Engineering Failure Analysis 12 (2005) 432439

www.elsevier.com/locate/engfailanal

Failure analysis and critical manufacturing

technology research on titanium condensers
Qiu-Lin Ma, Hong Xu *, Zhi-Wen Wang, Feng Hou, Lin-Yun Xu
Research Institute of Process Equipment and Pressure Vessels, East China University of Science and Technology,
P.O. Box 402, Shanghai 200237, PR China
Received 5 January 2004; accepted 28 February 2004
Available online 7 January 2005

Abstract
The failure of titanium condensers used in Yangzi Petrochemical Co. Ltd. was analyzed by experiment and calculation. It was concluded that uid-induced vibration in the tube bundle resulted in the fatigue damage of titanium tubes
in condensers. Structure adjustments to reduce vibration were presented to the design of the titanium condensers. Also
the critical manufacturing technology was studied by tests and analysis.
2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Titanium Condenser; Fatigue; Vibration; Tube failures

0. Introduction
There is a total of 12 large-scale titanium condensers in the oxidation sections of the two PTA (pphthalic acid) production lines at Yangzi Petrochemical Co., Ltd. in China. After about 10 years of operation, tube leakage failure occurred in most of the titanium condensers and severely aected the stable
operation of the circulation water system in the plant. Leakage also caused unexpected corrosion and
damage in the condenser shell, expansion section, tube sheet, equipment of the circulation water system,
etc.
The present paper introduces the results of the analysis on the fractured heat exchanger tubes of two HE302 condensers in 1999 and 2000 and provides suggestions concerned with structural improvement. In the
meantime, the key technology in the domestic manufacturing of titanium condensers was also studied.

Corresponding author. Tel./fax: +86 21 6425 3810.

E-mail address: hxu@ecust.edu.cn (H. Xu).

1350-6307/$ - see front matter 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.engfailanal.2004.10.005

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All of the condensers are tubular heat exchangers [1], in which six cases are named HE-301 and others HE-302. The conventional method of arranging tubes in the notched area of the bae plate is
adopted. Each HE-302 condenser has 1880 heat exchange tubes, 25 mm in diameter and 1.25 mm in
thickness.

1. Analysis of failure causes

1.1. Determination of failure type
In the two HE-302 condensers used as the samples for the analysis, fractured sections of tubes are at
a distance of 160165 mm from the lower opening of the tube and are close to the upper surface of the
tubesheet (see Fig. 1). Fig. 2 shows the macroscopic appearance of the fractured section. As can be seen
from the picture, fractures occurred in circles along the heat exchanger tube and have no branches.
Fractured sections are smooth and clean and have no obvious plastic deformation. There are no other
cracks in the vicinity of the fractured section. Neither the surface nor the inner wall of the titanium tube
has obvious corrosion. The preliminary judgment is that the fracture of the titanium tube is caused by
fatigue.
Fig. 3 is a picture illustrating the microscopic appearance of the fractured section of the titanium heat
exchanger tube observed under a scanning electron microscope. Fatigue striations and a smooth fatigue
expansion area (expansion in the direction from the outer wall to the inner wall of the tube) can be clearly
seen, indicating that the fracture failure type is fatigue fracture [2].
1.2. Analysis of causes of fatigue fracture
1.2.1. Type of vibration that may occur in condensers and rules for determining whether vibration occurs
(1) Karman vortex shedding: Karman vortex shedding might occur when fv/f1 P 0.5. Here, fv is the Karman vortex frequency, and f1 is the rst intrinsic frequency of the heat exchange tube [3]. The intrinsic
frequency of the tube is related to the uid density in the tube, the mass of the tube material, the size of
the tube, the span length of the tube, and the tube array number.
(2) Turbulence excitation: Turbulence excitation might occur when f0/f1 P 0.5. Here, f0 is the main frequency of the turbulence excitation.
(3) Fluid elastic instability: Fluid elastic instability might occur when v P vc. Here, v is the transverse ow
speed and vc the critical transverse ow speed of the tube bundle.

1.2.2. Results of analysis on invalid titanium condenser

All of the vibration calculation and assessment results are listed in Table 1. As can be seen from the results, the titanium condensers in use have the possibility of causing vibration, but only the tubes that penetrate through the nozzle area of the bae plate have vibrations.

2. Vibration reduction measures and structural improvement

There are various types of vibration reduction technologies for heat exchangers [2,4,5]. Some are explained as following.

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Fig. 1. (a) Outline of condenser. (b) Position of fractured section.

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435

Fig. 2. Fractured section in titanium tube: (a) front face of fractured section; (b) side face of fractured section.

Fig. 3. SEM photo of fractured face.

