A comparison of plastic collapse and limit loads for single mitred pipe bends under in-plane bending

Neilson, Robbie and Wood, J. and Hamilton, R. and Li, H. (2010) A comparison of plastic collapse and limit loads for single mitred pipe bends under in-plane bending. International Journal of Pressure Vessels and Piping, 87 (10). pp. 550-558. ISSN 0308-0161 (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijpvp.2010.08.015)

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Abstract

This paper presents a comparison of the plastic collapse loads from experimental in-plane bending tests on three 90 degree single un-reinforced mitred pipe bends, with the results from various 3D solid finite element models. The bending load applied reduced the bend angle and in turn, the resulting cross-sectional ovalisation led to a recognised weakening mechanism, which is only observable by testing or by including large displacement effects in the plastic finite element solution. A small displacement limit solution with an elastic-perfectly-plastic material model overestimated the collapse load by 40%. The plastic collapse finite element solution produced excellent agreement with experiment.