International Journal of Engineering Technology, Management and Applied Sciences

www.ijetmas.com August 2015, Volume 3, Issue 8, ISSN 2349-4476

Design and Analysis of Skid Frame Module for its Strength &
Stiffness
Aditi A. Godse, Prof. M.K.Wasekar
Sinhgad Academy of Engineering,Savitribai Phule University of Pune, India.

AbstractSkid base frame is a structural assembly consisting of beams of various cross sections or channel sections
and dimensions. This frame is to be designed for flow control system which is used to control and regulate the flow,
pressure, and temperature for fluids. These systems mainly include piping, pumps, valv es, and gauges. The flow control
application is mainly required for process industries like sugar plants, cement plants, power plants etc. Many times these
systems are locally operated & hence their elevation should be designed in such a way that it will r educe the hardship of
the operator. This frame is designed with conventional CAD design practices and then analyzed statically with FEA
software. The structural loads considered during analysis phase resemble the actual loading cases. The analysis is then
carried out to determine the induced stresses and the deflections at various locations on proposed frame and further
analytical calculations are done to verify the simulation results.
Keywords Skid frame, CA D model, FEA

I. INTRODUCTION resemble the actual loading cases. The analysis is

Skid Frame is a structural assembly consisting of then carried out to determine the induced stresses
beams of various cross sections and dimensions. and the deflections at various
The sections used may be of equal dimensions and Locations on proposed frame and further analytical
cross sections, or a combination can be used for calculations are done to verify the results.
optimum strength and weight. Different types of
sections are used for skid frames [2]. The sections
can be of IS standard dimension or custom made.
The base frame is subjected to gravitational loading
of all the components mounted viz. Compressor,
Air Receiver vessel, flow control system etc.
Depending on the type of loading, the optimum
design is made considering material properties and
type of welding. The Skid frame is required to
support various components that have been
designed by conventional design procedure. The
weights of the components mounted on the frame
are considered as static loads for designing. Some
simplifying assumptions are made at the initial
stages in order to decide the cross sections used for
various beams.
This frame is to be designed for flow control system
which is used to control and regulate the flow,
pressure, and temperature for fluids. These systems
mainly include piping, pumps, valves, and gauges.
The flow control application is mainly required for
process industries like sugar plants, cement plants,
power plants etc. Many times these systems are
locally operated & hence their elevation should be
designed in such a way that it will reduce the
hardship of the operator. This frame is designed
with conventional CAD design practices and then
analyzed statically with FEA software. The
structural loads considered during analysis phase Fig.1 Different type of base frames

59 Aditi A. Godse , Prof. M.K.Wasekar

 International Journal of Engineering Technology, Management and Applied Sciences

www.ijetmas.com August 2015, Volume 3, Issue 8, ISSN 2349-4476

II. PROCEDURE FOR BASE FRAME DESIGN it has excellent strength and affordable cost, and is
A. SKID DESIGN most commonly used for skid frames.
TABLE I MATERIAL PROPERTIES USED FOR B. LOADING INPUTS
SKID DESIGN TABLE III WEIGHTS OF DIFFERENT
No Physical COMPONENTS
Values SI Units
. Properties Sr Weight
Tensile Part Name Qty.
1 510 Mpa or N/ mm2 No. in kg
Stress/Strength
Steam line
Yield
2 355 Mpa or N/ mm2 1 Gate valve 2 70
Stress/Strength
Youngs Modulus 2 Bypass valve 1 20
3 205 x 103 Mpa or N/ mm2 3 Globe valve 5 8
(E)
Shear Modulus 4 Pressure gauge 3 2
4 80 x 103 Mpa or N/ mm2
(G) 5 Thermometer 2 2
5 Poissons Ratio(v) 0.3 - 6 Globe control Valve 1 30
6 Density (p) 7850 Kg/m3 7 Safety Valve 1 36
Steam piping with
By observing the material properties for application 8 flanges for 5 mtr. 1 154
of skid frame, structural steel is used. The Chemical pipe
composition of Structural Steel is extremely 9 Desuperheater 1 65
important and highly regulated. In the following 10 Condensing Pot 1 70
table Max % levels of certain regulated elements 11 Moisture Separator 1 60
present in Structural steel grade S355 is shown.
Water line
TABLE II CHEMICAL COMPOSITION OF
12 Gate Valve 2 12
STRUCTURAL STEEL
13 Bypass Valve 1 14
Grade C% Mn% P% S% Si%
14 Non return valve 1 12
S55 0.23 1.60 0.05 0.05 0.05
15 Globe control Valve 1 18
1. Factor of Safety: 1.2 (For Static Load Cases) Water piping with
2. Allowable Stress: Yield Strength/Factor of 16 1 12
flanges
Safety
= 355 / 1.2
= 296 Mpa(For Static Load Cases)
B. SELECTION OF BEAM SECTION
Beams are the most critical members in structure.
Therefore their design should not only be
economical but also safe. It is a difficult task for
designer to select a beam size for a given span and
load that will satisfy all the conditions. A number of
rolled steel structures are used in construction.
However angles and T-sections are inherently weak
in bending while channels can only be used for light
loads. A circular beam would be a waste of
material. When dealing with bending stresses all the
stress is acting on the top and bottom of the beam. If
we take a circular beam max cross sectional area
would be at the center of the beam where no
bending stress occurs. If we take a square beam it
will have more cross sectional area at the top and Fig. 2 Flow Control System
bottom. It will also have less material in the center D. LOADING CALCULATIONS
of the beam where no stress is acting. Hence square Beam is considered as a continuous beam, Using
hollow section is most efficient and economical, as moment distribution method reactions are
calculated.

