See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.

net/publication/334066320

Structural Analysis by Finite Element Method in Ball Valves to Improve Their

Mechanical Properties

Chapter · January 2020

DOI: 10.1007/978-3-030-20801-1_13

CITATIONS READS

0 649

5 authors, including:

Christopher Rene Torres San miguel Jacobo Martínez-Reyes

Instituto Politécnico Nacional Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología
184 PUBLICATIONS 534 CITATIONS 19 PUBLICATIONS 326 CITATIONS

SEE PROFILE SEE PROFILE

Beatriz Romero-Ángeles
Instituto Politécnico Nacional
74 PUBLICATIONS 158 CITATIONS

SEE PROFILE

All content following this page was uploaded by Jacobo Martínez-Reyes on 16 June 2020.

The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file.

Structural Analysis by Finite Element
Method in Ball Valves to Improve Their
Mechanical Properties

M. Egure-Hidalgo, J. M. Aburto-Barrera, C. R. Torres-San Miguel,

J. Martinez-Reyes and B. Romero-Ángeles

Abstract Thermoelectric power plants have steam lines that are mainly structured
by pipes, y-pattern globe valves and ball valves. According to international databases
(Rogers in The Guardian 18, 2011 [7]), the most common problems in valves are
erosion and material thermal expansion that produce pressure drop, heat loss, material
leakage and crack nucleation. For these reasons, while engineering process is applied,
structural analyses are generated to show the material behavior under a linear external
agent (Stolarski et al. in Engineering analysis with ANSYS software. Butterworth-
Heinemann, 2018 [8]). However, the steam tends to behave in a saturated way before
it becomes in a superheated steam to improve thermal efficiency and work capability.
So, through Mollier diagrams, ASME and ASTM standards, mechanical properties of
materials and the boundary conditions that supply a fixed value constrain, and contact
constrains presented in ball valves. It’s proposed a variable structural elastic-linear
static analysis with an isotropic material using the Finite Element Method. Where
a homogeneous behavior in the variation of pressure and temperature represent the
structural changes of the valve while is working with saturated and superheated steam
with the aim to consider and understand the critical components of the assembly,
which in this case of study are; the body, the ball and the seats. In such a way

M. Egure-Hidalgo · J. M. Aburto-Barrera · C. R. Torres-San Miguel · B. Romero-Ángeles (B)

Escuela Superior de Ingeniería Mecánica y Eléctrica, Sección de Estudios de Posgrado e
Investigación, Unidad Profesional Adolfo López Mateos “Zacatenco”, Instituto Politécnico
Nacional, Edificio 5, 2° Piso Col. Lindavista, C.P. 07360 Ciudad De México, Mexico
e-mail: romerobeatriz97@hotmail.com
M. Egure-Hidalgo
e-mail: eguremil@gmail.com
J. M. Aburto-Barrera
e-mail: josemaria620@hotmail.com
C. R. Torres-San Miguel
e-mail: ctorress@ipn.mx
J. Martinez-Reyes
Escuela Superior de Ingeniería Mecánica y Eléctrica, ISISA, Unidad Profesional Adolfo López
Mateos “Zacatenco, Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Edificio 2, Col. Lindavista, C.P. 07360 Ciudad
De México, Mexico
e-mail: jacmartinez@esimez.mx

© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020 175

A. Öchsner and H. Altenbach (eds.), Engineering Design Applications II,
Advanced Structured Materials 113, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-20801-1_13
176 M. Egure-Hidalgo et al.

that, applying a load similar to the fluid characteristics and unloading the system,
total displacements and principal stresses can be obtained during each step. And
through Von Mises failure theory. It can be obtained the more prone areas to failure
by elongations/contractions that could affect the correct function of the valve during
service.

