10 1 1 875 5824 PDF

EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATION OF THE PROCESS OF
EXPANDING BOILER TUBES

By J. M. Alexander, Ph.D., B.Sc. (Eng.) (Associate Member)*, and
Professor Hugh Ford, D.Sc. (Eng.), Ph.D., Wh.Sc. (Member), M.1.C.E.t
The objectives of this work were to examine the tube expanding process in relation to as
many variables as possible and to determine whether there would be any significant ‘size
effect’. For these investigations an apparatus has been constructed which enables detailed
observations to be made of the behaviour of a specimen tube-plate joint during expanding.
A typical record is given showing how the strains and mandrel torque develop during
expanding. No appreciable size effect was found on the three geometricallysimilar systems
tested. It is shown that the residual strains are much greater on the back than on the front
of the plate, leading to lack of parallelism in the joint face, and that the plastic-elastic
interface can extend much farther into the plate than was previously thought possible.
Comparison is made between these experimental results and the predictions of a theory
proposed by the authors, and it is concluded that higher seat pressures could be obtained
if axial extrusion of the tube could be restricted. This finding was confirmed by axially
compressing short lengths of tube into a plate, the axial compression causing the tubes
to bulge and expand themselves into the plate seat.
INTRODUCTION describes the first series of tests, which were intended to

PREVIOUS INVESTIGATIONS into expanding of joints have gone show generally the influence of some of the variables,
some way to establishing some of the more important factors without investigating any one variable in detail. While this
affecting the tightness and strength of such joints, but general investigation is not yet complete, the results already
further elucidation of the relative importance of these obtained justify their submission at this stage.
factors is needed. This is particularly so for boilers operating If accurate measurements are to be made, tube sizes
at high pressures and temperatures, where the deformations rather larger than those most usually met with would be
can be expected to be larger and the stressing of the joints necessary. It is clearly important that the results should be
more severe. applicable to smaller tube sizes, and while from general
Most of these investigations (Baxter 1947)$ have related theoretical considerations, the rules of similitude can be
to the quality of the joint when expanded, whereas the way expected to hold, it seemed that a critical check should first
in which the stresses and pressures build up during the be attempted using tube-and-plate assemblies which are
actual expanding process has not been examined, nor have geometrically similar as far as practicable. Once it has been
the corresponding deformations in the tube and plate. These established that the laws of similitude hold, the most
quantities must depend on the type and dimensions of the suitable size of joint can be selected for each set of tests.
expanding tools, but much more experimental work is
needed before reliable conclusions can be drawn. Notation
In undertaking a new investigation of the tube expanding
process, therefore, the proper starting point seemed to be a Radius of the hole in the plate disk.
to trace the actual development of the joint. The object a” Final radius of the hole.
would be to relate the behaviour so recorded with the b Outside radius of the plate disk.
effectiveness of the resulting joint. The present report c Radius of the current plastic-elastic interface.
Direct strain, with suffixes, r, 6, z for radial, circum-
The M S . of this paper was received at the Institution on 27th ferential, and axial directions.
January 1956. For a report of General Meeting, in London, at
which this paper was presented, see p . 382. e,, Circumferential strain at inside of tube.
* Atomic Power Department, English Electric Co., Ltd., Leicester. E Young’s modulus.
t Professor of Applied Mechanics, Imperial College, University of F Push-out force.
London.
$ An alphabetical list of references is given in the Appendix. h Thickness of plate.
1
Downloaded from pme.sagepub.com at PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIV on May 8, 2016

J. M. ALEXANDER AND HUGH FORD
Expanding pressure. dimensions of the three assemblies being in the ratio 1/2/4.
Mean seat pressure. The only departure from strict similarity arose from the
Radius of any element. allowable tolerances on tube diameters: it was thought
Final radius of any element. preferable to accept these variations rather than to machine
Initial radius of inside of tube. the tubes.
Radius of inside of tube at ‘nip’. The tubes were of cold drawn mild steel manufactured to
Final radius of inside of tube. the usual specification and limits (B.S. 494 and B.S. 512).
Initial radius of outside of tube. A representative sample of the 14-inch boiler plate had the
Displacement at inside of tube. following analysis: 0.23 per cent carbon, 0.11 per cent
Coefficient of friction. silicon, 0.01 per cent sulphur, 0.046 per cent phosphorus,
Poisson’s ratio. 0.56 per cent manganese, 0.16 per cent nickel, 0.11 per cent
Direct stress, with suffixes r, 8, z for radial, circum- chromium.
ferential and axial directions. The disks were machined all over so that the faces were
Yield stress in uniaxial tension. parallel to f0.005 inch, the hole being bored to the
appropriate clearance size over that of the fully prepared
Tube-and-plate Assembly tube.
The tubes were cut to length and the mill scale was
The tube-and-plate system shown in Fig. 1 was chosen as removed from the outside by scraping and by using emery
being the best compromise, the general proportions being cloth. A small ‘land’ was machined on each end of the tube
fixed after studying typical high-pressure joints (Shannon, as far as the mean diameter to accommodate the legs of the
Prate, Webb, and Carlson 1946). The system consists of a device for measuring the total extrusion (Fig. 1).
9-inch length of tube, and a circular disk of plate, the
Tube Expanders
These were of the standard propulsive type (Fig. 2), having
three rollers supported at 120 deg. apart in a cage which
inclined the rollers at a slight angle to the axis of the tapered
mandrel, this angle of inclination being approximately equal
for all of the three sets of tube expanders used. The rollers
, were tapered in the opposite direction to the mandrel so as
to give so-called ‘parallel’ expansion, whilst the angle of
inclination between the roller axis and the mandrel axis
gave the expanders a self-feeding aaion into the tube. A
cape on the roller cage prevented entry of the rollers beyond
a certain limit.
The expanders were used without any form of lubricant
in the experiments.
Apparatus
Expander Drive Units
The first necessity was a suitable drive unit to transmit a
true torque to the expander mandrel and to ensure a con-
stant speed of rotation. To allow measurements of strain
and displacement to be made with reasonably simple means
a mandrel speed of 20 r.p.m. was chosen and although this
F&. 1. Dimensions of Tube-and-plate Assemblies is lower than normal practice, no discrepancy is likely to
arise. At this speed, the cage makes one revolution in about
Speci- Tube Tube Plate Plate Plate Clear- 14 seconds.
men inside outside hole outside thick- ance on
nun- diameter diameter diameter diameter ness diameter For the smaller tube sizes, the drive unit had a 3 h.p.,
ber 2ro 2r1 2a 26 h 2(a-r1) 950 r.p.m. D.C. shunt motor, giving, at the output shaft of
inches inches inches inches inches mch
a suitable reduction gear, a maximum torque of about
120 1b.-ft. The motor was reversible, so that observation
could be made during removal of the expanders. The whole
expen-
ment) unit was mounted in bearings, on the ‘swinging field’
3 0.747 0.997 1.000 7 0564 0.003 principle so that the torque on the expander mandrel could
2 1.500 2.020 2.025 14 1.13 0.005 be directly observed on a spring balance. Fig. 3, Plate 1,
4 3.004 4.020 4.030 28 2.26 0.010
5 3.011 4.021 4.031 28 2435 0.010 shows how the unit was mounted on a trolley having
four wheels running in anti-friction bearings. The wheels

EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATION OF THE PROCESS OF EXPANDING BOILER TUBES Plate I
Fig. 3. General V i m of Apparatus
Fig. 4. Torsionmeter and Specimen
[I.Mech.E., 19571

Plate 2 J. M. ALEXANDER AND HUGH FORD
Fig. 13. Specimen 5 (Back). After Expanding
[I.Mech.E., 19571

EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATION OF THE PROCESS OF EXPANDWG BOILER TUBES 353
L C
ELEVATION (WHENQS = O )
r.1
CONTACT POINT I
\CAPE OF CAGE
Fig. 2. Dimensions of Expa"ders (Propulsive Type)

Plan (in working position).
To expand I Mandrel I Rollers

from diameter,
inches 1
A, inches I I
B, inch C, inches 1 uM, deg. I D, inches ! E, inches I F, inches I deg. I UR, a, deg. I us, deg. 1 l,, inches
0.75
1.5
3.0 1 I 1
1
0.364
0.684
1-36
1
0.185
0.378
0-842
1 I
3.5
;: I 1
I
4.58
I
0.281
0571
1-116
I
1 0.253
0.535
1468
I
I 1 1 :;"0 1 f:: 1
1
1-35
;:25
I
1-19
1-145
1-05
I
2.2 1.7 1.188
1.625
2.375
u = aM-2uR = cone angle swept out by rollers if the axes of the rollers lie in the same plane as the mandrel axis, i.e. when U, is zero.
ran within a pair of steel channels which formed the main (3) The torque on the expander mandrel.
bed of the apparatus. A resistance strain-gauge torsion- (4) The revolutions of the mandrel and the cage.
meter (Rankine, Bailey, and Stanton 1948) was arranged on (5) The strains at selected points, both radially and
the output shaft of the drive unit, so that a continuous circumferentially, on the back and front surfaces of the
record of the torque could be obtained (Fig. 4, Plate 1). disk, by means of dynamic strain gauges.
The torque indicated by the torsionmeter agreed exactly The followingstatic measurements were made before and/or
with that derived from the spring balance observations. after each pass of the expander:
A form of Oldham's coupling was interposed between the
drive shaft and the mandrel, so that only a pure torque was (6) The bore of the tube.
transmitted. (7) The strain distribution over the plate disk by a full
For the largest specimens, a drive unit designed to give a set of resistance strain gauges on the fiont and back
torque of 1,500 1b.-ft. was made, using a 5 h.p. shunt motor surfaces, and, in later tests, by direct measurements of a
and a 5411 worm reduction gear. This unit used the same series of gauge points.
trolley as before, but owing to its size, was not mounted so (8) The shape of the final joint and the extent of the
that the field could swing. Experience with the smaller unit plastic zone.
had shown that the strain-gauge torsionmeterwas sufficiently These measurements were made as follows :
accurate for all purposes. (1) The back extrusion was measured by a dial gauge
The tube-and-plate assembly was held in special clamps fixed to the strap around the tube end with its plunger
from the bedplate so that the plate disk was fixed, but the bearing on the back face of the disk.
tube end could slide to allow axial extrusion, while being (2) The total extrusion was measured by a pair of
prevented from rotating. calipers (Fig. 4, Plate l), the tops of the caliper legs
being held against the machined lands on the tube by a
Measuring and Recording lnsirumenis light spring. The relative movement of the legs was
It was decided to measure the following quantities during measured by a dial gauge, previously calibrated against
the experiments: known displacements. These two dial gauges and the
(1) The back extrusion*. spring balance of the swinging field torsionmeter (when
(2) The total extrusiont. used) were noted at regular time intervals.
(3) The strain-gauge torsionmeter was indicated on a
* Back extrusion: The amount by which a section of the tube remote centre zero microammeter, mounted on the main in-
from the back of the tube plate moves away from it during the
expanding operation. strument panel.
t Total extrusion: The sum of the back extrusion and the front (4) Make-and-break trips on the drive shaft and the
exmrsion, the front extrusion being the amount by which the front cape of the expander cage were connected through a
end of the tube moves away from the front of the tube plate, usually
beiw mconrred at t h im'de diameter of the tube. battery to volt-meters on the instrument panel, so that

354 J. M. ALEXANDER AND HUGH FORD
Fig. 5. Positions of Strain Gauges on Specimen 4 (Experinmats 4 and 4a)

28-inch diameter plate.
Dynamic gauges: f in. x4 mm., 400 P British Thermostat. Static gauges: 1 to 5, 23 to 27, 8 X 1.5 mm., 50 P Tinsley.
Remainder 17 ~2.5 mm., 100 P Tinsley.
All cemented with ‘High Solids Durofix’ nitro-cellulose cement. Front of specimen shown, all gauges being duplicated on the back.
Numbers refer to channel or circuit in which gauge is connected. The numbers of the gauges on the back of the specimen are circled.
the pointers swung across the dial each revolution or geometrical similarity, the gauges should have had grids in
half-revolution. In addition, the cage relay rang a bell proportion to the specimen size, but this was not practicable.
so that the back and total extrusion and spring balance The voltage applied to the circuits, and the type of
readings could be noted against cage revolution. resistance strain gauge used (4inch x 4 mm. 400 ohms)
(5) Dynamic strain measurements. were decided after careful study of all the factors involved.
In Fig. 5 is shown a typical resistance strain gauge layout The output from each Wheatstone bridge unit (of which the
on the plate disk. There were eight dynamic gauges, gauge formed the active arm) was fed to a centre-zero
numbered 1-8 inclusive in the figure. The gauges were 50-0-50 micro-ampere pointer instrument, mounted on the
arranged radially and circumferentially and were of short- instrument panel, the centre zero allowing both tensile and
gauge length, since the stresses varied rapidly with radius, compressive strains to be measured.
and the gauge grid would otherwise span too great a length (6) and (8) These were measurementsmade with vernier
to give a true indication. To satisfy the condition of calipers, micrometers, etc., before and after the tests,

EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATION OF THE PROCESS OF EXPANDING BOILER TUBES 355
except that plumber’s resin was melted on the faces of the (4) The floodlights for the camera were switched on,
plate with the object of indicating the extent of the plastic the stop-clock on the instrument panel was started and
zone (Blair 1949). the camera, having been previously loaded and adjusted
(7) Static strain distributions. for focus, speed, etc., was started.
The residual strains on the back and front faces of the
(5) The drive unit was started and the expanding pro-
ceeded until the cape of the expander cage met the tube
disks after removing the expander gave a measure of the
end or until the chosen degree of expanding had been
holding strength of the joint (see later sections) and were
(a
measured by short gauge length inch) resistance strain reached, when the drive unit was stopped.
(6) The expander was then withdrawn, by reversing
gauges mounted as shown in Fig. 5. The strains were
measured on a 50-way Savage and Parsons Static Strain the drive unit, the camera continuing to run during this
period.
Recorder.
(7) When the torque had dropped to zero the experi-
In later tests, to secure greater accuracy and to check the
strain gauge readings, fine pop marks were made across a ment was stopped.
diameter at close intervals and the distances between the The above procedure was repeated if necessary until the
marks were measured by a measuring microscope before chosen degree of expanding had been reached. The indicator
and after a test. used for this in the first test was the flaking of the plumber’s
resin round the hole, but in the later tests, the total and back
Recording Technique extrusion were the main criteria. In every case, the residual
The dynamic strain indicators (9,the torsionmeter instru- strains in the plate as indicated by the static resistance strain
ment (3), and the revolution trip meter (4) were all mounted, gauges, were recorded immediately after the experiment.
together with a stop-clock, on a common instrument panel
(Fig. 3) and were photographed continuously during a test Description of a Typical Set of Results
with a 35-mm. Ensign cinematograph camera, driven by a The results of the second test will now be described in
variable speed motor. A speed of four frames per second, detail, since it was typical of most of the tests. It was found
with an exposure time of & second was used. The film was that the initial phase of expanding the tube until it ‘nips’
developed and the gauges read back at leisure, after the test, the plate, took rather a long time and was difficult to control.
under a microscope. For this reason it was not recorded or studied except during
a preliminary test. The tube does suffer some deformation
in this phase however, and although the mandrel torque is
DESCRIPTION OF THE T E S T S small, it is suggested that expanding up to the nip be
investigated later as a separate item.
In all, six tests were carried out:
Fig. 6 shows a complete record of the expanding process
1 test on 1-inch-outside-diameter tube x 7-inch out- for the second test, which was on a 2-inch outside diameter
side-diameter plate. tube-and-plate assembly (14-inch-outside diameter plate)
2 tests on 2-inch-outside-diameter tube ‘X 14-inch out- from the nip onwards. It will be seen that two com-
side-diameter plate. plete passes were made, in each case until the cape of the
3 tests on 4-inch-outside-diameter tube x 28-inch out- cage contacted the end of the tube. This point is shown in
side-diameter plate. Fig. 6 by the sudden rise in the torque reading, at the end
The method of carrying out the tests was essentially the of both passes. Plumber’s resin had been used and although
same in all cases, and any special conditions will be described the joint was obviously somewhat over-expanded with a
later when referring to the individual experiments. The view to developing the full extent of the plastic zone on
general procedure, after the tube-and-plate combination both the front and back of the disk, the resin did not show
had been prepared and set up in the apparatus, was as the whole of the plastic region, probably because the elastic
outer material restricts the plastic strains for some distance
follows :
inwards from the plastic-elastic interface.
(1) All the strain gauges circuits were zeroed and after The salient features of the course of the expanding pro-
about l+ hours were re-zeroed to ensure the zero drift cess are indicated on the graphs. The base is given in terms
was negligible. of time, but since the speed was constant it also gives the
(2) The indicators for cage and mandrel rotation were revolutions of the mandrel and cage, which are indicated
tested, and the tube was positioned in the plate so as to along the time axis. The torque rises slowly at first, and
protrude about 4 inch beyond the face of the plate. The faster towards the end of each pass, but the rise is steady
tube was then lightly rolled in, so that it just ‘nipped’ the throughout the complete pass, until the cape touches the
plate. The expander was withdrawn and the extrusion tube end. The dynamic strain gauges show that the strains
gauges were adjusted. build up first on the front of the plate, and penetrate through
(3) The expander cage and mandrel were positioned to the back of the plate as the rollers progress into the joint,
in the tube, so that the rollers entered lightly and the Towards the end of the pass the strains at the back rapidly
drive unit was engaged. overtake those on the front and indeed the latter tend to

