Analysis of buckling phenomena

Aim :-

1. To perform a buckling analysis on a cyclonic separator stand.
2. To create a stiffener to the legs of the stand and determine the increase in buckling factor of safety.
3. To perform parametric design study to run simulations at different positions of the stiffener and obtain the optimum position for the stiffener that will have maximum buckling factor of safety.

Initial Conditions of the Cyclonic separator stand are :

Load on the Cyclonic separator stand is 150kN.

Mesh size is 18mm.

Material of the Cyclonic separator stand is Alloy Steel.

The size of stiffener used :

Thickness of stiffener : 15mm

Width of stiffener : 50mm

Theory:

A cyclonic separation is a method of removing particulates from an air, gas or liquid stream, without the use of filters, through vortex separation. When removing particulate matter from liquid, a hydrocyclone is used; while from gas, a gas cyclone is used. Rotational effects and gravity are used to separate mixtures of solids and fluids. The method can also be used to separate fine droplets of liquid from a gaseous stream.

Design:

Model of cyclonic separator stand is :

Procedure:

Pre-processing:-

1. Analysis type for the buckling analysis of stand of Cyclonic separation.
2. Material of the beams used is Alloy Steel.

Solving:-

1. Fix the legs of the stand and apply load on the top of the stand.
2. Analysis is done for the stand of the cyclonic separator for different cases as without stiffener, with stiffener and by variation of the position of the stiffener to determine the best position of the stiffener for maximum factor of safety by run the parametric study.

Post Processing:-

1. Results of the simulation are plotted and analysed.
2. After plotting, the results compare all the results for best position of the stiffener for maximum factor of safety.

Simulation of the cyclonic separator stand without stiffener:

Observation :

Here in this simulation buckling factor of safety is 9.3672.

Simulation of the cyclonic separator stand with stiffener at distance of 1900mm from top surface :

Observation :

Here in this simulation buckling factor of safety is 10.228. With the use of the stiffener the buckling factor of safety is increased.

Design study of simulation of the cyclonic separator stand with stiffener at various position from top surface :

Here in this study the minimum position is 100 mm from top surface of the stand and maximum position is 1900 mm from top surface of the stand and step increase is 200mm.

Results and Observations :

After the design study , it is observed that with the position of the stiffener the buckling factor of safety changes. Maximum value of buckling factor of safety is at 1000mm away from the top surface of the stand.