Efficient analysis of piping system

Abstract

A piping system is a structure composed of pipes with various thickness, diameter and length. Accurate analysis of a piping system requires a complicated three dimensional finite element model and a computer system with large memory size, while a simplified model may result in system response prediction with deteriorated accuracy. An efficient analysis model for piping systems is proposed in this thesis. The proposed model developed by introducing pipe joint elements can express the behavior of a pipe joint adequately. Pipes are represented by beam elements and the effect of local deformation of pipe joint is replaced by joint element deformations. The proposed model which is as simple and efficient as a beam model can be used to obtain the piping system response with accuracy close to that of a finite element model.