Finite element modelling of plastic collapse of metallic single mitred pipe bends subject to in-plane bending moments

摘要

Theoretical analysis based on the finite element (FE) method for plastic collapse of metallic single mitred pipe bends of various geometries, subject to in-plane bending moment, were carried out using both ABAQUS and ANSYS structural FE programs covering both linear small displacement and non-linear large displacement analysis. Parametric surveys presented interesting features including an increase in plastic collapse in-plane bending moments after mitre angles of around 40 deg. Results obtained using either ANSYS or ABAQUS could not be compared against any available experimental data as they differ significantly in areas like strain hardening and other features of a real material that did not exist in the FE modelling. However, single case comparison with the only reported experimental work, known to the author, showed that large displacement FE analysis led to more realistic predictions. It is, therefore, concluded that despite complex behaviour of a real material as compared to material models available in FE analysis, effective plastic collapse moments can be predicted using the small displacement FE analysis.