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3D solid bolt analysis for pressure vessels

Andy Howson (Pacson Valves)

1st CADFEM ANSYS Simulation Conference, United Kingdom

2nd & 3rd November 2016 – Oxford Spires Hotel, Oxford
© CADFEM 2016
Contents
Basic manual bolt calculations

Finite Element modelling of example joint

Example applications from project work

Bolt sizing - nominal bolt force and bolt stress
𝑭𝒆𝒙𝒕
𝐴𝑝𝑝𝑙𝑖𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑙𝑒 𝑙𝑜𝑎𝑑 (𝑒𝑥𝑐𝑙𝑢𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑙𝑜𝑎𝑑)
𝜎𝑛𝑜𝑚 =
𝐵𝑜𝑙𝑡 𝑐𝑟𝑜𝑠𝑠 𝑠𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑎𝑙 𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑎

Applied loads
Gasket seating force for non-self-energising gaskets
Pressure acting across seal diameter
External tensile and bending loads

Pros/cons of method
+ quick and easy (ie, cheap!)
- provides little understanding of joint behaviour
- can produce overly conservative designs
𝑭𝒆𝒙𝒕
Preload & external concentric load
𝑘𝑏𝑜𝑙𝑡
In a preloaded joint, the bolt sees only a portion of the applied external load: ∆𝐹_𝑏𝑜𝑙𝑡 = 𝐹𝑒𝑥𝑡
𝑘𝑏𝑜𝑙𝑡 + 𝑘𝑗𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑡

∆𝐹_𝑏𝑜𝑙𝑡
Model valid only for concentric load applied at load
plane directly under nut
𝐹𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑙𝑜𝑎𝑑
𝐹𝑒𝑥𝑡
Force

Applies only prior to a critical load (joint

separation) after which behaviour is as-per non-
preloaded bolt
Deformation

Bolt stretch Clamped member

compression
Effect of eccentric load

A real joint does not typically apply a force directly under the nut and in line with the bolt axis
Load offset causes the flange to act as a lever
Bending induced in the clamped components and bolt
Bolt force can be increased due to prying effect
Bolt force response becomes nonlinear prior to flange separation
Method - pre-processing
FE geometry prepared from CAD geometry in SpaceClaim
Local details removed from clamped components – stiffness important, local stress raisers not important

Shank represented as plain cylinder, using nominal minor diameter of external thread (for fully-threaded stud)

Bolt volumes sectioned to suit hex meshing

Method - pre-processing
Material models Contact
Linear elastic bolt components Frictional between clamped components
Elastic-plastic clamped components (ASME BPVC
Bonded between nuts and clamped components
VIII-2 Annex 3-D)
Method - pre-processing
Mesh in clamped components relatively coarse

Element size in free shank based on known-good shank diameter to max element size ratio
Valid for shank lengths > 1*shank diameter
Method - pre-processing
Loading
Pretension force applied at load step 1
3 simulations (min, nominal, max) to account for preload scatter
Pretension displacement locked at load step 2

Thermal load applied at load step 3 (if applicable)

Ramping pressure/structural loads from load step 4

External load increased over at least 20 load steps
Method – post processing
Average bolt stress
Static stress criteria
Maximum bolt stress (excluding concentrations)
Extracted with APDL macro
Alternating stress (excluding concentrations) Fatigue criterion

Bolt load Thread shear/bearing stress criteria

Flange-flange contact gap/contact pressure Leakage/service criterion Extracted in Workbench

Method – post processing
APDL Macro extracts bolt results
Element results used to generate average and maximum stress for each element ‘layer’ at each load step
Results close to singularities removed using an average stress convergence
Nodal results used to calculate alternating stress between 2 user-defined load steps
Bolt force extracted from pretension element

Maximum flange-flange contact gap/contact pressure extracted with contact tool in Workbench
Method – post processing
Extracted results allow the nonlinear response of the system to be examined
Note the effect of preload scatter on results

Bolt stress Flange-flange contact gap

80000
75000 0.007
Equivalent (von-Mises) bolt stress (psi)

70000
0.006

Maximum contact gap (in)

65000
60000 0.005

55000
0.004
50000
45000 0.003

40000 0.002
35000
30000 0.001
0 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 6000 7000 8000 9000
0
Internal pressure (psi) 0 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 6000 7000 8000 9000
Average stress, min preload Maximum stress, min preload Internal pressure (psi)
Average stress, nominal preload Maximum stress, nominal preload
Average stress, max preload Maximum stress, max preload Min preload Nominal preload Max preload
Example application - bolted bonnet on swing check valve

Bolt stress exceeded allowable values at 10000 psi design pressure by manual calculation
Design verified in accordance with API Specification 6A bolt stress limit (𝑆𝐴 = 0.83 × 𝑆𝑌 ) using FE method
Example application – tie rods on hydraulic actuator
Tie rods added to existing hydraulic actuator design to increase load capacity using existing actuator body
Manual method not suitable to determine proportion of load transferred via each load path
FE method used to verify existing bolting and additional tie rods
Any questions?

Covered:
Basic manual bolt calculations

Finite Element modelling of example joint

Example applications from project work