Modules → Shell & Head Design

Shell & Head Design

This is the documentation page for the Shell & Head Design module. You'll find here everything you need to understand how to use our application.

We highly advice you to start by reading the Limitations section, because the version 1.0.0 don't fully support ASME BPVC Section VIII Division 1.

1. Types

This application support the following types of pressure vessel shell and head:

Shell

Cylindrical

Head

Ellipsoidal
Torispherical
Hemispherical
Conical
Flat
Toriconical

Note (1):

Spherical shell isn't supported yet.

2. Drawing

Fig. 2.1. - Drawing

The drawings for the head and shell types are generate dynamically and updated every time the USER change a dimension. After the button Run is clicked, the Results page will be shown and the drawing can no longer be changed (unless the user click in the Back button).

3. Units

For now (version 1.0.0), only International Unit System[ 2 ] or just SI Units is accepted, but we're working to implement the Imperial Unit System[ 3 ] in the following versions, as it's still used by many countries (specially USA) and companies.

4. Fields

Below is a list of all the available fields in the Module.

4.1. Module

The module tab have two versions: one for a new part (see Fig. 4.1.1) and one for an existing part (see Fig. 4.1.2). The difference is that when a part is saved, an unique identifier (ID) will be generated for it and it can be linked to other parts and equipment. The ID is shown above the Module tab (see Fig. 4.1.3) and there's a button to Project Management module beside it.

Note (2):

Section 11 explain how to link parts using the Add Part as Reference button.

Fig. 4.1.1. - Module Tab for a new Part

Fig. 4.1.2. - Module Tab for an existing Part

Fig. 4.1.3. - Unique Identifier (ID) for existing part

Variable	Name	Unit	Type	Required	Description
<none>	Description	<none>	Input	Yes	Short description of the part. For example: if designing a Bolted Flange to be connected at the upper part of the vessel, you can simply call if Upper Flange, if there's other flanges in there, you can be even more specific, calling if Upper Left Flange or Upper Gas Flange. Just remember that you'll use the description to identify the part (you can also use its id, but it's usually difficult to remember)
<none>	Decimal Places	<none>	Select	Yes	Number of decimal places to be used in the calculations and results. User can choose between 1 to 4 decimal places (also known as precision).
<none>	Revision	<none>	Input	No	This field let the USER insert the revision number, letter or a mix of both for the part. It's not controlled by the application, so it'll not increase it if changes are made. Its entirely up to the USER.
<none>	System of Units	<none>	Select	Yes	Unit system that will define the units used in all the variables in the calculation. The most known types are Imperial System and International System. Unfortunately we still don't support changing units and the International System will be used as a default.

Note (2):

For now it isn't possible to change the System of Units, so its field will be greyed and can't be changed.

4.2. Process

Fig. 4.2.1. - Process Tab

Variable	Name	Unit	Type	Required	Description
<none>	Fluid	<none>	Select	No	Fluid name, it's optional as it will not be used in any calculation. See Note (3).
To	Operating Internal Temperature	°C, °F	Field	No	Internal temperature of the vessel when the equipment is in service. See ASME BPVC Section VIII Division 1 Nonmandatory Appendix C for suggested methods to obtain the operating temperature of vessel walls in service and also UG-20 for more information.
Po	Operating Internal Pressure	MPa, PSi	Field	No	Internal pressure of the vessel when it's in service. Will not be used in any calculation.
Td	Design Internal Temperature	°C, °F	Field	Yes	Maximum expected internal temperature in the vessel in normal operation. See UG-20 for more information.
Pd	Design Internal Pressure	MPa, PSi	Field	Yes	Maximum expected internal pressure in the vessel in normal operation. See UG-21 for more information.
Toe	Operating External Temperature	°C, °F	Field	No	External temperature of the vessel when the equipment is in service.
Poe	Operating External Pressure	MPa, PSi	Field	No	Externa pressure of the vessel when it's in service. Will not be used in any calculation.
Tde	Design External Temperature	°C, °F	Field	Yes	Maximum expected external temperature in the vessel in normal operation.
Pde	Design External Pressure	MPa, PSi	Field	Yes	Maximum expected external pressure in the vessel in normal operation.

