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### Research Papers

J. Pressure Vessel Technol. 2010;132(3):031001-031001-8. doi:10.1115/1.4001517.

Pressurized piping systems used for an extended period may develop degradations such as wall thinning or cracks due to aging. It is important to estimate the effects of degradation on the dynamic behavior and to ascertain the failure modes and remaining strength of the piping systems with degradation through experiments and analyses to ensure the seismic safety of degraded piping systems under destructive seismic events. In order to investigate the influence of degradation on the dynamic behavior and failure modes of piping systems with local wall thinning, shake table tests using 3D piping system models were conducted. About 50% full circumferential wall thinning at elbows was considered in the test. Three types of models were used in the shake table tests. The difference of the models was the applied bending direction to the thinned-wall elbow. The bending direction considered in the tests was either of the in-plane bending, out-of-plane bending, or mixed bending of the in-plane and out-of-plane. These models were excited under the same input acceleration until failure occurred. Through these tests, the vibration characteristic and failure modes of the piping models with wall thinning under seismic load were obtained. The test results showed that the out-of-plane bending is not significant for a sound elbow, but should be considered for a thinned-wall elbow, because the life of the piping models with wall thinning subjected to out-of-plane bending may reduce significantly.

Commentary by Dr. Valentin Fuster

### Research Papers: Codes and Standards

J. Pressure Vessel Technol. 2010;132(3):031101-031101-8. doi:10.1115/1.4000728.

Evaluation of creep-fatigue damage has been carried out for the hot gas duct (HGD) structure in the nuclear hydrogen development and demonstration (NHDD) plant. The core outlet and inlet temperature of the NHDD plant are $950°C$ and $490°C$, respectively. Case studies on high temperature design codes of the draft code case for Alloy 617, ASME boiler and pressure vessel code section III subsection NH (ASME-NH), and RCC-MR were carried out for the inner tube of the HGD for the candidate materials of Alloy 617 and Alloy 800H. Technical issues in application of the draft code case to a high temperature structure are discussed for the Alloy 617 material. Code comparison between the ASME-NH and RCC-MR for Alloy 800H has been carried out. The candidate material of the outer pressure boundary (cross vessel) of the HGD is Mod.9Cr-1Mo steel. The damage evaluation, according to the ASME-NH and RCC-MR for the cross vessel of Mod.9Cr-1Mo steel, has been conducted and their results were compared.

Commentary by Dr. Valentin Fuster

### Research Papers: Design and Analysis

J. Pressure Vessel Technol. 2010;132(3):031201-031201-11. doi:10.1115/1.4001198.

In this paper, the classic coupled thermoelasticity model of hollow and solid spheres under radial-symmetric loading condition $(r,t)$ is considered. A full analytical method is used and an exact unique solution of the classic coupled equations is presented. The thermal and mechanical boundary conditions, the body force, and the heat source are considered in the most general forms, where no limiting assumption is used. This generality allows to simulate a variety of applicable problems.

Commentary by Dr. Valentin Fuster
J. Pressure Vessel Technol. 2010;132(3):031202-031202-8. doi:10.1115/1.4000729.

This paper presents a new analytical method that can calculate the load distribution on the thread teeth in cylindrical pipe threaded connection. The new method was developed by analyzing each male and female thread tooth from the connection on the basis of elastic mechanics. By using this method, the load distribution on each thread tooth can be calculated with the tightening torque and thread numbers. By applying the new method on the sample of API 88.9 mm round threaded connection, the obtained results show that the load on thread tooth mainly concentrates on the last four or five threads engaged. By using the finite element analysis method to the same sample validates the new method. The new method proposed in this paper is practical and convenient because it can be applied to calculate the load and deformation on each thread tooth just with tightening torque and thread numbers, which is easier to implement in practice.

Topics: Stress , Thread , Deformation
Commentary by Dr. Valentin Fuster
J. Pressure Vessel Technol. 2010;132(3):031203-031203-7. doi:10.1115/1.4000731.

In an earlier paper (2009, “Burst Pressure of Pressurized Cylinders With the Hillside Nozzle,” ASME J. Pressure Vessel Technol., 131(4), p. 041204), an elastic-plastic large deflection analysis method was used to determine the burst pressure and fracture location of hillside cylindrical shell intersections by use of nonlinear finite element analysis. To verify the accuracy of the finite element results, experimental burst tests were carried out by pressurizing test vessels with nozzles to burst. Based on the agreement between the numerical simulations and experimental results of Wang (2009, “Burst Pressure of Pressurized Cylinders With the Hillside Nozzle,” ASME J. Pressure Vessel Technol., 131(4), p. 041204), a parametric study is now carried out. Its purpose is to develop a correlation equation by investigating the relationship between various geometric parameters ($d/D$, $D/T$, and $t/T$) and the burst pressure. Forty-seven configurations, which are deemed to cover most of the practical cases, are chosen to perform this study. In addition, four different materials are employed to verify that the proposed equation can be employed for different materials. The results show that the proposed equation resulting from the parametric analysis can be employed to predict the static burst pressure of cylindrical shell intersections for a wide range of geometric ratios.

