11/21/11 DANotes: Threaded fasteners: Fluid pressurised joints

1/4 school.mech.uwa.edu.au/dwright/DANotes/threads/joints/joints.html
Fluid pressurised joints
A common application of bolted joints is for detachable
connections which contain pressurised fluid. These may be
rendered leakproof either by O-rings or by gaskets. An O-ring
is an endless ring of circular cross- section, which is relatively
compliant and usually elastomeric. It is lightly nipped when
assembled, subsequent application of fluid pressure extrudes the ring to plug all
potential leakage paths. Such joints are called self- energising as they do not rely on
preload for their effectiveness.
This example demonstrates the static analsis of a self-energising joint.
O-rings are suitable where the environment is non-aggresssive, temperatures are
sensibly ambient, and relatively high manufacturing / assembly costs can be tolerated -
otherwise gaskets are used. Pipes are frequently connected by welding similar flanges to
each and bolting the flanges together with a gasket and multiple bolts as shown below.
Gaskets are common also in heat exchanger tube plates and the cylinder heads of i/c
engines, however we shall explain gaskets in the context of flanged pipe joints.
Dimensions of flanges suitable for various combinations of pipe size, fluid pressure and
temperature are standardised ( AS 2129 ).
Gasket materials range from cork to copper - each material best suiting a particular
combination of fluid corrosiveness, pressure, temperature, leakage implications, cost,
and so on. Most gaskets are non-metallic, highly compliant compared to other joint
components, and non-linear. Their low stiffness means that other joint components may
usually be neglected when figuring joint overall stiffness : 1/k
j
= 1/k
gasket
+ 1/k
other
large
- that is the joint overall stiffness is essentially the same as the gasket stiffness,
which has far-reaching implications in fatigue since it may not be possible to ensure that
k
b
<< k
j
as desired for low bolt load amplitude.
Soft gaskets usually extend over the whole flange ( full face ), whereas gaskets made of
stiffer materials are narrow and extend out only to the bolt holes. It is assumed that
11/21/11 DANotes: Threaded fasteners: Fluid pressurised joints
2/4 school.mech.uwa.edu.au/dwright/DANotes/threads/joints/joints.html

TABLE 3. Gasket material properties
(from AS 1210) thcknss m
gasket material mm MPa -
usbesLos wILI bInder 1 q .
dILLo. 1. z z.;
dILLo. 11 z.o
vegeLubIe IIbre ;. 1.;
spIruI wound, usbesLos IIIIed 6q .o
muILIpIe boILs ure Iouded equuIIy, und LIuL LIe gake e - Ie. LIe uveruge conLucL
pressure beLween guskeL und IIunge - Is unIIorm over LIe guskeL ureu A
g
. CIeurIy LIe
guskeL sLress musL be IIgIer LIun IIuId pressure II Ieukuge Is Lo be uvoIded, und, Ior u
gIven guskeL sLress, u ruIsed Iuce IIunge wILI u nurrow guskeL wIII requIre Iess preIoud
und Ience Iess IIunge sLrengLI LIun u IuII Iuce guskeL. So LIe Lendency Is Ior IIgI
pressure guskeLs Lo be nurrow.
n servIce, LIe pIpe ucLs us u cIosed
cyIInder wILI uxIuI Ioud P In LIe wuII due
Lo IIuId pressure ucLIng over LIe InLernuI
ureu. TIIs IoudIng - u preIoud due Lo
InILIuI LIgILenIng, LogeLIer wILI un
exLernuI servIce Ioud - Is LypIcuI oI joInLs
In generuI.
Codes LrudILIonuIIy cIussIIy guskeL muLerIuIs by Lwo properLy vuIues - LIe 'y' IucLor und
LIe 'm' IucLor, eg. TubIe . TIese ure necessury mInImum vuIues Ior LIe uvoIdunce oI
Ieuks :
- LIe InILIuI guskeL sLress ( Ie. preIouded prIor Lo pressurIsuLIon ), und
m - LIe ruLIo oI guskeL sLress Lo IIuId pressure ( uILer pressurIsuLIon )
TIeses IImILs ure skeLcIed on LIe joInL cIurucLerIsLIc, In wIIcI
LIe exLernuI uxIuI Ioud P equuIs LIe IIuId pressure p LImes LIe
InLernuI Lrunsverse ureu A
I
. TIe InILIuI guskeL sLress Induced
by LIe LIgILenIng Ioud
I
musL be Iess LIun LIe guskeL
crusIIng sLress p
crusI
und greuLer LIun LIe 'y' upproprIuLe Lo
LIe guskeL muLerIuI. nILIuI IoudIng Is LIe mosL severe sInce LIe joInL Ioud decreuses
LIereuILer us LIe exLernuI Ioud Is uppIIed - buL LIe exLernuI Ioud sIouId noL be so Iurge
LIuL LIe guskeL sLress becomes Iess LIun 'm' LImes LIe IIuId pressure. uIIure oI u joInL -
us opposed Lo Ieukuge - wIII be mosL IIkeIy uL InILIuI LIgILenIng, so joInL desIgn ( seIecLIon
oI boILIng, IIunge LIIckness eLc.) Is bused upon LIuL sLuLe.
TIere Ius been u deuI oI debuLe on LIe suggesLed vuIues oI 'm' und 'y' wIIcI uppeur In
LIe Pressure VesseI Codes. WIIIe LIe vuIues Iuve been Iound suLIsIucLory buses Ior suIe
joInL desIgn, LIey ure buL poor IndIcuLors oI IeukprooI operuLIon. TIe Pressure VesseI
ReseurcI CommILLee ( PVRC ) oI LIe WeIdIng ReseurcI CouncII Ius InsLILuLed
compreIensIve new LesLs Lo cIurIIy LIe beIuvIour oI guskeLs, wILI resuILs sIown on LIe
IeIL beIow. nILIuI LIgILenIng
proceeds uIong a-b; us LIe
exLernuI Ioud Is uppIIed LIe
guskeL unIouds uIong b-c.
urLIer cycIIng oI LIe
exLernuI Ioud Ieuds Lo LIe
guskeL IoudIngJ unIoudIng
uIong LIe sume b-c-b
LrujecLory. I LIe boILs ure IurLIer LIgILened LIen LIe guskeL ( un )Iouds uIong LIe d-e-d
11/21/11 DANotes: Threaded fasteners: Fluid pressurised joints
3/4 school.mech.uwa.edu.au/dwright/DANotes/threads/joints/joints.html