356 I. M. ALEXANDER AND HUGH FORD
0.04-
.g 10 Gauge Circum- Centre Mean strain Front
002- or
ferential at r/rO = between 1/10 =
-x or radial back
0-4 0
-U2 R 2.5 2.167-2.833 F
-0.02- 1
. -I0 2 R 5.0 4.667-5.333 F
-0.04-
3 C 2.5 2.395-2'605 F
4 C 5.0 4.895-5.105 F
-lo 5 R 2.5 2.167-2'833 B
-0.06.
6 R 5.0 4.667-5.333 B
-0.08- -30 7 C 2.5 2.395-2.605 B
8 C 5.0 4.895-5-105 B
Fig. 6. Record of Expunding Process

(2-inch-outside-diameter Tube)
All numbers printed in Fig. 6 relate to
gauge.

decrease very slightly at the end of the second pass (see The extrusion versus cage revolution shown in Fig. 7
gauge 3 for example) showing that the residual stresses at indicates that the back extrusion is similar to the total
the front of the joint relax. This shows that the joint has extrusion*, and that the front extrusion is greater than the
probably been over-expanded, at least on the front, although back extrusion at all stages. This is in general agreement
the stresses were still rising on the back, a characteristic of with the findingthat the strains on the back of the plate were
the process which will be discussed later. greater than those on the front : at the back of the plate the
The dynamic gauges represent the strain history at constraint offered by the elastic body of the tube behind the
specific points on the plate: they show at once the cyclical joint causes the displaced material to move radially out-
nature of the build-up of residual strains within the plate wards rather more than at the front where the tube is free
as the rollers progressively pass under each gauge station. to extrude axially to a greater extent.
It is interesting to note how the plastic zone reaches, during This is a feature of great importance in considering the
the second pass, the radius at which the first dynamic strain strength of a joint: the restraint offered by the tube itself
gauges are situated, that is, roughly when the radial strain is has a profound influence on the build-up of residual strains
0.075 per cent in Fig. 6 . Beyond this point it is to be noticed during the expanding and also in maintaining the joint
that the strains do not increase very much and the furrher afterwards.
plastic working must go into deforming the inner sections Measurements of the final shape of the joint reveal the
of the plate and more particularly of the tube, as is shown in general pattern shown in Fig. 8 (which is in fact for experi-
Fig. 7 where the extrusion is seen to be considerable. The ment 3 with a I-inch-bore tube) where the successive
Fig. 8, Experzhent 3. Defmmation of theJoint

Approximate final dimensions of specimen 3, original outline
CAGE REVOLUTIONS
show thus -. -. -.
A Assumed plastic4astic interface as indicatedby plumber’s resin
Fig. 7. Experiment 2 (2-inch Tube) Extrusion (to radius r/ro = 1.75 on back).
B Position of rollers at successive stages of expanding.
o Total extrusion.
+ Back extrusion. passage of the rollers is shown. It will be seen that as the
2 T Total extrusion for second expanding.
1B Back extrusion for first expanding. rollers penetrate the tube they have to move an increasing
volume of material, because in addition to the outward
build-up of the mean strain between front and back of the radial movement, they encounter at their inner ends a part
plate is reflected in the torque curve, and it would appear of the tube which is still at the original diameter, and it has
that the work-hardening capacity of the material has been to be moved at one time. Owing to the constraint offered by
largely exhausted before the end of the second pass and that the tube beyond the joint (where high elastic stresses can be
it is not possible to force the plastic zone out into the plate present), higher strains are built up on the back of the plate
much beyond a ratio of r/ro of 2.5. The levelling off of the than on the front, where this heavy deformation does not
torque curve after a steady rise during the rest of the test occur, and where the extrusion can take place freely.
corresponds qualitatively with the shape of the stress-strain * The ‘total extrusion’ here is that measured at the mean diameter
curve and supports this conclusion. The relative work- and not at the inside diameter of the tube as is usually the case. The
back extrusion
hardening characteristics of tube and plate are therefore of final ratio was 0.427, but it would be much less if
total exrrusiun
importance in the build-up of a high seat pressure. referred to the total extrusion at the inside diameter.

358 J. M. ALEXANDER A N D HUGH FORD
The residual strain distribution is shown in Fig. 9, of course, if the expanding had been effected by a hydro-
together with the final readings indicated by the micro- static pressure.
ammeters. These results showed good agreement after a
correction had been made to allow for the slight zero drift Some Comments on the Individual Tests
of the dynamic gauges. There was little scatter in the points, Although the above description applies equally to all the
which agreed with the theoretical form of curve in the tests, some special circumstances were present in individual
elastic region of the plate. experiments which help to fill in the general picture.
0.25 The smallest size assembly (l-inch outside diameter tube,
It1 I I1 STRAINS O N FRONT OF PLATE
(FINAL READING FROM
DYNAMIC GAUGES)
experiment 3) presented a difficulty in that the strain gauges
spanned a relatively greater length on the specimen. The
I
STRAINS ON BACK OF PLATE
(FINAL READING FROM
DYNAMIC GAUGES)
expanding was carried on until the total and back extrusion
0.15 RELATIVE SIZE OF STRAIN
were half those for the 2-inch outside diameter tube
GAUGE GRID OVER WHICH assembly, as required for geometrical similarity. The rela-
MEAN STRAIN IS RECORDED
0.10
tively longer rollers in this expander allowed the extrusion
to be reached in one pass. As will be discussed later, this
I- circumstance resulted in the residual strains being higher
f 0.05
u than in the other experiments, but they were larger on the
5 back than on the front as before. The graphs showing the
L O variation of quantities during the expanding process were
I
5 -0.05 somewhat different from the previous experiments, owing
5 to the larger size of the strain gauges relative to the specimen.
The larger drive unit was then installed and the largest
-0.10 size specimen investigated. Several difficulties were en-
countered: the rollers of the expander were too short and
-0.15 in the first attempt, did not penetrate the full depth of the
joint. Very large torques were needed for this test (as much
-0.20 as 1,600 lb.4.). Later two successful joints were made, five
passes being required to attain double the extrusion found
in the middle-size assembly, and even then, although the
0 I 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 I0 strains appeared to reach the maximum on the front they
Yr0- were still increasing on the back, partly because the front
F e . 9. Experiment 2. Residual Strain Distribution extrusion was so great that the cage could not penetrate the
(2-inch-diameter Tube)
full depth of the joint. The characteristic stepped torque
variation during removal of the expanders was again
o Strains on front of plate. apparent.
x Strains on back of plate.
T o allow the rollers to go through the joint the cape was
removed and expanding carried out in the normal way. On
The variation of strain and torque during removal of the reversal of the mandrel, the rollers would not release
expanders also shows characteristic features. The minimum themselves, but continued to rotate in the same path.
radial strains for each curve during this phase remain The initial expanding phase was complete, however, and a
sensibly constant, the peaks gradually reducing as the rollers subsequent pass was made until approximately the same
move out of the tube until they have no further effect. Both expanding was reached. The strains on the back of the
the maximum and the minimum peaks of the circumferential plate eventually exceeded those on the front, thus verifying
strains decrease, however, during this period. The torque the correspondence between the strain history of the largest
decreases in steps to zero, when the rollers have been com- specimen and those of the smaller specimens*.
pletely withdrawn, each step approximately coinciding with An additional experiment was carried out using retractive
120 deg. of cage rotation. There is a rise of torque before type expanders of the type illustrated in Fig. 10 (4-inch
the decrease between each step, which points to the outside diameter tube, experiment 5). Two passes were
existence of a ‘bump’ of material on the inside of the tube made, torque and strain records being taken. They were
which is gradually ‘ironed out’ by the rollers. Evidence of similar in form, but differed from those of the normal type
this is also given by the continued extrusion of the tube expander in that the strains on the back of the plate rose
during removal of the expanders as shown in Fig. 7. In this first followed by the strains on the front of the plate as the
experiment the strains on the back of the plate had in all expanders rolled out of the tube. The extrusion is shown
cases become greater than those on the front, indicating in Fig. 11 and the residual strains in Fig. 12. Plumber’s
that parallel expanding had not been achieved. The main resin was applied to the plate and tube of this specimen and
fact shown by the strain variation during removal of the
expanders is that the distribution of residual strain in the * I t was later found that, although the expander had not had much
use, the cage had worn and the rollers were twisting until they were
plate is approximately axially symmetrical, as it would be, not releasing.

flaked off to the extent shown very clearly by the light In the tests it has been shown that ‘parallel’ expanding
patches in Fig. 13, Plate 2. As before, the plumber’s resin did not lead to a parallel tube-seat interface. To find how
did not give an indication of the complete extent of the this lack of parallelism affected joint strength the tube of
plastic zone formed in the plate. The separate disk of specimen 2 was pushed out from the back against the
boiler plate clamped to the main specimen shown in taper.
Fig. 13, Plate 2, carried auxiliary strain gauges which It can be shown that the strains induced in a thin circular
were used to give an indication of ‘zero drift’ during the finite plate having a central hole expanded by an internal
experiment. pressure within the elastic limit are:
Push-out Tests on the Expanded Joints :Introduction

and Theory
circumferential strain e, = k1+ k2 g)
a‘‘ 2
Push-out and pull-out tests have often been used in the past radial strain e, = k1-k2(77)
as a measure of the strength and efficiency of an expanded
joint. The push-out or pull-out load, however, is dependent where k1 = P(1 +V)
not only on the seat pressure but also upon the surface finish
E - -1
r;)’]
of the component parts of the joint. The only really reliable
way of assessing the joint strength would seem to be by
measuring the elastic recovery of both faces of the seat plate E [ 1- k2
on removing the tube. The elastic recovery allows the seat giving p =
pressure to be calculated and from this point of view, it is of 1+V
little importance whether the tube is pushed out or pulled Thus, if the tube is pushed out, the elastic recovery of
out. As the former method was easier it was adopted, using the plate will relieve the strains given by the above equa-
a plug made to fit into the tube end which had previously tions, since it will be equivalent to releasing the expanding
been machined flush with the face of the plate. The push- pressure. The relieved strains were measured by means of
out loads were measured and having determined the mean the strain gauges and pop marks (in later tests) and the
seat pressure a value of the coefficient of friction could then results plotted against ( d t / r ) 2 so that the slope of the
be calculated by the theory of Goodier and Schoessow resulting straight line would give the value of k2.
(1943).
COLLAR WITH THRUST 0.60
ALLEN SCREW WASHER
G 0.55
t 0.50
55 0.45
co
IVER
r
END-COVER
C
F . .. .. .-
_ -. . HAND
LEFT
L
I
Z 0.40
SCREW THREAD
3
Fig. 10. Typical Retractive Expander 0.35
A
5
2 0.30
5
2 0.25
3
g 0.20
a3 0.15
0
v)
2 0.10
0.05
0
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1.0
(r@-N)Z
0 2 4 6 8 10 I2 14 16 18 20 22 24
Fig. 12. Experiment 5. Residual Circumferential
CAGE REVOLUTIONS Strain Distribution
Fig. 11. Experiment 5. Extrusion o Strain gauges, front.
x Punch marks, front.
1T Total extrusion during first expanding. + Strain gauges., back.
2B Back extrusion during second expanding, etc. Punch marks, back.

360 J. M.ALEXANDER AND HUGH FORD
Goodier and Schoessow’s equation for the push-out load Table 2. Calculation of Residual Circumferential Strain
is egoat Inside of Tubes
2ma“ v(b2-af’2)
F = p-- (eaeJr- l), where =
B a”(b2-r,-,”2)
Push-out tests were done on four of the specimens, a
Speci-
men
No.
Initial
tube
bore,
Initial
outside
radius,
Residual
circumferential
Strain
(s)2
typical set of the released circumferential strains as indicated inches inches eo, =
by the resistance strain gauges on the plate, being shown in
I
loge (1+$)
Fig. 14, while the values of mean seat pressure 3, push-out
load F and coefficient of friction p are given in Table 1.
c
1
2
3
5
I
1 0.748
0.750
0.3735
1.5055
1 1.01
i-oi 1
I
0.4985 0-0626
2.0105 0.0512
0.0519
0.0546
0.0506
0,05318
0.06076
0.04993
0.603
0.612
0.618
0.616
5U 0.010\ I I +I/
/
,
gradually increasing pressure from the inside diameter of

the hole in the tube after ‘tack rolling’ as starting point, the
plate and tube being assumed to form a continuous medium.
The residual circumferential strain at the inside of the tube
has been calculated for the various specimens, and Table 2
is the result.
The theoretical curve of the residual circumferential
strain along a radius was calculated for the same data as in
the tests, and is compared in Fig. 15 with the average distri-
bution for specimens 1, 2, and 3, in which the extent of
expanding was closely comparable.
Fig. 14. Push-out Test on Specimen 2 Mechanical Tests on the Materials Tested
(Tube pushed out from back.)
F = 3-97tons. Hardness and Thickness Measurements on Specimen 4
o Front. 4-inch-outside-diameter Tube, 28-inch-diameter Plate
+ Back.
An important factor in both the strength of a joint, and the
The push-out load recorded is the maximum required to extent to which it has been expanded or would be capable
start movement between tube and plate. The coefficient for of hrther expanding, is the extent of the plastic zone. It
test 5 was higher than for the other tests because of the was clear from the tests that this zone, on one or both sides
rough surface finish of the hole. The push-out load (and
mean seat pressure) were both lower for specimen 2 than
for specimen 1, although the former was pushed out against
the taper and would have been expected to give higher
values.
Comparison with Theory

In the course of this work a general theory of uniform
pressure expanding was developed (Alexander and Ford
1954). The case of a flat plate will be taken, expanded by a
Table 1. Results of Push-out Tests