Note (3):

The fluid field is optional. The User can leave it blank, fill it with own data or select a fluid from the list. If the User choose to select a value from the list, the Module will check its compatibility with the selected material using Graco Table. We also have a Module dedicated to this topic: Fluid Compatibility.

4.3. Dimensions

4.3.1. Conical Head

Fig. 4.3.1.1. - Dimensions Tab, Conical Head

Fig. 4.3.1. - Conical Head Dimensions

Variable	Name	Unit	Type	Required	Description
<none>	Type	<none>	Select	Yes	xxx
D	Inside Diameter	mm, in	Field	Yes	xxx
h	Half Apex Angle	°	Field	Yes	xxx
sl	Section Length	mm, in	Field	Yes	xxx
t	Plate Thickness	mm, in	Field	Yes	xxx
ca	Corrosion Allowance	mm, in	Field	Yes	xxx
E	Joint Efficiency	<none>	Field	Yes	xxx

4.3.2. Cylindrical Shell

Fig. 2.1. - Drawing

Fig. 4.3.2. - Cylindrical Shell Dimensions

Variable	Name	Unit	Type	Required	Description
<none>	Type	<none>	Select	Yes	xxx
D	Inside Diameter	mm, in	Field	Yes	xxx
h	Half Apex Angle	°	Field	Yes	xxx
sl	Section Length	mm, in	Field	Yes	xxx
t	Plate Thickness	mm, in	Field	Yes	xxx
ca	Corrosion Allowance	mm, in	Field	Yes	xxx
E	Joint Efficiency	<none>	Field	Yes	xxx

4.3.3. Ellipsoidal Head

4.3.4. Flat Head

4.3.5. Hemispherical Head

4.3.6. Torispherical Head

Fig. 4.3.6.2. - Torispherical Head Dimensions

Fig. 4.3.6.1. - Dimensions Tab, Torispherical Head

Variable	Name	Unit	Type	Required	Description
<none>	Type	<none>	Select	Yes	xxx
D	Inside Diameter	mm, in	Field	Yes	xxx
L	Inside Crown Radius	mm, in	Field	Yes	xxx
r	Inside Knuckle Radius	mm, in	Field	Yes	xxx
s	Straight Flange Length	mm, in	Field	Yes	xxx
t	Plate Thickness	mm, in	Field	Yes	xxx
ca	Corrosion Allowance	mm, in	Field	Yes	xxx
E	Joint Efficiency	<none>	Field	Yes	xxx

4.4. Material

Fig. 2.1. - Drawing

Variable	Name	Unit	Type	Required	Description
<none>	Is the Material Normalized?	<none>	Checkbox	No	xxx
<none>	Use your own values?	<none>	Checkbox	No	xxx
<none>	Material Name	<none>	Select	Yes	xxx
Su	Tensile Strength at Design Temperature	MPa, psi	Field	Yes	xxx
Sy	Yield Strength at Design Temperature	MPa, psi	Field	Yes	xxx
Emd	Elastic Modulus at Design Temperature	GPa, kpsi	Field	Yes	xxx
S	Allowable Stress at Design Temperature	MPa, psi	Field	Yes	xxx
Sa	Allowable Stress at Ambient Temperature	MPa, psi	Field	Yes	xxx
md	Material Density	kg/m^3, lbf/in^3	Field	Yes	xxx
<none>	Group Number	<none>	Field	Yes	xxx
<none>	P-Number	<none>	Field	Yes	xxx
<none>	P-Number Thickness	mm, in	Field	Yes	xxx
<none>	External Pressure Chart	<none>	Field	Yes	xxx
<none>	UCS-66 Curve	<none>	Field	Yes	xxx

