Development of a Bellows Finite Element for the Analysis of Piping System

배관시스템 해석을 위한 벨로우즈 유한요소의 개발

Bellows is a familiar component in piping systems as it provides a relatively simple means of absorbing thermal expansion and providing system flexibility. In routine piping flexibility analysis by finite element methods, bellows is usually considered to be straight pipe runs modified by an appropriate flexibility factor; maximum stresses are evaluated using a corresponding stress concentration factor. The aim of this study is to develop a bellows finite element, which similarly includes more complex shell type deformation patterns. This element also does not require flexibility or stress factors, but evaluates more detailed deformation and stress patterns. The proposed bellows element is a 3-D, 2-noded line element, with three degrees of freedom per node and no bending. It is formulated by including additional 'internal' degrees of freedom to account for the deformation of the bellows corrugation; specifically a quarter toroidal section of the bellows, loaded by axial force, is considered and the shell type deformation of this is include by way of an approximating trigonometric series. The stiffness of each half bellows section may be found by minimising the potential energy of the section for a chosen deformation shape function. An experiment on the flexibility is performed to verify the reliability for bellows finite element.