Pump maker Hayward Tyler cuts lead times with FEA

Luton, UK - Hayward Tyler Group, a manufacturer of glandless motor/pumps for power generation, oil & gas, nuclear and subsea applications, is using 3D modelling and finite element analysis (FEA) software to predict overall stress distribution for complete motor pump assemblies, resulting in reduced engineering lead times for its customers.

Hayward Tyler Inc. (HTI) Engineering recently invested in COSMOSWorks Professional, a software package that includes a Pressure Vessel Design Study option, which is being used in combination with 3D solid modelling software from Solidworks.

This means, in addition to pressure vessel calculations, the package enables HTI to take account of displacement due to severe nozzle loadings, calculate stresses due to thermal expansion, and to determine the natural frequency of specific components or complete motor/pump assemblies.

On a recent canned motor pump project in the US, for example, a Hayward Tyler pump will be used at a nuclear power station to handle heavy water, transporting it from the nuclear reactors to a storage facility. The contract has seismic requirements, which means HTI needed to calculate the natural frequency of the major pump components.

“The new Pressure Vessel Design Study option is very powerful when coupled with traditional stress analysis required by Nuclear Code," said Ben Hardy, design engineer at HTI Engineering. "The software can analyse pressure retaining nuclear components, calculating overall stresses by adding different loading criteria together. This gives us a more accurate representation of the resultant stress from the entire set of given design criteria.”

According to Hardy, each stress study is calculated separately, which would include stresses due to seismic loading, component weight, nozzle loads and thermal stresses. Next, the reactions and stresses are added together to provide an overall stress distribution caused by the combination of loading. “The ability to complete these calculations in-house reduces engineering lead time and eliminates the need for costly external consultants,” explains Hardy.

“Not only does the new software reduce the design time at the front-end of our process, enabling us to quickly identify and eliminate any potential design issues, but it also helps us to verify and seismically-qualify the pump design at the back-end of the process,” says Hardy.

Hayward Tyler claims to have over 1,000 pumps in active service in the US and overseas nuclear power plants, for customers, including Bechtel, Brown & Root, Stone & Webster, Ebasco, Black and Veatch, Westinghouse, Babcock and Wilcox, General Electric, and AECL.