Speci- 3
,, KzxlO5
men 1 (from graph)
NO. inch Front Back Mean
and ~FrontIBack - --
fi, PBl $9
tons tons tons
Pe‘ PeT Pe‘
, sq. in. sq. m. sq. in.
---
0.2923 353 40.0 3.6 4.055 3-828 6.47 0.211 0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1.0
1, 2
2,2 0.293 19.3 31.3 1.956 3.17 2.563 3-97 0-207 (r/r’’)*
3, 1 0.586 30 40.5 3.04 4.1 3.57 1-2050.175
5, 4 0.143 27-2 27.2 2.76 2.76 2.76 29.75 0.328 Fig. 15. Residual Strain Distribution (Mean)
Specimens 1,2, and 3

of the plate had exceeded the limit considered possible by

Nadai (1950) on theoretical grounds (his theory leads to
the conclusion that the plastic zone cannot extend beyond a
radius 1-75times the initial radius of the hole in the tube),
and it was decided to cut out a section of the plate of
specimen 4 and measure the hardness variation across the
front and back faces.
The hardness measurements should allow the yield stress
variation across the plate following roller expanding to be
determined from a yield stress-hardness correlationobtained
experimentally from the plate material. It was thought
preferable to use this method rather than to cut out and
machine miniature tensile specimens, whose strength would
vary over the effective gauge length, because the yield stress
changes rapidly in the narrow work-hardened region.
Various investigations have been made in the past to
establish a yield stress-hardness relationship for materials
in the plastic range. A relationship of this kind was obtained
for the 23-inch thick plate from which specimen 4 was cut,
using a 1-inch-diameter tensile test-piece with an extenso-
meter capable of measuring elongations of 30 per cent
or more. The test-piece had two diametrically opposed
flats ground along its length and the test was carried out
incrementally, recording load and extension in the normal
way, but removing the test-piece from the testing machine
u 6 7 0 9
between each increment so that hardness determinations Fig. 17. Hardness Measurements Across Faces of
could be made on the flats. The result is shown in Fig. 16 Specimen 4
210 -
2pQ-
Y
5Z 190 -
0 180 -
x
2 170 -
z
2 160 -
*
w
u 150 -
>
140 -
I30 -
Fig. 16. Hardness-Yield-stress Correlation
and this correlation was used to assess the work-hardening

across the faces of specimen 4.
The hardness across the plate is shown in Fig. 17. There
was less work-hardening on the back of the plate due
to the fact that the rollers had not penetrated for the
full seat width in this experiment. The results clearly
substantiate the original evidence that the plastic zone had
penetrated to a value of at least 2.6 x (bore of tube). T o
compare the extent of yielding with the theoretical predic-
tions the curve for the front of the plate only will be
considered. Using the hardness-yield stress correlation the
experimental curve shown in Fig. 18 is obtained. The final Fig. 18. Current Yield Stress Across Specimen 4
bore radius for this specimen was approximately 1.63 (Front of Specimen)

inches, so that the inside of the tube had undergone a plastic

circumferential strain of 0.075. Added to t h i s would be an
elastic strain of approximately 0.004, that is, a total strain
of 0.079.
In the theory put forward for constant pressure expanding
the variation of the strains in the plate, for a given ratio of
the plastic-elastic interface to the final bore radius, can be
calculated and hence the yield stress variation can be found.
Without going into detail of these calculations, Fig. 18
shows the theoretical and measured curves and in view of
the diflidties involved, the agreement is good.
It was also found possible to estimate the thickening of
the plate by grinding flats along a diameter of the plate and
DISTANCE FROM FRONT OF PLATE -INCHES
measuring the step so formed between the base of the flat
ground groove and the surface of the plate. This measure- Fig.20. Hardness Along Outside of Tube (Seat) (Specimen 4 )
ment was made using a dial gauge (having O*OOOl-inch Mean hardness of unstrained tube 109 V.P.N.
graduations) securely fixed to a post and rotating the
attachment slightly so that the dial gauge plunger traversed
The hardness along the outside of the tube was also
the step. It is then possible to extrapolate the curve repre- measured (Fig. 20); its distribution indicates very well the
senting the original profile of the plate and therefore degree of working which the tube has received and its
determine the thickened zone (Fig. 19). magnitude justifies the assumption that the tube and plate
On the assumption that thickening can only occur in the can be regarded as being made of the same material. While
plastic region these results again verify the original evidence it may be unwise to draw definite conclusions from a single
that the plastic zone has penetrated to a radius at least 2.6 set of results, it seems fairly clear that the deformation is
times the bore at the front of the tube. It was quite clear uniform through the plate except near the back of the joint,
from the appearance of all the joints expanded that relative where, in this particular test, the expander had not pene-
movement had taken place between the tube and plate. trated fully. When time permits, further hardness investi-
gations will be made on other specimens.
Tensile Tests
All the tensile tests were carried out on round test-pieces
turned from samples flame cut from the boiler plate used
in this research. No tensile tests were carried out on the cold
drawn unannealed mild steel tubes used. A 50-ton Denison
testing machine was used for all the tensile tests, a typical
test result being shown in Fig. 21.
For accurately determining Young’s modulus separate
tensile tests were made with both a Martens and an 8-inch
Ewing ‘extensometer. For the lbinch plate Young’s
modulus was 13,460 tons per sq. in., while the 23-inch
plate gave 13,000 tons per sq. in. This latter material was
also tested in torsion, and the Shear modulus was 4,980 tons
per sq. in. Poisson’s ratio was taken as 0.30 from these
results.
D I S C U S S i O N AND COMPARISON OF
EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS
Geometrical Similarity
Certain deviations from strict similarity existed in these
tests. Some of these have already been indicated, such as
the variations in the expanding tools as regards the relative
lengths of the rollers and their angles of inclination and the
use of one size of strain gauge grid where the strain gradient
Fig. 19. Thickness Measurements on Plate of Specimen 4 is changingrapidly. Except for the radial gauges immediately
Final radius to any point adjacent to the tube seat the effect is small and unimportant,
-1’’=
r0” Final tube bore radius but the radial strain gradient near the tube seat was so great

" ~~ ~
0 2 4 6 S 10 12 I4 16 18 20
EXTENSION-PER CENT
Fig. 21. Tensile Test for Material from It-inch Plate (US
received) o Trial experiment 1 (back).
x Experiment 2 (back).
Specimen 0.693 inch diameter cut from 6 feet x 3 feet X l a inches -F Experiment 3 (back).
mild steel boiler plate. Initial gauge length 2.499 inches (specimen 0 Experiment 4a (front).
necked outside gauge points).
that little comparison can be made between the nearer radial

gauges in the three tests. The cirdaential dynamic
strains at r/ro = 2.5, are therefore used for comparison 0 1 2 3 4 6 7 8 9
purposes.
From the shapes of the final joints it is clear that the
Merent relative roller length was the main cause of the -0.05
deviations from similarity. No investigation of this factor

appears to have been made, previous workers having as- -0.10
sumed parallel expanding, whereas, even with so-called

-0.15
parallel expanders, the nature of the deformation is critically
dependent on fhe roller length. I-
This has introduced a pronounced difference in strains as 3 -0.20
z
between the front and back of the disks and also between e
0
LU
1-0.25
one test and another. However, restricting the comparison 9:
to the circumferential dynamic gauges at r/ro= 2.5 on those z-
faces on which the full plastic zone had been developed, it 2-0.30
can be stated that the strain records bear a distinct L

resemblance to one another. -0.35
That geometricalsimilarity holds in these tests is demon-

strated most conclusively by comparing the residual (static) -0.40
strain distributions. For such a comparison it is only

-0.45
necessary to consider e,, the circumferential strain, since the
equation of strain compatibility for an axially symmetrical
-9.50
system relates e, the radial strain, and e, viz. e, = ee+rae,18r.
The values of e,, at various ratios of r/ro for all the experi- Fig. 23
ments are plotted in Fig. 22. Within the inevitable differ- Derived from cuNe in Fig. 22 the relation of e,=ee+r- aee
ences in the tests it is seen that the agreement is satisfactory, at
the points lying about a smooth curve. o Trial experiment 1 (back).
x Experiment 2 (back).
The above relationship between the strains allows a check + Experiment 3 (back).
to be made of the accuracy of the strain measurement since 0 Experiment 4a (front).

a curve of e, can be derived from e,. Fig. 23 shows the torque is a good indicator of the expansion since it follows
derived curve compared with the actual radial strain read- closely the build-up of the mean strain in the plate. Previous
ings. Bearing in mind the small strains which had to be investigations do not appear to have made a continuous
measured the agreement is satisfactory. measurement of the torque.
In Table 3 the principal chiuacreristicsof the three main The torque is, in fact, a better indicator than the extrusion
experiments are tabulated. It will be seen from the columns since the latter does not followthe strains, especiallytowards
for specimens 3 and 2 (1-inch and 2-inch tubes) that there the end of the expanding where the extrusion increases
is clear evidence that geometric similarity holds. The only rapidly while the strains fall off slightly. This is not to say
serious exception is in the total work done; the ratio should that extrusion could not be used as a practical criterion once
a trial expansion had been made to determine the extrusion
Table 3. Comparative Results for the Three Sizes of corresponding to the optimum degree of expanding.
Specimen
- -- Parallel Expanding
Outside diameter of tube . 1 inch ! inches k inches
The expanding tools used in this research are the standard
Specimen . 3 2 4 type designed to give so-called parallel expanding. The
Maximum value of cu attained at records of the process, the residual strains and the extent
r/ro = 2.5 on face exhibiting of the plastic yielding all show that parallel expansion of the
maximum yielded zone. Perent- joints was not obtained. Fig. 8 shows diagrammaticallythe
agestrain . 0.054 0.053 0.077
position of the rollers at successive stages during expanding.
Maximum torque a&ed during
ygxmsion, T I1b.-ft. . 13.5 100 1,600 It can be seen that, as the rollers penetrate the tube they
IN-I torque to release expanders have to move an increasing volume of material because in
after final expansion, T2 1b.-ft. . -5.1 -56 -800
Tzl Ti -0.38 -0.56 -0.5 addition to their radial movement they encounter at their
~ o t aertn;sion,
l in& . 0.0810 0.1617 0.3973 inner ends a part of the tube which is still at the original
Back extrusion, inch . 0.0334 0.0690 0.1186 diameter. All this material must be physically deformed and
back extrusion
Ratio total extrusion *
. . 0.412 0.427 0.299 moved radially outwards. Owing to the constraint offered by
Decrease of mean value of ee at the unstressed tube beyond the joint, higher strains are
r/ro = 2.5 during final removal of built up on the back of the plate than on the front where this
expanders. Percentage strain . 0.018 0.0235 0.0303
heavy deformation does not occur and where extrusion can
Total number of cage revolutions
during expansion, N I . 13.85 13.6 28-57 take place f r d y .
Total number of mandrel revolu-
tions during expansion, N2 . 64 66 130.7
NdNi 4.62 4.85 4.58
Total work done'in exbanding, ft.: Extent of the Plastic Zone
lb. 2,920 14,900 2 14,000 The extent of the flaking of the plumber's resin was
Rauos of work 'done' to &at on
specimen3 . 1 5.1 73.3 measured in all tests and is illustrated in Fig. 13. The maxi-
~atios of maximum toriues a k e i mum extent of flaking as measured in these tests, was to a
to that on specimen 3 . 1 7.41 118
- -- radius of r/ro= 1.75 which happens to agree exactly with
the maximum extent of yielding derived from Nadai's (1950)
be 1/8, the departure from this being thought to be owing theory. A more reliable approach is from consideration of
to either the relatively greater amount of fiction in the the residual strain readings. The point where the smooth
smaller expander or to some difference in the degree of curve drawn through the values of the c i r d e r e n t i a l
strain departs from linearity should indicate the ratio c/ro
expanding.
The test on the largest plate was very difficult to carry at which the plastic-elastic interface exists. The mean value
out, despite repeated efforts. The trouble was mainly for all the tests shows that this occurs at c/ro = 2.83, a value
because the rollers were too short, and when the cape was much higher than that found from plumber's resin. The
removed to allow them to penetrate the joint completely, fact that this extended zone is not indicated by the 5king
very high torques were obtained. In subsequent trials the of plumber's resin or the popping of mill scale is considered
initial pass was satisfactorilymade, but the expander would attributable to the smallness of the plastic strains near the
not release itself, and the makers stated that it had worn, elastic boundary.
despite the few expandings carried out with it. These later Two further checks of the actual extent of the plastic zone
tests (which will be reported in due course) showed the same are provided by the hardness and thickness measurements
pattern as in the smaller specimens. (specimen 4) where it is clearly substantiated that the plastic
zone penetrated to a value of c/ro at least as high as 2.6 on
the front of the plate.
Criteria of the Degree of Expanding Taking into consideration all the findings in these tests
Whatever the seat pressure may be in an expanded joint the up to the present stage, it seems that the plastic zone does
strains generated in the plate are a measure of the degree in fact extend beyond the radius c = 1.75ro possibly to a
of espanding. Referring to Fig. 6, it would appear that the value of about 2.6.

Degree of Expanding seat pressures

It is to be noted that all the joints were deliberately over- From the residual strain measurements after the push-out
expanded and might not be acceptable in practice. The per- tests, it was found that the average seat pressure was about
centage increase in inside diameter of the tube was about 33tons per sq. in., for a well-expanded joint, with individual
7 per cent. Grimison and Lee (1943) found in tests on readings at the back of the joint up to 4.1 tons per sq. in.,
34-inch outside diameter tubes that the maximum seat and at the front of the joint as low as 2 tons per sq. in.
pressure occurred for an increase in internal diameter of 2 It is interesting to compare such values with those
per cent. Grimison and Lee managed to obtain full develop- theoretically possible, and the theory referred to previously
ment of the plastic zone, as shown by the popping’of scale, (Alexander and Ford 1954) which assumes uniform pressure
with about 2 per cent inside diameter increase, but it was expanding and allows for the elastic strains and the work-
found necessary to go very nearly to 7 per cent to reach t h i s hardening of the plate, can be used to calculate the residual
point in the present investigation. circumferential strain at the inside of the tube. The seat
Shannon and his co-authors (1946) mention that an pressure corresponding to the same circumferential strain
expanded joint contracts slightly after being allowed to can also be calculated and from these the mean radial stress
stand for some time. No attempt was made to measure this at the outside of the tube for the various tests was derived
effect and in any case it would be small. and found to be 32.6 tons per sq. in. Assuming an elastic
The residual seat pressure would probably be lower on release of stress on release of the expanding pressure; the
-*r$)‘
that face of the plate which had not been expanded to the theory gives the released radial stress by the expression
full extent. Bearing in mind the fact that the strains induced
on the steam face of the pressurized boiler would be greater 0, = = 23.9 tons per sq. in.
than on the gas face (that is, the back of the plate) it would
seem desirable to expand the joint more on the front than where r” in this case is the radius to the outside of the tube.
the back, to give the greatest ‘joint spring’ where it is Hence, the residual radial stress at this radius, that is, the
required. theoretical seat pressure, is 32.6-23.9 = 8.7 tons per sq. in.
From Table 1, the mean seat pressure, as derived from the
push-out tests, was under 3.5 tons per sq. in.
Pull-out Strength For specimen 5 (retractive expander) the residual strain
The cross-section of the expanded specimens showed that distribution across the plate was measured more accurately
the joints expanded by rollers which finished well beyond in the plastic range (by the pop-marks, see above p. 353 (7))
the back of the plate would probably have a low ‘pull-out’ and using the above procedure the circumferential strain
strength, whereas specimen 4, in which the rollers did not was 0.0536 at a radius of 0.253 of that of the plastic-elastic
reach the back of the joint, would have a low ‘push-out’ interface corresponding to a uniform expanding pressure of
strength. It was found, however, that the lack of parallelism 38.4 tons per sq. in. These figures yield a theoretical seat
made no difference to the force required to push out with pressure of 8.4 tons per sq. in., while the measured value
or against the apparent taper in the joint. The coficient of was only 2.8 tons per sq. in.
friction was found to be about 0.2 except for the rougher It is concluded from these comparisons that the seat
machine finish in specimen 5, where the value was above pressure developed by roller expanding is much less than
0.3. Despite the fact that the joints had been somewhat over- the theoretical pressure which would exist in an infinite
expanded, the mean seat pressures were as high as those plate expanded by a d o r m pressure, i.e. only about 35
obtained by other investigators. per cent of the theoretical.
The researches of Grimison and Lee (1946) showed a It may be that the optimum conditions were not realized
sharp reduction of residual seat pressure and pullsut in these tests, but it suggests that the expanding process can
strength beyond a certain degree of expansion, which they be improved upon :indeed, if alloy steels are to be used for
attributed mainly to the breaking down of the surface more advanced steam conditions, so that thinner walled
between tube and seat resulting from excessive exuusion. drums can be employed, the strains of the plate will be
Propulsive type expanders were used in their investigation, larger when the boiler is under pressure and greater ‘spring’,
presumably having rollers covering the 111 length of the that is, greater residual strains must be built up in the
seat, and if continued rolling produced the lack of paraI- plate if joints are to maintain tighmess and strength.
lelism shown to exist in these experiments, then the reduc- The roller expander produces a plastic zone which
tion in pullsut strength might be expected. It is not stated revolves with each roller, and extends to a considerable
whether or not the measurement of the elastic radial dis- distance in the plate. This plastic zone has been shown in
placement of points on the plate due to cutting away the these tests to continue even during withdrawal of the
tube was made on both faces of the plate. Since their expander, at least through the tube thickness (see Fig. 7
estimation of the seat pressure was based on this measure- showing continued extrusion during withdrawal). There is
ment it is important to know whether the measured dis- evidence which suggests that the extent of residual stress
placement was on the front, on the back, or the mean of the left in a plastically worked metal is mainly dependent on
two, in the light of the possibility of the lack of parallel the last plastic deformation experienced by the plate, so
expansion. that in the present case, the seat pressure may well be

