On the shakedown analysis of welded pipes

This paper presents the shakedown analysis of welded pipes subjected to a constant internal pressure and a varying thermal load. The Linear Matching Method (LMM) is applied to investigate the upper and lower bound shakedown limits of the pipes. Individual effects of i) geometry of weld metal, ii) ratio of inner radius to wall thickness and iii) all material properties of Weld Metal (WM), Heat Affected Zone (HAZ) and Parent Material (PM) on shakedown limits are investigated. The ranges of these variables are chosen to cover the majority of common pipe configurations. Corresponding individual influence functions on the shakedown limits are generated. These are then combined to allow the creation of a safety shakedown envelope, which can be used for the design of any welded pipes within the specified ranges. The effect of temperature-dependent yield stress (in PM, HAZ and WM) on these shakedown limits is also investigated.