WORKSHOP 2

March 2017

"Dokvalifikacija mladih bosanskohercegovackih inzenjera

iz oblasti modernih softverskih aplikacija"
Mostar 2016-2018
Goal
Predict pressure and closure profile at a gasket interface under bolt pretension and
pressure load

Bolt
Model Description
Two flanges bolted together

Bolt represented by line body that is tied

to the flanges via fixed joints at each end.
Thin Gasket body sandwitched between Flanges
raised faces of flange bodies is independently
meshed and connected to each flange face Gasket
by rough contact pairs
Materials:
Structural Steel for flanges
Nonlinear pressure closure data
assigned to gasket
Open Engineering Data
 From within the Engineering Data
environment:
Click on Engineering Data Source to
open the library of predefined material options
With General Nonlinear Materials Highlighted,
Add Gasket Non Linear Unloading by clicking
on the plus sign to the right of that option

Note: The tabular gasket data

for pressure vs closure behavior
in loading and unloading is
already defined
Return to the Project Schematic and Refresh project
Double click on the Model Cell to open the FE Model
(Mechanical Session) (or
RMB=>Edit)
Open the folders beneath the model branch to become
familiar with the model set-up.
Expand Geometry branch and note the two different
body types (solid bodies representing the
flanges and thin gasket , one line body for the bolt).
With the solid body representing the thin gasket
highlighted, change the stiffness behavior from
flexible to gasket and change the Material Assignment
to Gasket Nonlinear Unloading
 Expand the solid body representing gasket,
highlight gasket mesh control:
Define the top surface of the gasket as the
Source for the special sweep meshing
operation
that will now apply to this body
Drop midside nodes for gasket (this is a flat
and straight geometry ,midside nodes are not
necessary)
 Expand the Contacts Folder and with both bonded
contact pairs highlighted, change the specification as
as shown
Note especially the reduced contact stiffness factor
Use two fixed joints to connect the ends of the bolt to the
faces of the flanges by way of constraint equations
automatically.
The pinball is sized to represent the extent of bolt head and
nut interface with the clamped surfaces.
Loads and Boundary conditions.
A bolt pretension load is applied
to the line body over two load
steps
LS 1 calculates the adjustment
needed in bolt shank length to
produce user defined bolt load
LS2 locks the adjustment into the
bolt via constraint equations .
Also, after bolt load is locked at
LS2, an external Pressure load is
applied to the inside pipe wall
along with a vertical end force on
the top of pipe wall cross section
Highlight the Analysis Settings branch and set the
Solution Control specifications as shown for each load
step.
Note:
LS1 applies bolt preload
LS2 locks bolt preload and applies external pressure
load on internal pipe walls
Change size of Mesh elements.
Define three frictionless boundary conditions.
Execute the solve
This run should converge without trouble,
but might take a few minutes depending on
hardware.
Note: A supplemental displacement
convergence criteria is automatically added to
the force convergence because of the fixed
joints that are in the model.
Post process results (displacement, stress, strain,etc)
Insert Normal Gasket Pressure
Insert Normal Gasket Total Closure
Negative closure numbers represent compression of
original gasket thickness
 Insert Contact Tool: Status and Pressure
Compare and contrast the pressure results reported on
gasket surfaces with that on contact surfaces
 It is worth noting that contact penetration is high and not negligible when
compared with gasket closure.
It would be advised to increase contact stiffness factor, refine the mesh in gasket
region and use more substeps to improve the quality of these results.
However, keeping FKN=1e-3 is helpful for the expressed purpose of achieving a
reasonably quick convergence when running this workshop as a training exercise
on classroom time.
 Insert Probe tool for extracting Bolt
pretension reactions
- Note the correct application of bolt
pretension loading vs time.
In Details of Solution Information
window, under FE
Connection Visibility:
Change Display to CE Based
Set Visible on Results= YES
This provides visual confirmation that
the Ces used to tie the bolt ends to the
flange faces are in the correct location.
Insert Probe to extract Force Reaction at
Frictionless Support 3 (at bottom of pipe wall)
to confirm the proper reaction of the
externally applied vertical force of 2750 N.
 EXTRA CREDIT: How large a pressure load can this
assembly withstand before the gasket begins to
separate at the inside diameter?
Hint: Restart the run from end of LS 1, increase pressure
and force loads by same scale factor until contact status
changes to Near (open) along pipe wall and gasket
closure goes from negative to positive.