(1) Reduce the ow speed near the shell: Examples of such measures include an increase in the central distance of the tube arrangement and changes in the arrangement angle of the tube bundle.
(2) Increase the intrinsic frequency of the tube: Since the intrinsic frequency of a tube is in reverse proportion to the square of the span of the tube, the most eective method for increasing the intrinsic frequency of the tube is to reduce the maximum span of the tube in the absence of support. It is also
possible to change the material of the tube or to place the tube in a stretched stress state. These methods, however, are not very eective.
(3) Change the form of the bae plate: For example, a bow-shaped or ring-shaped bae plate with no
tube arranged at the notch can be adopted. A rod-shaped or stripe-shaped support (also known as bafing rod) can solve the vibration problem eectively.
(4) Increase the sizes of the connecting tubes at the entrance and exit to lower the ow rate at said
entrances and exits. It is also possible to arrange a current fending plane or ow guiding barrel (or
current divider).
Since the tube arrays in a titanium condenser in which vibration occurs are all in the notched area of the
bae plate, the vibration problem can be solved most eectively by adopting a bow-shaped bae plate with
no tube arranged at the notch. This method does not require a signicant change to the structure of the
titanium condenser or a complete modication design. This type of structure not only can eliminate the

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Table 1
Vibration calculation results of titanium condenser
Vibration mode

Position

Calculated parameter

Tubes through notches of support plates

Calculated values

Critical values

Results

Vortex shedding

Outlet
Inlet
Support plates
Outlet
Inlet
Support plates
Outlet
Inlet
Support plates

fv1/f1
fv2/f1
fv3/f1
ft1/f1
ft2/f1
ft3/f1
v1
v2
v3

0.772
0.865
0.775
0.264
0.296
0.258
1.325
0.945
1.995

0.5
0.5
0.5
0.5
0.5
0.5
1.52
0.97
2.35

V
V
V
No
No
No
No
No
No

Turbulence excitation

Fluidelastic instability

V
V
V
V
V
V

V means vibration takes place.

vibration of the tubes, which are most likely to have problems because they are supported at every other
bae plate, but also has no inuence at all on the pressure loss.
Consequently, the NO-TUBEs-IN-WINDOWs structure with no tube arranged in the notched area of
the bae plate is adopted for both the newly ordered imported titanium condenser and the domestically
manufactured titanium condenser to realize the vibration-reduction objective. Since the eective area for
tube arrangement is reduced, the diameter of the cylindrical body of the condenser is slightly increased
when the structure with no tube arranged in the notched area of bae plate is adopted.

3. Selection of connecting method between titanium tube and tubesheet during domestic production
The characteristics of titanium must be taken into consideration when manufacturing a titanium tube
heat exchanger [3]. Since titanium has a relatively low elastic modulus and high resilience, tube expansion
becomes much more dicult when connecting a titanium tube and a steel tubesheet. In addition, since titanium has a low creep resistance, creep will occur even at normal temperatures. Titanium cannot be welded
with other metals.
Reference [6] uses tests to compare the interfacial strength between the titanium tube and tubesheet connected with dierent methods. The connecting methods include uniform expansion (hydraulic expansion),
roller expansion, welding, and their combination. The test results (see Fig. 4) show that it is inappropriate

Pushout Force / kN

60
50

50.11

51.40

C+A

49.26

40
30
20
12.83

10

8.20

0
A

A+B

C+A+B

Joint type

Fig. 4. Pushout force test results for dierent joint types [6].

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to only use the expanding connection method to endure the thermal stress or other load of the tube array in a
titanium-tube array heat exchanger. Roller expansion can reduce the remaining axial stress generated in the
tube during uniform expansion to improve the stress in the tube, so that the pushout force can be signicantly
increased. A very good connecting eect can be realized by welding. If uniform expansion or uniform expansion and roller expansion is applied at that time, all of the fractured positions can be kept outside the tubesheet.
Based on the aforementioned research results, a tube-to-tubesheet connecting method of strength welding plus bonding expansion is selected for the HE-302 titanium condenser studied in the present paper during repair and domestic manufacturing.

4. Bonding expansion simulated test and pushout test

4.1. Bonding expansion simulated test
In order to investigate the eect of bonding expansion and to nd an appropriate tube expansion pressure, a tube expansion test is carried out using a simulation test device.
The simulation test device has the same material and specications as the HE-302 condenser. The tube is
made of titanium (TA2). The thickness of the tubesheet is the same as that of the condenser. The material is
carbon steel. As shown in Fig. 5, the device has seven heat exchange tubes.
The bonding expansion width of each tubesheet is 180 mm, and the tube expansion test is carried out
under dierent tube expansion pressures. An airtight test is carried out after expansion. In the meantime,
many simulated rods are prepared and dissected after expansion. The tube expansion rate and the tube wall
thinning rate are measured and calculated; the smooth transition state between the expansion connected
part and the non-expanded part is observed. The expansion connection parameters are nally determined
through two types of test methods. When carrying out the simulation test, although all 14 expanded holes
pass the 0.1-MPa airtight test, some expanded holes are found to have leakage after the sample is retested
after being set for 48 h. This proves that titanium material has a creep property at ambient temperature and
also proves that expansion connection alone cannot be used as the strength connection method for a titanium tube with a steel tubesheet. This method can only be applied to bonding expansion.
4.2. Pushout test of heat exchange tube and tubesheet
As can be seen from the aforementioned analysis, the optimum connection method for a titanium heat
exchange tube and tubesheet is strength welding plus bonding expansion. A tube-to-tubesheet test is carried

Fig. 5. Experiment device modelling the condenser HE302.

