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Showing posts from February, 2022

Failures in Pressure Vessels

  By Farzad Tabatabaie, Senior Equipment Engineer. A) Categories of Failures in Pressure Vessels Material-Improper selection of material; defects in material. Design-Incorrect design data; inaccurate or incorrect design methods; inadequate shop testing. Fabrication-Poor quality control; improper or insufficient fabrication procedures including welding; heat treatment or forming methods. Service-Change of service condition by the user; inexperienced operations or maintenance personnel; upset conditions. Some types of service which require special attention both for selection of material, design details, and fabrication methods are as follows: ·          Lethal ·          Fatigue (cyclic) ·          Brittle (low temperature) ·          High temperature ·  ...

Making Maintenance Smarter via Remote Monitoring and Digital Tools

By Dan Phillips. WHAT TRENDS HAVE YOU OBSERVED OVER THE PAST YEAR? Especially with personnel working remotely, we’ve seen an increase in companies connecting and tracking equipment with sensors and other Internet of Things (IoT) hardware and software to enhance their preventative maintenance capabilities . The coupling industry is catching up with the rest of the world in terms of the data revolution. But even there, demand has exploded in terms of end-user interest in how couplings are designed and selected, how they are manufactured, how they operate, how they are maintained, and how they are serviced. CAN YOU GIVE AN EXAMPLE? Just like you and I track our orders from Amazon and get regular updates during the process, customers are looking for the same easily accessible live data for couplings. The procurement team needs quick access to product information to make purchases. Project managers are looking at Gantt charts to understand more about the process and status while cou...

DEEP COMPRESSION: A Repair Solution For Steam Turbine Compressor Failures

By Kyle Brandenburg. Steam turbines provide an efficient means of producing electricity. Improving the corro s ion fatigue performance and damage tolerance of steam turbine blades can offer overhaul and maintenance cost savings improved reliability and reduced outages. The application of surface residual compressive stress to components can enhance fatigue strength and reduce the effects of applied tensile stresses. Shot peening has been used for decades to reduce overall operating tensile stresses in steam turbine components. However, corrosion pits, erosion, fretting, and other damage can penetrate shot peening’s shallow layer of residual compression, providing a starting point for stress corrosion cracking and fatigue failures. Instead of settling for shallow compression, the introduction of a deep layer of compressive residual stress can extend service life . To test the benefits of deep compression , high-cycle fatigue tests were done on Type 410 stainless steel ,...