The fluid/structure/thermal interaction as performed in the commercial code fluidyn-CHT consists of coupling the finite volume approach for fluids to the finite element method for structures inside the same solver. Meshes for the two media are independent and boundary conditions are exchanged iteratively until convergence. Thus, the complex response of combined fluid and solid media is solved efficiently. As a typical industrial test case, a thick steel pipe presenting a 90° elbow is modelled. Initially the fluid in the pipe is at a temperature of 423 K and at 157 bar of pressure. At the inlet, two streams enter the pipe at 423 K and 523 K respectively. The fluids start to mix after the elbow. As a consequence, the thermal load exerted on the structure result in a deformation of the structure at the elbow. This deformation could end up in a catastrophic failure.

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