CAESAR II Seminar COADE, Inc.

Seminar Job: DLF_CHECK

Dynamic Load Factor Verification

Topics Addressed: Element Break Time History DLF Concept

Introduction:
This job details verifies that the maximum DLF (dynamic load factor) for an impulse load is 2.0. This
verification can be achieved by utilizing a cantilever. A static tip load is applied and the resulting
deflection is noted. Next, a time history analysis is performed, dropping the same load on the end of the
cantilever.

As an illustrative exercise, a variable number of nodes/elements will be used as well as a number of

damping ratios.

The piping particulars are defined in the following table.

Parameter Value
Outer Diameter 4 inch nominal
Wall Thickness standard
Length 10,000 mm
Material Low Carbon

Modeling:
To begin, verify that all "Configuration Options" are set to their default values. This can be accomplished
via the [Tools\Configure - Setup] menu option.

From the [File] menu, select the [New] option. In the edit box, specify the job name as DLF_CHECK.
Click [OK] on this dialog, which returns control to the Main Menu. From the [Input] menu, select [Piping].

Define a single piping element as follows:

ƒ From node 100 to node 1100

ƒ DX = 10,000 mm

ƒ Diameter = 4 inch nominal, thickness = standard

ƒ Material = #1, low carbon steel

ƒ Define an anchor at node 100

ƒ Define an FY force of -1000 N at node 1100

This information is shown in the figure below.

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Use the "element break" option to break this cantilever into smaller elements. For illustrative purposes, a
number of different models will be attempted, according to the following table.

Pick this!!
Node Increment Number of Elements Element Length
200 5 2000 mm
100 10 1000 mm
50 20 500 mm

Important Note: Remember to Verify the Mass Spacing.

Utilizing the paper from the course notes, the maximum mass (node) spacing for this job
can be determined as:

L = 9.2 * ( t * D^3 / W )^0.25

t = 0.237 in
D = 4.50 in
W = 10.779 lb/ft
L = 10.94 ft or 3336 mm

Therefore, for this problem, mass spacing is not an issue.

Finish off the static model by using the "element break", and specify the desired node increment. Invoke
the error checker and proceed to the Static Analysis.

Static Analysis and Results:

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When the load case editor starts, it will recommend a single load case with both weight and concentrated
forces. Add another load case for just the concentrated force. This is shown in the figure below.

Load case 2 represents the static load applied at the free end of the cantilever. The tip deflection from
this load case will be used in comparison to the dynamic results. Upon running this analysis, the nodal
displacements for load case 2 are determined as shown in the figure below.

The free end (tip) of the cantilever is node 1100, which experiences a "Y" displacement of –544.5 mm.

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Dynamic Input Specification:

Invoke the dynamic input processor. When the dialog appears, use the drop list in the upper left corner to
set the analysis type to Time History. To define the time history input parameters, a number of “tabbed
dialog” boxes must be used. Each of these, and their respective input, is discussed below.

Time History Definitions: This dialog is used to name the time history profiles and specify their data
points. For this job, define a single profile, named DROP, as “time” versus “force”, with linear
interpolation. Once this pulse name and details are specified, the Spectrum Data Points option becomes
active. Click this button and define the “XY” data defining the actual pulse. These details are shown in
the figure below.

From the pulse definition, we can see that the load is applied instantly (0.1 milliseconds) and left there for
the duration of the analysis.

Force Sets: The next dialog is used to define force sets. (A force set defines a load, a direction, and a
node.) For this analysis, only one force set is needed. Define Force Set #1 as –1000 N acting in the “Y”
direction at node 1100. This is shown in the following figure.

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Time History Load Cases: The next dialog is used to define the time history load case, i.e. what pulses
are combined with what force sets to load the system.. For this analysis, there is only a single pulse and
a single force set. The drop lists can be used to select the input for this dialog, shown in the figure below.

Control Parameters: The last dialog to be addressed is the Control Parameter dialog. This dialog is
used to define a number of solution specific items, which in this case control the application and duration
of the load. The specific items set on this dialog are:

ƒ The frequency cut-off is set to 200 Hz. The modal solution will continue extracting modes (natural
frequencies) until a frequency greater than 200 Hz is encountered.

ƒ The time history time step is set to 0.5 milliseconds. This corresponds to the application of the
load. (The rule of thumb here is that there should be at least ten time steps over the period
associated with the highest natural frequency used in the analysis. To acquire this information, a
modal analysis should be run. For this job, the highest frequency is about 374 Hz with a
corresponding period of .003 sec, or 3 milliseconds. So the time step should be about 0.3
milliseconds.)

ƒ The load duration is set to 0.5 seconds. This is sufficiently long enough obtain the results we
want.

ƒ The damping ratio is initially left as 3% of critical.

ƒ The number of individual time step reports is unnecessary in this instance, so this value is set to
1.

The Control Parameters dialog used for the analysis is shown in the figure below.

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Analysis and Results:

Upon invoking the analysis, 22 frequencies are extracted, with frequency number 22 at 374 Hz. Many of
these values are repeated. Why? Examining the displacement report for the "Maximum Response" load
case shows that at node 1100 (the free end of the cantilever) a maximum "Y" displacement of –1021 mm
was attained at a time of 475 milliseconds.

The Dynamic Load Factor (DLF) can be computed as (-1021.1 / -544.5) which is the dynamic
displacement divided by the static displacement. This division yields a DLF of 1.875, somewhat less than
the 2.0 we were expecting. Why?

Perhaps damping is the reason. Additional runs can be made, varying the damping from 3% to 0%. The
maximum "Y" displacements and the corresponding DLF values are summarized in the table below.

Damping Max Y Displacement DLF

3% -1021.1 1.875
2% -1035.7 1.902
1% -1050.5 1.929
0% -1066.1 1.958

The data in this table shows that when damping is reduced to zero, the DLF for an impulse load does in
fact approach the theoretical value of 2.0.

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Variations:
Compare and contrast the maximum dynamic displacement with fewer and more lumped masses in the
dynamic model.

Consider the effects of mass spacing on the calculated natural frequencies. Note that while the
frequencies drift higher with finer mass distribution, the mode shapes are very similar.

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