Flexibility Factors for Branch Pipe

Liping Xue
G. E. O. Widera
Marquette University,
Center for Joining and Manufacturing Assembly,
P.O. Box 1881,
Milwaukee, WI 53201-1881
Zhifu Sang
Nanjing University of Technology,
Nanjing, Jiangsu, 210009,
People’s Republic of China
Connections Subjected to
In-Plane and Out-of-Plane
Moments
Stress intensity factor and flexibility factor are important analysis parameters for branch
pipe connections subjected to in-plane and out-of-plane moments. The calculation of
stress intensity factors for a large range of unreinforced fabricated tees (0.333艋 d / D
艋 1, 20艋 D / T 艋 250, d / D 艋 t / T 艋 3) was performed by Widera and Wei [WRC Bulletin
497 2004] and empirical formulas were provided based upon a parametric finite element
analysis employing four-node shell elements. The purpose of this paper is to extend the
previous effort by Widera and Wei and calculate the in-plane and out-of-plane flexibility
factors for the same range of geometric parameters. Similarly, empirical formulas for the
determination of these flexibility factors are proposed. The results show that the lengths
of the branch and run pipes as well as the geometric parameters (d / D, D / T and t / T)
have an effect on the calculation of flexibility factors. 关DOI: 10.1115/1.2140801兴

1 Introduction proposed empirical formulas were limited to 50艋 D / T 艋 300,

Branch pipe connections are configurations commonly used in
many industries. Pipeline transportation, nuclear and power engi-
neering, chemical and petrochemical engineering and aerospace,
to name a few. If a branch connection is subjected to a moment
loading on its branch pipe, local deformations and high stress
concentrations arise in the vicinity of the branch-to-run-pipe junc-
tion. Also, the rotational deformations of a branch pipe are large in
comparison with those of a branch connection modeled as a rigid
juncture 关2–5兴. However, the piping code ASME B31.3 Section
319.3 关6兴 共see Appendix D of reference code 关6兴兲 normally defines
the flexibility factors as being equal to 1 on the assumption that
the junctions are rigid. This rigid juncture interpretation can be
inaccurate 关7兴. WRC Bulletin 297 关8兴 provided Figs. 59 and 60 to
estimate the flexibility of branch connections resulting from radial
load and in-plane and out-of-plane moments, respectively. How-
ever, its application was very limited and did not describe what
boundary conditions were employed. The theory and associated
computer program developed by Steel 关5兴 were employed for the
development of 关8兴. To illustrate the potential significance of flex-
ibility factors for branch pipe connections, WRC Bulletin 329 关7兴
provided an example to show the effect of the K’s on calculated
moments in piping system. WRC Bulletin 463 关9兴 provided a
comprehensive discussion of the definition of flexibility factors.
Available data was discussed and the methods for developing flex-
ibility factors from test data or elastic analysis were suggested.
The ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code, Section 3
NB-3687.5 关10兴 provides two equations for in-plane and out-of-
plane flexibility factors, but their applicability is limited to d / D
艋 0.5, D / T 艋 100. The code equations were developed from the
results of 25 finite element analyses, according to the authors of
关2兴. Fujimoto and Soh 关11兴 performed a parametric finite element
analysis for the calculation of in-plane and out-of-plane flexibility
factors using 8-node isoparametric shell elements. A fixed-fixed
model 共both run pipe ends were fixed兲 was employed. The length
of the branch and run pipes was fixed at 2.89 times Do. The
Contributed by the Pressure Vessel and Piping Division of ASME for publication
in the JOURNAL OF PRESSURE VESSEL TECHNOLOGY. Manuscript received September 26,
2005; final manuscript received November 1, 2005. Review conducted by Greg. L.
Hollinger.
0.5艋 d / D 艋 0.95, 0.25艋 t / T 艋 0.95. Williams and Clark 关12兴 in-
cluded finite element analyses results, one run end fixed, for the
flexibility factors for branch moments. Three-dimensional isopara-
metric 20-node solid elements and the lower order 8-node isopara-
metric elements were utilized for the smaller and larger diameter
model geometries, respectively. Branch pipe and run pipe lengths
were fixed at 1.5Do and 1.5do, respectively. The models by Will-
iams and Clark 关12兴 were limited to: 1 / 16艋 do / Do 艋 7 / 16, 5 / 16
艋 t / T 艋 3 / 4. Wais, Rodabaugh and Carter 关13兴 numerically evalu-
ated the flexibility factors for branch moments employing 4-node
quadrilateral shell elements. The total run segment length was
fixed at 4Do. Two boundary conditions, one run end fixed and
both run ends fixed, were employed. The average of the results
obtained from these two cases was used to determine the flexibil-
ity of the branch. The correlation equations of Wais, Rodabaugh
and Carter 关13兴 were limited to: 7.50艋 D / T 艋 99, 7.50艋 d / t
艋 198, 0.125艋 d / D 艋 1.0.
The purpose of this paper is to extend the previous effort by
Widera and Wei 关1兴 and present the development of in-plane and
out-of-plane flexibility factors for the same range of geometric
parameters employed in 关1兴. Here, the particular cases with t / T
= 3 were not considered previously. Based on a parametric study,
the empirical formulas for the determination of flexibility factors
are proposed.
2 Scope and Method
2.1 Scope. The geometric parameters employed for this study,
which cover most of the practical cases of branch pipe connec-
tions, were determined by a committee of the Pressure Vessel
Research Council and are tabulated in Table 1. Generally, the
present study covers the range of geometric parameters employed
in previous works 共e.g., Refs. 关8–12兴兲 and extends the range to a
larger t / T ratio with a higher D / T ratio.
2.2 Method. Finite element analysis is performed on 43 con-
figurations 共see Table 1兲 to investigate the relationship between
the various geometric parameters and flexibility factors. As
pointed out by Williams and Clark 关12兴, the “both ends fixed”
boundary condition employed in the earlier work by Fujimoto and
Soh 关11兴 would quickly succumb to thermally induced bending
moments and in no way models any realistic piping system in the

