Predictions of Residual Stresses and Deformations in Pipe Bends Produced Using Cold, Warm and Induction Bending Processes

Cold bending, warm bending (bending with local heating) and induction bending are three manufacturing processes widely used to produce pipe bends. The cold and warm bending processes have been used for the fabrication of carbon steel feeder bends for CANDU® reactors, and the induction bending process was considered for the fabrication of stainless steel feeder pipes for an advanced CANDU reactor. Bending processes result in plastic deformation, and inevitably, introduce residual stresses in the deformed pipes. Residual stresses in feeder bends are believed to be a very important contributing factor in feeder cracking. Different bending processes result in widely different residual stress patterns and magnitudes in pipe bends. Hence, it is important to understand the effect of bending processes and the process parameters used on the residual stress distribution in the bent pipes. Numerical models have been successfully developed to predict the residual stresses and the deformed shapes induced by cold, warm and induction bending processes. This paper provides a comprehensive review of the predicted residual stress distributions, ovality and wall-thickness variations of the cold, warm and induction bends. The predicted results were compared to earlier measurements of spare CANDU feeder bends and test bends. Advantages and disadvantages of the three bending processes are summarized. Numerical approaches for the modeling of residual stresses could be of benefit to engineering estimates of residual stresses in feeder pipes for safety evaluation of nuclear reactors.