Keywords Finite element method · Ball valve · Structural analysis · 3D modeling

1 Introduction

Valves are mechanical elements used for fluid control and may be considered impor-
tant and a reference for nuclear plants since they are engaged not only for the trans-
ferring of fluids, but also about the protection of main elements like the turbine and
steam generator. During operation, the body and other fluid contact elements are
subjected to repetitive mechanical and thermal loads hence, either plastic deforma-
tions nor cracks nucleation can be reached by these elements. So, it’s important to
develop during their design process an analysis concerning fluid and heat transfer-
ence to improve the comprehension on the behavior of the valve under real working
conditions to obtain an ideal flow model to optimize the internal structure of the
mechanism.
The following study simulates the structural behavior of the internal components
of a ball valve under two different loading conditions to foresee the total deforma-
tions, as well as the maximum stresses to establish which part is the most prone to
failure. The first condition is a numerical analysis for a single load corresponding
to saturated steam. For a second condition, it is depicted the change of phase, going
from superheated to saturated steam, ending with a transition from the linear load of
saturated steam to a total discharge of the system, represented as the depressurization
due to a complete shut of the line. These conditions are present in the conduction of
steam and are common in a thermoelectric or a nuclear plant, so for a better approach
to the behavior of a valve, simulations must thoroughly consider the actual states of
the fluid.

2 Methods

The valve used for the analysis was of floating ball type, class 4500#, with SW
(socket weld) endings, ¾ NPS diameter, quarter turn operation, and full port. The
3D model was developed with Solidworks® software to understand the geometry of
the components and establish the working conditions that are applied to each part
once it is assembled, as shown in Fig. 1.
Since the body and the mounting plate comprise a single piece, it can be understood
that W equals the mass of the handle, A is the mounting area of the handle, P is
Structural Analysis by Finite Element … 177

Ux = Uy = Uz = 0 Ux = Uy = Uz = 0
Rot X = Rot Y = Rot Z = 0 Rot X = Rot Y = Rot Z = 0

Fluid Outlet Fluid Inlet

Ux = Uy = Uz = 0 Ux = Uy = Uz = 0
Rot X = Rot Y = Rot Z = 0 Rot X = Rot Y = Rot Z = 0

temperature loads

and temperature loads

Fig. 1 Boundary conditions and external agents affecting the internal parts of the valve

pressure, T represents the temperature, and specifically P1 is considered the pressure

coming from the handle.
Therefore, by applying Newton’s second law [2].

dv
F =m = ma (1)
dt
It can be obtained that pressure P1 corresponds to the normal force component F
on surface A [6].

F
P1 = (2)
A
At the same time, the ideal wall thickness is calculated on base to cylindrical pres-
sure vessels theory [4] and A.S.M.E. code section VIII [5] to verify that the valve
wall thickness employed in the design matches or exceeds the obtained measure-
ment. In addition, it is performed to preserve a factor safety that meets the standard
requirements.
For the first analysis, two internal loads are applied to each element, corresponding
to the values of saturated steam (P2 and T2 ). On the other hand, for the second analysis,
different loads are applied, that corresponds to a change between superheated steam
(P3 and T3 ) to saturated steam (P2 and T2 ). To perform the analysis, the input data is
as follows:

Whandle = 5.37 kg
178 M. Egure-Hidalgo et al.

Table 1 Material mechanical properties [3]

Piece Material Young modulus Poisson ratio [ν] Density
(MPa) [E] (g/mm3 ) [ρ]
Body ASTM A182 193,000 0.275 0.008
F316 (UNS
S31600)
Ball and seat AISI 410SS 210,000 0.28 0.0078
(UNS S41000)
T-sleeve and AISI 416SS 210,000 0.28 0.0077
pusher seat (UNS S41600)

Ahandle = 8880.61 mm2

5.37 ∗ 9.81
P1 = = 0.00593 N/mm2
8880.61
P2 = 2611 psig = 18.002 N/mm2
T⊥ = 357 ◦ C [674.6 F]
P3 = 3910 psig = 27 N/mm2
T3 = 538 ◦ C [1000.4 F]

After confirming that the fluid pressure mainly acts on the body, seat, ball, pusher
seat and t-sleeve, each part was analyzed by means of the Finite Element Method
(FEM) in the ANSYS® APDL software, using high order element type of brick and
tetrahedral shapes, with 20 nodes per element and three degrees of freedom per node
(Solid 20 nodes 186) for a static structural analysis [1] of linear-elastic and isotropic
type to determine the stress field at which contacting parts are subjected under the
working loads corresponding to each of the conditions previously described. Prior to
discretization, mechanical properties of the material need to be set. Values mentioned
in Table 1, accomplish the characteristics of the physical device.
The pre-process, due to the characteristics of the body and ball geometries, they
were initially generated in the Solidworks® software and later exported as IGES
(Initial Graphics Exchange Specification) to ANSYS® APDL application. The t-
sleeves, pusher seat and seat were generated by a controlled mesh in the second
program, obtaining the results of Table 2.

