Inspect pre-solved models in your browser in 2 seconds (up to 300k DOF) or solve 1.5M+ DOF assemblies 100% offline on Windows and macOS.
High-Pressure Bolted Pipe Flange Joint
Flange gasket face contact sealing and bolt pretension integrity under 16 MPa internal bore pressure, 50 kN axial tension, and 35 kN shear.
High-pressure pipeline flange joints operating in offshore oil and gas transport are subjected to severe internal bore pressure combined with external piping bending moments and shear loads. Unseating of the raised face sealing surface leads to hazardous product leakage, environmental pollution, and costly emergency shutdowns according to ASME Section VIII. This 2-body multi-solid assembly verifies raised face contact pressure continuity, hub neck stress concentrations, and global joint stiffness under 16 MPa internal pressure, 50 kN axial tension, and 35 kN transverse shear.
1. Geometry & FEA Mesh
- •2 mating welding-neck flange spools: forged carbon steel ASTM A105 (E = 200 GPa, ν = 0.29, yield 250 MPa) paired with austenitic stainless steel ASTM A182 F316 (E = 193 GPa, ν = 0.30, yield 205 MPa).
- •Piping geometry: DN150 (6-inch) schedule 80 pipe neck with 8 M24 through-bolt clearance holes and Class 600 raised face profile.
- •High-fidelity conformal tetrahedral mesh with 149,360 elements, 32,907 nodes, and 98,721 active DOFs.
- •Penalty contact interface across the annular raised contact faces preventing interpenetration while allowing micro-slip under shear.
2. Loads & Boundary Conditions
- •Far-end pipe stub face of the ASTM A105 spool fully fixed (Ux = Uy = Uz = 0) as ground support.
- •Internal bore pressure of 16.0 MPa applied across internal fluid-contacting cylindrical surfaces of both spools.
- •Axial tensile load of 50.0 kN and transverse shear load of 35.0 kN applied to the opposing ASTM A182 F316 pipe stub face.
- •Equivalent bolt clamp reaction force distributed across the 8 bolt hole seating faces.
3. Simulation Results & Findings
- ✓Peak equivalent von Mises stress σ_vm = 139.5 MPa localized at the transition taper radius between flange hub and pipe spool wall.
- ✓Continuous residual compressive contact pressure maintained over >85% of the raised face sealing area, ensuring gasket seating integrity under design shear.
- ✓Maximum structural displacement |u| = 0.148 mm localized at the loaded pipe spool rim.
- ✓Global reaction balance error is 0.17% with total solver runtime of 0.46 s.
WebCAE solves non-linear contact flange assemblies directly in the browser in less than half a second. Piping engineers can instantly evaluate gasket contact margins, bolt torque requirements, and spool wall thicknesses without setting up heavyweight offline FEA software.
14 days of full Pro access. The first charge occurs only after 14 days unless canceled beforehand.
- ✓14-Day Trial ($0 Today) (cancel anytime)
- ✓Up to 1.5M+ DOFs (direct sparse solver)
- ✓Native Windows & macOS Apps (100% offline)
- ✓Nonlinear Contact & Buckling (Kσ, MITC4, RBE2/RBE3)
Ask an Engineer About Your Model
Describe your part, load case, or CAD format — we reply within 2 business hours.
Want an instant answer on FEA theory or this model?
Click the AI chat button in the bottom-right corner to ask about boundary conditions, stress criteria, mesh convergence, or DSL scripting.
More Engineering Simulation Cases
API 6A Gate Valve Body (51.7 MPa Hydrotest)
API 6A Crossover Wellhead Spool with Side Outlets
53 m Oil Drilling Derrick & Substructure
