Strength calculations

If your installation is protected against explosions by explosion suppression or venting, the equipment still needs to be resistant to the reduced explosion pressure. And if the installation was not initially built for a certain overpressure, you probably do not know its exact strength.

You could ask your supplier about the strength of your installation, but to avoid taking any risks, he will give you a very low answer, if any answer at all. Still it is very important to know the exact strength of your process installation.

Strength calculation: thorough investigation

StuvEx can calculate the exact strength of the existing equipment for you, based on drawings and measurements taken on site. When measuring, not only the length measurements are taken, but also the different wall thicknesses (which is, certainly in the case of older installations, no surplus luxury). If the installation concerned is completely insulated it might be necessary to remove part of the insulation material. Not only to be able to measure the wall thicknesses, but also because otherwise it would be impossible to verify which reinforcing ribs have been used.

Strength calculation: accurate data

The strength calculations, as executed by StuvEx, in most cases lead to higher values than most classical strength calculations:

• In the case of a normal strength calculation, a certain safety margin has to be taken into account in relation to the materials' elastic limit, to avoid collapsing as a result of material fatigue. In the case of an explosion this is unnecessary because it is a one-time load where locally even limited plastic deformations are acceptable.
  
  
• In the case of very high loads often considerable deformations occur, leading to higher strengths as a result of the membrane effect. In a normal strength calculation these are normally not taken into account because considerable deformations are very annoying in the case of normal use and for this reason are not acceptable. In the case of an explosion however this is no problem at all, certainly when these deformations are not permanent.

Strength calculation: detailed solution

If it is proved from the strength calculation that the strength of your installation is too low, the protection may be adapted so that a lower reduced pressure is obtained, or StuvEx gives a detailed explanation in which way the installation has to be reinforced. Take no risks - get in touch with us!