366 J. M.ALEXANDER AND HUGH FORD
relaxed somewhat during withdrawal and certainly will not obtainable by this method can be calculated from the
correspond to the maximum indicated under the rollers at Lam6 equations, since, for the maximum pressure the
the moment prior to withdrawal. stresses should remain within the elastic limit.
It must,however, be remembered that the theory does not If the initial radial ‘interference’ is u, the tube will be
allow for axial stresses, that is, it assumes no relative axial compressed and the hole in the plate will be expanded such
movement between tube and plate. The extrusion of the that
tube has been shown to be comparatively large, and accord- 2pr,
ingly the radial and circumferential strains will be less than
the theoretical leading to a lower seat pressure. It is reason-
able to conclude, therefore, that if the axial extrusion of the
tube could be restricted, higher circumferential strains and where P is the interfacial pressure, ro the inner radius of
seat pressures could be realized. tube, and i l the outer radius of tube.
The roughness of the seat surface, or the addition of It is now necessary to determine the maximum seat
grooves in the seat should bring about such restriction. pressure which may be attained before yielding occurs.
It was decided to confirm these conclusions and in a sub- The von Mises criterion is ur2-urue+ue2 = uo2, where
sequent section will be found details of some further tests. uo is the yield stress in uniaxial tension.
For the tube, this criterion reduces to:
Work-hardening
p2 [1+3p)4]=
uo2
[1- k)’1
The hardness variation across the plate shows conclusively
that it has been work-hardened to a greater extent than
would correspond to the final strains it has suffered (Fig. 18) The left-hand side of this equation is a maximum when
and the same is true to an even greater extent for the tube r = to.
(Fig. 20), which was generally found to be harder than the Thus the maximum allowable pressure on the tube is :
plate. Moreover, the measured strains resulting from roller
expanding have been shown to be smaller than the theo-
retical strains used for the comparison in Fig. 18. It has to
be concluded, therefore, that there is a large amount of For the plate the criterion becomes :
‘redundant’ shearing which does not appear as an overall
strain.
The left-hand side of this equation is a maximum when
ALTERNATIVE METHODS O F OBTAINING r = a.
TUBE-SEAT JOINTS
Thus the maximum allowable pressure in the hole in the
The results of these investigations show that roller expand- plate is :
ing does not develop the full seat pressures which are
theoretically possible. It would seem useful to consider
other possibilities.
Accordingly the maximum allowable seat pressure is
Uniform Pressure Expanding given by the allowable pressure on the tube.
If it were possible to expand a boiler tube joint by uniform For the material used in this investigation the maximum
hydrostatic pressure, then according to the theory, seat pressure would be P = 3.5 tons per sq. in.
seat pressures of the order of 8 tons per sq. in. should The radial ‘interference’ necessary would be such that
be attainable. Axial extrusion of the tube might occur, -= 1.19~
U
10-3
however, with a consequent reduction in the seat pressure r1
generated. A possible practical method of expanding by In order to shrink the tube by an amount u/rl = 2/10’,
uniform pressure might be to use a tapered mandrel forced say, assuming a temperature coefficient of expansion of
axially into the tube which would have to be secured relative 6.5 x 10-6 per deg. F., a temperature difference of (2x lo6)/
to the boiler. (Dr. Carlson, of Babcock and Wilcox, has (103~6.5)= 308 deg. F. would be required. Assuming an
intimated that tubes have been expanded by exploding a ambient temperature of 68 deg. F., this would mean lower-
controlled charge in the mouth of the tube, but with no ing the temperature of the tube end to -240 deg. F. Since
apparent resulting increase in seat pressure.) The ball drift the boiling-point of liquid oxygen is approximately -300
expander is the nearest approach to this type of expanding deg. F., a shrinkage of this amount would be attainable.
at present in use. The practical difficulties in such a process would be very
great, notably the difficulty of controlling the interference
Interference Fit dimension u over the range of tolerances allowable on the
It might be possible to shrink an oversize tube end, for tube and seat dimensions. ‘There would also be great
example, by cooling in liquid air and, having inserted the practical difficulties in cooling the tube end, but this
tube into the boiler, allow it to expand. The seat pressures analysis clearly shows the limitations of shrinking as a

possible method; even if the tube end were work-hardened recovery of the plate was measured by means of the strain
before use, to give a higher yield stress, the temperature gauges and the seat pressure estimated.
difference is lirhited. It was found that the length of the tube had a pronounced
effect on the mode of its deformation under compression,
Tube Riveting but tubes 1-inch long were successfidlycompressed without
Suitably controlled axial compression of the tube end would buckling. Push-out tests were made, a typical result being
cause it to thicken and expand into the seat plate. On release shown in Fig. 24. The values of the seat pressures and co-
of the axial load elastic recovery of the system would occur. efficients of friction calculated from these results using the
Provided that the inward elastic radial displacement of the theory already outlined under the section ‘push-out test’,
outside of the tube on recovery is less than the inward are shown on the graphs.
elastic radial displacement of the seat associated with the This process (Fig. 24) gives much higher mean seat
expanding pressure generated on the seat, a residual seat pressures than the roller expanding process. The riveting
pressure would be left. Such a process would prevent ex- loads necessary are rather high. Also, owing to unavoidable
trusion and should according to the foregoing arguments ‘dishing’ of the seat plate, a region of high local seat
lead to much higher seat pressures than the value of 4 tons pressure may be developed, but it appears that mean seat
per sq. in., found in previous investigations. It was therefore pressures of about 7 tons per sq. in., can be achieved with
decided to make a few exploratory tests, by compressing the configuration used in these experiments, and local seat
short lengths of tube into seat plate disks. The specimens pressures of up to twice this amount can be generated. On
used consisted of tubes nominally 1-inch outside diameter, the basis that for a tight joint a complete ring of high seat
&-inch thick, riveted into 7-inch diameter disks of the pressure is needed, the tests show that very good results are
+-inch boiler plate, which had centrally drilled 1-inch dia- possible and that much higher seat pressures can be
meter holes. 1 7 x 2 5 mm. 100-ohm Tinsley gauges attained than with roller-expanding, which does not leave a
cemented with ‘High Solids Durofk’ were used, disposed residual stress intensity commensuratewith the large plastic
circumferentially across the faces of the specimens. deformations it causes in the tube and plate.
The plate was supportedin a suitable position between the
loading platens of a Denison testing machine and the tube ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
was compressed axially until a circumferential strain of This work was carried out under a research contract from
about 3 per cent had been generated under the strain gauge the British Shipbuilding Research Association, and the
adjacent to the hole. The load was then released, the gauges authors are grateful to the Council and Director of Research
unwired and the projecting part of the tube machined off of the Association for permission to publish these results.
flush with the face of the plate. The specimen was then The help of Yarrow and Co., Ltd., and Stewarts and Lloyds,
rewired and placed in the testing machine, and the tube Ltd., in supplying material and Babcock and Wilcox, Ltd.,
pushed out, the load being recorded. The subsequent elastic in supplying the retractive expanders, is also acknowledged.
-0.050
I/I./ APPEND1 X
-0045
REFERENCES
-0.040
/’ ALEXANDER, J. M., and FORD,H. 1954 Proc. Roy. SOC.A,
vol. 226, p. 543, ‘On Expanding a Hole from Zero Radius in
a Thin Infinite Plate’.
BAXTER,A. M. 1947 British Shipbuilding Research ASSOC.,
Report No. 5, ‘The Expansion of Boiler Tubes into Tube
Plates’.
BLAIR,J. S. 1949 Proc. I.Mech.E., W.E.P., No. 51, vol. 161,
p. 176, ‘The Use of Plumber’s Resin to Determine the
Occurrence of Yield’.
GOODIER,J. N., and SCHOESSOW, G. J. 1943 Trans. A.S.M.E.,
vol. 65,p. 489, ‘The Holding Power and Hydraulic Tightness
of Expanded Tube Joints’.
GRIMISON, E. D., and LEE,G. H. 1943 Trans. A.S.M.E., vol. 65,
p. 497, ‘Experimental Investigation of Tube Expanding’.
NADAI,A. 1950 ‘Theory of the FlowandFractlireof Solids’,
vol. 1, p. 476, second edition (McGraw-Hill Book Co., New
York and London).
RANKINE,J., BAILEY,W., and STANTON, F. 1948 JI. Iron and
Fig. 24. Specimen 7. Push-out Test Steel Inst., vol. 160, p. 381 (Dec.), ‘Resistance Strain Gauges
for the Measurementof Roll Force Torque and Strip Tension’.
1-inch tube riveting load 25 tons. Push-out load 2.082tons. SHANNON, W. B., PRATT,C.W., WEBB, T. B., and CARLSON, W. B.
o Front p p = 11.13tons per sq. in. 1946 Proc. I.Mech.E., vol. 154,p. 52,‘Expanded Tube Joints
+ Back pB = 2.07 tons per sq. in. in Boiler Drums, with Special Reference to the Battersea
p = 6.6tons per sq. in. p = 0.174. High Pressure Boilers’.
3.

368
Discussion
Dr. W. B. Carlson (Member) said that it was noted with expensive and a sound method of assessing leakage pro-
interest that the paper had been in the nature of an interim pensities might be worth some thought.
report, and he was sure that everyone would look forward In the Battersea investigation an assessment of the effects
to hrther instalments. The authors’paper might be regarded of tube-hole strain had been made, i.e. both the integrated
as a direct successor to that by Shannon and others (1946) peripheral strain and the ovality, on the onset of leakage. If
which had dealt with the special problem which had arisen the lessons of that work were to be used for design against
in the commissioning of two boilers at Battersea Power leakage, a tolerably simple method of determining the
Station during the 1939-45 war, to which the authors distortion due to pressure of a tube hole in any arrangement
referred. A basic method of approach and test had been of tube holes had to be found. Initial steps to that end had
introduced at that time, and it was pleasing to note how that already been taken. Sponsored by the Water-Tube Boiler-
technique had been developed by the authors. It was also makers’ Association, a photo-elastic investigation of the
pleasing to record that many of the experiences which the stress in a wide range of tube banks had been carried out at
authors had so ably described corroborated those which had University College, London. At the cost of a considerable
been found in the previous research; for instance, the analytical effort, the data accumulated could be interpreted
authors’ Fig. 13 was very like Fig. 6 of Shannon and others in terms of tube-hole stretch. If that were married to an
(1946). investigation of the character described by the authors, a
The authors had set themselves the task of establishing method of design against leakage should result.
the relative importance of the several factors which might
affect the tightness and strength of expanded joints. There Mr. H. L. Cox, M.A. (Associate Member), referred to
were, perhaps, three aspects worthy of examination. the section at the end of the paper dealing with alternative
The first and most obvious was to find means of effecting methods of obtaining tube-seat joints. There the authors
good joints in high-strength highly stressed steel shells. had shown that by shrinkage the maximum allowable seat-
The high-tensile steel ferrule method had proved to be pressure for the material used would be 3.5 tons per sq. in.,
one good permanent solution. That problem was not whereas, when they riveted it they seemed to be able to get
necessarily associated with high pressure, but it might have up to 7 tons per sq. in. At first sight he had expected that
been. the same conditions would apply to both methods, except
The second aspect was to extend the investigation of for a slight difference in respect of extrusion. He would like
highly stressed shells in the direction of thin shells. The to know why that expectation had failed.
problem there was that the narrow seats in thin shells were Referring to Fig. 6, and remembering the great variation
not capable of controlling axial extrusion of the tube, which of dynamic stress as the rollers went round, he wondered
went against the production of high joint-contact pressure. whether a triangle was a sufficiently good approximation of
That aspect was not without interest in the atomic energy a circle. He would welcome the authors’ opinion as to
field. whether it was reasonable to compare the penetration of the
The third aspect had to do with designing the thickness plastic layer with the Nadai theory, which was based on
of a pressure vessel shell when it was known that a certain uniform expansion, and whether it would not be worth
tube-hole arrangement was needed. The pressure vessel while trying a larger number of rollers.
codes based that calculation on the average stress in the
ligaments between tube holes. The formulae were approxi- Mr. A. W. Brown, B.Sc. (Associate Member), said that
mate, particularly with diagonal pitching, and they ignored it would be interesting to know why the authors had
single tube-holes. Moreover, they were based on stress decided against lubricating the expanders. It was clear that
only and took no account of strain or deflexion in the tube a tapered roller engaging with a parallel tube-bore must
holes. In other words, the design criterion was a certain slip on it. Lubrication helped to avoid flaking the tube and
mean-stress in the shell, and there was no established eased friction, without detracting from the expanding
method of designing against the advent of leakage. effect which was by radially outward pressure.
An easy escape from that situation was to use welded Reduced friction reduced heating and, therefore, the
stubs when at all doubtful but that solution could be amount of radial stress relaxation which occurred when the

