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June, 2001 WEBSITE: www.knighthawk.com Issue 01.05

Plastic Analysis of Mechanical Equipment

Dont Toy Around With It.

S ome of the buzzwords flying around

the engineering community are
Plastic Analysis. It sure sounds good,
case, load is transferred to other sections
of the mechanical component.
stresses as described here would be
The
6. Rotating equipment
7. Cyclic Load to determine if a
component experiences shakedown
but what good does it do you when you strain-controlled stresses and the stresses or ratcheting.
are working out in the plant, factory, or would be secondary. Another case, is
There are some key points to remember
production unit? Well, first lets find some where the local area goes plastic and the
about a plastic analysis.
common ground as to what plastic rest of the component keeps straining with
analysis is all about. Plastic analysis is a time and it eventually yields. This would Use it when the solution or result of
numerical method for the determination of be called load-controlled stresses. In this an elastic analysis costs money and
the stress and strain in a mechanical case, the stress would be primary stress when the cost of a plastic analysis will
component when certain portions of the and it would most likely fail. have a return on investment.
component are above the yield stress.
In the Pressure Vessel Code much of the The material properties that define the
Usually the numerical method elastic and plastic behavior need to
incorporated for plastic analysis is the analytical work is elastic. In an elastic
analysis, many times the stresses be good. Sometime Materials Testing
finite element method. Well, that still may have to be performed to get
doesnt help you much about plastic calculated are higher than the yield.
good data.
Stresses are classified and acceptance
analysis, but lets keep going.
criteria are applied, then a determination Run the elastic model first to
Plastic analysis is a higher-level structural is made if the component meets Code. determine areas of plastic flow. This
mechanics analysis that one can apply Sometimes it is difficult to classify the is helpful for the design of the plastic
toward static and rotating equipment when model.
stresses in a mechanical component.
lower level elastic analysis does not cut Experience is always a big help here. Have an experienced professional
the mustard. This means, it is possible to Since a plastic analysis simulates actually engineer review the results.
re-visit a design or failure analysis to get a what is going on in the material, there is
better idea of what happens under its no need to classify the stresses.
operating or design load. So you might Sometimes a plastic analysis is used to
ask, What makes it so good? Well, the aid in classifying stresses.
KnightHawk Project Update
answer is simple. It closely predicts the
A few examples of where a plastic
12,000 HP Reciprocating Compressor
actual response of the mechanical Failure Analyses - Petrochemical
component. Now if the equipment analysis would be used is as follows:
Quench Cooler Heat Transfer Analysis -
completely operates in the elastic region,
1. Actual non-metal components Petrochemical
then this analysis is not required.
2. Pressure Vessels for a fit-for- Diesel Engine Bearing Failure Analy-
Remember that elastic analysis means the serviceanalysis sis Large Container Ship
stress is directly proportional to the strain. 3. Pressure Vessel design Piping Analysis at Nuclear Power
In reality many mechanical components 4. Failure analysis Plant FEA, Structural Dynamics
have locations that yield very slightly and 5. High temperature and pressure CFD of Gas Turbine Inlet Gas Turbine
the conditions are just local. In this local mechanical equipment
Company
Cliffs Notes: Critical Pipe Stress Analysis in Oxygen
Service - Petrochemical
10 Years of
July 5th, 2001 we will celebrate the 10-Year Anniver- Kicking Centrifugal Compressor Failure Analy-
sary of KnightHawk Engineering. This endeavor has Bateaux sis at Refinery
been a great reward in my career and I personally High Pressure Plunger Pump Design
look forward to the next 10 years. The greatest re- and Analysis - Industrial
ward for me is all the friends I have made around the 1991 2001
Reciprocating Compressor Analysis
world. KnightHawk was founded to perform design,
Off Shore
failure analysis, and troubleshooting of static and
rotating equipment utilizing the best of the best. Our methodology called the Inte- Pelletizing Die Design CFD and FEA
grated Systems Approach has proven to be one of the most effective design and fail- Liquid Ring Compressor Analysis
ure analysis methodologies in the business. Call us and let us tell you how we can Acoustical, FEA, CFD, Rotordynamics,
help you to solve your problem. Field Data Acquisition.
Pressure Vessel Analysis FEA
I am sure many of you have heard about the historical flood
Refractory line Piping Design and
in Houston. The devastation will stay in many Houstonians
minds for years. Our condolences go out to everyone who
Cliff Knight Analysis FEA
suffered loss.
cknight@borsigtech.com Pellet Quality Problem Polymers Plant