Buckling analysis of Cyclone Separator Stand

Aim: 1) To perform the buckling analysis on a cyclone separator stand with and without stiffener and calculate FOS.

2) Perform a parametric study based on stiffener placement as a variable and calculate optimal FOS.

Software Used: Buckling analysis has been performed in Solidworks.

Theory: Buckling is a common phenomenon seen in long columns. Generally buckling is more observable in long columns (where length/dia ratio is greater than 12.5). In buckling there is a change in the shape of the component under load for eg. Column under compression.

Buckling may occur even stress developed inside the body in the absence of any external load based on their material properties as well.

In the case of Columns under compression, the ratio of effective length to the least radius of gyration is called a slenderness ratio which plays a critical role in this field.

FOS Factor of Safety: It plays an important role in the designing field. As we define the component so as to avoid the failure due to unexpected or sudden changes in the condition we define the factor of safety which helps us to make the component safer for use and taking account of various conditions. In buckling of Columns if FOS is 10, here it means that for the column the critical load is 10 times the load applied.

Modeling: Model was prepared using Solidworks

Material Used: Material defined for this buckling analysis is Alloy Steel.

Mesh: Mesh was set to fine quality which helps us to get more accurate results.

Boundary Conditions: 1. The lower face of the stand was provided as fixed support.

2. A force of 150000N was applied on the above plate which is compressive in nature.

Case 1: Buckling analysis of cyclone separator stand without metallic Stiffener.

Boundary Conditions remain the same.

FOS, in this case, is 9.34.

Case 2:Buckling analysis of cyclone separator stands with metallic Stiffener.

Boundary Conditions remain the same.

The stiffener is placed at 0.75m from the top plane.

FOS, in this case, is 26.89

Now, this is the 2nd part of the objective where we have to perform the parametric analysis.

1. Boundary conditions remain the same.

2. Placement of stiffener act as a variable in this case.

3. FOS needs to be maximized. The minimum factor of safety is kept at 25.

The plot shown below is the study performed and based on this the optimal value is 29.655

As the mesh quality was set to high which causes the optimal value to be more accurate.

Observation and Conclusion: Based on the parametric study, it is shown that stiffener at 1m from the datum surface acts as an optimal placement of the stiffener where the factor of safety is maximum.

We can conclude that buckling factor without stiffener was 9.34 whereas with the metallic stiffener it was 29.655 which is almost 3 times without stiffener. It shows that the stiffener helps us to increase the value of critical load for the same structure.