whole joint cooled to a uniform temperature. That the in that connexion. With that substitution he agreed that
authors did not investigate that problem might have been the only reliable way of determining contact pressure was
due to the comparatively small heating resulting from by measuring elastic recovery. Nevertheless, he had less
their slow mandrel speed of only 20 r.p.m. which would be faith in a purely theoretical calculation from elastic recovery
difficult to justify in commercial practice. to contact pressure in a narrow seat-plate, and would have
It was noted that only one dial gauge had been used to preferred to have seen a practical seat-plate calibration such
measure back extrusion. His experience had been that any as that described in Appendix I1 of the Shannon (1946)
eccentricity of tube bore was liable to lead to enough paper.
warpage during expanding to give a misleading measure- Failure to calibrate the seat plates might have led to
ment of extrusion. errors in the seat pressures quoted in Table 1. The authors
The authors had stated rather vaguely that in their later stated that if anything the joints in their experiments were
tests the total and back extrusions had been their main probably slightly over-expanded, but in his opinion certain
criteria of the completion of expanding. Surely in experi- of the contact pressures given were on the high side. For
ments of that character there must be one clear-cut criterion instance, he would have expected the I-inch diameter x
throughout. Moreover, it should have preferably been of a &-inchthick tube No. 3 expanded into a seat only 0.564-inch
type which was both reasonable from a technical standpoint wide, to have had a contact pressure of the order of 2.0-
and practicable in the field. Back extrusion depended too 2.5 tons per sq. in., not 3.5 tons per sq. in. as given by the
much upon where the tube first nipped the seat; total authors. A similar trend would have been expected in
extrusion was generally impracticable to measure, and specimen Nos. 1 and 2. Thus it was possible that the friction
neither of those could be checked by an inspector after the factors of specimen Nos. 1, 2, and 3 had all been of the
event. The authors had suggested torque as a good indicator order of 0.3, which would have agreed with his previous
of the expansion. Torque meters did not readily withstand experience.
the rough usage of expanding conditions, so attention should Practical expandings of the propulsive type were always
have turned to input power. Many site engineers preferred belled, and a more realistic assessment of their contact
the safety of compressed-air drive, which made measure- pressures might have been obtained by belling during the
ment difficult. Where electric drive was used, the motor test expanding and then machining off the bell prior to
was invariably an induction or repulsion type. Therefore pushing out the tube.
the measurement had to be by wattmeter mechanism and With regard to the high mean contact pressure obtained
not ammeter. Moreover, a time delay had to be incorporated by the authors’ tube riveting technique, it was interesting
to avoid cut-out due to roughnesses. to note that they had proved that the control of longitudinal
Electric power detection of the point where the tube extrusion did enable approximately the maximum theoretical
nipped the seat had been successfully used by his organiza- contact pressure to be developed.
tion, followed by a preset count of mandrel turns. But for
the general run of expanding he had found nothing to beat Mr. C. W. Pratt, B.Sc. (Eng.) (Member), said that he
back-gauge measurement as an all-round compromise. On found only one main point to raise on the paper and that was
the continent they took tube-bore increase from the nip that the work presented referred to a single tube-hole in a
onwards, but that involved frequent removal of the large plate. In practice that did not often occur. In practice
expander. rows of tube holes were found.
The authors stated that the relative work-hardening One speaker had referred to the question of multi-
characteristics of tube and plate were of importance in the roller expanders. With a multi-roller equal contact pres-
build-up of a high contact-pressure, but they did not sure all round might be the expected result, but the contact
hazard an opinion as to what was the most desirable relation- pressure obtained depended on the resistance given by the
ship. If end extrusion could have been rigidly contained, the tube plate itself around the tube hole periphery and in many
old idea of expanding a soft tube into a harder seat would cases, in practice, that was widely variable.
have held good. But when extrusion had to be contended A point had been mentioned with regard to the length of
with, and if the seat were on the soft side, it might the rollers. Certainly in actual practice, with propulsive
be best to use a tube which work-hardened quickly. expanders, if the rollers were appreciably longer than the
It was quite practicable to expand a steel tube into a soft- tube seat depth, it had been found that where tubes had
copper seat. been expanded a number of times in the same tube hole, it
The explanation given by Fig. 8 of the larger strain was usually possible to get feelers between the tube and the
generated on the back face of the plate in propulsive seat on the outside of the tube plate. That indicated that the
expanding was worth emphasizing. It was also notable that highest strain might have occurred on the outer side of the
one of the many good features of retractive expanding was tube plate rather than at the back, but in the case mentioned,
that it produced the larger strain on the front face where it that undoubtedly arose mainly on account of the length of
was wanted. the expander rollers.
Under the heading of push-out tests the authors had Those were practical points which made all the difference
mentioned joint strength, but it would have been preferable between expanding in multi-tube holes and laboratory
to refer to joint contact pressure at zero hydraulic pressure experience. He had nothing against laboratory experience.

370 DISCUSSION
The only point was that it needed marrying up with work- certain conclusions regarding three roll expanding. The
shop practice. If laboratory experience were the sole speed of expanding adopted by the authors, 20 r.p.m., was
criterion in making satisfactory joints, then the company not too low and was in fact a practical figure.
with which he was associated would have been completely He had made a few calculations involving the rollers and
fiee fiom trouble; but he could only report that the previous mandrels listed below Fig. 2 and estimated that the finished
week they had had a whole series of expanding leakages on bores of tube joints expanded with the first mentioned
an important contract. The explanation would illustrate the expander would be tapered 0.022inch, the second expander
difference between the single tube-hole experiments and would give a near parallel bore and the third a taper of
large-scale practice where the question of the tube-hole 0.035 inch over the seat length. The finished diameters of
spacing, the factors of the expanders, and the way the the tube joints had not been given but he wondered whether
workmen did the job, had to be considered. that feature could be checked as it might have had some
There were jobs with a number of expandings slight effect on the tube-seat interface and the measured
which were satisfactory, and then one would produce a strains.
leak. A constant problem was what to do when a small His own experiments had more or less confirmed the
weep occurred. Some people would advise touching it findings of Grimison and Lee (1943)* although the measur-
up. He would ask the authors what they did in the case ing technique adopted was slightly different.
of a tube-hole seat which presented that weep. Did they In the discussion of the results the authors had proved
touch it up or did they assume that if it leaked there was that the laws of similitude held for geometrically similar
inadequate contact pressure and did they then make a joints, having due regard for the method and degree of
complete re-expanding ? expanding adopted. With regard to the degree of expansion
On one particular boiler it had been found that under it was his opinion that the joints had been over-expanded
hydraulic test pressure, leakages occurred at the top and 33 times beyond that necessary for optimum joint strength.
bottom of the tube holes. That had undoubtedly been due He would have liked to have seen the experiments carried
to the fact that the tube seats had been strained under out using a belling type expander, running the expanders
hydraulic pressure, more in one direction than in the other. right in until they contacted the tube and completedbelling.
Mr. Pratt added later in the discussion that he was afraid There would have been a sudden rise in torque due to end
that he had been incorrect in assuming that the authors thrust on the tube, but the results would have had a greater
thought that the higher strain due to the expanding opera- practical value if done on that basis.
tion had been on the water side of the tube plate and not On the question of the degree of expanding, it was
on the gas side. He had said that it was often found that the stated that strain, torque, extrusion, and so forth were
strain of the tube seat, when using rollers appreciably suitable criteria. He had found it best to carry out laboratory
longer than the tube seat, was on the gas side and those experiments in regard to the degree of expansion necessary
remarks confirmed the authors’ contention. for a particular joint, and to rely on mandrel travel from
‘nip’ at site. Accurate extrusion measurements were
Mr. L. E. Culver, B.Sc. (Eng.) (Graduate), said that difficult in practice. Strain measurements were confined to
under the ‘Description of the Tests’ the authors had stated, the laboratory. Torque varied appreciably from tool to
‘The tube was then lightly rolled, so that it just nipped tool, with the lubricants used, and with the wear of the
the plate.’ He would like to ask whether they had taken any expanders. It became awkward to use torque as a suitable
steps to ensure that the tube had been in contact with the criterion, particularly when portable air-powered tools were
plate seat over its whole width. used.
In Table 1 looking at the first two tests they should have Penetration of the plastic zone to the extent quoted by
been the same, yet, looking at the seat pressure it was the authors r/ro = 2.6 was a little perplexing as in some
found that on the front the two values were 3.6 and 1.956 experiments he had carried out with tubes expanded to
and on the back they were 4 and just over 3. Perhaps the twice optimum, the penetration was, approximately
authors could explain why that was so. r/ro = 1.75 which would confirm Nadai’s (1950)f. theory.
The authors had stated that it did not seem to make any The experiments had relied on the interference fit of a plug
difference whether the tubes were pushed out from the front gauge in small holes drilled in the tube plate at varying
or from the back. He would suggest that perhaps that was distances from the seat. Although this method might not be
not a fair conclusion, especiallywhen the figures which were as sensitive as the authors’, checks on the plate hardness at
seen in Table 1 were considered. It seemed probable that a section at the centre of the seat had also confirmed a
something which was not yet under complete control penetration approximating r/ro = 1.75. He wondered
caused that error. whether the authors’ strain gauge readings had been
affected by the deformation of the face of the plate and
Mr. D. C. Alison (Stockport) said that he had been
associated with experiments in tube expanding for some * Grimison, E. D., and Lee, G. H . 1943 Trans. A.S.M.E., vol. 65,
time, primarily with a view to establishing a satisfactory and pp. 497,521, ‘Experimental Investigation of Tube Expanding’.
-f Nadai, A. 1950 ‘Theory of the Flow and Fracture of Solids’,
practical process for site work. Intensive tests involving 3- 001. I , p . 476, second editzon (McGraw-Hzll Book Co., New York
and 3+inch-outside-diameter boiler tubes had led him to and London).

EXPERIMENTAL.INVESTIGATION OF THE PROCESS OF EXPANDING BOILER TUBES 371
whether the hardness at a section through the centre of the to get the same relationship between longitudinal and cir-
test plates would confirm the surface hardness figure. cumferential properties in the tube.
With regard to alternative methods of expanding, the The method of measuring tube contact pressureby
interference fit was not very practicable from the stand- pushing out the tube seemed to be a little primitive. On
point of heat exchangers or boilers, neither was tube the other hand it was a practical test. Two other possibilities
riveting. It was difficult to apply. Expanded tube joints might have been considered. One was to release a dr-
made with three-roll type expanders would give a strong d e r e n t i a l strain in the tube by machining it at each end
joint which would withstand, within limits, torsion, and by putting two cuts into it and measuring the strains
bending, tension and compressive stresses, apart from the on the plate in that way. It was also possible to dissolve the
fact that they were subject also to cyclic variations in tem- tube out with acid.
perature. They withstood those conditions providing the He would like to know whether the work would be
joint was properly made. When temperatures and pressures extended in that way. Certain stainless steel tubes were used
became too high for expanded type joints, he would resort in the dairy industry and they were expanded into union
to stub welding and the welded tube joint. type fittings. The diameter/thicknessratio of the tubes was
He expressed admiration for the measuring equipment greater than in boilers, and instead of being in the tube
used and hoped that further tests would be carried out to plate they were extended into a ring of fine dimensions. If
investigate the ligament strains developed in multi-pierced work had been extended to that sort of condition he would
tube plates. like to know whether it would be published.
Cdr. (E.) J. I. T. Green, O.B.E.,R.N. ret. (Member), Mr. G. K. Wood (Member) said he thought that every-
asked whether the reasons given for the greater strain at the one present had been particularly interested in the interplay
back of the plate were adequate; whether the result would between the laboratory side and the practical side illustrated
be affected if the tube were cut off flush with the plate in the discussion on the paper. He wished to ask the authors
at the back, and whether it would not be of interest to if they could give the practical side any advice with regard
observe the distribution of strain with a slightly tapered to improving their methods with a view to avoiding leakages
hole. by a more perfect technique, by more careful supervision,
*. D. Coe (Associate Member)said that he was at the
receiving end of tube expanding as a member of the Central
or by more careful selection of expanders and/or apparatus.
Electricity Authority, and he would both congratulate the The following written contribution by Mr. G. A
authors on the paper and endorse Mr. Pratt’s remarks Plummer (Member)was read by the Secretary:
about marrying up laboratory work with actual practice. The authors had presented an extremely valuable paper
He thought people were apt to forget the human element in which added considerably to the available knowledge in
tube expanding. It was easy to obtain good expansion in the respect to the strain and stress distributionin the supporting
laboratory, but on the site a great deal depended upon a plates surrounding expanded tube joints.
workman who might not be highly skilled and who would They had drawn attention to the heavy defonna-
be working in very different conditions from the laboratory tion at the back of the tube plate. Investigation showed
and probably without adequate supervision. that the residual strains were much greater than on the
In his view one of the big difficulties experienced by the front of the plate, leading to lack of parallelism in the joint
workman was in obtaining the true nip position. One manu- face. He thought that that might be largely affected by the
facturer with whom he had been associated had determined shape of the expander rollers. The shape of rollers illustrated
a method of tube expanding which relied on an accurate in Fig. 2 would have definitely tended to produce
determination of the nip position. The tube was expanded the results shown in that investigation and he wished
a certain degree from the nip position, and it was found to to suggest that the shape of the expander roller could be
depend entirely on the worlrman’s touch. He would like to modified to give improved results. The forward end of the
know whether the authors contemplated investigating a rollers might well be reformed to a blunt shell shape. He
method for determining the true nip position which would had found by experience that that considerably reduced the
be suitable for site work. It was the datum from which all constraint on the forward end of the rollers, avoided the
expansions were made on site, and it was something which sharp undesirable change in section of the expanded tube
would be really worth while investigating. wall as shown in Fig. 8 and materially facilitated the pro-
duction of parallel expanding. The shape of the forward
Dr. W. J. Knights, B.Sc. (Eng.) (Associate Member), end of the expander rollers shown in Fig. 2 was largely, if
said that he had expected to find that the paper took greater not wholly, responsible for the phenomena described by
account of tube eccentricity in the selection of test pieces. the authors when they concluded that in their experiments
The diameters and sizes had been selected in accordance there was a large amount of ‘redundant’ shearing which
with the British Standards specification, and while that did not appear as an overall strain.
might be all right for the tubes themselves, he did not The authors had mentioned that all the joints had been
think that it was always good enough for fundamental work. deliberately over-expanded. That was confirmed by
Even if materials from one cast were selected it was difficult reference to the various readings given, for example, in the

372 DISCUSSION
case of specimen 2, where a 2-inch-outside-diameter tube In his experience, although torque might be a suitable
was expanded into a tube seat 1.13 inches deep, it could be measure of the amount of extrusion in the case of small
seen from Fig. 7 that the back extrusion was approximately thin-walled tubes, it did not appear to be at all satisfactory
0465 inch. for boiler tubes. That could be seen by reference to the
His company had carried out a considerable amount of various diagrams given in the paper. For example, referring
experimental work in connexion with tube expanding to Fig. 6, torque of approximately 70 lb.-fi. was achieved
which had shown that tubes could be very easily over- towards the end of the lirst expansion and from Fig. 7 it
expanded, the tube material in particular becoming severely could be seen that the corresponding back extrusion was
work hardened and the holding power appreciably reduced. approximately 0.0255 inch.
They employed back extrusion as the criteria and for tubes On the second expansion it was noted that a torque of
similar to specimen 2 of the paper would have based on a 70 1b.-ft. was again reached after approximately 32 seconds,
back extrusion of about 0.025-0.030 inch, i.e. less than i.e. 2.25 cage revolutions. Reference to Fig. 7 showed that
half that employed by the authors for specimen 2. Under the back extrusion at that point had increased to about
those conditions the ultimate tensile strength and the yield 0.035 inch showing clearly that some additional expansion
was increased by about 5.6 and 4 per cent respectively with had been achieved with the same torque.
a reduction in elongation from 35 to 30 per cent. His Additionally, variations in torque readings might have
experience confirmed the work of Grimison and Lee (1943) occurred from tube to tube due to variations in tube
and others which had shown that expanding a boiler tube thickness, tube hardness, and expander wear. On that
beyond an optimum amount resulted in the reduction of account the writer was of the opinion that the extrusion of
the holding power of the tube, and also showed a sudden the tube was the most satisfactory basic measure of tube
rather than a gradual fall in load once the tube had com- expanding.
menced to move. He would suggest that the holding power It was mentioned in the paper that in carrying out the
of a tube was not wholly conditional upon the seat pressure. tests described, measurements were recorded following the
Coefficient of friction had a considerable bearing and nip point. It was appreciated, as stated by the authors, that
molecular cohesion would materially increase the coefficient the initial phase of expanding the tube until it nipped was
of friction. In his view over-expansion might break down difficult to control, but as for many purposes the nip point
the surface between the tube and the tube seat and largely was the datum for measurements it was a highly important
destroy the effects of molecular cohesion. point and it was noted with interest that that matter was to
The authors had stated that ‘the torque was, in fact, a be investigated later as a separate item. In the meantime it
better indicator than the extrusion’ yet the authors had would be extremely helpful if the authors would indicate
previously stated ‘the total and back extrusions were the how they had determined the nip point in the series of
main criteria used for the experiments referred to’. experiments described in their valuable paper.
Communications
hir. A. M. Baxter, M.Sc. (Associute Member), wrote that features might increase the effectiveness of the expanding
as he had written the British Shipbuilding Research process.
Association survey which led to the authors’ research work The evidence that the plastic zone penetrated to a distance
he had found their paper full of interest. Their careful of at least 2.6 x bore of tube (not 1.75 times as suggested
experimental work had served to illuminate the expanding by Nadai’s theory) was disturbing as that affected the
process but that essentially simple process still presented pitching necessary to obtain satisfactory joints.
many practical problems and much further work was still He suggested that the plate-hole diameter was a more
required. For example, the ratio of tube diameter to plate logical and better datum from which to measure the depth
thickness used in those tests had been limited and of a of penetration of the plastic zone into the plate, rather than
completely different order from that encountered in many the tube bore. On that basis the authors’ results gave the
high-pressure heat exchangers which had small diameter extent of the plastic zone as 1.94 x plate-hole diameter.
tubes expanded into comparatively thick headers.
In practice the use of a belling roller probably altered Dr. J. S. Blair (Member)wrote that the authors’
the process significantly and the comment on Fig. 7 of the interesting paper gave much information regarding the
paper that the front extrusion had been greater than the process of expanding, but was unfortunately unlikely to be
back extrusion at all stages would probably not apply in of direct assistance to an engineer actually engaged in
that case. The addition of grooves in the seat would also expanding boiler tubes. The stress measuring technique
have caused a restriction so that those two practical design had been very carefully designed and carried out, but it

EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATION OF THE:PROCESS OF EXPANDING BOILER TUBES 373
was worth noting that very few experiments had actually strain pattern left by the retractive expander had also seemed
been made and only one type of tube had been tested, and to indicate the achievement of a more parallel joint, especially
it would have been interesting to know how much scatter if the evidence of the strain gauges alone were considered.
would have been found in the results if a more comprehen- In view of that it should have been worth while for the
sive series of tubes had been tested. authors to investigate further the possibilities of rctractive
In practice, boiler tubes were fitted considerably closer expanding.
together in the tube plates than would have been indicated It had also been stated that in the smallest tube assembly
by the size of plate used in those tests, and the expansion the relatively longer rollers allowed the required extrusion
of one tube was therefore likely to have had some effect on to be reached in one pass and a result of that was to cause
its neighbours. higher residual strains than in other expandings. He would
Little information was given on the degree of expansion have liked the authors to elucidate ’that further as it was
necessary to make a satisfactory joint, and it was of course usual for the rollers to be sufficiently long to span the plate
pointed out in the paper that most of the joints had been seat, If that was so, then any additional length of roller
deliberately over-expanded. On p. 365, however, it was would not be expected to affect the expanding unless the
indicated that a 2 per cent increase of the inside diameter leading edge had been allowed to penetrate the joint to an
was sufficient to make a good joint. Tests which he had excessive degree. Also, the extrusion obtained in one pass
carried out suggested that by far the best criterion of the with a propulsive expander would depend on the initial
necessary degree of expansion was the thinning of the tube, and final position of the rollers within the joint and it was
the push-out strength was found to be reaching a maximum possible that the extrusion required in the other expandings
at about 18 per cent thinning of the tube. That thinning had could also have been obtained in one pass by using a different
to be borne in mind even if expansion of the bore was used initial expander setting. He wondered whether the authors
as the criterion. A given percentage increase in bore would would suggest that that would then have given a better
not have the same effect on a thin tube as on a thick one. joint as judged by the resultant seat pressure.
It also had to be remembered that excessive expansion
could result in mechanical breakdown of the surface of the Major C. H. Davies (AssociateMember)wrote that useful
bore of the tube due to over-hardening, and for that reason as the paper was it gave no clear guide as to the limits of
it was recommended that the maximum thinning of the pressure and temperature for which the process was con-
tube should be limited to 8 or 10 per cent, as that was sidered suitable, nor was any indicationgiven of those higher
considered to give an adequate joint. conditions for which the process might be found unsuitable.
The authors stated that the plumbers’ resin did not Apparently, a view was held, although not so stated, that
indicate the development of small plastic strains. It was the maximum limits of suitability for use had almost been
agreed that that was so since a definite though quite small reached (say, pressure of 650 lb. per sq. in. and temperature
amount of plastic strain was necessary before the resin of 800 deg. F.), so that some definite opinion expressed of
cracked. The main object in using resin in that way was of h t u r e trends and needs would have undoubtedly fostered
course to indicate the occurrence of appreciable yield, and research for a satisfactory replacement process. A call might
for such purposes it was adequate. It should have been already exist since he himself had information on good
possible to detect the actual Luders’ lines under the resin authority that a Russian project in the atomic power field
by suitable etching technique, and it would have been was to use a working pressure of about 1,000 lb. per sq. in.,
interesting to know whether the authors had done that and even higher, with corresponding steam temperatures.
to determine whether yield had taken place at parts at which Trends in United States of America practice appeared also
the plastic strain had been too s m a l l to affect the resin. to be approaching those limits.
With regard to the form of the authors’ experiment, that
Mr. L. E. Culver, B.Sc. (Eng.) (Graduate), also wrote was the expansion of a single tube into a tube plate of
to refer to the dynamic strain gauge records, saying that relatively large area, it was presumed that due consideration
the authors had pointed out the fact that on withdrawing the had been given to the question of adequate representation
expander the minimum radial strains had remained sensibly of effects. It was felt, however, that that arrangement might
constant whilst the minimum circumferential strains had not have accurately reproduced all the conditions found in
decreased. Since those two quantities were mathematically the more normal arrangement of four to six 1-inch-diameter
connected he asked the authors to suggest a reason why one steel tubes within the same steel tube-plate limited area.
should have varied without the other. In fact, with certain types of plant, condensers and the
He agreed with the authors that it seemed desirable to like, having smaller diameter tubes, there might have been
expand a joint more at the front or steam face, where the a greater number of tubes used in that same area. With such
largest strains occurred, rather than at the back or gas face, more normal tube arrangements there was the probability
and any such difference in expanding would have been of the existence by and through the medium of the tube
shown by the residual seat pressures at the respective faces. plate of effects not present in the experimental conditions.
Table 1 showed that in the series of tests reported, the front For example, cases had been experienced where a tube joint
seat pressure had been less than that at the back except found under test to leak had been rectified by the further
when a retractive expander had been used. The residual expansion of two or more adjacent tube joints only. (One

374 COMMUNICATIONS
such recent instance was a steam boiler (pressure 400 lb. per a slight taper produced. Seat pressures were always some-
sq. in., temperature 700 deg. F., tube diameter 25 mm., what different as between the front and back of the hole
close centres, all material mild steel German origin).) in the tube plate. Possibly the less the initial clearance given
As regarded the expanding tools used in the experiment to the tube in the plate the lower would have been the
it seemed to be a pity that that otherwise excellent record difference between the maximum and minimum seating
should be marred by necessary reference to the use of un- pressures.
suitable size and poor quality of tools used in certain of the The seat pressures calculated for the experiment seemed
experiments. Actually in practice those features were well to have been unduly low. The average of 3-5 tons per sq. in.
established, and had commonly been arefully prescribed compared to 8-7 tons per sq. in. residual radial stress seemed
before use. It was good continental practice to provide tool well out of propomon. In good practice the seat pressure
lists previously compiled for the use of the tool store and was always confidently assumed to be at least 50 per cent
shop to eliminate such defects. Disciplinary action would of the minimum residual radial stress. Having regard to the
almost certainly have been applied to all concerned in any successful use of that process in the construction of boilers
such instance as those reported. Propulsive-type expanders for the present high pressures and temperatures (650 lb.
were mainly used, and the presence of a certain amount of per sq. in. plus) that must have been so in good quality
lubricant on the rollers would not have been objected to production work.
during the work. Portable power tool operating attach- Under the heading of ‘Alternative Methods of Obtaining
ments were commonly used when necessary. End expansion Tube-seat Joints’ the authors gave little or no idea firmly
was usually carried out simultaneously on any one tube. of what was wanted. If the method was altered surely the
Turning to particular details of the paper, in the tube attainable limit of residual radial stress would be modified
and plate assembly (Fig. 1) the arrangement shown also. The question arose as to whether guide limits for
appeared to represent fairly closely normal practice with, average seat pressure required could be estimated from
however, plate thickness duly proportioned to suit size of considerations of operating conditions of a boiler or similar
tubes being used in accordance with well-established plant.
common practice. The tube length would have been such While those methods discussed in the paper, including
as to ensure a flush level of tube end and plates before tube riveting, all appeared to have had certain limited
expanding. Little or no clearance would have been allowed possibilities, it might be that improvement to the present
in the tube plate and tubes would have been a tight sliding common method would give sufficiently increased scope of
fit with ends previously cleaned to remove cutting b u m use. It might also be that the use of screwed fermle design
both inside the bore and externally. Scale would have been had attractive possibilities. In any case it seemed that
previously removed by various cheap and effective means. materially increased work production cost was involved in
Fig. 8 appeared to represent fairly closely the deforma- the attainment of the higher level of perfection of tube
tion of’the joint caused by expanding the tube end, but it joints to suit any greater increased working pressures and
was possible that the seven stages of expanding shown temperatures.
were excessive. Questions would certainly have been raised
in practice if more than four or five stages at the most had Mr. Frank F. Fisher and Mr. George J. Brown
been found necessary for the tube size shown. Such work (Detroit, Michigan) wrote that although much had
was commonly done on a piece-work basis per joint. been written and published on both sides of the Atlantic
The existence was commonly admitted of a plasticelastic pertaining to the making of expanded boiler tube joints,
interface caused in the tube plate by the expanding process, very little had been of practical value to the engineer charged
but previously to the results given in the paper it had been with the workmanlike erection of high-pressure boilers.
more generally thought to lie on a line in the tube plate, However, the new testing procedure which had been
and not to extend beyond, at 45 deg. from the original hole devised by the authors was a worth-while step toward
in the front of the plate, effective all around the tube. improving that situation. Thus at the current testing stage,
Further, that was believed to have some bearing in formula it had pretty well substantiated the torque control as well
used for the computation of tube centre distances minimum, as the controversial ‘elongation’ or ‘extrusion’ tube rolling
to which no reference had been made in the paper. The tube technique used in the United States. The authors’ test
plate was thought to thicken up slightly under the expanding results had confirmed the results of experiments that had
process at each tube (not indicated in Fig. S), but not to been conducted principally by F. F. Fisher that the
any material extent. That o c c u ~ e dmainly on the back side ‘elongation’ phenomena could be used as a reliable tube-
of the plate if expanding was made from front tube end, expanding indicator in order to obtain uniform, sound
with a slighter effect on the front face of the tube plate, all stable joints.
of which rendered more feasible any subsequent caulking Exploratory hydraulic push-out tests had established the
action necessary at the tubes from the front sides (both fact that the ‘elongation’was incident to tube expanding, a
ends of whole assembly). measure of the work performed and an indicator of the
It was agreed that there was no such effect possible as degree of expanding. In order to obtain consistent test and
‘parallel’ expanding, in so far as geometrically speaking no operating results, ‘parallel’ expanders having curved roller
parallel tube seat interface was produced. There was always entrance ends had been developed and adopted as standard.

The name had been selected to distinguish them from other Table 3 of the paper gave the data on several experimental
types; although it had been known that, when rolling joints, each of which, when judged by conventional prac-
heavier than the optimum degree of expanding called for, a tices, was very much over-rolled. In their opinion a back
deformation of the tube hole had resulted. The ‘elongation’, elongation of 0-015 inch was sufficient for the 1-inch tube
when measured at the outside diameter of the tube, had instead of 0.033 inch listed. For the 2-inch tube, 0.025
proved to be approximately equal at both ends of the joint. instead of 0.069 inch, and for the 4-inch, 0.055 instead of
That ‘elongation’ rolling technique had proved very satis- 0-118 inch. The 0-055-inch figure was supported by
factory. It had been described by F. F. Fisher and E. T. Table 7 of Shannon’s (Shannon and others 1946) investiga-
Cope (Fisher and Cope 1935)*. The pertinent discussion tion of the Battersea boiler difficulties. That report also
had appeared in January 1936t. A simplification of the demonstrated the fact that fixed back-gauge rolling
measuring procedure would have improved that technique. measures, such as the conventional 0*032-inch+ tube-hole
In the final analysis, regardless of theories, the quality of diameter measured, used originally, were not at all reliable.
expanded tube joints depended upon the quality of the In order to develop the optimum joint strength, they had
expanding medium and its application. The expanders used found it necessary more than to double that measure to
in the authors’ test were rather outmoded because they had 0.070-inch+ tube-hole diameter (p. 358), and their test
sharp-ended rollers as shown in Fig. 2. Those did not carry results were based on that measure. That could not happen
the tube metal forward as described, but they had cut a with the ‘elongation’ measure, because its selection was
spiral path similar to h a t pictured in Fig. 8 while rolling based on the joint’s optimum strength.
down the virgin metal. The cuts, however, were not visible The authors’ endeavour to eliminate ‘elongation’ was
unless through photomicrographs, samples of which were very commendable, because it would eliminate many boiler
shown in Fisher and Cope (1935,1936). Such cuts obviously troubles caused by a common disregard of that phenomena.
were excellent sources of corrosion, and thus were apt to It was obvious that ‘elongation’ increased the length of
reduce the life of boiler tubes by many years. On the other any tube rolled. Since the distance between tube ends was
hand, the standard American expanders, having rollers usually fixed, tubes when rolled at the second end would,
with torpedo-shaped entrance ends, did not cut the metal therefore, bow or transmit the stressesthus produced to both
while advancing through the joint and they produced a joints and the boiler structure. Depending on the number
smooth contour that did not interfere with fluid circulation. and size of such tubes, the stresses thus developed might
An expander should be a precision tool made of high- overload some joints, interfere with soot blowers, misalign
grade alloy steel properly hardened. Made in that manner, headers or distort tube sheets. Many of those stresses were
it would maintain its shape and usefulness for a long time apt to be of the destructive kind, but generally most could
and would not lose its return feed angle in a few passes as be prevented or reduced by a judiciously planned sequence
did the test expanders. When time and labour was so of installing and expanding such tubes. Examples of those
expensive the use of inferior expanders was not economic. tactics were given in various A.S.M.E. papers cited before
The authors’ attempt to increase the joint strength by (Fisher and Cope 1935, 1943).
means other than tube expanders was a very commendable Attention was also called to the fact that, when in order
undertaking. German literature contained the records of to increase the strength of joints the use of grooves was
several schemes aimed at the same goal. None, however, considered, the ‘elongation’ would decide their location
had been successful and, for that matter, none would be relative to the centre of the joint. Otherwise the results
unless such means could be used equally well on a boiler obtained might be disappointing. The shearing and
erection job or in a test laboratory, in a 30-inch drum smoothing off of a joint’s contact surfaces caused by the
or an 8-inch header. The difIiculty seemed to be that ‘elongation’ at different degrees of expanding was well
in order to produce dependable pressure-tight joints,‘ a pictured in Fact Sheet #2 issued by The Airetool Manu-
definite time lapse had to occur before the pores of the facturing Company, Springfield, Ohio. A reproduction of
contact surfaces on commercial material could be closed that pamphlet occurred in Fisher and Brown 1954s. That
and the joint pressure made tight. For example, a new treatise covered the practical side of tube expanding and
3,000 lb. per sq. in. feed-water heater having tubes expanded represented thirty years of experience and observation. It
by ball expanders and installed after a lengthy hydrostatic was hoped that it would assist the authors in the continua-
test leaked ‘like a sieve’ after six weeks’ service. In order to tion of their investigation.
save that equipment, it was found necessary to re-roll all
joints compIetely with standard expanders. Its manu- Mr. D. W. Gillett (Graduate) wrote that the authors’
facturer, one of the largest in the United States, had since investigation of a controversial subject showed the value
discarded the ball-expanding technique in favour of the of a scientific approach to such a practical problem, even
torque-rolling technique (Fisher and Cope 1943)$. though wide applications of their results might not be
* Fisher, F. F., and Cope, E. T . 1935 Trans. A.S.M.E., FSP.5717, possible until the investigation had reached a later stage.
vol. 57, p . 145, ‘Rolling-in of Boiler Tubes’. He based his comments on the experience, as heat exchanger
t Fisher, F. F., and Cope, E. T . 1936 Trans. A.S.M.E., 001. 58, manufacturers, of the firm with which he was associated. It
p . 66, Discussion on ‘Rolling-in of Boiler Tubes’.
4 Fisher, F. F., and Cope, E. T. 1943 Trans. A.S.M.E., vol. 6.5, 5 Fisher, F. F., and Brown, George J , 1954 Trans. A.S.M.E.,
p. 53, ‘Automatic Uniform Rolling-in of Small Tubes’. vol. 76, p . 563, ‘Tube Expanding and Related Subjects’.

