Design

Aboveground piping systems in industries such as oil & gas, steam generation, and process plants are subject to significant thermal expansion and contraction. If not properly managed, these dimensional changes can impose high stresses on piping, supports, and equipment—potentially leading to leaks, fatigue, or even structural failure. To absorb this thermal movement, two primary solutions … Read more

Background Edge settlement in aboveground storage tanks occurs when the soil or foundation beneath the tank shell deforms or erodes. This causes the outer portion of the tank bottom to sag, especially near the shell-to-bottom junction — a highly stressed and fatigue-sensitive region. API 653 Appendix B provides quantitative acceptance criteria for evaluating such edge … Read more

When you receive a finite element analysis (FEA) report from a third-party engineering firm, how can you be confident that it’s reliable? Most project managers and clients aren’t trained in simulation. Yet they are often responsible for acting on FEA results—results that may affect structural integrity, cost, and safety. That’s why we developed a practical, … Read more

In our work on mixing systems and tank supports, we’ve repeatedly encountered the telltale signs of resonance-induced fatigue: Cracked pedestals Bent or fractured shafts Failed gearboxes Severely worn couplings In one case, a 400 mm diameter shaft failed after just two months of operation. The failure was traced to fatigue, with similar damage found in … Read more

Understanding the Challenge Wind loads on process columns, towers, stacks, and chimneys can be immense, particularly in environments like South Africa, where thunderstorms bring extreme gusts. Our challenge was assessing the structural integrity of a 75m high stack that already exhibited signs of local buckling due to corrosion. The primary concern was determining whether the … Read more

Introduction Have you ever encountered wind-induced vibrations in a cryogenic vaporizer? This phenomenon, known as vortex shedding, can pose a significant challenge in the design and maintenance of vaporizers, especially in high-wind regions. Recently, we were involved in repairing a vaporizer that exhibited excessive vibrations at wind speeds above 30 km/h. Using Finite Element Analysis … Read more

In-service hot-tapping on pressurized pipelines poses significant engineering challenges—one of the most critical being the risk of burn-through during welding. While state-of-the-art commercial software and detailed experimental methods exist, our team chose to develop a cost-effective, simplified Finite Element Analysis (FEA) approach. In this post, I’ll walk you through our methodology, the underlying assumptions, the … Read more