EFFICIENT SEISMIC ANALYSIS OF PIPING SYSTEMS WITH JOINT DEFORMATIONS

Abstract

A piping system is composed of pipes with various thickness, diameter and length. Accurate analysis of a piping system requires a complicated three-dimensional finite element model and a computer system with large memory size, while a simplified beam model may result in response prediction with deteriorated accuracy. An efficient model for seismic analysis of piping systems is proposed. The proposed model is developed by introducing the pipe joint element which accounts for the local deformations of a pipe joint. Pipes are represented by beam elements and the effect of local deformations of pipe joints is modelled by the pipe joint element deformations. The proposed model which is as simple and efficient as a beam model can be used to obtain the seismic response of piping systems with an accuracy very close to that obtained by a complicated finite element model.