A recent ASME Code change has required components in our PRV's that previously were not considered primary

pressure containing parts to now be hydrostatically tested at 1.5 times their design pressure. The Code allows one exemption. If the stress in the component at hydrostatic pressure does not exceed 50% of the allowable stress, the part is exempt. The part obviously must be very conservatively designed. Some of our items should meet this criteria. Others will not. Where feasible we have applied manual stress formulas to these parts but because of their complex shapes we thought a FEA would provide more accurate and less conservative stresses which might meet the exemption criteria. The purpose of the FEA's is to establish if these components meet this exemption. The pressures and constraints we have been providing you are for the hydrostatic test case. The pressure being 1.5 times the design pressure and the constraints being those holding the part during the test. If this case does not pass the criteria then we want to know at what pressure does it pass the criteria so we can exempt the component from testing up to that pressure. The ASME Code uses the maximum shear stress theory for analyzing pressure vessels and components. Attached are a couple of papers on the subject. <<Stress Limits for ASME III.pdf>> <<Stress Criteria of ASME Section III.pdf>> If you have the ASME Code you can read up on it there as well. Three categories of stress are to be considered, General Primary Membrane Stress, Local Primary Membrane Stress and Primary Bending Stress. These are defined in these papers. The stress limits are: GMS </= 1.0 x allowable stress (GMS or LMS) + BS </= 1.5 x allowable stress The allowable stress is published in Section II. We have been providing to you the allowable stress for each component. Your reports provide a maximum von misses stress. Not knowing the exact relationship between the von misses and the three principle stresses in the shear stress theory we are not sure which stress limit can be applied, 1.0 or 1.5 x allowable. We need for your analysts to either have the program report the three principle stresses or to show us how to use the von misses with the ASME limits. On some of the parts the maximum stresses are at a discontinuity for which we think the higher allowable can be used.