THERMAL ANALYSIS OF A CLAD PIPE USING SIMULATION

Abstract

: Cladding is a process where one material covers another for protection or to obtain a specific 
property that is not exist in one of the two materials, but exist in the second material. The use of clad pipes 
provide an optimum and the cost-effectiveness solution when operating under highly corrosive conditions 
(crude with H2S, CO2, or in offshore area) or in high pressure operations. This paper introduces briefly the 
clad pipes and presents the results of thermal behaviour simulation of the clad pipe which utilized to perform 
a mesh sensitivity study. A (10ʺ) Stainless Steel clad pipe, which consists of a thin-walled inner Stainless 
Steel pipe and an outer Carbon Steel pipe, was used as a model in the current study. Finite element analysis 
was used as an experimental method to determine the stresses and the deformations on the clad pipe due to 
applied tensions and heat. In addition, the clad pipe was put under the same temperature conditions during 
the winter and summer times that in Sarir Oil Field to show the heat flux and the temperature gradient across 
the cross section of the clad pipe. Abaqus software was used to simulate the process. The results of thermal 
behaviour simulation of the clad pipes were obtained for different mesh types and sizes. A comparison 
between the different mesh types was carried out to determine the appropriate mesh type for the model. A 
mesh sensitivity study was performed to obtain the most accurate results. The simulation results show that 
the most appropriate mesh type for the current model is Tet (free), C3D4T: A 4-node thermally coupled 
tetrahedron, linear displacement and temperature (model 3). Because it has the maximum S (max) value 
(2.900E + 09Pa), and most accurate results are obtained when the global mesh size range is from (≤0.02 for 
the outer pipe and from ≤ 0.009 for the inner pipe).