Design Calculators - Mechanical

This calculator performs preliminary calculations for pipe thermal expansion, thermal stress (if restrained), and pressure stresses. It also provides a simplified estimation for expansion loop sizing to accommodate thermal movement.

Key Inputs:

• Pipe Material: Select from common materials to auto-populate properties, or custom input.
• Pipe Outer Diameter (\(D_{OD}\)): The outside diameter of the pipe.
• Pipe Wall Thickness (\(t\)): The thickness of the pipe wall.
• Corrosion Allowance (\(C_A\)): An extra thickness for corrosion protection.
• Operating Temperature (\(T_{op}\)): The temperature of the pipe during operation.
• Installation Temperature (\(T_{inst}\)): The temperature at which the pipe was installed.
• Internal Design Pressure (\(P\)): The internal fluid pressure.
• Length of Pipe Section to be Accommodated (\(L_{section}\)): The straight pipe run length where thermal expansion needs to be absorbed by a loop.
• Coefficient of Thermal Expansion (\(\alpha\)): Material property for thermal expansion.
• Young's Modulus (\(E\)): Material stiffness (required for thermal stress).

Calculated Outputs:

• Temperature Change (\(\Delta T\)): Difference between operating and installation temperatures.
• Thermal Expansion (\(\Delta L_{thermal}\)): Total change in length due to temperature change.
• Thermal Stress (\(\sigma_{thermal}\)): Stress if thermal expansion is fully restrained.
• Effective Wall Thickness (\(t_{eff}\)): Wall thickness after accounting for corrosion.
• Hoop Stress (\(\sigma_{hoop}\)): Stress in the circumferential direction due to pressure.
• Longitudinal Stress (\(\sigma_{long}\)): Stress along the pipe axis due to pressure.
• Recommended Min. Effective Length of Expansion Loop (\(L_{loop}\)): An estimated total effective length of pipe needed in a U-bend to absorb the thermal expansion.