Commentary by Dr. Valentin Fuster
J. Pressure Vessel Technol. 2010;132(3):031204-031204-9. doi:10.1115/1.4001423.

Thinning and ovality are commonly observed irregularities in pipe bends, which induce higher stress than perfectly circular cross sections. In this work, the stresses introduced in pipe bends with different ovalities and thinning for a particular internal pressure are calculated using the finite element method. The constant allowable pressure ratio for different ovalities and thinning is presented at different bend radii. The allowable pressure ratio increases, attains a maximum, and then decreases as the values of ovality and thinning are increased. An empirical relationship to determine the allowable pressure in terms of bend ratio, pipe ratio, percent thinning, and percent ovality is presented. The pipe ratio has a strong effect on the allowable pressure.

Commentary by Dr. Valentin Fuster
J. Pressure Vessel Technol. 2010;132(3):031205-031205-10. doi:10.1115/1.4001040.

A three-dimensional nonlinear finite element model is developed for achieving a uniform clamp load in gasketed bolted joints. The model is used for both multiple and single pass tightening patterns. Geometric nonlinearity of the gasket is taken into account and plastic model parameters are experimentally determined. The effect of the tightening pattern, gasket loading and unloading history, and the preload level is investigated. The validity of the FEA methodology is experimentally verified. This study helps improve the reliability of gasketed bolted joints by minimizing the bolt-to-bolt clamp load variation caused by elastic interaction among the various bolts in the joint during initial joint-bolt-up.

Commentary by Dr. Valentin Fuster
J. Pressure Vessel Technol. 2010;132(3):031206-031206-9. doi:10.1115/1.4001199.

An improved version of the analytical solutions by Xue, Hwang and co-workers (1991, “Some Results on Analytical Solution of Cylindrical Shells With Large Opening,” ASME J. Pressure Vessel Technol., 113, 297–307; 1991, “The Stress Analysis of Cylindrical Shells With Rigid Inclusions Having a Large Ratio of Radii,” SMiRT 11 Transactions F, F05/2, 85–90; 1995, “The Thin Theoretical Solution for Cylindrical Shells With Large Openings,” Acta Mech. Sin., 27(4), pp. 482–488; 1995, “Stresses at the Intersection of Two Cylindrical Shells,” Nucl. Eng. Des., 154, 231–238; 1996, “A Reinforcement Design Method Based on Analysis of Large Openings in Cylindrical Pressure Vessels,” ASME J. Pressure Vessel Technol., 118, 502–506; 1999, “Analytical Solution for Cylindrical Thin Shells With Normally Intersecting Nozzles Due to External Moments on the Ends of Shells,” Sci. China, Ser. A: Math., Phys., Astron., 42(3), 293–304; 2000, “Stress Analysis of Cylindrical Shells With Nozzles Due to External Run Pipe Moments,” J. Strain Anal. Eng. Des., 35, 159–170; 2004, “Analytical Solution of Two Intersecting Cylindrical Shells Subjected to Transverse Moment on Nozzle,” Int. J. Solids Struct., 41(24–25), 6949–6962; 2005, “A Thin Shell Theoretical Solution for Two Intersecting Cylindrical Shells Due to External Branch Pipe Moments,” ASME J. Pressure Vessel Technol., 127(4), 357–368; 2005, “Theoretical Stress Analysis of Two Intersecting Cylindrical Shells Subjected to External Loads Transmitted Through Branch Pipes,” Int. J. Solids Struct., 42, 3299–3319) for two normally intersecting cylindrical shells is presented, and the applicable ranges of the theoretical solutions are successfully extended from $d/D≤0.8$ and $λ=d/(DT)1/2≤8$ to $d/D≤0.9$ and $λ≤12$. The thin shell theoretical solution is obtained by solving a complex boundary value problem for a pair of fourth-order complex-valued partial differential equations (exact Morley equations (Morley, 1959, “An Improvement on Donnell’s Approximation for Thin Walled Circular Cylinders,” Q. J. Mech. Appl. Math.12, 89–91; Simmonds, 1966, “A Set of Simple, Accurate Equations for Circular Cylindrical Elastic Shells,” Int. J. Solids Struct., 2, 525–541)) for the shell and the nozzle. The accuracy of results is improved by some additional terms to the expressions for resultant forces and moments in terms of complex-valued displacement-stress function. The theoretical stress concentration factors due to internal pressure obtained by the improved expressions are in agreement with previously published test results. The theoretical results discussed and presented herein are in sufficient agreement with those obtained from three dimensional finite element analyses for all the seven load cases, i.e., internal pressure and six external branch pipe load components involving three orthogonal forces and the respective three orthogonal moments.