4.5. Settings

Fig. 2.1. - Drawing

Variable	Name	Unit	Type	Required	Description
mdmt	Minimum Design Metal Temperature	°C, °F	Field	Yes	It's the the lowest temperature at which the material can safely withstand the applied stresses without experiencing brittle fracture. For now, the User must define the MDMT by it's own using the latest version of ASME BPVC Section VIII Division 1 (see UG-20(b)) but we're planing to create a tool to aid the User to define it.
<none>	What Test specification should be used?	<none>	Checkbox	No	User can choose between 3 types of test that the Part will be subjected: Hydrostatic Test according to UG-99(b), Hydrostatic Test according to UG-99(c) and Pneumatic Test according to UG-100. For now User must check latest version of ASME BPVC Section VIII Division 1 for the description about each test. We'll later create a Documentation dedicated to this topic.
<none>	Disable sharing of this Part?	<none>	Checkbox	No	If checked, other Users will not be able to add this Part to their Equipment. Part owner can still add it to his own Equipment.
<none>	Include Operating Hydrostatic Pressure?	<none>	Checkbox	No	If checked, the hydrostatic pressure (caused by fluid column) will be taken in account in the calculations (will be added to operating pressure)
<none>	Include Test Hydrostatic Pressure?	<none>	Checkbox	No	If checked, the hydrostatic pressure (caused by test fluid column) will be taken in account in the calculations (will be added to test pressure)

5. Messages

The Module will show messages in the results pages when needed.

5.1. Warnings

5.2. Info

6. Sharing

The sharing option is something that we thought would be useful because engineers works as a team and usually share their projects with another engineers or customers, either to review or for approval.

Nowadays working side by side (physically) with other engineers is becoming something from the past. Hybrid and Remote position are becoming common in many companies. So no more printing the project and let in the co-work table to be checked. You either send the PDF (or software file) by e-mail or save it in the company drive.

Our approach is a little bit better. We let the USER choose which USERs can access the project, equipment and part and what kind of permission they will have. You can let some USERs change anything in a Part or let they only see it (input and output).

To share a project, equipment or part you must be its owner. You can be the owner by either creating the project, equipment or part or if the current owner delegates it to you. Also the option Disable sharing of this Part? in the Settings tab must be set to No (see Fig. 4.5.1.), in case of Part and if it's a Project or Equipment, the sharing button in the PJM module must be set to enable (see more about it in the Project Management documentation).

Currently there are two types of sharing status:

Full Access: this type of access let the USER make changes to the Project, Equipment and Part but can't delete it (only its owner can do that)
View Access: USER with this type of access can't make changes, can only see the input and output data.

7. Limitations

The version 1.0.0 comes with some limitations which are listed below:

This version can't be used to calculate the following situations:
1. Shell under External Pressure (UG-28);
2. Stiffening Rings (UG-29);
3. Head with Pressure on Convex Side (UG-33);
4. Spherical Shell (UG-27(d));
5. Negative temperatures.
6. Bolted flat heads as per Figure UG-34(j) and (k)
7. Square, rectangular, elliptical, obround, segmental or otherwise noncircular flat heads.
8. Flat head with gasket groove (see Figure UG-34(k)).

8. Equations

The equations shown in the Results page come mainly from ASME BPVC Section VIII as this Module focus in such standard code. The only equations that didn't come from the Code is the volume and weight, which we used some math and trigonometry to find out.

List of equations that we didn't find in the Code and is used in the Module:

9. Results

9.1. Summary

The Summary (see Fig. 9.1.1.) shows the most important information from the results. It also shows if there's some error in the calculation (it'll be shown in red).

In the future version we'll let the User select which information want to see in it.

Fig. 9.1.1. - Summary

9.2. Input

The Input tab (see Fig. 9.2.1.) in the results page shows all the information from the input page. It can be used to check all the data inserted by the User and by our system. The input will also be shown in the Calculation Report (DOCX).

Fig. 9.2.1. - Input List

9.3. Output

Fig. 9.3.1. - Output List

9.4. Bottom Menu

At the bottom of the page you'll find three buttons (see Fig. 9.4.1.):

Back: will bring the USER back to the Input page
Save: will save the Part and the USER will be able to access it using the direct link shown in the browser or through the Project Management module
Report: will generate and download the Calculation Report

Fig. 9.4.1. - Output buttons

9.5. Summary

To help USER easily check the equations and input data we created a summary which is show at the right side of the page (see Fig. 9.5.1.). It's composed by hyperlinks and if clicked the part where the item is located will be show. The list is divided in Input and Output to facilitate the identification.

