ABSTRACT
Thermal stresses in process systems are normally limited to metallic bellows, piping systems, and other elemental arrangements. This chapter covers the basics of thermal stresses, examples, and guidelines to avoid thermal stresses. Thermal stress is derived in guided cantilever and two-element systems from beam theory and compared with a code simple rule for piping flexibility without finite element analysis. Matrix equations for deformation and force, flexibility, and stiffness are explained covering the analysis for programming in Excel spread sheets. A flexibility matrix is derived for straight and bent pipe (beam or shell) elements using beam theory and Castigliano’s first theorem, and thermal stress in the piping system is compiled for a simple system with examples.
