Proceedings of PVP2005 Proceedings of PVP2005 2005 ASME Pressure Vessels and Piping Division Conference 2005 ASME Pressure17-21,

2005, Piping Division Conference Vessels and Denver, Colorado USA July July 17-21, 2005, Denver, Colorado USA

PVP2005-71131 PVP2005-71131
INELASTIC ANALYSIS OF DISSIMILAR MATERIAL FLANGES WITH METAL RING GASKETS AT ELEVATED TEMPERATURE
Takuya Sato Engineering Division JGC Corporation 2-3-1, Minato Mirai, Nishi-ku Yokohama 220-6001, Japan Kenichiro Kado Mechanical Engineering Department Engineering Division JGC Corporation 2-3-1, Minato Mirai, Nishi-ku Yokohama 220-6001, Japan Two or three dimensional finite element analyses have been applied to investigate the complicated behavior of bolted flange connections considering the flexibility (rotation) of flanges, the gasket properties and the thermal conditions. In most of these investigations, the pipe flange connections with sheet gaskets or spiral wound gaskets are adopted, and the effects of internal pressure on the sealing performance are studied (2) (6). The effects of bolting up procedure are also investigated in the same manner (7) (8). In the case of elevated temperature operation, the temperature distribution might affect the sealing performance. Sawa et al discussed about this effect (9). When the temperature is very high, the effects of creep of flanges and bolts might become significant. Bouzid et al investigated the effect of creep (10). For the high pressure operation such as hydrogen process, the solid metal ring gaskets are commonly used to maintain perfect sealing. Brown et al studied about the cracking occurring at the corner of ring groove of the flange for FFS assessment (11). Most of above mentioned papers are the basic investigations comparing with the laboratory examination results. However, there are few investigations in which the behavior of bolted flange connections is simulated under the real plant conditions. The hydro-cracker unit is one of the typical high pressure and high temperature unit of refinery. The reactors and pressure vessels of this unit are made of a low alloy steel with a stainless steel clad or overlay on the inner surfaces of the vessels. On the other hand, the piping material is an austenite stainless steel. Under this condition, the dissimilar material flanges are often adopted to connect the piping to the pressure vessels operated. The behavior of the flanges is complicated because of the non-uniform temperature distribution and the thermal expansion difference of dissimilar materials. The application of the metal ring gasket makes the behavior more complicated.

ABSTRACT The dissimilar material flange connections are often adopted to connect the austenite stainless steel pipes to the low alloy steel pressure vessels operated at an elevated temperature. The behavior of this flange connection is very complicated because of the non-uniform temperature distribution and the thermal expansion difference of dissimilar materials. The application of the metal ring gasket makes the behavior more complicated. An elastic plastic finite element analysis is one of the adequate ways to investigate the behavior of the following dissimilar material flanges with the metal ring gasket under the high pressure and elevated temperature operation. (1) Pipe flange: standard configuration, austenite stainless steel, (2) Nozzle flange: forged thick nozzle neck, low alloy steel covered with stainless steel overlay. The material of ring gasket is also an austenite stainless steel. This ring gasket contacts to and slips on the ring groove surfaces of flanges. The axi-symmetric analyses were made considering the sequence of initial bolting, internal pressure and non-uniform temperature distribution. The elastic plastic properties and temperature dependency of the materials were considered. From these analyses, the effects of the non-uniform temperature distribution and the thermal expansion difference of dissimilar material flanges on the contact pressure of the ring gaskets were made clear. The effect of flange size (14-36) was also investigated. 1. INTRODUCTION The bolted flange connections are widely used in energy and process plants, and the design procedure of them is specified in ASME Code Section VIII Division 1 (1). This design procedure is based on a simple equilibrium calculation of an initial bolt load, a contact pressure of gasket and an axial force resulting from internal pressure.

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In this paper, an elastic plastic finite element analyses were made considering the operation sequence, such as the initial bolting, start-up, normal operation and shut-down. From these analyses, the effects of the non-uniform temperature distribution and the thermal expansion difference of dissimilar material flanges on the contact pressure of the ring gaskets were made clear. The effects of flange size were also investigated. 2. NOMENCLATURE Si Stress E Elastic modulus Er Elastic modulus in radial direction Ez Elastic modulus in axial direction Et Elastic modulus in circumferential direction Ab Area of bolts Af Perforated area of flange A Total area of bolts and perforated flange (Ab+Af) ANALYSIS METHOD Basic Assumption Assumption adopted in these analyses is described below. Axi-symmertric models were applied. The following material properties were applied in modeling of bolts and perforated area of flanges. Flanges Er=Ez=E*Af/A Et=0 Isotropic but multiplied by Af/A Isotropic Isotropic

