Using Computational Fluid Dynamics and Finite Element Analysis to Determine Bolt Stresses Due to Thermal Cyclic Loading Available to Purchase

This paper details the procedures necessary to accurately determine the stress in the bolts on a coke gasifier inlet flange using current state-of-the-art practices. Using accepted ASME Code practices (ASME [1]), the stress results are then used to justify the elimination of the spacers that were specified in the original design. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) is employed to determine heat transfer coefficient distributions in the areas of interest. Finite element (FE) analysis is used to compute the transient assembly temperatures and related bolt stresses. By evaluating the bolt stresses as specified in ASME Div. 1 [1], these analyses were used to determine that the spacers could safely be eliminated during operation.