316 COMMUNICATIONS
was possible that his comments were not directly applicable of the tube end. If higher seat pressures had been obtained
to the process of expanding boiler tubes. in that way the tube ends would have been in a highly
stressed condition and some relaxation of the stresses
Tube and Plate Assembly. The plate thickness appeared would have been quite likely to have occurred in service,
to be too low for the size of the tube investigated. The leading to a reduction in the seating pressure. The low
typical high-pressure joints (Shannon and others 1946) on strength of the plain expanded joint was also revealed by
which the plate thickness had been based, involved alloy- the low axial stresses at push-out, which were also of the
steel boiler drums and ferruled tubes. In practice a tube order of only 4 tons per sq. in.
plate less than one tube diameter in thickness would never Their experience with tube expansion had been mainly in
have been designed by his firm where a plain tube was to be connexion w i h heat exchanger tube-plate joints, where
expanded into a plain hole. two grooves were usually adopted. Plain expanded joints
The test plates used had been 7, 14, and 28 inches in were used only on light-duty vessels. It was generally agreed
diameter; it would have been very interesting to know why that the ring of contact between the faces of high-pressure
those sizes had been chosen, and whether the diameter had joints had to be kept narrow. Grooved seats for the tube
any effect on the plastic zone. The tube plates in his expansions, which were usually 4 inch wide, inch
investigation had very closely pitched tube holes, so that deep, tended to satisfy that condition. Some pull-out tests
each hole might have interfered with the tube expanding on tubes, expanded into grooved seats, which had been
in the adjacent holes. The authors could usefully consider carried out in the Engineering Research Department of
that point. I.C.I. (Billingham Division) some years before indicated
strengths of quite a high order. In fact, some of the tubes
Tube Expanders. His firm always lubricated their tube which were of high-tensile alloy steel had broken without
expanders to prevent a constant torque giving varying pulling out. Those expansions had been made using a
amounts of expansion. In the authors’ investigation all bulbous-ended bar. That method had tended to be discarded
tests had been carried out with dry expanders. That was in favour of roller-expansion, but roller-expanded joints
no doubt the first step, but it would be interesting to know made in grooved seats had given satisfactory results in plant
also whether future investigations would involve lubrication. service. For roller-expanding small tubes, usually 3 inch
outside diameter, in heat exchangers a proprietary brand of
Fig. 2, Dimensions of Expanders (Propulsive Type). He pneumatic spanner driven by compressed air (80 lb. per
wished to query the authors’ use of the expression ‘so- sq. in. maximum line pressure) was used to operate a three-
called parallel expanding’. His firm were roller expanding roller expander. The rolling-in torque was adjusted by
tubes into tube plates 2+ inches in depth, with a maximum setting a reducing valve to an appropriate value. That caused
taper in the expanded hole of 0.0005 inch. the spanner to stall on reaching the desired torque. The
The expanders were manufactured with a roller taper of torque setting varied from 30 1b.-in. for soft metal tubes,
half that of the mandrel in order to achieve that. They e.g. Alumbro, to 60 1b.-in. for austenitic stainless steel tubes.
ignored the feed angle, as referred to in Fig. 2, which had a In comparison, the torque mentioned in the paper of 13.5
negligible effect on the cone angle swept by the rollers. lb.-fi. = 162 1b.-in. for the 1-inch tube seemed excessive.
Referring again to Fig. 2, the expanders did not seem to Heavy rolling of heat exchanger tubes was not favoured
have been designed for parallel roller expanding, although because those frequently connected two tube plates, and
the 1.5-inch-internal-diameter tube expander approached any extrusion behind the second plate into which the tubes
that. were expanded would be liable to distort both plates.
He had been very interested in the authors’ conclusion Although their experiencehad been mainly with expanded
that torque was a good indication of the amount of expan- joints in heat exchangers, they knew that grooved tube seats
sion, as his firm had recently developed an electronic control were used for boiler tubes, at least for the higher pressures.
unit which depended entirely on that relationship; it had In any later series of tests carried out by the authors
proved most successful in use. grooved seats could profitably be dealt with. While those
had generally been found satisfactory it would be useful to
Mr. G.F. Lake, M.A. (Member), and Mr. G.Boyd, B. Sc. have information which might lead to improved design on
(Billingham) wrote that the authors had carried out a very such details as the optimum number of grooves required,
painstaking investigation and had obtained some interesting the pitch, width, and depth of the grooves.
facts concerning the mechanism of the expanding process.
From the practical point of view their main conclusion Mr. M. E. Pool, M.A. (Associate Member), wrote that
appeared to be that the strength of a plain expanded joint with reference to the results of push-out tests, Table 1, the
was strictly limited, which confirmed what many engineers figures given were equivalent to longitudinal tube stresses
had taken for granted. Thus the maximum seat pressure of 2+5$ tons per sq. in. Even allowing for substantial
they had achieved was of the order of 4 tons per sq. in., and, improvements it appeared unlikely that the push-out
if that was regarded as an external pressure on the tube end, strength of expanded joints could have consistently equalled
it was difficult to see how a seat pressure of much higher the strength of the tube itself, which would have been the
magnitude could be obtained without severe cold working criterion for the perfect joint.

EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATION OF T H E PROCESS OF EXPANDING BOILER TUBES 377
Considerable use had been made in the chemical industry would be seen that the expander dimensions had been such
of welding for the attachment of tubes to tube plates, and that parallel expansion had not been possible.
with mild steel and several other metals welded joints had Variation in the results would have taken place because
shown greater and more consistent pull-out loads than of the following:
expanded joints-the tube itself usually failed, not the weld.
(a) 1, 2, and 5 passes had been made with different
Admittedly most of the tests had been made on the small
tools, therefore causing various degrees of work hardening.
tubes typical of tube-in-shell heat exchangers, but it was
most unlikely that a full-strength weld could not be made
(b) The roller feed angles had varied, which would also
have resulted in different degrees of work hardening.
on larger tubing.
(c) None of the tools had been accurately manufactured
The main reason for tube replacement was leakage at the
joint, and it had generally been found that in heat exchangers to give parallel expansion.
and calandrias welded tubes required less attention.
(6)Roller lengths had not been in proportion, which
would af€ect the torque readings and other conditions.
Replacement of tubes had been carried out successfully.
It was possible that stress relief after welding would be It was clearly apparent that future investigations would
necessary to avoid danger of caustic cracking when boiler obtain results of greater value, if the correct type and size
water treatment was not adequately controlled. of expander tool were used.
The great advantages of the welded joint in strength and He suggested that tools with ball thrust races should be
reliability certainly justified experimental work to determine employed to investigate the effect of running hard against
the optimum design for the particular application to boilers. the cage, as that condition often arose in boiler making
practice. That was desirablc as it might eliminate a second
Mr. R. Wicksteed (Kettering) wrote that, bearing in pass, and subsequent work hardening.
mind that it had been emphasized that the investigation For other tests flangeless solid-body type tools might be
was not complete, and that more detailed work remained of advantage, and would probably prevent the twisting of
to be carried out, he was surprised to hear that the roller the cages such as had been experienced with the Pinch
expander-type tool was so adversely criticized, and that tools.
already alternative methods of making tube seat joints had Apart from the actual expanding tools, he thought that
been considered. In his opinion those statements regarding the equipment had been most comprehensive and probably
roller tube expanders were premature and unjustified as the best test bed of that kind yet attempted. The continuous
they appeared to be based on the performance of tools torque measurements were most interesting.
which, it had been admitted, were not entirely suitable for He hoped that future investigations would cover the
the job in hand, and after only six tests had been carried out. effect of grooved plates, flaring rolls, and varying feed
The authors repeatedly referred to the ‘so-called angles, also tapers of rollers, and he would be interested to
“parallel” expansion’, and complained that parallel expan- know whether the authors considered that comparatively
sion had not in fact been obtained. The reason for that was narrow rings of high seat pressure, which might be created
quite clear if a study was made of Table 2. From that it by second operation expansions, would be of advantage.
Authors’ Reply
Dr. J. M. Alexander and Professor Hugh Ford, in a as those induced by tube riveting, since the same degree of
written reply to the discussion and communications, thanked plastic deformation could not easily be realized by tem-
Dr. Carlson for his remarks on the general design problem perature change only, and extrusion was all important. By
associated with expanded joints, particularly for high using liquid nitrogen in the tube and by heating the steel
strength, highly stressed steel shells. He and other speakers plate to nearly 200 deg. C. (392 deg. F.) it had been possible
had raised the question of what happened when several to make much larger interferences than those quoted in the
holes were expanded in close proximity to one another. They paper, and mean seat pressures of nearly 5 tons per sq. in.
were very much aware of the different problem that posed had been achieved. The coefficient of friction was about
from the simple one of a single tube experiment which they 0.3 as compared with about 0.20 in the normal expanding
had reported, but they had wanted to walk before learning to process. That appeared to mean that greater strength could
run and some work was now in hand on multi-tube tests. be obtained by interference fitting than by roller expanding,
Mr. Cox had raised the point of the degree of interference but since the tests described in the paper had been made, it
fit. As he had indicated, high seat pressures could be induced had been possible by various means to get seat pressures as
by allowing plastic deformation of the tube to occur during high as 8 tons per sq. in. with an ordinary expander.
shrinkage. In later tests, higher seat pressures had been On Mr.Cox’s second question, as to whether aeories of
induced by that method, but they could never be as high uniform pressure expanding could be applied, they felt

378 AUTHORS’ REPLY
there was so far little alternative.Even that simplificationof travel but had discarded the idea owing to the possibility
the process was very difficult to describe adequately by of slip between rollers and mandrel causing errors in the
plasticity theory, owing mainly to the difficulty of accounting measurement.
for both elastic and plastic components of the strain, as had They had not committed themselves to a statement about
always to be done in problems involving residual stresses. what was the most desirable relationship between the work-
It might be possible to obtain a qualitative idea of the dif- hardening characteristics of tube and plate, because at that
ference between expanding by uniform pressure and by time they had neither developed a theory capable of
localized rollers, by neglecting elastic strains and assuming describing such effects nor performed experiments aimed
a plastic rigid material under plane strain conditions. It at providing the answers to such questions. In point of fact,
could be, as suggested by Mr. Cox, that roller expanding their statement that the relative work-hardening charac-
was so different from uniform pressure expanding, that teristics of tube and plate were important was intended to
seat pressures of the order predicted by that theory could apply to steel members only. If, as Mr. Brown had men-
never be attained. Tests using larger numbers of rollers tioned, the question of expandingtubes and seats of different
would certainly more nearly represent uniform pressure materials were to be included, then the differing Young’s
expanding, and might give a guide as to whether there was moduli would also have a profound effect on the behaviour
a trend towards higher seat pressures as the number of of the joint during elastic recovery after release of the
rollers was increased for a given degree of expanding. expanding pressure. For instance, it was easy to see that a
In reply to Mr. Brown, they had decided not to lubricate steel tube‘could be expanded into a copper seat and give
their expanders mainly in an endeavour to eliminate one a good joint, as the steel tube would contract only slightly
of the many variables in the process. There was no doubt in relation to the copper seat on release of the expanding
that if absolute values of, say, torque were ever to be used pressure. If it was intended to expand a copper tube into a
from such experiments, they should be repeated using steel seat, the contraction of the copper tube on release of
different lubricants to determine the effect of that variable. the expanding pressure would be so great in relation to that
As stated in the paper, they had been most concerned of the seat, that it would be difficult to produce a good joint.
with investigating as wide a field as possible and had Mr. Brown had made the statement that it was notable
concentrated mainly on the variation of the several variables that one of the many good features of retractive expanding
involved, rather than in their absolute magnitude. That was that it produced the larger strain on the front face
again had been the reason for using only one dial gauge for where it was wanted. They wanted to make it quite clear
measuring back extrusion. They did not agree that their that that was not the case. Reference to Fig. 12, applying
initial experimental techniques had to be influenced to a to experiment 5 which had been carried out using retractive
great extent by what was practicable in the field. Such con- expanders, showed that the residual strains were still, in
siderations could be deferred to a later date when more fact, higher on the back (gas face) of the plate, although the
information had been amassed about the detailed behaviour difference was not so marked as with propulsive expanders.
of such joints. They had no reason to suspect the accuracy of their
They had decided to use total extrusion as the criterion mean seat pressure values, and they had since succeeded in
of the degree of expanding only after an extensive review reaching much higher values with the same widths of seat.
of the literature existingat that time, from which it appeared Coefficients of friction of 0.30 were unlikely where the tube
that total extrusion was the most reliable indicator to use. had been fully plastic and relative movement (extrusion)
Mr. Brown had suggested that torque meters should not had occurred.
be considered as they would not readily withstand the rough They were grateful for Mr. Pratt’s remarks about the
usage of expanding conditions, and attention should there- practical difficulties of tube expanding and they fully
fore have been directed towards the measurement of input appreciated that expanding multi-hole assemblies magnified
power. In their opinion that was a most unsatisfactory view- the difficulties. Since the paper had been written, work had
point of the relation between laboratory work and practice; been started on closely spaced sets of holes and that work
if the laboratory work showed that torque was the best would be continued. Mr. Pratt had asked them what they
indicator then it was encumbent on practical engineers would do in the case of a tube seat that presented a weep. If
to produce a torque-sensitive instrument which would be care were taken to avoid disturbing neighbouring joints,
reliable and withstand the rough usage of expanding con- there was no doubt in their view that the tube should be cut
ditions. The suggestion that the direction of research work, out and another tube expanded into the hole. By using a
aimed at determining the fundamentals of the process, work-hardened seat, it had been found in subsequent tests
required to be changed because it was difficult to develop that a mean seat pressure as high as 7 tons per sq. in., was
suitable measuring or controlling instruments in practice readily attainable by re-tubing. Secondly, if the rollers were
was not in their opinion admissible. In any case, it had been made to embrace the whole depth of the plate while expand-
stated in the paper merely that torque appeared to be a ing, tests had shown conclusively that a much tighter joint
better indicator of the degree of expanding than did was obtained.
extrusion, but they h e w of one works where a simple Regarding Mr. Culver’s questions, no steps had been
device was used to allow mandrel torque to be the criterion taken to ensure that the tube had been in contact with the
of expaiiding. They had considered the use of mandrel plate seat over its whole width; the tube had simply been