Table-2 Analysis cases for heat transfer analysis Case name Size (inch) Material combination Dissimilar 26D 26 Similar 26S 26 Dissimilar 14D 14 Dissimilar 36D 36 Table-3 Analysis cases for stress analysis Loading path Case name Size Material (inch) combination Dissimilar 26D+BPT-PT 26 <Loading> B+P+T (Base case) <Unloading> P then T Dissimilar <Loading> B+P+T 26D+BPT-TP 26 <Unloading> T then P Dissimilar <Loading> B+T+P 26D+BTP-PT 26 <Unloading> P then T Dissimilar <Loading> B+T+P 26D+BTP-TP 26 <Unloading> T then P 26S+BPT-PT 26 Similar Same as the base case Dissimilar Same as the base case 14D+BPT-PT 14 Dissimilar Same as the base case 36D+BPT-PT 36 (Note) B: Initial bolting, P: Internal pressure, T: Thermal load

3. 3.1 1. 2.

Pipe Flange (TP304SS)

Insulation

Table-1 Material properties Bolts Elastic modulus Ez=E*Ab/A Er=Et=0 Thermal Isotropic but conductivity multiplied by Ab/A Thermal expansion Isotropic Yield strength Isotropic 3.

Ring gasket (TP304SS) Nozzle Flange (2.25Cr-1Mo overlayed by TP304SS)

Bolt (1Cr-0.2Mo)

4. 5. 6.

Non-uniform temperature distribution is calculated by steady state heat transfer analysis because flange is not covered by insulation. Heat transfer from/to ambient air is considered. Temperature of internal fluid is 454.4 degC (850 degF). Effects of creep are assumed to be small. Contact boundary is considered between ring gasket and flange. No friction is assumed.

Figure-1 Analysis model (Dissimilar material case) Table-4 Material for each part Material in Material in dissimilar case similar case Pipe Flange TP304SS 2.25Cr-1Mo (TP304SS overlay) Nozzle Flange 2.25Cr-1Mo 2.25Cr-1Mo (TP304SS overlay) (TP304SS overlay) Ring Gasket TP304SS TP304SS Bolt 1Cr-0.2Mo 1Cr-0.2Mo Part

3.2

Analysis Cases Analysis cases for heat transfer analysis and stress analysis are described Table-2 and 3 respectively. The case name represents the nominal flange size, material combination and loading path. To make clear the difference of materials, analysis model is shown in Figure-1 and materials are shown in Table-4.

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3.3 Finite Element Models (1) Heat Transfer Analysis ABAQUS/Standard ver.6.4-4 is used for heat transfer analysis and axi-symmetric 4 node solid linear element (element type DCAX4) is used. Mesh around ring gasket is shown in Figure-2. Ring gasket

Figure-2 Mesh around ring gasket for case 26D Material properties and boundary conditions are shown in Table-5 and Table-6, respectively. Heat conduction by air and radiation are considered for heat transfer between flanges and bolts. Table-5 Thermal conductivity Parts Description All metals Temperature-dependent (by ASME Sec.II Part D (12)) Insulation 0.04 W/mK (constant) Table-6 Boundary conditions Topic Description Internal fluid temperature 454.4 degC (850degF) Heat transfer coefficient 5814 W/m2K (constant) on inner surface Ambient air temperature 43.3 degC (110degF) Heat transfer coefficient 6 14 W/m2K on outer surface No wind is assumed (by JSME Mechanical Engineers Handbook (13)) (2) Stress Analysis ABAQUS/Standard ver.6.4-4 is used for stress analysis and axi-symmetric 4 node solid bilinear element with reduced integration (element type CAX4R) is used. Analysis model is shown in Figure-3. Insulation is removed from the model. Material properties are shown in Table-7. Stress and strain relationships used in these analyses are shown in Figure-4. Von Mises yield criterion, associated flow rule and isotropic hardening rule are adopted for the elastic-plastic analyses.