Table 2 Meshing results Case study Part name # of elements # of nodes

1 T-sleeve 163,80 75,360
2 Pusher seat 8100 37,740
3 Ball 72,033 111,588
4 Seat 14,040 62,580
5 Body 493,597 697,239
Structural Analysis by Finite Element … 179

2.1 Boundary Conditions and External Agents

An important part to be considered for the numerical analysis is the correct application
of boundary conditions and external agents because an erroneous application will
result in a simulation differing with the actual behavior of the part and it won’t be
possible to understand the contact conditions that exist in the assemblies.
As shown in Fig. 1, the first study case, is for the t-sleeve, located inside the right
hand of the body of the valve. Restricted on the cylindrical surface. Within assembly,
it keeps contact with the body of the valve, so a boundary restriction is applied in
relation to the planes and rotations y and z. The planar surface that contacts the
spring and the pusher seat has a restriction on x. While the red area represented in
Fig. 2 corresponds to pressures and temperatures 2 and 3 belonging for saturated and
superheated steam values.
The pusher seat is the element located on the right side next to the ball as shown
on Fig. 1 and is restricted by the cylindrical surface, and contact is maintained
with the valve body with respect to the planes y and z, in addition the spherical
surface that contacts the ball has a restriction on x (constraints represented with
arrows aquamarine). The red area shown in Fig. 3 corresponds to the pressures and
temperatures 2 and 3.
The ball or valve plug is considered as the third study case. As a floating ball
type, it is restricted in the axes x, y and z on the spherical surface, where the housing
groove of the rod restricts rotations. Specifically, planar faces restrict rotation in y
and z, while the curved portion prevents rotation in x. Therefore, the green arrows
represent constraints with respect to the x, y and z axes, the orange arrows represent
the constraints of the rotations in x, y and z, and the red area shown in Fig. 4 are the
pressures and temperatures 2 and 3.
The fourth study case is for the seat located next to the ball on the left side in
the assembly of Fig. 1 and it is restricted in the cylindrical surface which during
assembly keeps contact with the valve body at the planes y and z. In addition, there is

Fig. 2 Boundary conditions and external agents on t-sleeve

180 M. Egure-Hidalgo et al.

Fig. 3 Boundary conditions and external agents on pusher seat

Fig. 4 Boundary conditions and external agents on ball

a restriction in x with respect to the planar surface of the body of the valve which is
always in contact with as well as to the spherical part that is kept in contact with the
ball. The red area represented in Fig. 5 corresponds to the pressures and temperatures
2 and 3.
Finally, the valve body is the fifth study case. It has a free mesh due to its geometry
and is totally restricted by the Socket Weld housing of both inputs. The red area is the
pressure and temperature of the fluid, applied over the body’s area when passing by,
although if the ball did lack the equalizer bore only the conical area would receive
the applied loads of the external agents, where the pressures and temperatures 2 and
3 (Fig. 6). The upper part is the area in which the pressure 1 was applied, as shown
in Fig. 1, and corresponds to the weight of the handle.
Structural Analysis by Finite Element … 181

Fig. 5 Boundary conditions and external agents on seat

Fig. 6 Boundary conditions and external agents on body

3 Results

Once the pre-processor is solved, the ANSYS® APDL program automatically dis-
plays a graphic solution obtained by the post-processor in color gradients that provide
the resulting displacements (mm) and stresses (MPa). Thus, as shown in Figs. 7 and
8, the total displacements (mm) and maximum stresses, based on the Von Mises
(MPa) failure theory corresponding only to the first analysis related to saturated
steam transport are as follows:
182 M. Egure-Hidalgo et al.

