Transient Heat Transfer Analysis - Pi Engineering

Transient Heat Transfer Analysis

This video shows the temperature field developed during the first pass of a five-pass field girth weld in a coupling. 


The intent of the simulation was to demonstrate that the temperature of the inner wall parent pipe did not exceed the melting temperature of the liner that was shop installed after the coupling was fillet welded to the pipe.  It is interesting to observe that the melting temperature of the steel was accurately predicted.  This particular simulation made use of element activation, programming a heat flux input to simulate the heat input from a welding electrode, and programming film coefficients to simulate heat transfer to the environment. 

Pi Engineering has experience in solving problems using elaborate FEA techniques, including sequential simulations where a mechanical simulation follows a transient heat transfer analysis to capture the residual stress field that is created by a weld.  Simulating this residual stress field is required when performing crack growth analysis when you’re trying to determine whether a repair can be deferred until your next turnaround or you need to design an in-service repair.
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