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out in order to investigate the reliability of this combined connection method and to nd rational manufacturing parameters.
Heat exchange tubes are made of TA1, 25.4 mm in diameter and 1.25 mm in thickness. The composite
tubesheet is made of TA2 of 10 mm thick and 16MnR of 80 mm thick.
Table 2 and Fig. 6 show the test results. The following conclusions can be drawn from the test results.
(1) Even if strength expansion is adopted, its pushout is still relatively small. Also, the pushout result is
complete pushout. This explains why the method that only performs expansion but no welding is
not suitable for connecting a titanium heat exchange tube with a steel tubesheet.
(2) A relatively high pushout strength can be obtained using the connection method that only performs
welding but no expansion. However, if welding is only performed once or twice, the tube always breaks
at the weld seam. This means that the weld seam is the weak part in the method that only performs
welding but no expansion.

Table 2
Pushout test results
No

Expansion situation

Welding conditions

Pushout force/kN

Fractured status

1
2
3
4
5
6

Expanded
Expanded
Expanded
Expanded

Expanded

21.5
45.5
46.5
45.0
43.5
48.0

Pushout
Tube fractured outside of the tubesheet
Tube fractured outside of the tubesheet
Tube fractured outside of the tubesheet
Fractured in the weld
Fractured in the heat aected zone of the weld

7
8

Expanded

45.0
36.0

Tube fractured outside of the tubesheet

Fractured in the weld

45.0

Tube fractured outside of the tubesheet

10

45.0

Tube fractured outside of the tubesheet

11

Expanded

Welded
Welded
Welded
Welded
Welded 1 lled with
/2 lines + Welded 2
Welded 1 + Welded 2
Welded 1 lled with
/2 lines + Welded 2
Welded 1 + Welded 2
lled with /2 lines + Welded 3
Welded 1 + Welded 2 lled
with /2 lines + Welded 3
Welded

45.5

Tube fractured outside of the tubesheet

Fig. 6. Device photos of modelling tube-to-tubesheet after pushout experiment: (a) composite titanium side; (b) carbon steel tubesheet
side.

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(3) When the connection method that combines welding and expansion is adopted, not only can a relatively
high pushout strength be obtained, but it is also possible to guarantee that the fractioned positions of the
tube are all kept outside the substrate of the tubesheet. Therefore, it is the optimum connection method.
(4) In the connection method that combines welding and expansion, strength expansion and bonding
expansion have little inuence on the test results. Therefore, adopting strength expansion has no obvious superiority. The necessity of adopting strength expansion is insucient.
(5) In order to obtain the same pushout test results as those realized by the connection method that combines welding and expansion, a three-layer welding-only method can be used. This method, however, is
time consuming, and it is dicult to guarantee a stable quality at the welded joint. Therefore, this
method is not recommended.

5. Conclusions and suggestions

After thoroughly analyzing the causes of failure of the HE-302 condenser, it is concluded that the fracture of the titanium tube in the condenser is fatigue fracture caused by vibration of the tube array. Also,
only the tube array arranged in the notch area of the bae plate has vibration. Based on this, we provide
the following suggestions for the domestic manufacture of the HE-302 titanium condenser.
(1) Heat exchange tubes still use titanium material, but the wall thickness is increased to 1.5 mm to reinforce the rigidity of the heat exchange tube.
(2) Increase the thickness of the bae plate, reduce the shearing eect of the bae plate on the tube,
increase the damping of the system, reduce vibration, or change the form of the bae plate by adopting a baing rod. All these measures can reduce the vibration problem and improve the heat exchange
eect.
(3) A NO-TUBEs-IN-WINDOWs structure is adopted for condenser design to eliminate vibration of titanium tubes.
(4) Hydraulic expansion connection is adopted in tube-to-tubesheet connections to realize a relatively
good connection eect.
(5) Current fending plates are arranged at the entrance of the condenser to reduce the impact of the condensing medium on the tube array.
(6) Neither the method that only performs expansion but no welding nor the method that only performs
welding but no expansion is suitable for connecting a titanium heat exchange tubes with steel tubesheet. The method that combines welding and expansion is the suitable connection method. However,
adopting strength expansion has no obvious superiority. The optimum connection method is strength
welding plus bonding expansion.

References
[1] Qingde Nie. Chemical equipment design. Beijing: Chemical Industry Publishing House; 1993.
[2] Xiangchen Liu, Chenshu Zhang. Chemical equipment accident analysis and prevention. Beijing: Chemical Industry Publishing
House; 1990.
[3] Yaoqin Wang. Titanium chemical equipment design. Shanghai: Shanghai Science and Technology Publishing House; 1985.
[4] GB151-89, Steel tube shell-type heat exchanger The Chinese Standard Committee; 1989.
[5] Sandifer JB. Guidelines for ow-induced vibration prevention in heat exchangers. WRC Bulletion 1992;372(5):2035.
[6] Jawad MH, Clarkin EJ. Evaluation of tube-to-tubesheet junctions. J Press Vessel Tech 1987;109:1926.