Figure-3 Analysis model for case 26D+BPT-PT Table-7 Material properties Property Description E Temperature-dependent (by ASME Sec.II Part D (12)) Poissons ratio 0.3 Stress-strain relationship Temperature-dependent and as shown in Figure-4 yield strength (by a report of JSME (14))
TP304 Stress-Strain relationship 700 600 Stress (MPa) 500 400 300 200 100 0 0.00 0.05 0.10 Strain 0.15 0.20 R.T. 427

(a) TP304SS
2.25Cr-1Mo Stress-Strain relationship 600 500 Stress (MPa) 400 300 200 100 0 0.00 0.01 0.02 Strain 0.03 0.04 0.05 R.T. 427

(b) 2.25Cr-1Mo Figure-4 Stress-strain relationship

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The freedom in the axial direction at the bottom line of the model is fixed as shown in Figure-3. Initial bolting, internal pressure and thermal load were considered. For example, loading and unloading steps for case 26D+BPT-PT are shown in Table-8. The initial bolting was given by initial strain method. Initial bolting value for each size was adjusted to get the same contact pressure at ring gasket surface. Table-8 Analysis steps and loads for case 26D+BPT-PT Step Load Value 1 +B Initial bolting 1.25*107 N 2 +P Internal pressure 16.2 MPa 3 +T Thermal load Results of heat transfer analysis 4 -P Unloading of internal pressure 5 -T Unloading of Thermal load 4. 4.1 ANALYSIS RESULTS

3). The maximum equivalent strain in the ring gasket is about 6.0% in step 3 (at normal operation). On the other hand, those of flanges are 2.0% in pipe flange and 0.3% in nozzle flange, respectively. Wide elastic area still remains in flanges even at normal operation. Contact pressure distributions at ring gasket surface are shown in Figure-8. In step 1, contact pressure due to initial bolting is almost uniform on the contact surface. This contact pressure is reduced (60% to the initial value) due to internal pressure in step 2. In step 3, the thermal load makes the contact pressure higher again (78% to the initial value). In step 4, the internal pressure is removed and the contact pressure becomes a little higher (85% to the initial value). Finally the contact pressure is much reduced (15% to the initial value) due to unloading of thermal load.

Heat Transfer Analysis Temperature distributions are shown in Figure-5. The temperature of the ring gasket is about 400 degC and that of the bolts is 300 degC. This temperature difference of ring gasket and the bolts may cause additional contact pressure on the ring gasket surface.

Min. Value -423MPa

Max. Value 184MPa 43 degC

(a) Radial stress 265 degC 454 degC Max. Value 116MPa

299 degC Figure-5 Temperature distribution (Case 26D) 4.2 Stress Analysis The results of case 26D+BPT-PT (base case) are shown below. Stress component distributions are shown in Figure-6. Large compressive stresses occur in both radial and axial directions on the ring gasket and at the contact surface of the flanges. Area in which equivalent plastic strain more than 0.5% occurs is shown in Figure-7. Yielding occurs on the corner of the ring gasket due to the initial bolting (step 1) and then the yielding occurs on both the cross section of ring gasket and around the ring groove of flanges due to the thermal load. (step Min. Value -352MPa

(b) Axial stress Figure-6 Stress distributions (Case 26D+BPT-PT Step3)

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5. Max. Value 3.5% 5.1

DISCUSSION

Effects of Loading Path In general, the elastic-plastic behavior is dependent on loading path. Therefore, four cases of 26 inches flanges were compared to investigate the effects of loading path. Average contact pressure of ring gasket is plotted in Figure-9. Step 3 represents normal operation condition. According to Figure-9, there are the following findings. When internal pressure is loaded and then thermal load is applied in start-up (26D+BPT-PT and 26D+BPT-TP), the contact pressure at normal operation (step 3) is 300MPa. On the other hand, when thermal load is applied and then internal pressure is loaded in start-up (26D+BTP-PT and 26D+BTP-TP), the contact pressure at normal operation (step 3) is 180MPa. If thermal load is removed first (step 4) in shutdown operation (26D+BPT-TP and 26D+BTP-TP), the contact pressure becomes very low, resulting in the leak from flange because internal pressure still remains in the vessel.
400 Contact Pressure (MPa)

(a) Step1 (Initial bolting only)

300

200

100

Max. Value 6.3%

26D+BPT-PT 26D+BTP-PT 26D+BPT-TP 26D+BTP-TP

0 1 2 3 Step No 4 5

Figure-9 Relation of average contact pressure and loading path (b) Step3 (In normal operation) Figure-7 Equivalent plastic strain distributions (>= 0.5%) (Case 26D+BPT-PT)
Contact Pressure
Step1 Step2 Step3 Step4 Step5

Node 15

600 Contact pressure (MPa) 500 400 300 200 100 0

Average contact pressure and average equivalent plastic strain on ring gasket surface are plotted on the stress-strain curve of TP304SS in Figure-10 for case 26D+BPT-PT and 26D+BTP-TP through all steps. The contact pressure in step 1 is adjusted to be on the stress-strain curve of the room temperature. Ring gasket behavior can be explained by using uni-axial stress-strain relationship as follows. <26D+BPT-PT> Step 1 (initial bolting) causes 0.45% plastic strain. Step 2 (internal pressure) is an elastic behavior and causes reduction of contact pressure. Step 3 and 4 (thermal loading and unloading of internal pressure) are on the stress-strain curve at 427degC and plastic strain increases up to 1.8% during these steps. Step 5 (thermal unloading) is elastic behavior and causes reduction of contact pressure. <26D+BTP-TP> Plastic strain that occurs in step 1 increases in step 2 up to 1.8%. The following three steps are in elastic behavior and there no increase of plastic strain.