Commentary by Dr. Valentin Fuster
J. Pressure Vessel Technol. 2010;132(3):031207-031207-8. doi:10.1115/1.4001200.

A universal design method for pressurized cylindrical shells with attached nozzles subjected to external forces (moments) and internal pressure are presented, based on theoretical stress analysis. The applicable ranges of the presented design methods are extended to $ρ0=d/D≤0.9$ and $λ=d/(DT)1/2≤12$. As a first step of design, the required reinforcement thicknesses, both of the main shell and nozzle due to internal pressure, can be determined by the presented theoretical solutions. When the junction is subjected to external nozzle loads, the next step is to determine the absolute values of dimensionless longitudinal and circumferential, normal and shear, membrane and bending stresses in the shell at the junction subjected to internal pressure, and six external nozzle load components by reading out from a number of sets of curves calculated by the present theoretical method. Then the stress components at eight examination points are calculated and superimposed for the combined loads. Finally, the membrane and primary plus secondary stress intensities can be calculated, respectively, to meet the design criteria.

Commentary by Dr. Valentin Fuster

### Research Papers: Fluid-Structure Interaction

J. Pressure Vessel Technol. 2010;132(3):031301-031301-5. doi:10.1115/1.4000732.

Simultaneous measurements of the fluctuating wall pressure along the cylinder span were used to examine the spanwise characteristics of the vortex-shedding for yaw angles varying from $α=60 deg$ to $α=90 deg$. The Reynolds number based on the diameter of the cylinder was 56,100. The results indicate that yawing the cylinder to the mean flow direction causes the vortex-shedding in the wake to become more disorderly. This disorder is initiated at the upstream end of the cylinder and results in a rapid decrease in correlation length, from $3.3D$ for $α=90 deg$ to $1.1D$ for $α=60 deg$. The commonly used independence principle was shown to predict the vortex-shedding frequency reasonably well along the entire cylinder span for $α>70 deg$, but did not work as well for $α=60 deg$.

Commentary by Dr. Valentin Fuster

### Research Papers: Pipeline Systems

J. Pressure Vessel Technol. 2010;132(3):031701-031701-7. doi:10.1115/1.4001426.

Buried pipelines may be subjected to various complicated combinations of forces and deformations. This may result in localized curvature, strains, and associated deformations in the pipe wall. As a result, wrinkle may form. The wrinkled pipeline may then develop a rupture in the pipe wall and lose its structural integrity if it is subjected to further sustained loads or deformations. Recently, laboratory tests on NPS6 steel pipes were undertaken at the University of Windsor to study the wrinkling and post-wrinkling behaviors of this NPS6 pipe when subjected to lateral load in addition to internal pressure and axial load. Four full-scale laboratory tests were conducted, and it was found that the application of lateral load on wrinkled pipe produces a wrinkle shape similar to that occurred in a field NPS10 line pipe. Complex test setup was designed and built for successful loading and completion of these tests. This paper makes a detailed discussion on the test setup, test method, loading and boundary conditions, instruments used, and test results obtained from this study.

