Numerical analysis of cracking at the nozzle junction in a distillation column

Faycal Sotehi; Djebbara Benzerga; Abdelkader Haddi; Adel Chouiter; Abderrahmane Belarbi

Research Article

Recieved:

07/02/2025

Accepted:

17/10/2025

Page:

–

doi:

http://dx.doi.org/10.17515/resm2025-663me0207rs

Views:

Numerical analysis of cracking at the nozzle junction in a distillation column

Faycal Sotehi¹, Djebbara Benzerga¹, Abdelkader Haddi ², Adel Chouiter³, Abderrahmane Belarbi⁴

¹LSCMI, University of Sciences and Technology of Oran, Mechanical Faculty, Oran, Algeria
²Univ. Artois, IMT Lille Douai, Junia, Univ. Lille, ULR 4515, Laboratoire de Génie Civil et géo Environnement (LGCgE), Béthune, France
³Institut des Sciences et des Techniques Appliquées (ISTA), University Constantine 1, Algeria
⁴LASP, University of Sciences and Technology of Oran, Mechanical Faculty, Oran, Algeria

Abstract

Distillation columns are critical assets in the petrochemical industry, with nozzle-shell junctions vulnerable to fatigue damage. After 20 years of service in SONATRACH’s Hassi Berkine unit, a 10 mm longitudinal crack was observed in the heat-affected zone (HAZ) of a weld. This study integrates metallurgical characterization, damage mechanics (Lemaitre model), cohesive zone modeling (CZM), and finite element analysis (ANSYS Workbench) to investigate crack initiation, propagation, and reinforcement under cyclic wind and sand abrasion loading. A local post-processor using strain history from FEM predicts damage evolution and residual life. Simulations of 63 FRP patch configurations (carbon/glass fibers, epoxy/polyurethane adhesives) reveal that a unidirectional carbon/epoxy patch (100 mm × 16 mm) optimally restores structural resistance, extending HAZ residual life by 9 service years so ~46%. This lightweight, cost-effective composite solution is validated for in-situ repair of welded joints in petrochemical environments.