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 Table 1 Geometry parameters for pipe branch connections

Number of models t/T D/T d/D

14a 0.333, 1, 3 20, 60, 100, 150, 250 0.333

b
14 0.5, 1, 3 20, 60, 100, 150, 250 0.5
12 0.75, 1, 3 20, 60, 100, 150 0.75
3 1 20, 60, 100 1.0
a
Model with t / T = 3, D / T = 20, and d / D = 0.333 is excluded.
b
Model with t / T = 3, D / T = 20, and d / D = 0.5 is excluded.

chemical or power industry. Therefore, finite element models with

one end of the run pipe fixed and the other free are employed 共see
Fig. 1兲. This same boundary condition was used in the calculation
of stress intensity factor 共SIF兲 due to branch bending moments in
Ref. 关1兴.
The accuracy of flexibility factors influences the accuracy of
stress intensity factors. Inaccurate flexibility factors lead to inac-
curately calculated moments which result in inaccurate stress in-
tensity factors. As stated by Rodabaugh 关14兴, it is of great interest
to obtain both the stress intensity and flexibility factors from the
same finite element models. The same finite element code
共COSMOS 关15兴兲 and element type 共4-node shell element兲 as those
used for the previous work 关1兴 are employed for this study. Whole
shell models are utilized. The element spacing around the perim-
eter of the connection is equal to 7.5° and the element length Fig. 2 Finite element mesh „d / D = 1.0…
perpendicular to the intersecting curve is equal to t / 2 for the run
pipe and T / 2 for the nozzle. The aspect ratios of the elements in
the connection region are less than 5. Figure 2 shows a represen-
ementary beam theory 关17兴 based on a cantilever model.
tative finite element mesh for d / D = 1.0. For the sake of complete- For an in-plane moment:
ness, some of the results for SIFs from Ref. 关1兴 due to branch
bending moments are presented in Appendix. The guidelines for ␪n = ␪Y 共2兲

冉 冊
modeling cylinder-to-cylinder intersections are provided in WRC
Bulletin 493 关16兴. M i Ln 1.0Lv
WRC Bulletin 463 关9兴 provided the general basic philosophy ␪beam = + 共3兲
E In Iv
underlying flexibility factors and a detailed description of the defi-
nition of a flexibility factor for branch connection as well as the where ␪y is the y-direction rotation at nodes A, C 共see Fig. 4兲 at
methods employed for developing flexibility factors from test data the top of the branch pipe 共from FEA兲.
or elastic analysis. The flexibility factors, Ki, of branch connec- For an out-of-plane moment:
tions are defined by a virtual spring rotation 关2兴 共see Fig. 3兲: ␪n = ␪X 共4兲

