FEA software for pressure vessel

[napster385]

Hi everyone,

What is the most common used software for FEA of pressure vessels? And what is the best?

Appreciate any assistance.

 

[rb1957]

any ...

any FEA should be able to model a pressure vessel. Probably the biggest reason to pick one over another is "what is typical in your industry?"

another day in paradise, or is paradise one day closer ?

 

[corus]

If you're assessing stresses against design codes then you'll probably just need a package that does linear elastic analyses, which covers practically every package. Your choice will be determined on how much you're prepared to pay and which is more user friendly. For the latter it would be better to ask users of each package rather than the salesman.

 

[TGS4]

The issue isn't going to be the software, it's going to be the training and expertise of the engineers that you have running the software.

Performing stress analysis and interpreting the results to the ASME Pressure Vessel Code is a very specialized skill - I have seen it done wrong more times than I have seen it done right.

I have also seen a good analysis from the cheapest/least capable software package and I have seen atrocious analyses for the most expensive/most capable packages.

Who is going to use the software? How will you train them?

 

[rickfischer51]

Are you analyzing to the ASME BPVC? Section III or Section VIII? Section VIII, Division 2, Part 5 is Design by analysis. If you are going to run FEA, use that if possible. Trying to analyze with FEA to Div. 1 design-by-rule methods is tedious and overly conservative. There is also a design by analysis in Section III, but it is not nearly as well developed as Section VIII.

Rick Fischer
Principal Engineer
Argonne National Laboratory

 

[napster385]

I will be analyzing an ASME VIII Div.1 Vessel for LPG storage in mounded installation. I want to use FEA to further analyze the vessel in certain conditions which is not covered by the design rules of ASME VIII. I have researched that Solidworks Simulation can do this. I just want to know if most of design engineers or engineering companies are using this or are there any better software anyone can suggest.

Thank you and appreciate all your replies.

 

[TGS4]

napster385 - it depends. How are you going to evaluate the results? What type of evaluation are you trying to accomplish?