Project / Structural mechanics

Structural and weld assessment of a cooling assembly

A finite-element model assessed the assembly, welded joints and support reactions across operating, exceptional and vibration load families.

FEA stress visualization of a welded cooling unit — Process & plant engineering · FEA structural analysis · Thermal analysis

Industry: Process & plant engineering
Services: FEA structural analysis · Thermal analysis

Engineering question

The welded cooling assembly had to be treated as a complete load path including masses, supports, joints and dynamic behaviour.

Model & approach

Represent the assembly with mass distribution, supports and critical weld regions
Evaluate static, exceptional and durability load families consistently
Assess stresses, welds, support reactions and modes together

Boundary conditions

Several mechanical load families and support interfaces
Local weld and connection regions within the global assembly model
Modal behaviour complementing the static assessment

Results of the assessment

The result fields exposed critical attachment and weld regions.
Support reactions and modes complemented local stress results with the global load path.
The model chain enabled consistent prioritization of detail regions.

Engineering consequence

Critical connections and support regions could be prioritized for detailed sizing, design change or further checking.

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