60 Aditi A. Godse , Prof. M.K.Wasekar

 International Journal of Engineering Technology, Management and Applied Sciences

www.ijetmas.com August 2015, Volume 3, Issue 8, ISSN 2349-4476

2. For calculating , taking moment at point C,

3. For calculating , taking moment at point C,

Similarly,
BC =0.35
CB =0.3511
CD =0.3319
DC =0.1514
Moments are fixed at the ends to calculate
and ,
=0.31
=0.39
Calculating Reactions at points A, B, C and D
Total weight =154 kg on one side of skid and length
is 5 meter so Udl is taken as,
Udl=

4. For calculating , taking moment at point B,

1. For calculating , taking moment at point B,

III. MODEL GEOMETRY AND TOPOLOGY

Skid frame is modeled in PRO-E 4.0 which is
excellent CAD software, which makes modeling so
easy and user friendly. The model is then
transferred in STEP format and imported into the
HYPERMESH 12.0. The Skid frame is analyzed in
three steps. First is preprocessing which involves
modeling, geometric clean up, meshing and element
property definition. Next step includes solution of

61 Aditi A. Godse , Prof. M.K.Wasekar

 International Journal of Engineering Technology, Management and Applied Sciences

www.ijetmas.com August 2015, Volume 3, Issue 8, ISSN 2349-4476

problem, which involves imposing boundary V. FINITE ELEMENT ANALYSIS

conditions on the model and then solution runs. The figure shows maximum displacement which is
Next in sequence is post processing, which involves 4.2 mm and maximum stress is 50 Mpa.
analyzing the results plotting different parameters
like stress, strain, natural frequency.

Fig.3 Model of skid fame

IV. FINITE ELEMENT MODEL: MESHING &

LOAD CONNECTIONS Fig.5 The highlighted part shows maximum
Different type of elements used in meshing are displacement
listed below in table.
TABLE IV DIFFERENT ELEMENTS USED
Elements Type Number
Mass elements CONM1 35
Rigid elements RBE2 29
Bar elements CBAR 1478
TRIA elements CTRIA3 64
QUAD elements CQUAD4 54783
Total Elements: 56389

Any continuous object has infinite degrees of

freedom and its just not possible to solve the
problem in this format. Finite element method
reduces degrees of freedom from infinite to finite
with the help of discretization i.e. meshing. Weld
elements are highlighted in red color, rigid elements
are highlighted in blue color and mass elements are
highlighted in green color as shown in below figure.
Fig.4 Meshed model of skid frame
Fig.6 The highlighted part shows maximum stress
VI.MODAL ANALYSIS
Modal Analysis determines natural frequencies and
mode shapes of a structure. Each natural frequency
sets up specific deformation pattern, i.e. mode
shape. The same phenomenon can occur in a Skid
frame during working condition. To avoid
mechanical damage due to Resonance, the structure
must undergo Modal Analysis. For Modal Analysis,
the model should be kept free from all the loads and
constrains. First six frequencies were supposed to
be zero, as they represent translational and
rotational vibrations about X, Y, Z axes. For given
natural frequency, mode shape defines the way in
which the structure would deform. Mode Shape for

62 Aditi A. Godse , Prof. M.K.Wasekar

 International Journal of Engineering Technology, Management and Applied Sciences
www.ijetmas.com August 2015, Volume 3, Issue 8, ISSN 2349-4476
first six resonant frequencies is shown as follows-
Fig.7 Mode 1: Natural Frequency: 7.703 Hz
Fig.8 Mode 2: Natural Frequency: 13.28 Hz
Fig.9 Mode 3: Natural Frequency: 13.19Hz
Fig.10 Mode 4: Natural Frequency: 12.25 Hz
63 Aditi A. Godse , Prof. M.K.Wasekar
Fig.11 Mode 5: Natural Frequency: 8.65 Hz
Fig.12 Mode 6: Natural Frequency: 8.59 Hz
VII. CONCLUSION
TABLE V COMPARISON OF RESULTS
Numerical Analytical
Reactions
value value
0.75 0.56
1.7 1.8
2.68 2.81
0.4 0.34
The Skid Frame Module including Steel Skid Frame
& other structural members are analyzed for Linear
Static Loads using Finite Element Method
(FEM).The Module is qualified for the given load
values & various load combinations as per
specification. From above results, it is seen that the
analytical values of reactions shows very good
match with the software results and also maximum
stresses, welds in the skid frame members are less
than the corresponding allowable stresses. Hence,
the Module is safe, qualifies and passes as per
specifications for the design, operating conditions.
 International Journal of Engineering Technology, Management and Applied Sciences

www.ijetmas.com August 2015, Volume 3, Issue 8, ISSN 2349-4476

REFERENCES
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vibration mounts for balanced opposed piston
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Research in Mechanical Engineering (IJARME)
ISSN: 2231 5950, Vol-2, Iss-2, 2012
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64 Aditi A. Godse , Prof. M.K.Wasekar