冉 冊
共␪n − ␪beam兲EIn
K= 共1兲 M o Ln 1.3Lv
Mdo ␪beam = + 共5兲
E In Iv
To determine the flexibility factors Ki and Ko from the numeri-
cal results, ␪n and ␪beam will need to be substituted into Eq. 共1兲. where ␪x is the x-direction rotation at nodes B, D 共see Fig. 4兲 at
The basic derivation of equations for ␪beam due to in-plane and the top of the branch pipe 共from FEA兲.
out-of-plane moments on the branch can be obtained from el- In-plane and out-of-plane flexibility factors can be determined

Fig. 1 Schematic of pipe connection Fig. 3 Branch flexibility concept „see Ref. †9‡…

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 Table 3 Lengths of run and branch pipes for FE models

d/D Lv Ln

0.333 6D 4.5D
0.5 7D 7D
0.75 8D 8D
1.0 9D 8.5D

Fig. 4 Rotations at the top of the branch
using the appropriate finite element models for the range of pa-
rameters indicated in Table 1. Applicable correlation equations
can then be developed using these factors.
finite element models are achieved 共see Table 4兲. Table 4 shows
that both in-plane and out-of-plane flexibility factors increase with
increasing t / T. The effect of t / T on the out-of-plane flexibility
factor is striking. An out-of-plane moment produces torsion on the
run pipe, making it more flexible. An in-plane moment produces
bending of the run pipe which reduces flexibility. The flexibility
factors also increase with increasing D / T because thin models are
more flexible. The effect of d / D on flexibility factors is less strik-
ing than that due to t / T. Fujimoto and Soh 关11兴 reached similar
conclusions.
A previous study 关1兴 investigated the effects of the length of
branch and run pipes on SIFs. The final lengths of run and branch
pipes used to calculate SIFs are tabulated in Table 7 in Appendix.
From a comparison of Table 3 and Table 7 the FE models em-
ployed for flexibility factors are longer than those used for SIFs.
Since the shorter FE models 共see Table 7兲 yield converged results
for the SIF, the calculation of SIF will not be affected if the longer

3 Parametric Finite Element Modeling

3.1 Effect of the Lengths of the Run and Branch Pipes. In Table 4 In-plane and out-of-plane flexibility factors
a parametric finite element model, it is desirable that the run and
branch pipes be long enough to eliminate their effects on the Model d/D D/T t/T Ki Ko
flexibility factors. The effects of lengths of the run and branch
1 0.333 20 0.333 2.85 5.38
pipes on the flexibility factors for d / D = 0.5 and d / D = 1.0 branch 2 0.333 20 1 3.82 8.09
connections with D / T = 100 and t / T = d / D subjected to in-plane 3 0.333 60 0.333 7.79 26.78
and out-of-plane moments are investigated. The results are given 4 0.333 60 1 10.38 46.00
in Table 2. From Table 2, it is seen that very long finite element 5 0.333 60 3 20.88 109.16
6 0.333 100 0.333 11.41 54.70
models are necessary for converged flexibility factors. If shorter 7 0.333 100 1 16.50 102.05
models are utilized to calculate the flexibility factors, smaller K 8 0.333 100 3 34.76 257.95
values would be expected. The small flexibility factors in com- 9 0.333 150 0.333 15.10 94.75
parison to the length of the piping system will have only minor 10 0.333 150 1 22.83 187.07
11 0.333 150 3 49.81 489.82
effects on the calculated moments. While, the larger values will 12 0.333 250 0.333 20.56 182.12
reduce the magnitude of the calculated moments acting on the 13 0.333 250 1 33.39 386.28
branch connections. 14 0.333 250 3 75.40 1044.26
15 0.5 20 0.5 3.33 7.77
3.2 Parametric Finite Element Modeling. On the basis of 16 0.5 20 1 3.38 9.41
the results shown in Table 2, the parametric modeling employs 17 0.5 60 0.5 8.40 37.36
18 0.5 60 1 10.02 54.29
sufficiently long branch and run pipes for the finite element rep- 19 0.5 60 3 19.25 131.34
resentations. The details of the lengths employed for shell inter- 20 0.5 100 0.5 11.77 77.15
sections with various diameter ratios are given in Table 3. For this 21 0.5 100 1 15.03 119.15
22 0.5 100 3 30.28 305.54
study, the mean diameter of run pipe D is taken at 100 inches and 23 0.5 150 0.5 15.12 136.95
d, t and T are changed as variables. The modulus of elasticity and 24 0.5 150 1 19.98 219.89
Poisson’s ratio are taken as 30⫻ 106 psi and 0.3, respectively. 25 0.5 150 3 41.93 583.01
Using the method presented earlier in the Scope and Method 26 0.5 250 0.5 20.32 274.46
27 0.5 250 1 27.93 459.00
section, the in-plane and out-of-plane flexibility factors for 43 28 0.5 250 3 61.36 1253.05
29 0.75 20 0.75 3.61 8.15
30 0.75 20 1 3.84 9.10
Table 2 Effect of lengths of run and branch pipes on flexibility 31 0.75 20 3 5.87 17.29
factors „D / T = 100… 32 0.75 60 0.75 8.00 37.54
33 0.75 60 1 8.98 44.65
34 0.75 60 3 16.47 107.45
d / D = t / T = 0.5 35 0.75 100 0.75 11.34 77.44
Lv = 4D, Ln = 2.5D Lv = 7D, Ln = 7D Lv = 8D, Ln = 7.5D 36 0.75 100 1 12.68 94.17
Ki 10.5 11.8 11.8 37 0.75 100 3 24.46 240.27
Ko 72.9 77.2 76.9 38 0.75 150 0.75 14.44 137.33
d / D = t / T = 1.0 39 0.75 150 1 16.37 169.77
40 0.75 150 3 32.59 447.51
Lv = 5D, Ln = 4.5D Lv = 9D, Ln = 8.5D Lv = 9D, Ln = 9D 41 1.0 20 1 5.35 6.93
Ki 21.4 21.7 21.6 42 1.0 60 1 14.43 26.81
Ko 49.1 49.4 49.4 43 1.0 100 1 21.67 49.41

