Failure analysis of tube-to-tubesheet welded joints in a shell-tube heat exchanger

 

An article in progress in « Case Studies in Engineering Failure Analysis », Volume 7 (october 2016).

In this work, fracture failure of a shell-tube heat exchanger at the tube-to-tubesheet welded joints was investigated. Fatigue started at initial defects of the welded joint was confirmed as the failure mechanism of the heat exchanger. Bad welding and unsuitable expansion gave rise to the formation of initial cracks. The alternating stress comes from various reasons such as the resonant vibration.

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