Commentary by Dr. Valentin Fuster

### Research Papers: Seismic Engineering

J. Pressure Vessel Technol. 2010;132(3):031801-031801-11. doi:10.1115/1.4001077.

Predictive computation of the nonlinear dynamical responses of gap-supported tubes subjected to flow excitation has been the subject of very active research. Nevertheless, experimental results are still very important, for validation of the theoretical predictions as well as for asserting the integrity of field components. Because carefully instrumented test tubes and tube-supports are seldom possible, due to space limitations and to the severe environment conditions, there is a need for robust techniques capable of extracting, from the actual vibratory response data, information that is relevant for asserting the components integrity. The dynamical contact/impact (vibro-impact) forces are of paramount significance, as are the tube/support gaps. Following our previous studies in this area using wave-propagation techniques (De Araújo, Antunes, and Piteau, 1998, “Remote Identification of Impact Forces on Loosely Supported Tubes: Part 1—Basic Theory and Experiments,” J. Sound Vib., 215, pp. 1015–1041; Antunes, Paulino, and Piteau, 1998, “Remote Identification of Impact Forces on Loosely Supported Tubes: Part 2—Complex Vibro-Impact Motions,” J. Sound Vib., 215, pp. 1043–1064; Paulino, Antunes, and Izquierdo, 1999, “Remote Identification of Impact Forces on Loosely Supported Tubes: Analysis of Multi-Supported Systems,” ASME J. Pressure Vessel Technol., 121, pp. 61–70), we apply modal methods in the present paper for extracting such information. The dynamical support forces, as well as the vibratory responses at the support locations, are identified from one or several vibratory response measurements at remote transducers, from which the support gaps can be inferred. As for most inverse problems, the identification results may prove quite sensitive to noise and modeling errors. Therefore, topics discussed in the paper include regularization techniques to mitigate the effects of nonmeasured noise perturbations. In particular, a method is proposed to improve the identification of contact forces at the supports when the system is excited by an unknown distributed turbulence force field. The extensive identification results presented are based on realistic numerical simulations of gap-supported tubes subjected to flow turbulence excitation. We can thus confront the identified dynamical support contact forces and vibratory motions at the gap-support with the actual values stemming from the original nonlinear computations. The important topic of dealing with the imperfect knowledge of the modal parameters used to build the inverted transfer functions is thoroughly addressed elsewhere (Debut, Delaune, and Antunes, 2009, “Identification of Nonlinear Interaction Forces Acting on Continuous Systems Using Remote Measurements of the Vibratory Responses,” Proceedings of the Seventh EUROMECH Solids Mechanics Conference (ESMC2009), Lisbon, Portugal, Sept. 7–11). Nevertheless, identifications are performed in this paper based on both the exact modes and also on randomly perturbed modal parameters. Our results show that, for the system addressed here, deterioration of the identifications is moderate when realistic errors are introduced in the modal parameters. In all cases, the identified results compare reasonably well with the real contact forces and motions at the gap-supports.

Commentary by Dr. Valentin Fuster

### Technology Reviews

J. Pressure Vessel Technol. 2010;132(3):034001-034001-32. doi:10.1115/1.4001271.

This two-part review article presents an overview of mechanics of pipes conveying fluid and related problems such as the fluid-elastic instability under conditions of turbulence in nuclear power plants. In the first part, different types of modeling, dynamic analysis, and stability regimes of pipes conveying fluid restrained by elastic or inelastic barriers are described. The dynamic and stability behaviors of pinned-pinned, clamped-clamped, and cantilevered pipes conveying fluid together with curved and articulated pipes will be discussed. Other problems such as pipes made of viscoelastic materials and active control of severe pipe vibrations are considered. This part will be closed by conclusions highlighting resolved and nonresolved controversies reported in literature. The second part will address the problem of fluid-elastic instability in single- and two-phase flows and fretting wear in process equipment such as heat exchangers and steam generators. Connors critical velocity will be discussed as a measure of initiating fluid-elastic instability. Vibro-impact of heat exchanger tubes and the random excitation by the cross-flow can produce a progressive damage at the supports through fretting wear or fatigue. Antivibration bar supports used to limit pipe vibrations are described. An assessment of analytical, numerical, and experimental techniques of fretting wear problem of pipes in heat exchangers will be given. Other topics related to this part include remote impact analysis and parameter identification, pipe damage-induced by pressure elastic waves, the dynamic response and stability of long pipes, marine risers together with pipes aspirating fluid, and carbon nanotubes conveying fluid.

Commentary by Dr. Valentin Fuster

### Technical Briefs

J. Pressure Vessel Technol. 2010;132(3):034501-034501-2. doi:10.1115/1.4001141.

The maximum operating efficiency of a centrifugal pump is different when it is parallel operated with different pumps. To study the reduction in the maximum operating efficiency of pumps in parallel operation compared with their rated efficiency, 28 pairs of pumps with the same rated head and different rated flows were tested orthogonally in parallel operation. A determination of the pumps operating flow and head was done to calculate the maximum operating efficiency in different combinations. The results showed that the maximum operating efficiency of a pump in parallel operation was higher than 85% of rated efficiency when the flow ratio of two pumps was within 1.6. When the flow ratio was increased to 2.0, the maximum operating efficiency of the pump will sharply decline to 70% of rated efficiency or less. Therefore, the operating efficiency a pump can keep is 70% or more under the condition that the flow ratio between the pumps is less than 2.

Commentary by Dr. Valentin Fuster