TABLE 4. Gake maeial iffnee
width thick stiffness
gasket material mm -ness MPa/mm
compressed asbestos 12 3 330-950
ditto. 24 1.6 600-3260
compressed aramid fibre
(asbestos substitute) 12 1.6 220-490
spiral wound asbestos filled 18 4.6 270-1800
non-asbestos laminated head gasket 1.1 1140-2630

TABLE 5. Join faco
tpe of joint C
soft gasket held by studs 1.00
soft gasket with through fasteners 0.75
asbestos gasket 0.60
soft copper & long through bolts 0.50
metal-to-metal with long bolts 0.00
locus.
Gaskets cannot be absolutely leak free when containing gas; locii of constant leakage
rates are shown superimposed upon the characteristic. Behaviour may be described
most conveniently by graphs similar to the one on the right, in which a leakage
parameter replaces deflection. A material can be characterised by three constant
properties - the slope and intercept of the initial loading regression line ( log-log ),
together with the point through which all subsequent linear ( un )loading trajectories
pass. These results have yet to be incorporated into Codes.
It is clear from the PVRC
findings that non-metallic
gaskets do not behave
elastically. Table 4 gives the
range of stiffnesses that may be
experienced - stiffness being
expressed as gasket stress (
force/A
g
) per unit deflection, ie.
modulus/ thickness. Calculation
of load sharing from ( 3a) is thus fraught with uncertainty if the gasket stiffness is not
known accurately, however load sharing may be characterised by :
( 3b) F
b
= F
i
+ C P ; F
j
= F
i
- ( 1 - C ) P
in which the join facor C is a typical measure of the fraction of the
total external load P seen by the bolts. Although comparison with ( 3a) indicates that
C = k
e
/k
j
= k
b
/( k
b
+ k
j
) 1, the joint factor should be regarded more as an overall
approximate figure of merit, which incorporates all vagaries of behaviour and which is
experimentally determined in its own right, rather than as a ratio of elastic stiffnesses.
Experience suggests the values of Table 5.
'Flange rotation' refers to the initially disc-
shaped flange assuming a flat conical form
under fluid pressure loading, and can be
significant when a narrow gasket is used. The
cause of rotation may be appreciated from the
sketches below which show rotation grossly
exaggerated. At ( a) is shown part of the flange with the bolt load F
b
equilibrating the
external load P and the joint load F
j
, as above. Accordingly F
b
is split into its
superimposed components ( b), which are shown separately at ( c) and ( d).
11/21/11 DANotes: Threaded fasteners: Fluid pressurised joints
4/4 school.mech.uwa.edu.au/dwright/DANotes/threads/joints/joints.html
It is clear that both the P- and F
j
-couples tend to rotate the flange as sketched. This
rotation is exacerbated by the fluid pressure p tending to expand the pipe connected to
the flange, however the flange is relatively rigid radially and so prevents pipe wall local
expansion as suggested by ( e).
Free bodies of the separate pipe and flange appear at ( f) and ( g). The interface remains
essentially rigid whilst rotation occurs - that is the deformed pipe and deformed flange
remain perpendicular to one another. This requires the action/ reaction sketched - the
radial force F
i
and the bending moment M
i
at the interface. Clearly M
i
contributes to
the rotation of the flange ( g).
It is common practice to allow for rotation empirically by considering an effective gasket
width somewhat less than the actual width, as suggested by ( h) - further details appear
in AS1210.
Operation at high temperatures leads to further difficulties with creep, ratcheting and so
on.
Notes contents chapter inde previous top of page net
Copright 1999-2005 Douglas Wright
last updated Ma 2005