Re: Stress analysis requirement for fire fighting pipelines

chrismechy

Dear All,

I work in an engineering company here in Abu Dhabi, UAE.

Very recently, we have been asked by our clients to perform STRESS ANALYSIS FOR THE FIRE FIGHTING PIPELINES.

But my engineer initially said that for FIGHTING PIPELINES, stress analysis is not required as the water is going to remain still inside the pipes for a long time & also the ambient temperature & fluid temperature is almost the same. Sometime later he said that it is not possible for the line to be modeled in CAESAR (as the pipe material & Spec is not present in CAESAR)

Another engineer said that it shall only be performed for lines 5" & above. Below 5", analysis is not needed.

Can anyone please advice on this.

Thanks.

Chris

edgepflow

Pipe stress analysis is not just performed for thermal expansion due to a temperature difference. Other factors such as the weight of the piping system, imposed nozzle loads and displacement, and wind loads can generate pipe stress. Also, small pipes can generate stress too, so pipes under 5" are not excluded from pipe stress analysis.

Caesar has most of the materials in Piping Codes B31.1 and B31.3. If not listed, you could still use Caesar to figure the actual stresses and then you would need to determine allowable stresses for your particular material.