Nonlinear transient analysis of FG pipe subjected to internal pressure and unsteady temperature in a natural gas facility

This study investigates the response of functionally graded (FG) gas pipe under unsteady internal pressure and temperature. The pipe is proposed to be manufactured from FGMs rather than custom carbon steel, to reduce the erosion, corrosion, pressure surge and temperature variation effects caused by conveying of gases. The distribution of material graduations are obeying power and sigmoidal functions varying with the pipe thickness. The sigmoidal distribution is proposed for the 1st time in analysis of FG pipe structure. A Two-dimensional (2D) plane strain problem is proposed to model the pipe cross-section. The Fourier law is applied to describe the heat flux and temperature variation through the pipe thickness. The time variation of internal pressure is described by using exponential-harmonic function. The proposed problem is solved numerically by a two-dimensional (2D) plane strain finite element ABAQUS software. Nine-node isoparametric element is selected. The proposed model is verified with published results. The effects of material graduation, material function, temperature and internal pressures on the response of FG gas pipe are investigated. The coupled temperature and displacement FEM solution is used to find a solution for the stress displacement and temperature fields simultaneously because the thermal and mechanical solutions affected greatly by each other. The obtained results present the applicability of alternative FGM materials rather than classical A106Gr.B steel. According to proposed model and numerical results, the FGM pipe is more effective in natural gas application, especially in eliminating the corrosion, erosion and reduction of stresses.