Fig. 9.5.1. - Output buttons

10. Testing

If you access the Shell & Head Design module without being logged, you'll see a warning message as shown in the Fig. 10.1. stating that you're entering into a testing environment, which basically means that you'll not be able to use it in a real case, as some features are disabled and the data range that can be use is limited.

Fig. 10.1. - Testing Environment Warning

If you need to use the it beyond its testing limitation, contact us through Contact page and we'll see what can we do for you. We could, for example, give you a 1 day free trial or a guided testing with us.

10.1. Limitations

There are two types of limitation in the Testing Environment: features disabled and data range restriction.

10.1.1. Features Disabled

Feature	Limitation
System of Units	For now (version 1.0.0) the System of Units is disabled for every case, not only for testing environment. We're still checking the real need to make Imperial Units available.
Fluid	Only the fluid ASTM — Ref Motor Fuel C (50% Aromatic) are available for testing. Before you ask, we choose it at random. As the fluid isn't required by the calculation, we believe that disabling its selection won't affect the User experience.
Type	Two types are available for testing: Cylindrical Shell and Torispherical Head. We've choose it because it's the most used types.
Material Name	Only the material SA-512 A are available for testing now but we're evaluating the possibility to let the User choose between 3 materials, to test the Search Material feature.
What Test specification should be used?	Only the Hydrostatic Test (UG-99(b)) is available for testing. As it's quite simple calculation, it shouldn't affect the User experience while testing the Module.
Disable sharing of this Part?	Sharing didn't affect the calculation and isn't shown in the Calculation Report, so disabling it should't affect User experience.
Include Operating Hydrostatic Pressure?	Hydrostatic pressure can sometimes be neglected in the calculations because it's usually very small, so disabling it shouldn't affect User experience. If you want to calculate it by yourself, just check this article Hydrostatic Pressure on Head and Shell.
Include Test Hydrostatic Pressure?	Same as the option Include Operating Hydrostatic Pressure? but in this case we're using he test pressure, which are higher than the operating pressure but, even so, it's value continues to be very small.

10.1.2. Data Range Restriction

Variable	Description	Limitation
<none>	Decimal Places	1 to 3
To	Operating Internal Temperature	0 to 120°C
Po	Operating Internal Pressure	0.5 to 2.0 MPa
Td	Design Internal Temperature	0 to 120°C
Pd	Design Internal Pressure	0.5 to 2.0 MPa
Toe	Operating External Temperature	0 to 120°C
Poe	Operating External Pressure	0.5 to 2.0 MPa
Tde	Design External Temperature	0 to 120°C
Pde	Design External Pressure	0.5 to 2.0 MPa
Pde	Design External Pressure	0.5 to 2.0 MPa
lc	Liquid Column	0 to 500 mm
tlc	Test Liquid Column	0 to 500 mm
fd	Fluid Density	0 to 2000 kg/m^3
<none>	Type	Cylindrical Shell or Torispherical Head
D	Inside Diameter	1 to 600 mm
D	Flat Head Diameter	1 to 600 mm
Di	Inside Conical Diameter	1 to 600 mm
sl	Shell Length	1 to 1200 mm
t	Plate Thickness	1 to 12 mm
ca	Corrosion Allowance	0 to 5 mm
L	Inside Crown Radius	1 to 600 mm
r	Inside Knuckle Radius	1 to 150 mm
s	Straight Flange Length	0 to 30 mm
h	Half Apex Angle	15 to 45°
ar	Aspect Ratio	1 to 4
C	Attachment Factor	0.2 to 0.6
mdmt	Minimum Design Metal Temperature	0 to 60°C

10.2. Access Protection

The public API used in the testing environment is different from the API used in the production environment. So, even if someone tries to direct access the API with values outside the data range, the API will return an error.

