Stress Types

Common Load Types and Categories

Primary Loads - The nature of Primary Loads is that the load magnitude does not diminish
when the structure deforms.

(Weight loads are also subdivided into “Dead” and “Live” Loads in structural steel codes)
Figure 1 – Primary Load Examples

Secondary Loads - The nature of Secondary Loads is that the load magnitude diminishes as
the structure deforms. Almost always these loads are a type of restrained expansion. NOTE:
The designer must be aware that this definition is temperature dependant. At temperatures in
the creep range of the material, some secondary loads take on the characteristics of
PRIMARY loads.

Occasional Loads - Occasional loads are similar to Primary Loads in that the magnitude of
the load does not diminish with deformation. Occasional loads are distinguished from
Primary Loads by being generally “rare” short duration events rather than continuous loads.
Fatigue Loads - The only requirement of a Fatigue Load is that the load has multiple
repetitions (has cycles). A fatigue load can otherwise be described under any other Load
Category.

Common Stress Types

The complex stress state of any component can be broken down into the following sub-
components.

Shear Stress - Shear stress is a tensor component used in the calculation of principal stresses.

Membrane Stresses - Membrane stress is a mean stress averaged through the thickness,
oriented parallel to the mid surface. Circumferential and longitudinal pressure stresses in a
cylinder are shown below. Membrane stresses are tensor components used in the calculation
of principal stresses. Note that in the absence of shear stresses, the magnitudes of the
membrane stress tensors are often identical to stress intensities. Can also be an “F/A” type of
stress.
...Two Kinds of Bending Stress:
Bending Stresses - Bending stress is term with different meanings depending on the code
used or the analytical technique used.

(a) Beam bending

Beam Bending Stresses - This is a longitudinal stress. In piping codes this stress is treated as
a uniform stress through the thickness of the pipe (varying with position on the
circumference). Note however, that torsional shear stresses are also included in the piping
codes’ bending stresses. This is also the type of bending stress reported by beam element
models.

(b) Shell bending

Shell Bending Stresses - This is a stress that varies through the thickness. In ASME Section
VIII Division 2, this is the only bending stress explicitly defined. Examples of shell bending
are shown in the longitudinal and circumferential directions below. Note that in some
components, such as pipe shoes or saddles, the bending stress may be oriented in directions
other than just circumferential or longitudinal. This is the type of bending stress reported by
shell element FE models. Axisymmetric and Brick element model results must be post
processed to this same definition.
Peak Stresses “F” - Peak stresses are related to “notch effects” and are only important for
fatigue life. If there are no load cycles, then peak stresses are unimportant (except for some
special environmental considerations, like SCC).
Stress Categories

Individual Stress Intensity Components

The stress components described in Section (2) above must be calculated for separate load
cases and combined to determine principal stresses for each load category. Stress Intensities
are computed from the principal stresses [4-120.]
_1 > _2 > _3
S12 = || _1 - _2 ||
S23 = || _2 - _3 ||
S31 = || _3 - _1 ||
Stress intensity = Max( S12, S23, S31)
There are code limits on some individual stress intensities such as “PL” (described below).
Other code limits (see 3.2) are determined by first computed combining tensor components
for membrane, bending, etc, then finding the principal stresses and stress intensities.

Primary Stresses: Pm, PL, PB

Primary stress can only be caused by primary loads
Primary stresses lead to burst or collapse...deformations in the structure do not reduce the
magnitude of primary stresses (eg. primary stresses are not “self-limiting”.)
Pm = General Primary Membrane Stress [4-112(f) & (g)]
PL = Primary Local Membrane Stress [4-112(i)]
Pb = Primary Bending Stress [4-112(g)]
Pm is (usually) not an FEA stress: Pm is satisfied by code formulas for pressure design,
except for unlisted components.
Pb (as a shell bending stress) is not a stress usually found in Nozzle/PRO geometries (See
Table 4-120.1, of ASME Section VIII Division 2).
Note: under Section III definitions, where Pb is due to beam type bending, it is considered
“conservative” to include it as “PL”.

Secondary Stresses: Q
Primary or secondary loads can cause secondary stress. The following cylinder cone junction
under pressure loads illustrates how primary loads (pressure) cause secondary stresses:

Secondary Stresses are not usually subdivided in to “m”, “L” and “b” categories under
Division 2, except when the “SPS” stress limit is exceeded. (See article 4-136.7 of Division
II)

FE661 use of “Qb” for primary loads is NOT an ASME VIII Division 2 code check, it is an
ASME Section III code check.
Combined Stress Intensities and Stress Intensity Ranges

The code rules and limits on combined stresses are based on preventing ratcheting. Stress
intensities are computed as described in (3.1). First the code rules assume that material
behaves as elastic perfectly plastic (Figure 10). The possible combinations of primary and
secondary stress are illustrated in the simplified diagrams of Figure 11: the left hand side is a
simplified hysteresis diagram, and the right hand side is a simplified Bree diagram. The Bree
diagram is a simplified illustration of the combination of primary and secondary stresses. In
the code it is possible to enter the “P” range of the Bree diagram, but there is a heavy penalty
on Fatigue stresses (Article 4-136.7). The code stress combinations and limits are illustrated
by Figure 4-130.1 (reproduced and amplified as Figure 12)
FE661 Load Cases and Combinations
FE661 Stress Report

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