Stress analysis of a filter screen based on dimensional analysis and finite element analysis

Abstract

In order to strictly control the solid impurity particles of the pipeline and ensure the cleanliness of the pipeline of the gas supply system, a filter is installed on the pipeline before the inlet of the equipment to ensure the normal operation of the pipeline instrumentation and compressors. Since the flow of the fluid will impact the filter screen, the impact stress of the fluid on the filter screen is worth studying. However, the structure of the filter screen is complicated, so the filter screen is simplified for research. The present study adopts the dimensionless $\pi $ theorem to make the density, viscosity, flow velocity, and other factors of a gas-phase fluid and solid-phase fluid dimensionless and obtains an expression for the stress acting on a filter screen as a function of the fluid parameters. Then the numerical simulation is carried out using the finite element analysis software Fluent. By changing only the velocity of the fluid and changing only the mass flow rate of the solid impurity particles, numerical simulations show that the stress acting on the filter screen has a quadratic relation with the fluid flow velocity, the stress acting on the filter screen has a linear relation with the mass flow of the solid-phase fluid, which is consistent with the law embodied in the formula derived from the $\pi $ theorem. In addition, by comparing the stress acting on the filter screen traversed by different gas phase fluid media (i.e. air, CH4, and N2) under the same fluid flow conditions, it is found that effects of stress acting on the filter screen caused by different gas phase-fluids are different. All these results agree with theoretical predictions. These laws can play a guiding role in practical engineering applications in the future. Highlights Based on the dimensionless $\pi $ theory, the expression about the stress of the strainer is derived. A simplified finite element model of partial filter screen is established. Using the finite element analysis software, the stress of the filter screen is obtained by changing the flow velocity of the fluid, the mass flow of the solid impurity particles and the different gas phase fluids. The filter screen can be protected from damage by controlling the flow parameters of the fluid.

Keywords

• model simplification
• granular flow
• numerical analysis
• dimensional analysis
• numerical simulation
• stress