11. Linking Parts

The calculation modules that we've in the ΣCalc or, more specifically, in the MarsCalc package, works independently from each other. It means that, if you are designing a spherical head to be attached in a conical shell, one part will not "know" about the other. The only exception are the modules that require the USER to load data from other modules. It's the case for Opening Reinforcement Design (ORD) and Saddle Support Design (SSD).

Note (1):

We understand that this kind of limitation is a big issue for some USERS and we are working on that. For now, the only way to a part "talk" to another is through the Project Management (PJM) module but, even this way have limitations.

To let the USER specify which parts are connected, we created the reference list. Let say, for example, that you have a torispherical head connected to a cylindrical shell. If you go to the Equipment tab in the Project Management module you'll see that the equipment have many parts, including the head and shell specified above but, you can't know how they are connected. If you add the cylindrical shell as a reference to the torispherical head, you'll know that it's connected.

The problem now is: what if the cylindrical shell have two heads, how can you know which one is in the top and which is in the bottom? Unfortunately we don't have a way to specify that, we're planning to let USER to assembly the pressure vessel just like PVElite does (using 2D drawings and nodes to connect the parts) but it isn't our top priority (it is listed in the Pool of Ideas with the ID # 9FF565B5)

Okay, lets go to the how to part. To add a part as a reference, first make sure that both parts are saved (exist and have and ID), then click in the Add part as a Reference (see Fig. 4.1.2) button. A modal (see Fig. 11.1) will be shown with the list of all parts created by the USER. If there are too many parts and you already know the ID of the part that you which to add, just type it in the search field to filter the list. To finish, just click in the part that you want to add and the modal will close and it'll appear in the Parts Linked to this Part table in the Module tab.

Fig. 11.1. - Reference Modal

One important thing that you must understand: linked parts have no effect in the calculation. It serves only as a reference. So if you add a stainless steel part to a carbon steel, the application won't show any warning.

Note (2):

Linking parts works both ways: if you add part X to part Y, part Y will be added to part X. Same happen when removing parts (by clicking in the "X" icon in the Action column).

Note (3):

When you delete a Part, all references to it will also be deleted.

12. Calculation Report

Calculation report can be generated and downloaded by clicking on the Report button located in the bottom menu, which is only visible in the results page. The file name will be the part ID.

Note (1):

The output file is generated in docx version 2016. We're not planning to support pdf format as nowadays you can easily convert docx to pdf using Google Docs, LibreOffice or Microsoft Word.

Fig. 12.1. shows the information contained in the first page of the report. Company name and logo can be set in the Dashboard. All the other information are automatically generated.

Fig. 12.1. - Calculation Report second page

The second page will show the part description (information given by the USER in the Module tab), part id (automatically generated), drawing (same as shown in the input page), input and output (equations).

Fig. 12.2. - Calculation Report first page

Note (2):

The equipment calculation report, which contains the report of all the parts of the equipment, can be generated in the Project Management module.

Note (3):

We've make an example report available in the Files pages.

Changelog (doc)

To see the changelog entries just click in the arrow next to Changelog title.

If you want to receive an e-mail notification every time an article or documentation is updated, just sign up and click in the Notify Me button at the bottom of the page (only visible for logged USERs).

Shell & Head Design

1. Types

2. Drawing

3. Units

4. Fields

4.1. Module

4.2. Process

4.3. Dimensions

4.3.1. Conical Head

4.3.2. Cylindrical Shell

4.3.3. Ellipsoidal Head

4.3.4. Flat Head

4.3.5. Hemispherical Head

4.3.6. Torispherical Head

4.4. Material

4.5. Settings

5. Messages

5.1. Warnings

5.2. Info

6. Sharing

7. Limitations

8. Equations

9. Results

9.1. Summary

9.2. Input

9.3. Output

9.4. Bottom Menu

9.5. Summary

10. Testing

10.1. Limitations

10.1.1. Features Disabled

10.1.2. Data Range Restriction

10.2. Access Protection

11. Linking Parts

12. Calculation Report

Changelog (doc)

References