have always strived to build the safest plant at the lowest
cost.
Because it is impossible for them to build an absolutely safe plant at
any cost, they have to settle for a reasonably safe plant at a
reasonable cost.
The question then remained what is reasonable?
Economists and statisticians were able to come up with some
formulas to achieve the optimal median cost by assessing the cost of
safety problems involved throughout the life of a plant.
To find the cost, all factors involved in a safety problem, such as loss of
human life, intoxication of the environment, and so forth, were given
a price.
The problem is that the assessments of these prices were highly
debatable.
Furthermore, putting a price on human life is considered
reprehensible in a modern society.
17

 The committee members represented different and

sometimes opposing interests, and their
recommendations resulted in a set of specifications
now referred to as the Piping Code, or the Code.
The piping code is a set of minimum requirements
used to ensure that the plants built accordingly are
safe.
It specifies the permissible materials, acceptable
designs and fabrications, and the inspection
requirements and procedures.
18

 Power Piping (B31.1)

The piping systems in a power plant include main steam, reheat steam, feed
water, condensate water, and some utilities.
Compared to the cost of heavy equipment (e.g., turbine, boiler, pumps, heat
exchangers, and pollution control facility), the cost of piping is just a small part of
the total cost of the plant.
Because of this low cost (in proportion to the rest) and the fact that an
unexpected plant shutdown can create public chaos, it is logical to make the
piping system as safe and reliable as possible.
The safety factor used is about 3.5 against the ultimate strength of the pipe.

Process Piping (B31.3)

A process plant, such as a petrochemical complex, normally constitutes many
processing units spread out in a very large area.
The interconnecting piping is also necessarily spread out all over the area.
Because the cost of the piping can be as high as 35% of the cost of the entire
plant, and also because the public does not pay as much attention to shutdowns
at process plants, the safety factor can be reduced somewhat to pare down the
overall cost of the plant.
The safety factor used is about 3.0 against the ultimate strength of the pipe.
19

20

COMMON PRACTICE

21

Load Cases
Unless otherwise specified, only design pressure, operational weight, and
maximum thermal expansion are included in the basic code stress
compliance analysis.
Even with thermal expansion, it is customary to calculate only the condition
when all the piping segments involved are at their maximum or minimum
temperature, which may include upset temperatures.
Different operating modes with various temperature combinations are not
investigated.
For wind analysis, static forces proportional to the piping projection area are
applied.
The projection area covers the outside envelope of the piping including the
insulation.
Areas shielded by building or other objects are not included.
Piping systems identified as vibration lines are normally checked for their
natural frequencies to prevent structural resonance by vibratory frequencies.
The supports are designed with special attention to rigidity and damping
effects.
22

Local Support Stresses

Some local support stresses are either impossible or too time consuming to calculate.
The stresses involved are typically at pipe clamp locations, support lug connections,
and at pipe shells that are in direct contact with the support steel.
Take the pipe resting on the steel beam as an example.
The pipe shell normally has a line contact with the support steel.
In many cases, the pipe is supported with a cross rod or angle steel, making the
contact a point contact the significance of local stresses is not well defined.
The allowable load calculated based on the calculated shell stresses is often too low
compared to the actual load experienced in the field.

23

Local Thermal Stresses

Although they contribute more than their fair share of
cracks, thermal gradient stresses are generally not
calculated.
Gradient stresses at pipe support lugs and shoes, for
instance, are handled via design rules set up by each
company.
The rules are implied in the standard support details
issued and used by the company.
In general, local thermal stresses generated at the welds
joining dissimilar materials are also not calculated.
For instance, the weld joining carbon steel and austenitic
stainless steel can create large local thermal stresses due
to the difference in thermal expansion rates.
24

OTHERS
Pressure Effect on Flexibility
(1) pressure deformation and
(2) stiffening effect on the bends.

Stress Intensification for Sustained Loads

Guide and Stop Gaps
Anchor and Restraint Stiffness
Small Piping

25

DESIGN SPECIFICATION

26

Owners Design Specification

27

Project Specification
Project specification is also called job specification, or job
requirements in some cases.
It combines the requirements given in the owners
specification and those of the constructor into one
document for the design engineers to follow.
The basic document has the same features as the
owners specification.
The project specification, as a whole, also includes
material specification, line list, and standard support
details.
Aside from covering the general requirements, it also
defines the specific requirements for every piping system
in the plant
28

End of This Session

THANK YOU

29