Stress Analysis of a Piping System

Abstract

The study under this thesis work covers the static, thermal and transient flow analysis of a piping system used in a leading pharmaceutical company for making an anti-hypertension drug. The piping system under study was modeled in the commercial piping software, CAEPIPE. The study considers the static, thermal and dynamic stresses due to water hammer effect. In the static analysis, the stresses, displacements, support forces and moments and element forces and moments were obtained. Results obtained from the software show that the piping system is safe in static analysis. In the thermal analysis also the stresses, displacements, support forces and moments and element forces and moments were obtained. The results of thermal analysis show that system was getting failed due to excessive thermal stresses at various nodes. For solving this problem, some modification in the model were done by removing and relocating some of the supports or restraints. And comparisons were made between the results of original and modified model for stresses, displacements, element forces and support forces and moments. In the water hammer analysis of the piping system, dynamic stresses were found out for the closing of different valves separately. Also the valve closure times for the valves and the reflection periods of the different sections were found out. Graphs were obtained for pressure variation with the valve closure times for the valves. The results show that the system is under no threat due to the water hammer effect.