The influence of external bending moments on the lifetime of bends in hot reheat pipelines

The influence of various factors (the initial pipe cross section ovality and external bending moments) on the lifetime of bends used in high-temperature pipelines is estimated using the techniques of continuum damage mechanics of metal. The investigation was carried out for two typical bends used in hot reheat pipelines. To this end, the bend lifetime was numerically analyzed taking into account the accumulated extent of damage based on the results of finite-element computations in geometrically nonlinear statement.