expanded until it could not be rotated by hand in the seat; that more exacting conditions in boilers would require
that was treated as the nip condition. As had been stated more elaborate means for controlling the tube expanding
in the paper, that phase of expanding had been deferred process.
until it could be investigated in more detail later. Dr. Knights had asked about the tube eccentricities. In
The difference between the first two tests was that the first series of exploratory experiments, they had con-
experiment 1had been essentiallyan exploratorytrial experi- sidered that tubes manufactured to within the tolerances
ment, and the joint had not been expanded to the same laid down by British Standards would be suitable for their
degree as had that in experiment 2. The figures of seat purpose. They had thought their method for determining
pressure had been given for that experiment mainly to show seat pressure was quite adequate, in fact, superior to
that a higher seat pressure existed on the back of the plate. methods which had been used in the past in which the seat
They agreed with the figures quoted by Mr. Alison for pressure had been determined from one or two measure-
the tapers to be expected from the different expanders. ments, sometimes on one face of the plate only.
They had measured the final dimensions of all the expanded The problem of expandinga tube into a union-type fitting
tube holes and found them to be much less tapered than or another tube was most interesting; it opened up
would have been expected, ranging from between 0-005 another field of problems in tube expanding and could
and 0,012 inch along the seat length. There did not seem to very profitably continue from the research under discussion.
be any great significance in that fact. One of the authors had considered a similar problem in that
The use of belling rolls had been considered, but it had connexion and had concluded that only very low seat
been decided not to use them in the early experiments, pressures could be generated if inner and outer tubes of
again to reduce the number of variables which might affect comparable thickness and the same material were used.
the results. Experiments had since been made using belling From an approximate analysis it could readily be shown
rolls to determine their effect and would be reported later. that, if the two tubes were thin, of equal thickness,and
They referred Mr. Alison to their reply to Mr. Brown in regarded as being made from perfectly plastic material
connexion with their choice of indicator of degree of having the same Young’s modulus, the yield strength of
expanding. the outer tube should be about three times the yield strength
The point raised concerning the distribution of the of the inner tube to give the maximum joint pressure. A
plastic zone through the thickness of the plate was im- similar effect could be obtained by using materials of com-
portant and a check had been made. There was no doubt parable yield strengths but with differing Young’s moduli.
about the depth of penetration of the plastic zone reaching In that case the modulus of the outer tube needed to be
a value of r/ro = 2.6. much lower than that of the inner for high seat pressure.
They were not suggesting that tube riveting was a In reply to Mr. Wood, they hoped that the end-product
practical process; the point of doing it had been, as they of their researches would be to give industry practical
had stated, to check to what extent the theoretically advice of the type for which he had asked.
predicted pressures were attainable in reality. Nor did they Certainly they had already found that better joints
consider interference fitting feasible in practice. resulted from using long rollers extending through the
In subsequent work, Commander Green’s query had length of the seat, and increasing the number of passes.
been partly answered, in that much shorter tubes had been But closer control of the workman, and insistence on more
used and higher pressures were always obtained so long as exact adherence to whatever criterion of the degree of
there was a little free length of tube at the back. They were expanding chosen, would make a great contribution to
doubtful whether much would be gained by expanding into improving uniformity of results.
a tapered hole. hb. Plummer’s remarks concerning the shape of the
Mr. Coe had raised the question of determining the point rollers of the expanders had been noted with interest. They
of nip. That seemed important only from the standpoint had also considered that the shape of the rollers of tube
of the stage at which the expander ‘travel’ was considered expanders could be improved upon, but had hesitated to
to start. A series of tests had been made subsequently in introduce that further variable at such an early stage of
which the initial clearance between the tube and seat had their experiments. The effect of varying the profile of the
been varied and it had been found that the varying amounts roller would certainly be investigated.
of work-hardening of the tube end up to the point of nip They were gratehl to Mr. Plummer for his interesting
was unimportant; any variations caused had been completely information about the methods used by his company for
swamped by other variables in the expanding process. No determining the optimum degree of expansion. They con-
difficulty would arise if extrusion, or torque or increase in curred wholeheartedly with his remarks concerning the
tube bore were used as criterion of expanding. The im- necessity for preventing excessive extrusion of the tube,
portance of the workman’s skill could not be over-estimated. leading to breakdown of the mating surfaces.
American work (Dudley 1954)* had shown that even the They did not agree that the increased back extrusion of
most skilled man, when presented with holes all to be 0.035 inch reached during the second expanding (Fig. 7),
expanded equally, had not been able to attain uniformity, corresponding with the same torque associated with the
varying from 1,500 to 6,000 lb. joint strengths. They felt smaller back extrusion of 0.0255 inch during the first
* Dudley, F. E. 1954 Trans. A.S.M.E., vol. 76,p . 577. expanding, indicated that additional expansion had been

380 AUTHORS’ REPLY
achieved with the same torque. It indicated to them that obviously better to effect the whole operation with one pass
additional back extrusions had been attained for the same of the expanders, if only to reduce the amount of ‘redundant
degree of expansion (or straining induced in the plate); that shearing’ of the material which would cause relaxation of the
illustrated the very point that they had made in the paper, residual stresses.
namely, that the degree of expanding could not be measured At the time of writing the paper the researches described
by extrusion of the tube since that could occur without had not been carried on to the extent that such practical
increasing the straining of the plate. I n other words it was limits as maximum pressures and temperatures for which
suggested that torque could not be used to measure extru- the process was suitable could be indicated as asked for by
sion, but could be used to measure the degree of expanding Major Davies. They had not, in fact, intended to imply
(straining of the plate). that maximum limits of, say, 650 lb. per sq. h. and 800
As mentioned in the reply to Mr. Culver, the nip point deg. F. had been reached; they would draw Major Davies’s
had been determined simply by onset of the condition that attention to the fact that the Battersea boilers referred to
the tube could not be manually rotated in the seat plate. in the Appendix (Shannon and co-authors) had been
Mr. Baxter had raised an interesting point in his suggestion designed for a pressure of about 1,350 lb. per sq. in., and
that the plate hole was the logical datum from which to the general proportions of their experimental joints had
measure the depth of penetration of the plastic zone. If very been based on the dimensions of joints in those boilers.
different tube and plate materials were to be considered and In regard to the adequate representation of effects they
a suitable theory developed for the behaviour of such joints, would refer Major Davies to their reply to Mr. Pratt:
then the datum of such a theory would undoubtedly have I n regard to Major Davies’s statement that it was a pity
to be the plate-hole diameter. As it was, however, the theory that tools of unsuitable size and quality had been used,
which they had developed applied to a single hole in an they had at the time found it difficult to obtain even the
infinite continuum, so that they had, of necessity, used the expanders they had used. Very long times for delivery had
tube bore diameter as the reference point. Actually they been quoted by several tube-expander manufacturers, even
had used as reference the tube bore diameter after just for expanders selected from their standard lists, and that
closing the initial clearance between tube and seat. had to a large extent dictated the size and type of expander
They agreed with Dr. Blair that the work reported so far they had used. Certainly a request for a geometrically
was not of great direct assistance to an engineer actually similar set of expanders would have necessitated special
engaged in expanding boiler tubes. The immediate objec- manufacture and probably a waiting period of at least
tive of their work had been to determine the detailed eighteen months to two years.
behaviour of a typical joint and thereby obtain a better Major Davies’s interpretation of Fig. 8 was incorrect
understanding of the important factors controlling joint as the seven outlines of the expander rollers shown on
strength. They had partly achieved their objectives and the that diagram were merely intended to represent the pm-
work was being continued. It was better to start with a clear- gressive movement of the rollers into the joint during a
cut aim than to attempt an immediate practical objective, single pass. There was no signiscance in the choice of the
which they were unlikely to reach. That method had been number seven, it certainly did not mean that the tube had
tried in so many previous researches and had largely failed. received seven individual passes of the expanders.
Dr. Blair’s remarks concerning the behaviour of plumbers’ The idea of the existence of a plastic-elastic interface
resin were welcomed; they had not tried etching the plate extending through the tube plate at 45 deg. from the original
to reveal the slip lines, but would bear that technique in hole in the front of the plate was new to them. The existence
mind in future work. of such an interface was certainly corroborated by line A in
They agreed with Mr. Culver that the radial and circum- Fig. 8, although that was a purely speculative interface
ferential strains were ‘mathematically connected’ for a derived from the indications of the plumbers’ resin which
rotationally symmetrical system in which there was no did not show the whole plastic zone.
variation in strain with angular orientation. Whilst the It was interesting to note that Major Davies considered
rollers were rotating in the plate and producing localized the measured values of seat pressure were low, in view of
‘lobes’ of strain the mathematical connexion was not a the remarks of Mr. Brown who considered them high. They
simple one, and the presence of the shear strain €,.a during would be interested to know how Major Davies would
the existence of those ‘lobes’ complicated the relationship estimate the ‘minimum residual radial stress’ referred to in
between c,,, and ce8 so that they might well vary in- his communication. In connexion with the attainable limit
dependently without violating the compatibility relation- of residual radial stress which he had said would have
ship. to be modified if alternative methods were used, they had
They agreed that retractive expanders appeared to give considered alternative methods in the hope that it might be
more parallel expanding than the propulsive type, and their possible to show that seat pressures of the order predicted
use should certainly be investigated as a logical continuation by their theory could be attained in practice, irrespective of
of the work under discussion. the method employed. High seat pressures were obviously
As indicated above, they agreed that roller length had desirable, fiom all standpoints, and it was disappointing
an effect on the behaviour of the expanders, and would that the high seat pressures predicted by the theory could
doubtless influence the resultant seat pressure. It was not be attained by tube expanding techniques. They

admitted that their own experiments were insuflicient in be suitable for such an application in any case, unless
number to have shown that, but a review of the literature at re-expanding after the period of relaxation could be
that time also led them to the same conclusion. Having contemplated.
shown that high seat pressures were possible, they had then They were grateful for the valuable information given by
returned to the work in hand, namely, the improvement of Mr. Lake and Mr. Boyd about their experiences with
the tube expanding process. With that fact in mind, they grooved tube-plate joints. One of the authors had seen the
agreed with the comments made by Major Davies in his torque spanner described in operation and had been
last paragraph. gratified to find a practical confirmation of their own views.
They referred Mr. Fisher and Mr. Brown to their reply The high values of torque they had attained in their
to Major Davies regarding the choice of expanders. They experiments were due to the fact that they had over-
considered that their main conclusions about the behaviour expanded the joints, according to normal standards and had
of the joints during roller expanding would not be seriously applied no lubricant.
influenced by the detailed design of the front ends of the They agreed with Mr. Pool that a welded joint was very
rollers. They were grateful for the figures of elongation for strong, and while it was unlikely that expanded joints would
optimum joint strength given by Mr. Fisher and Mr. Brown; generally approach the ideal criterion of a strength equalling
they were familiar with the papers cited and had made use tube strength, Mr. Lake and Mr. Boyd had stated that such
of them in their work. strengths had been obtained in some of their tests. However,
In reply to Mr. Gillet, the outside diameter of the test it was not always desirable or economic to weld boiler tubes
plates had been chosen arbitrarily: it had been considered to their drums, and the tube expanding process was often
that a ratio of 7/1 between outer diameter and hole diameter preferable in such circumstances. It was therefore desirable
would give a reasonable approximation to an infinite to try and extend the field of use for the expanding process
plate. Reference to Fig. 9 would show at once that the to higher pressures and temperatures, and that had been
approximation was a good one. As stated in the previous the object of the research under discussion.
replies, the effects of adjacent holes and lubrication of the In reply to Mr. Wicksteed, as stated previously, the
expanders were being investigated. They had thought they main reason for considering alternative methods of expand-
had made it clear that parallel expanding did not refer to ing tubes was to show that it was possible to develop the
the tube bore but to the uniformity of depth of plastic high seat pressures indicated by theory. It had not been
zone and seat pressure through the plate thickness. expected that that part of the investigation would lead to a
In reply to Mr. Lake and Mr. Boyd, they would say that method which could seriously compete with roller expand-
the theory they had proposed showed that the tube material ing. Attention had afterwards been directed again towards
had, in fact, to be work-hardened to a considerable extent improving the tube-expanding process itself. Work had been
to produce high seat pressures. The tubes used in the done which it was hoped to report in the near future,
research had been work-hardened by the expanding process showing that much higher seat pressures could be generated,
to an extent which should have given seat pressures of the using tube expanders with the correct technique, than had
order of 8 tons per sq. in. For that reason they considered previously been considered possible.
that the measured values, of about 4 tons per sq. in., were They agreed that the causes listed by Mr. Wicksteed
low, but subsequently much higher values had been would have affected their results slightly, but did not
reached. They were not convinced that it was undesirable invalidate their main conclusions. They would again draw
to produce high seat pressures simply because of possible attention to the fact that it had been very difficult to obtain
relaxation due to creep at high temperatures in service. If suitable expanders at the time the research had been started.
such an effect were to reduce the seat pressure below what Subsequent work had covered many of the points suggested
was required then the tube expanding process would not and would be reported in due course.

10 1 1 875 5824 PDF

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

10 1 1 875 5824 PDF

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATION OF THE PROCESS OF

EXPANDING BOILER TUBES

INTRODUCTION describes the first series of tests, which were intended to

Downloaded from pme.sagepub.com at PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIV on May 8, 2016

Downloaded from pme.sagepub.com at PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIV on May 8, 2016

Fig. 3. General V i m of Apparatus

Fig. 4. Torsionmeter and Specimen

Downloaded from pme.sagepub.com at PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIV on May 8, 2016

Fig. 13. Specimen 5 (Back). After Expanding

Downloaded from pme.sagepub.com at PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIV on May 8, 2016

Fig. 2. Dimensions of Expa"ders (Propulsive Type)

To expand I Mandrel I Rollers

Downloaded from pme.sagepub.com at PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIV on May 8, 2016

Fig. 5. Positions of Strain Gauges on Specimen 4 (Experinmats 4 and 4a)

Downloaded from pme.sagepub.com at PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIV on May 8, 2016

Downloaded from pme.sagepub.com at PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIV on May 8, 2016

Fig. 6. Record of Expunding Process

Downloaded from pme.sagepub.com at PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIV on May 8, 2016

Fig. 8, Experzhent 3. Defmmation of theJoint

Downloaded from pme.sagepub.com at PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIV on May 8, 2016

Downloaded from pme.sagepub.com at PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIV on May 8, 2016

Push-out Tests on the Expanded Joints :Introduction

Downloaded from pme.sagepub.com at PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIV on May 8, 2016

gradually increasing pressure from the inside diameter of

Comparison with Theory

Table 1. Results of Push-out Tests

Downloaded from pme.sagepub.com at PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIV on May 8, 2016

of the plate had exceeded the limit considered possible by

Fig. 16. Hardness-Yield-stress Correlation

and this correlation was used to assess the work-hardening

Downloaded from pme.sagepub.com at PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIV on May 8, 2016

inches, so that the inside of the tube had undergone a plastic

Downloaded from pme.sagepub.com at PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIV on May 8, 2016

that little comparison can be made between the nearer radial

deviations from similarity. No investigation of this factor

sumed parallel expanding, whereas, even with so-called

can be stated that the strain records bear a distinct L

That geometricalsimilarity holds in these tests is demon-

strain distributions. For such a comparison it is only

Downloaded from pme.sagepub.com at PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIV on May 8, 2016

Downloaded from pme.sagepub.com at PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIV on May 8, 2016

Degree of Expanding seat pressures

Downloaded from pme.sagepub.com at PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIV on May 8, 2016

Downloaded from pme.sagepub.com at PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIV on May 8, 2016

Downloaded from pme.sagepub.com at PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIV on May 8, 2016

Downloaded from pme.sagepub.com at PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIV on May 8, 2016

Downloaded from pme.sagepub.com at PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIV on May 8, 2016

Downloaded from pme.sagepub.com at PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIV on May 8, 2016

Downloaded from pme.sagepub.com at PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIV on May 8, 2016

Downloaded from pme.sagepub.com at PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIV on May 8, 2016

Downloaded from pme.sagepub.com at PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIV on May 8, 2016

Downloaded from pme.sagepub.com at PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIV on May 8, 2016

Downloaded from pme.sagepub.com at PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIV on May 8, 2016

Downloaded from pme.sagepub.com at PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIV on May 8, 2016

Downloaded from pme.sagepub.com at PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIV on May 8, 2016

Downloaded from pme.sagepub.com at PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIV on May 8, 2016

Downloaded from pme.sagepub.com at PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIV on May 8, 2016

Downloaded from pme.sagepub.com at PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIV on May 8, 2016

Downloaded from pme.sagepub.com at PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIV on May 8, 2016

You might also like