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 Table 5 Differences between FEA and correlation equations

Variance
Ko = 0.172 冉冊 冉冊 冉冊 冋 冉冊
d
D
0.538
D
T
1.515
t
T
0.862
5.935
d
D
冉冊
− 10.454
d
D
2

冉 冊册
Correlation Max. difference between FEA
coefficient R2 and correlation equation d 3
+ 4.797 共7兲
Eq. 共6兲 0.996 99.2% 28% D
Eq. 共7兲 0.999 99.9% 36%
These equations hold for the following range of parameters:
0.333 艋 d/D 艋 1
FE models 共Table 3兲 are used. Therefore, the lengths of branch 20 艋 D/T 艋 250 共8兲
and run pipes tabulated in Table 3 are appropriate for the calcula-
tion of both the SIF and flexibility factor. d/D 艋 t/T 艋 3

4 Correlation Equations The correlation coefficients, variances and maximum percent-

The data in Table 4 was obtained from the finite element analy-
sis of the 43 models. Correlation equations for branch connec-
tions, with one end of the run pipe fixed and the other free and
subjected to in-plane and out-of-plane moments, respectively, are
obtained by using the data from Table 4 and the software package
STATISTICA 关18兴. The resulting correlation equations for the run
pipe are as follows:
age differences between the FEA results and the correlation equa-
tions are listed in Table 5. Table 5 shows that the correlation
equations, found above, fit analysis data well as indicated by the
correlation coefficients and variances of close to 1.
5 Discussion of Results
Table 6 shows the comparisons of the flexibility factors from

Ki = 0.680 冉冊 冉冊 冉冊 冋 冉冊
d
D
−0.242
D
T
0.802
t
T
0.622
3.437
d
D
− 7.414
d
D
冉冊 2 the present study 共see Table 4兲 to those from the ASME Code
关10兴, Fujimoto 关11兴 and Wais 关13兴. From Table 6, one can see that
the agreement is good for both in-plane and out-of-plane flexibil-

+ 4.766冉 冊册 d
D
3
共6兲
ity factors when d / D 艋 0.75 and D / T ⬍ 100. However, the present
study yields larger values of K, especially Ko, for d / D = 1.0,

Table 6 Comparisons of flexibility factors from different correlation equations

Ki Ko
Code Fujimoto Wais Code Fujimoto Wais
d/D D/T t/T 关10兴 关11兴 关13兴 Present 关10兴 关11兴 关13兴 Present

