Computing Minimum Design Metal Temperature According to

ASME Section VIII, Division 1

Intergraph CAS
Ray Delaforce

The Minimum Design Metal Temperature is also known by the acronym: MDMT. Carbon
steels can become brittle at low temperatures, and can fail catastrophically at these temperatures.
Normally vessel components are designed using the allowable design stresses provided by the
code. These design stress are determined using safety factors that ensure the vessels can be
safely operated within the design parameters. However, at low temperature, a vessel can fail
suddenly at stresses well below the allowable stresses provided by the code. These failures are
sudden, and unpredictable.
We shall now see how the MDMT is set for a component in a pressure vessel that is made of
Carbon steel.

Determination of the MDMT

The factors used by the code are as follows:
1. The nominal thickness of the plate
2. The material specification
3. The heat treatment to which the component material is subject
Let us look first at the material specification. According to the code, a carbon steel falls into any
one of four material groups. These groups are designated as: A, B, C or D. We can see this
grouping in the ASME code at Figure UCS-66 which we reproduce below. If we look for the
material SA 516 70, it is in Group B. However, if it is supplied in the Normalized state, it is a
Group D material.

Once we have settled on our material specification, the next thing we have to determine is the
nominal thickness. So let us choose a material:
a) Thickness 1.25 inches
b) Group B (Curve B) material
We now look at Figure UCS-66 from which we can determine the MDMT as follows:

From the Graph, it is determined that the MDMT is 42OF.

But, we also have to consider the required of calculated thickness of the component. As an
exercise, let us say we have the following data for our component:
A cylinder
Inside Diameter
Shell thickness
Design Pressure
Joint Efficiency
Design Stress

120 inches
1.25 inches
300 psi
1.0
20 000 psi

We can compute the required thickness of this cylinder as follows:

It is apparent, that the required or calculated wall thickness is less than the actual corroded
thickness. We can get some credit for lowering the temperature from the 42 F we have deduced
from the graph UCS-66 as shown above.
We need the ratio of the required thickness to the actual thickness. According to figure UCS66.2 we need to compute this ratio:

Let us perform this calculation as directed:

Now that we have the ratio (0.809), we can now enter graph Figure UCS-66.1 as follows:

We get a further reduction of 19 OF. So our final MDMT is:

From Figure UCS-66
From Figure UCS-66.1

42OF
-19 OF

Final MDMT

23 OF

If you had done this using PV Elite, the MDMT calculation would look like this:

Minimum Design Metal Temperature Results:

Govrn. thk, tg = 1.250 , tr = 0.910 , c = 0.1250 in , E* = 1.00
Stress Ratio = tr * (E*) / (tg - c) = 0.809 , Temp. Reduction = 19 F
Min Metal Temp. w/o impact per UCS-66
Min Metal Temp. at Required thickness (UCS 66.1)

42 F
23 F

Elements Suitable for Internal Pressure.

As a side issue, PV Elite rounds temperatures off to a whole number.

MDMT Depends on the Stress Reduction Ratio

The stress reduction ratio depends the computed thickness of the component. This is the symbol
tr used in the equation below:

Obviously then, tr depends on the pressure to which the component is subjected. We have to
consider two pressures in the case of a pressure vessel as a whole. They are:
1. The design pressure the pressure used for designing the vessel
2. The MAWP (Maximum Allowable Working Pressure) the maximum pressure the
vessel can sustain, determined by its weakest element.
The MAWP is higher than the Design Pressure. This can be illustrated by a simple example:
Suppose in calculating the minimum thickness of a component for the design pressure, the
thickness turned out to be 0.716 inches. Clearly, one could not purchase a plate that is 0.716
inches thick. However, one could purchase a plate that is 0.75 inches thick. The 0.75 inch plate
can sustain a higher pressure than the 0.716 inch plate. Thus, the higher pressure becomes the
MAWP for the 0.75 inch plate.
So, the question arises: What pressure do we used to compute MDMT? It could be the Design
Pressure, or, it could be the MAWP. PV Elite gives you the choice.
If you go to the configuration dialog screen here by clicking on ToolsConfiguration as shown
Here:

There is a place on the configuration screen where you can choose to compute the MDMT based
upon either the design pressure or the MAWP. It is here:

If the box is checked the, the MDMT will be computed at the MAWP of the vessel. If it is not
checked, the MDMT will be computed at the Design Pressure.

How Does PV Elite Compute the MDMT from Figure UCS-66

PV Elite can internally compute the MDMT from Figure UCS-66 is several ways. If we look
again at the Configuration Screen, there is a drop down list box that gives us two choices. It is
here:

Traditionally, in years gone by, the code only had Figure UCS-66 from which the designer had to
squint his eyes to read the graph and hope that the answer he got was reasonable. PV Elite was
first written in those times, and internally a series of equations was developed (know as
polynomials) to obtain the desired MDMT. Later, ASME issued a table that gave the MDMT

values for various thicknesses. So, two methods are available. That is the reason why either
method can be chosen in the Configuration Screen.

Metric values for the MDMT evaluation

The code uses two sets of units that are used throughout the code. They are known as
Customary Units, and Metric Units. Unfortunately, the code does not use the exact conversions
for these units. For example, the equivalent of 1 inch is 25 mm, not 25.4 mm. The same is true
when it comes to temperatures. There are two tables in the code for the MDMT evaluation. If
they are put side by side like this:

The temperatures do not match completely. For example, consider the MDMT for 0.875 in thick
material according to curve A. This is what we have:

Now, 0.875 inches converts to 22.225 mm, and 61 deg F converts to 16.111 deg C. So there is a
discrepancy of a fraction of the degree. The next question that arises is this: Do we round up or
round down to get the final MDMT. PV Elite does all its calculations (the computing engine) in
Imperial (English) units. This means that in deriving the final MDMT for a designer using the
metric system, the program could be off by as much as a degree. This is unavoidable since the
code uses soft conversions from Imperial to Metric Units.