Fatigue Analysis in Caesar II

this topic to explain the fatigue analysis (Click here to read the basic article on Fatigue
Analysis ) methodology using caesar II with an example problem of a typical piping system.
To perform fatigue analysis we need to calculate the thermal and pressure fluctuations the
piping system will undergo in its design life. We have to calculate the worst possible cycles
from preliminary data provided by process/operation department. Lets assume we received
the following data from process for a typical piping system.
perating cycle from ambient (!"#$) to !%&#$ (!""'""" cycles anticipated)
(hutdown external temperature variation from ambient (!"#$) to )%"#$ (*""'"""
cycles anticipated)
+ressuri,ation to &.& -ars (!""'""" cycles anticipated)
+ressure fluctuations of plus/minus ..& -ars from the &.& -ars (.'"""'""" cycles
anticipated)
/ow' in order to do a proper fatigue analysis' these should be grouped in sets of load pairs
which represent the worst)case combination of stress ranges between extreme states which
we can do in the following way (0efer 1ttached 2igure' 2ig.. for proper understanding)3
Fig. 1: Explanation of worst case cycle combination for fatigue analysis
2rom )%"#$' " -ars to !%&#$' 4 -ars. *""'""" $ycles
2rom !"#$' " -ars to !%&#$' 4 -ars.3 .""'""" $ycles
2rom !%&#$' ! -ars to !%&#$' 4 -ars3 5""'""" $ycles
2rom !%&#$' ! -ars to !%&#$' &.& -ars3 !""'""" $ycles
(o in $aesar II we can define the above data as follows (0efer 2ig. %)3
1! "#$%C& #! '#(%C
)1! $.$ *ar& )#! " *ar and )+! , *ar
Fig.#: Caesar II spreadsheet explaining the input re-uirement
/ow go to the load case editor and define load cases as shown in 2ig.* for fatigue analysis.
$lic6 on load cycles button to input the number of cycles calculated above.
Fig.+: .oad cases for Fatigue Analysis
7on8t forget that all load cases with stress type 21T (for fatigue) must have their expected
number of Load $ycles specified.
1fter load cases are prepared run the analysis and find out the results from output processor.
+art of the output results are provided in the below attached figures for your reference (2ig. !
and 2ig. &)
The fatigue stress range (9aximum (tress Intensity as calculated in :xpansion stress case)
may be chec6ed against the fatigue curve allowable for each fatigue load case as shown in
2ig !.
Fig ": /utput 0creen showing stress range
;owever' this is not a true evaluation of the situation' because it is not a case of <either)or.=
The piping system is sub>ected to all of these load cases throughout its expected design life'
not >ust one of them. Therefore' we must review the $umulative ?sage report' which shows
the total effect of all fatigue load cases (or any combination selected by the user) on the
design life of the system. 0efer 2ig & for example.
Fig. $: /utput 0creen showing Cumulati1e usage factor
This report lists for each load case the expected number of cycles' the allowable number of
cycles (based upon the calculated stress)' and the ?sage 0atio (actual cycles divided by
allowable cycles). The ?sage 0atios are then summed for all selected load cases@ if this sum
exceeds .."' the system has exceeded its fatigue capabilities.