0.0033
0.003
0.0027
0.0024
0.0021
0.0018
0.0015
0.0012
0.0009
0.0006
0.0003
0
T-SLEEVE PUSHER SEAT BALL SEAT BODY

Fig. 7 Total displacements in mm related to saturated steam

180
160
140
120
100
80
60
40
20
0
T-SLEEVE PUSHER SEAT BALL SEAT BODY

Fig. 8 Maximum stresses by von Mises in MPa for saturated steam

0.0033
0.003
0.0027
0.0024
0.0021
0.0018
0.0015
0.0012
0.0009
0.0006
0.0003
0
T-SLEEVE PUSHER SEAT BALL SEAT BODY

Fig. 9 Total displacements in mm between first and second analyses

Once applied the loads that correspond to superheated steam with a temperature
change like saturated steam, the results are depicted in orange color, meaning total
displacements (mm) and the maximum stresses (MPa) (Figs. 9 and 10).
The obtained results make evident that the greatest change in geometry is suffered
by the body and the pusher seat (Figs. 11, 12, 13 and 14) due to pressure and thermal
expansion, hence it is shown that applying a single load in the structural analysis is
Structural Analysis by Finite Element … 183

180
160
140
120
100
80
600
40
20
0
T-SLEEVE PUSHER SEAT BALL SEAT BODY

Fig. 10 Maximum stresses by von Mises in MPa between first and second analyses

DISPLACEMENT
STEP=3
SUB=1
TIME=3
DMX=.904E-03

Fig. 11 Total displacements related to pusher seat in the second analysis

HALF SECTION VIEW

1.20315 15.1728 29.1425 43.1122 57.0819

8.188 22.1577 36.1274 50.0971 64.0667 (MPa)

Fig. 12 Maximum stresses by von Mises failure related to pusher seat in the second analysis
184 M. Egure-Hidalgo et al.

DISPLACEMENT
STEP=3
SUB=1
TIME=3
DMX=.002945

Fig. 13 Total displacements related to the body in the second analysis

HALF SECTION VIEW

0.009735 20.4128 40.8159 61.219 81.6221

10.2113 30.6144 51.0175 71.4205 91.8236 (MPa)

Fig. 14 Maximum stresses by von Mises failure related to the body in the second analysis

not always the best option since a fluid rarely behave in linear and continuous way
through time. Therefore, these variations in the analysis can help to estimate the life
span of the product under extreme conditions.
In sum, this analysis allows the Design Engineer to predict possible structural
failures that can be solved through variations of shape or material. The use of FEM
allows to broaden the perspective relating the kind of issues and analysis that must
be performed (prior to design and manufacturing) in any type of product, since it
correlates the behavior of the parts during service, as well to increase the service time.
In this specific case, as a product experiencing a growing demand in the market due
 Structural Analysis by Finite Element … 185

to its liability as replacement part or to work in association with globe and Y-pattern
valves for venting and draining service in high pressure and temperature systems,
it is necessary to consider this type of analyses to achieve better efficiency in the
finished product.

Acknowledgements The authors thank to the Instituto Politécnico Nacional and the Consejo
Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología f or the support provided in the elaboration of this work.

References

1. ANSYS Inc. (2011) Ansys mechanical APDL element reference, pp 61,62,975,1066

2. Bedford A, Fowler W (2000) Dinámica: Mecánica para ingeniería, vol 1. Pearson Educación
3. Flow-Tek Inc. (2016) High performance severe service: Metal Seated Ball Valves, Ed Bray
International Inc. https://www.bray.com/ball-valves/severe-service/series-m4-severe-service-
ball-valve. Accessed Dec 2017
4. Kinsky R (1986) Engineering mechanics and strength of materials. McGraw-Hill
5. Miller U, Pastor T (2009) Section VIII—division 1: rules for construction of pressure vessels.
Companion guide to the ASME boiler and pressure vessel code, vol 2, 3rd edn. ASME Press
6. Mott R (1996) Mecánica de fluidos aplicada. Pearson Educación, pp 75–94
7. Rogers S (2011) Nuclear power plant accidents: listed and ranked since 1952. The Guardian, 18
8. Stolarski T, Nakasone Y, Yoshimoto S (2018) Engineering analysis with ANSYS software.
Butterworth-Heinemann

View publication stats