Node 1

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Node

Figure-8 Contact pressure distributions (Case 26D+BPT-PT)

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Contact pressure (MPa)

From these results, it is clear that the contact pressure variation can be explained by the elastic-plastic behavior of ring gasket.
TP304 Stress-Strain relationship
350 300 Stress (MPa) 250 200 150 100 50 0 0.00 0.01 0.02 Strain 0.03
Step 3 Step 2 Step 5 0 Step 4 Step 1

Contact Pressure 400 300 200 100 0 1 2 3 Step No. 4 5 26D+BPT-PT 26S+BPT-PT

R.T. 427

300 150

Contact Pressure (Mpa)

450

0.04

Figure-11 Relation of average contact pressure and material combination of flanges

Equivalent Plastic Strain (26D+BPT-PT) 0.10
Elem 16

(a) Case 26D+BPT-PT

TP304 Stress-Strain relationship
350 300 Stress (MPa) 250 200 150 100 50 0 0.00 0.01
Step 3 150 Step 5 Step 4 0 Step 2 Step 1

0.08
R.T. 427
Contact Pressure (Mpa) 450

Elem 1

0.06 0.04 0.02 0.00

300

Step Step Step Step Step

1 2 3 4 5

0.02 Strain

0.03

0.04

(b) Case 26D+BTP-TP Figure-10 Superimposed figure of stress-strain relationship and contact pressure-equivalent plastic strain of ring gasket Effects of Flange Material Combination From the previous discussion, it is clear that the thermal loading (the thermal expansion difference between gasket and flange including bolts) make the large contact pressure. The effects of flange material combination on the contact pressure due to thermal loading are investigated here. Case 26D+BPT-PT and 26S+BPT-PT are compared here to discuss the effects of flange material. The difference between two cases is only flange material. Average contact pressure of ring gasket is plotted in Figure-11. Although there is a very small difference in contact pressure on the way of start-up (step 2) and after shutdown (step5), it can be said that there is no remarkable difference in terms of contact pressure. Equivalent plastic strain distributions are shown in Figure12. Although the plastic strain at the edge of gasket of dissimilar material flange is larger than that of similar material, the average plastic strain is almost same in the two cases. It can be concluded that the effects of flange material combination are small. 5.2
0.10

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Element

(a) Case 26D+BPT-PT

Equivalent Plastic Strain (26S+BPT-PT)
Elem 16

0.08 0.06 0.04 0.02 0.00

Elem 1

Step Step Step Step Step

1 2 3 4 5

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Element

(b) Case 26S+BPT-PT Figure-12 Equivalent plastic strain distributions

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Effects of Flange Size The thermal expansion difference of dissimilar flanges in radial direction becomes larger with the flange size. Therefore, the effects of flange size of dissimilar material flange are investigated here. Case 14D+BPT-PT, 26D+BPT-PT and 36D+BPT-PT are compared to discuss the effects of flange size. The difference among three cases is only size. The initial bolting was controlled to bring the same contact pressure. Average contact pressure of ring gasket is plotted in Figure-13. As the size is larger, contact pressure at normal operation tends to be smaller. The difference can be seen in step 2 (initial bolting + internal pressure). Comparing 14 inches case with 36 inches case, the difference of contact pressure is 27%. This is because the deformation of flange due to internal pressure becomes larger with flange size. However, after thermal loading, the difference is reduced to 9%. In order to check the detailed behavior of ring gasket, equivalent plastic strain distributions of case 14D+BPT-PT and 36D+BPT-PT are shown in Figure-14, and contact pressure distributions normalized by average contact pressure at each step are shown in Figure-15. Since the behavior in step 2 is elastic as described in the paragraph 5.2, no significant difference between plastic strain distributions can be seen on the surface of ring gasket. On the other hand, it can be seen in Figure-15 that the contact pressure distribution pattern in step 2 (elastic behavior) is varied with flange size although there is no significant difference in the other steps. This fact coincides with the trend of Figure-13. It can be concluded that flange size affects the contact pressure reduction due to internal pressure, however, it does not affect the contact pressure due to thermal load.
Contact Pressure 400 Contact Pressure (MPa) 300 200 100 0 1 2 3 Step No 4 5 14D+BPT-PT 26D+BPT-PT 36D+BPT-PT

