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Yankee Pressure Test TAPPI
Yankee Pressure Test TAPPI
Dryer deformation
Figure 2 illustrates the deformation
of the Yankee dryer during the hydrostatic test, which means deformation from internal pressure only.
This load causes a bending moment
in the shell and head flange area
that attempts to increase the angle
between these parts at the flange
interface.
Figure 3 illustrates the deformation of the Yankee dryer during op-
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Stress distribution
Figures 4 and 5 provide two plots of
the maximum principal stress in the
flange area, with the hydrostatic test
condition shown in Fig. 4 and the
running condition in Fig. 5. The dark
areas in these plots indicate high
stresses.
These plots clearly show that the
stress distribution is quite different
for these two scenarios. During hydrostatic testing, the high stresses
are located on the inside of the shell
flange and extend into a region
around the first grooves for a ribbed
dryer. For the operating condition,
the stresses in this area are very low
and mostly compressive. The high
tensile stresses are, in this case,
found on the outside of the shell.
This is an effect of the thermal stress,
caused by the temperature difference through the shell wall, that creates a bending stress in the shell
with compressive stresses on the inside and tensile stresses on the outside.
The hydrostatic test requirement
makes the design of the flange area
more difficult, as two different load
scenarios must be considered. For
running conditions, the current
bending forces tend to open a gap
between the head and shell at the
Yankee Dryers
outer head radius. This will increase
the risk for crevice corrosion between
the shell and head flange.
The loads during hydrostatic testing are just the opposite of those for
running conditions, so a design compromise must be developed that
keeps the deformations within acceptable limits for both. If this is not
done, a gap may develop in the spigot
fit area on the inside of the flange
connection at the shell-flange inner
radius.
This gap will only be present during the hydrostatic test, but it may
cause permanent deformation that
could cause problems in the future
steam leaks, for instance.
The hydrostatic test is examining
the dryer and demanding design considerations for a completely different load scenario than what the dryer
will be exposed to during its operating lifetime. The primary justification for a hydrostatic examination is
to establish that no major flaws exist
in the materials of construction and
to inspect the dryer for eventual
leaks.
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1. Yankee loads
Case study
Lets look at a case study from a
Yankee dryer in a Russian mill as an
example of the potential danger involved with these on-site hydrostatic
tests.
On this dryer, the mill had problems with two minor steam leaks be-
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Yankee Dryers
6. Cracks in drive-side journal and tending-side head
Drive-side journal
Second groove
Tending-side head
Six bolts
cracked
First groove
out and the breaking of the journalto-head bolts. From this point, radial cracks progressed in the head
out to the shell flange, where the
axial crack started and progressed
over the full width of the cylinder.
From this axial crack, the two circumferential cracks were initiated.
These cracks started close to the
outer grooves in the shell that is, as
shown earlier, one of the areas of
highest stress during a hydrostatic
test.
Figure 6 shows the position of
the crack in the center flange, also a
very highly stressed area during a
hydrostatic test, and the cracks in
the tending-side head.
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Summary
The case study clearly establishes
the danger inherent in on-site hydrostatic testing. When we combine
that danger with the costs associated with hydrostatic testing and
compare them with the information
gained by performing the tests, the
risk and costs are far too high.
With improved calculation methods and material investigation procedures, the value of the on-site
hydrostatic test has changed over
the years. Global acoustic emission
examination and a variety of modern and sophisticated local nonde-