0.333 20 0.333 1.33 — 2.41 2.85 2.98 — 5.94 5.38

0.333 2.31 — 4.68 3.82 5.16 — 13.1 8.09
60 0.333 4.00 — 5.08 7.79 15.5 — 17.9 26.8
1 6.92 — 9.84 10.4 26.8 — 39.3 46.0
3 12.0 — 19.1 20.9 46.4 — 86.5 109
100 0.333 6.66 — 7.17 11.4 33.3 — 29.8 54.7
1 11.5 — 13.9 16.5 57.7 — 65.7 102
3 20.0 — 26.9 34.8 100 — 144 258
150 0.333 — — — 15.1 — — — 94.8
1 — — — 22.8 — — — 187
3 — — — 49.8 — — — 490
250 0.333 — — — 20.6 — — — 182
1 — — — 33.4 — — — 386
3 — — — 75.4 — — — 1044
0.5 20 0.5 2.00 — 2.83 3.33 4.47 — 8.09 7.77
1 2.83 — 4.29 3.38 6.32 — 13.3 9.41
60 0.5 6.00 5.37 5.95 8.40 23.2 29.2 24.4 37.4
1 8.48 7.13 9.03 10.0 32.9 44.0 40.0 54.3
3 14.7 — 17.5 19.3 56.9 — 88.0 131
100 0.5 10.0 7.93 8.41 11.8 50.0 54.37 40.6 77.2
1 14.1 10.5 12.8 15.0 70.7 81.84 66.8 119
3 24.5 — 24.7 30.3 122 — 147 306
150 0.5 — 10.8 — 15.1 — 89.0 — 137
1 — 14.4 — 20.0 — 134 — 220
3 — — — 41.9 — — — 583
250 0.5 — 16.0 — 20.3 — 166 — 274
1 — 21.3 — 27.9 — 249 — 459
3 — — — 61.4 — — 1253
0.75 20 0.75 — — 3.31 3.61 — — 8.13 8.15
1 — — 3.94 3.84 — — 9.99 9.10
3 — — 7.64 5.87 — — 22.0 17.3
60 0.75 — 4.99 6.97 8.00 — 23.3 24.5 37.5
1 — 5.61 8.29 8.98 — 27.6 30.1 44.7
3 — — 16.1 16.5 — — 66.1 107
100 0.75 — 7.14 9.85 11.3 — 39.0 40.8 77.44
1 — 8.03 11.7 12.7 — 46.2 50.2 94.2
3 — — 22.7 24.5 — — 110 240
150 0.75 — 9.49 — 14.4 — 58.6 — 137
1 — 10.7 — 16.4 — 69.5 — 169
3 — — — 32.6 — — — 447
1 20 1 — — 3.71 5.35 — — 4.18 6.93
60 1 — — 7.80 14.4 — — 12.6 26.8
100 1 — — 11.0 21.7 — — 21.0 49

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 D / T 艌 100. The longer pipe length found in models with greater
d / D and D / T ratios reduces the stiffness of the structures and
increases the flexibility factor. In addition, the boundary condi-
tions employed for the finite element analysis influence the flex-
ibility factors as well. It is obvious that compared with the one run
end fixed model, the both run ends fixed model 关11兴 increases the
stiffness of the structure and reduces the flexibility factors. The
lengths of run and branch pipes and boundary conditions em-
ployed for Refs. 关11兴 and 关13兴 can be found in the Introduction
section.
6 Conclusions
An extensive parametric finite element analysis of large diam-
eter ratio branch connections subjected to in-plane and out-of-
plane moments was carried out. The following general conclu-
sions are drawn:
1兲 The length of the branch and run pipes does affect the
flexibility factors, especially the out-of-plane flexibility
factor. Therefore, the proper length for the FE model
should be ascertained prior to performing the analysis.
2兲 Geometric parameters have an effect on flexibility fac-
tors. Both in-plane and out-of-plane flexibility factors in-
crease with increasing t / T and D / T. In comparison with
D / T and t / T, the effect of d / D on flexibility factors is
less striking.
3兲 The FE predicted in-plane and out-of-plane flexibility
Appendix
Stress Intensity Factors for Pipe Branch Connections Sub-
jected to In-Plane and Out-of-Plane Moments. The finite ele-
ment commercial code COSMOS is used to carry out a parametric
study of pipe branch connections subjected to in-plane and out-
of-plane moments on the branch pipe. The geometry parameters
for the calculation of stress intensity factors are the same as those
tabulated in Table 1. Here, 4-node shell elements are used based
on cantilever models with one run end fixed and the other free.
The choice of these geometry parameters is based on the sugges-
tions from PVRC committee members.
The benchmark studies were carried out before the parametric
study 共see Ref. 关1兴 for detailed information兲. Based on the excel-
lent agreement between the finite element results and the experi-
mental data as well as the investigation of lengths of the branch
and run pipes on the finite element results, the parametric model-
ing was as follows:
A兲 A 4-node shell element model is used.
B兲 A long run pipe and a long branch pipe are used. The
details of the lengths employed for branch connections
with various diameter ratios are tabulated in Table 7.
With the FEA data from forty-three models, the following cor-
relation equations are developed using STATISTICA 关18兴. The
proposed equations fit the FEA data points well as indicated by
the correlation coefficients shown in Table 8.
For in-plane moment on the branch:

冉 冉冊 冉冊 冉 冊冊
factors presented in Table 4 can serve as the basis of the 2 3
design of branch pipe connections under branch bending Sn d d d
= − 1.119 + 11.23 − 19.67 + 11.32
moments within the range of parameters stated in 共8兲. ␴0 D D D

⫻ 冉冊
D
T
0.4763
共A1兲

Nomenclature

冉 冉冊 冉冊 冉 冊冊
d ⫽ mean diameter of branch pipe, in. 2 3
do ⫽ outside diameter of branch pipe, in. Snm d d d
= − 0.074 + 1.505 − 2.731 + 1.775
D ⫽ mean diameter of run pipe, in. ␴0 D D D
Do

T
t
⫽
⫽
⫽
outside diameter of run pipe, in.
nominal wall thickness of branch pipe, in.
nominal wall thickness of run pipe, in.
⫻ 冉冊 冉冊
D
T
0.6526
t
T
0.109
共A2兲

Ln ⫽ length of branch pipe, in.

Lv ⫽ distance between the intersection of vessel and
nozzle axes and the fixed end of the vessel, in.
K ⫽ flexibility factor
Ki ⫽ in-plane flexibility factor
Ko ⫽ out-of-plane flexibility factor Table 7 Length of run and branch pipes for FE models
M ⫽ moment, in.-lb d/D Lv Ln
Mi ⫽ in-plane moment, in.-lb
Mo ⫽ out-of-plane moment, in.-lb 0.333 4D 2.5D
E ⫽ Young’s modulus of elasticity, psi 0.5 4D 3D
I ⫽ moment of inertia, in.4 0.75 5D 4D
In ⫽ moment of inertia of branch pipe, =␲共d4o 1.0 5D 5D
− d4i 兲 / 64, in.4
Iv ⫽ moment of inertia of run pipe, =␲共D4o − D4i 兲 / 64,
in.4
␯ ⫽ Poisson’s ratio Table 8 Correlation coefficients of proposed equations
␪ ⫽ rotation, rad
␪n ⫽ rotation at the top of the branch pipe as calcu- Correlation coefficient
lated by finite element analysis, rad
␪beam ⫽ nominal rotation at the top of the branch pipe Eq. 共A1兲 0.915
Eq. 共A2兲 0.950
according to beam theory, rad Eq. 共A3兲 0.977
␪x , ␪ y ⫽ rotations at the top of the branch pipe 共from Eq. 共A4兲 0.990
FEA兲, rad Eq. 共A5兲 0.912
Eq. 共A6兲 0.985
␦ ⫽ translation at the top of the branch pipe, in. Eq. 共A7兲 0.994
␦x , ␦ y ⫽ translations at the top of the branch pipe 共from Eq. 共A8兲 0.974
FEA兲, in.

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 Sv
␴0
冉
= − 0.0022 + 4.729
d
D
− 8.674
d
D
冉冊 冉冊 2
冉 冊冊
+ 5.237
d
D
3
References
关1兴 Widera, G. E. O., and Wei, Z., 2004, “Large Diameter Ratio Shell Intersec-

冉冊 冉冊
tions, Part 3: Parametric Finite Element Analysis of Large Diameter Shell
D 0.5260
t 0.8120 Intersections 共External Loadings兲,” WRC Bulletin 497.
⫻ 共A3兲 关2兴 Rodabaugh, E. C., and Moore, S. E., 1979, “Stress Indices and Flexibility
T T Factors for Nozzles in Pressure Vessels and Piping,” NUREG/CR-0788,

冉 冉冊 冉冊 冉 冊冊
ORNL/Sub-2913.
S vm d d 2
d 3 关3兴 Rodabaugh, E. C., and Moore, S. E., 1977, “Flexibility Factors for Small
= 0.3722 − 0.6740 + 1.615 − 0.8049 共d / D ⬍ 1 / 3兲 Branch Connections with External Loadings,” ORNL/Sub-
␴0 D D D 2913-6.

