Optimal Design of Pipe Racking Column with ANSYS and Response Surface Method

To meet the lightweight design requirements of the pipe racking column, and quickly realize cost reduction and efficiency increasing of the equipment, the optimization of the pipe racking column section dimension is taken as the research focus. The design modeler module is used for parametric modeling, and the statics module of ANSYS Workbench software is used for finite element analysis on the stiffness, strength and vibration modes of the column.Then, the structural parameters of the column are optimized. The analysis results show that the width of the side wall of the column <i>L</i>₂ and the angle of the bending plate α are the most sensitive to the maximum total deformation. Increasing the values of <i>L</i>₂ and <i>α</i> can effectively reduce the maximum total deformation. The influence of <i>L</i>₂ and <i>α</i> on the maximum equivalent stress is nonlinear. The maximum equivalent stress increases first and then decreases with the increase of <i>α</i>. The maximum equivalent stress decreases with <i>L</i>₂. The optimized scheme reduces the mass by 3.2% and the maximum total deformation by 14.1%. When the maximum equivalent stress is reduced, the natural frequencies of the first 3rd order are improved, and the optimization purpose of reducing the column quality, enhancing the stiffness and improving the natural frequency is achieved. The obtained results can provide references for the dimension optimization of relevant equipment.