A Closed-Form Solution to Characterize the Behavior of Piping T-Joints

摘要

The performance characterization of a critical component like T-joints in piping systems for the purposes of fragility assessment requires experimental data. The component level experimental data is limited to specific thicknesses and diameters of the specimen used. Therefore, the experimentally obtained empirical models for incorporation into the simulation study cannot be extended directly to the different thickness and diameter of the pipe. This is a fundamental drawback in developing empirical models using the experimental data directly. Conducting multiple experiments for different pipe properties can be quite costly and impractical. Therefore, there is a need to incorporate a closed-form solution which can exhibit a reasonable reconciliation between the experimental and simulation data. A closed-form solution, which represents the behavior of a T-joint as a function of geometrical properties of the pipe, can also pave the way to account for degradation mechanism. This manuscript presents a new approach to characterize T-joint behavior through a closed-form solution. A closed-form solution can characterize T-joint behavior in a generalized form that allows assessment of the effect of pipe thicknesses on the T-joint behavior.