To close things out, I finally got the model input, and it clearly shows the fractured elbow was indeed way over the allowable stress limit. And there was no need to impose a 'pipe drop' force or whatever to reach this conclusion. Thanks for everyone's input on this one.
Any recommendation for water hammer software for closed industrial piping systems? We are looking at AFT Impulse, but want to hear any real world experience and recommendations. Thanks.
OK, guys, I am not asking anyone to do this analysis for me, I am asking the following:
1) If a clevis pipe hanger has a nut become loose, and then it drops the pipe about 1 foot, does not the pipe drop event cause a sudden load that could overstress the elbow at the end of the line and cause...
Thanks guys (and gals?). Obviously I don't do this for a living. Here is a restatement of the issue:
A pipe hanger supporting a pipe segment failed, allowing the pipe segment to drop about a foot. The pipe near the hanger did not break. However, a 90 deg elbow at the end of the line (about 14...
Simple question: Can Caesar II model the loss of pipe hanger, which causes a pipe section to drop, generating forces on an elbow without FEA add-ons? And I assume this would be a dynamic analysis, could it predict the amount the pipe would drop due to the loss of the hanger?
OK, update:
1) Thanks for your clarification of terminology. I am a Mech Engineer, not a materials person. I remember taking a materials class in college and making an "A", but obviously I have forgotten more than I have remembered in the intervening 30+ years.
2) Yes a metallurgical analysis of...
OK, all good questions. Here's more details.
1) The fluid service is chilled water at 40 degF. System internal pressure is about 60 psi, ambient temperature is 72 degF. There are no known conditions that would cause significant thermal cycling of the line.
2) It is unknown, but assumed that a...
A 90 deg wrought copper elbow had a full circumferential break in the middle of the elbow following the sudden loss of a piping hanger. It has been proposed that the wrought copper elbow had experienced work hardening due to low cycle stresses induced by the copper pipe being too flexible and...
Here are some basic, but not necessarily simple, questions about the design and layout of steam distribution systems (for non-power applications), from the building level, to plant level, to campus level:
1) It is my experience that virtually all steam distribution systems are "branching" or...
Most of the popular fluid flow and thermodynamic references do not directly address how to calculate pressure drop in piping systems by steam (saturated, superheated, two phase, etc). Can readers provide references to their favorite formulas for estimating pressure drop of steam in piping...