冉冊 冉冊0.5800 0.8097 关4兴 Rodabaugh, E. C., 1970, “Stress Indices for Small Branch Connections with
D t External Loadings,” ORNL-TM-3014.
⫻ 共A4兲 关5兴 Steele, C. R., and Steele, M. L., 1983, “Stress Analysis of Nozzles in Cylin-
T T
drical Vessels with External Load,” J. Pressure Vessel Technol., 105, pp. 191–
For out-of-plane moment on the branch: 200.

冉 冉冊 冉冊 冉 冊冊
关6兴 ASME Code for Pressure Piping, B31.3, Chemical Plant & Refinery Piping,
2 3
Sn d d d 2004 edition, ASME, New York.
= − 0.863 + 5.559 − 5.895 + 1.780 关7兴 Rodabaugh, E. C., 1987, “Accuracy of Stress Intensity Factors for Branch
␴0 D D D Connections,” WRC Bulletin 329.

⫻ 冉冊 冉冊
D
T
0.802
t
T
−0.252
共A5兲
关8兴 Mershon, J. L., et al., 1984, “Local Stresses in Cylindrical Shells Due to
External Loadings on Nozzles–Supplement to WRC Bulletin 107,” WRC Bul-
letin 297.
关9兴 Rodabaugh, E. C., and Wais, E. A., 2001, “Standard Flexibility Factor Method
Snm
␴0
冉
= − 0.046 + 0.4733
d
D
− 0.4663
d
D
冉冊 冉冊 2
+ 0.1542 冉 冊冊d
D
3 and Piping Burst and Cyclic Moment Tests for Induction Bends and 6061-T6
and SS 304 Transition Joints,” Report 1, WRC Bulletin 463.
关10兴 ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code, Section 3, Division 1, 1992, “Rules

冉冊 冉冊
for Construction of Nuclear Power Plant Components,” ASME, New York.
0.982 −0.109 关11兴 Fujimoto, T., and Soh, T., 1988, “Flexibility Factors and Stress Indices for
D t
⫻ 共A6兲 Piping Components with D / T ⬎ = 100 Subjected to In-Plane or Out-of-Plane
T T Moment,” J. Pressure Vessel Technol., 110, pp. 374–386.

冉 冉冊 冉冊 冉 冊冊
关12兴 Williams, D., and Clark, J., 1996, “Development of Flexibility Factors for
2 3
Sv d d d Fabricated Tee Branch Connections,” PVP 331.
= 0.0947 + 1.099 − 0.2395 − 0.5410 关13兴 Wais, E. A., Rodabaugh, E. C., and Carter, R., 1999, “Stress Intensification
␴0 D D D Factors and Flexibility Factors for Unreinforced Branch Connections,” PVP

冉冊 冉冊 0.8972 1.115 383.

D t 关14兴 Rodabaugh, E. C., 1997, Comments on “Parametric Finite Element Analysis of
⫻ 共A7兲 Large Diameter Shell Intersections, Part 2: External Loadings,” PVRC Project
T T
96-20AS, Committee Correspondence.

冉 冉冊 冉冊 冉 冊冊
2 3 关15兴 COSMOS/DesignSTAR, Version 3.0, 2000, Structural Research & Analysis
S vm d d d Corporation 共SRAC兲.
= − 0.0980 + 0.9376 − 1.427 + 0.7837 关16兴 Widera, G. E. O., and Xue Liping, 2004, “Guidelines for Modeling Cylinder-
␴0 D D D

冉冊 冉冊
to-Cylinder Intersections,” WRC Bulletin 493.
D 0.8566
t 0.7317 关17兴 Timoshenko, S. P., and Goodier, J. N., 1970, Theory of Elasticity, 3rd ed.,
⫻ 共A8兲 McGraw-Hill, New York.
T T 关18兴 STATISTICA for Windows, Release 4.5, Copyright Statsoft Inc., 1993.

94 / Vol. 128, FEBRUARY 2006 Transactions of the ASME

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