5.3

Equivalent Plastic Strain (14D+BPT-PT) 0.10 0.08 0.06 0.04 0.02 0.00 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Element 8 9 10 11 12
Elem 12 Elem 1

Step Step Step Step Step

1 2 3 4 5

(a) Case 14D+BPT-PT

Equivalent Plastic Strain (36D+BPT-PT) 0.10
Elem 16

0.08 0.06 0.04 0.02 0.00

Elem 1

Step Step Step Step Step

1 2 3 4 5

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Element

(b) Case 36D+BPT-PT Figure-14 Equivalent plastic strain distributions

Contact Pressure (14D+BPT-PT)

1.5 Normalized contact pressure

1.0
Node 11
Step 1 Step 2 Step 3 Step 4

Figure-13 Average contact pressure difference due to the difference of size

0.5

Node 1

0.0 1 2 3 4 5 6 Node 7 8 9 10 11

(a) Case 14D+BPT-PT

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Contact Pressure (26D+BPT-PT)

1.5 Normalized contact pressure 1.0

Node 15

0.5 0.0

Node 1

Step 1 Step 2 Step 3 Step 4

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Node

(b) Case 26D+BPT-PT

Contact Pressure (36+BPT-PT)

1.5 Normalized contact pressure

1.0
Node 15
Step 1 Step 2 Step 3 Step 4

0.5

Node 1

0.0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Node 9 10 11 12 13 14 15

(b) Case 36D+BPT-PT Figure-15 Normalized contact pressure distributions 6. CONCLUSION Heat transfer analysis and elastic plastic analysis were performed to investigate the behavior of dissimilar material flanges with metal ring gasket at elevated temperature. The following conclusions are obtained. From the viewpoint of leak, loading path is very important. Internal pressure must be loaded first in start-up and unloaded first in shutdown. In regard to material of flange, the effects of flange material combination on contact pressure are small. Flange size affects the contact pressure reduction due to internal pressure, however, it does not affect the contact pressure due to thermal load.

REFERENCES (1) ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code Section VIII Division 1. (2) T. Sawa and R. Higuchi, 2004, FEM Stress Analysis and Sealing Performance in Bolted Flange Connections with Cover of Pressure Vessel Subjected to Internal Pressure, ASME PVP-Vol. 478, pp. 81-88. (3) T. Kobayashi and K. Hamano, 2004, The Reduction of Bolt Load in Bolted Flange Joints due to Gasket CreepRelaxation Characteristics, ASME PVP-Vol. 478, pp. 97104. (4) A. Bouzid, M. Diany and M. Derenne, 2004, Determination of Gasket Effective Width based on Leakage, ASME PVP-Vol. 478, pp. 105-111. (5) T. Takaki, K. Satou, Y. Yamanaka and T. Fukuoka, 2004, Effects of Flange Rotation on the Sealing Performance of Pipe Flange Connections, ASME PVP-Vol. 478, pp. 121128. (6) T. Sawa, W. Maezaki and S. Nagata, 2004, Stress Analysis and the Sealing Performance Evaluation of Pipe Flange Connections with Gaskets Subjected to Internal Pressure and External Bending Moment, ASME PVPVol. 478, pp. 137-143. (7) T. Takaki and T. Fukuoka, 2004, Effective Bolting Up Procedure Using Finite Element Analysis and Elastic Interaction Coefficient Method, ASME PVP-Vol. 478, pp. 155-162. (8) W. Brown, 2004, Efficient Assembly of Pressure Vessel Bolted Joints, ASME PVP-Vol. 478, pp. 163-168. (9) T. Sawa and W. Maezaki, 2004, Thermal Stress Analysis and Sealing Performance Evaluation of Pipe Flange Connections with Spiral Wound Gaskets under Elevated Temperature, ASME PVP-Vol. 478, pp. 61-66. (10) A. Bouzid and A. Nechache, 2004, Creep Modeling in Bolted Flange Joints, ASME PVP-Vol. 478, pp. 49-56. (11) R.G. Brown, D.A. Osage, J.L. Janelle and G.M. Buchheim, 1998, Update of Ring Joint Cracking FFS Technology, PVP-Vol. 411, 221-228. (12) ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code Section II Part D. (13) JSME Mechanical Engineers Handbook (14) JSME, 1979, Second (final) Report of Research Cooperation Subcommittee 46 on Research and Development of the Methods for Inelastic Structural Analysis. (15) ABAQUS/Standard Users Manual, ABAQUS Inc.

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