2018 Pressure Vessel Design softwares 6

[mjmyers2]

I was able to find an old post, and the interwebs and google want to sell me every dern software known to man. What are the industry leading softwares for designing pressure vessels to ASME BPVC Sec VIII, Div 1 AND 2, DNV, (and other equivalent international standards) and can do TEMA heat exchangers as well?

I'll be designing mostly small pressure vessels, and fixed bed reactors (think tall shell and tube heat exchanger).

In the past I've used Compress, but their licensing fee is atrocious!

Thanks for the help in advance.

 

[XL83NL]

PVElite

 

[mjmyers2]

I know of the following:
1) Compress
2) DesignCalcs (trial version installed and test driving this now... good customer service out of them too)
3) PV Elite

Does anyone have any experience using all 3? Which do you prefer and why?

 

[XL83NL]

That’s an open question. Do you prefer fat, sugar or sugary fat?

None is better or worse. You need to make up what suits your needs.

 

[mjmyers2]

Actually XL83NL, I'm trying to get a CURRENT list of pressure vessel design softwares, and input as to their usefulness based on user experiences. What I don't need are unhelpful responses.

 

[SnTMan]

mjmyers2, Compress & PVE are pretty much "standards" but there are others, as you noted. What XL83NL is saying is, it is likely that only you can decide which is best for your class(es) of work and desired outputs. Do you want calculations only? Shop drawings? Solid model?

Perhaps run some trial versions on your designs.

Regards,

Mike

The problem with sloppy work is that the supply FAR EXCEEDS the demand

 

[XL83NL]

SnTMan, exactly. Not sure why the OP didn’t get that. I didn’t want to be sarcastic or pedantic.

 

[mjmyers2]

You're killing me smalls. Simple question of what's out there. As far as using trial versions, I know of 3 and am playing with them. SnTMan, I'm doing exactly that now, taking a current vessel and rebuilding it in DesignCalcs. Haven't gotten a response from PVE at all, and let's just say I'm not happy with the lack of customer support from Compress as of late.

I want to design vessels, if some softwares can do both calculations, export to solid model for FEA, and do shop drawings, I'd like a USER'S review of what YOU think.

After a 10 year hiatus, I'm just getting back into vessel design, so I don't trust my own opinion of what I can learn from tinkering with them for a day. I figured I'd ask you more knowledgeable types. I know what each of the software vendors SAY, but I wanted YOUR perspectives... like:
[ul][li]Compress is great, but their customer service is found to be lacking, or they are VERY proud of their software and don't mind twisting your fingers a bit during setup.... or[/li]
[li]PVE is great except I've found several glitches in the software where it allows me to do something and passes a code calc where it should not, ... or[/li]
[li]DesignCalcs works but isn't as intuitive as Compress, I'd recommend Compress over it[/li]
[/ul]

I thought I was fairly specific in my original post... and I realize you guys get a lot of "help me out type research requests", and whereas I hate to be yet another, who better to ask than the specific user group that does this 'thing'?

Anyway, let me ask again (to be clear): Other than Compress, PV Elite, and DesignCalcs, are there OTHER Pressure Vessel Design softwares out there? Any I should NOT waste my time with? No risk of retaliation for sharing your opinion, as long as it helps me identify and narrow down this list.

~Thanks

 

[SnTMan]

mjmyers2, unfortunately I can't be much help. In the modern (Windows) era, I have run only PVElite, and one other program. And really I usually use only the CodeCalc unit of PVE, as I find the time required to build the "model", which has no further use to me whatsoever, to be a waste. So, CodeCalc for calculations only, within its' capabilities.

The other program is a specialized TEMA type shell & tube program, RCS. Very good program within its limitations. Pretty much useless for general pressure vessel work however.

Regards,

Mike

The problem with sloppy work is that the supply FAR EXCEEDS the demand

 

[marty007]

I'm in the Compress camp, and am quite happy. There appears to still be quite a bit of development work going into the software (they just recently released functionality for jacketed vessels).

Service wise, I actually find them quite responsive when I use their online ticket submission system. I usually get a response within 24-48 hours.

I have found a couple of bugs, and they've fixed each of them in the next 1-2 release cycles.

Cheers,

 

[Trestala]

@mjmyers2,
You can also look into Bentley's AutoPIPE Vessel.

We've used Compress, PVElite, CodeCalc, and AutoPIPE Vessel. Not one software can do everything.
In my opinion, for general purposes, Compress does the job well and faster because it is more intuitive. I find PVElite more flexible when it comes to more complicated external loads distribution and load combinations, but it takes longer to use since the input is more detailed. CodeCalc is very useful for quick calculations on specific components. AutoPIPE Vessel's advantage is that it can perform vertical vessels with intermediate guide supports and transportation conditions, as well as multiple (and modifiable) load combinations on a single run.

Regards,

 

[mjmyers2]

Thank you all for your feedback.

Ironiclly, I've done a lot of Alaskan contracting, and they use Bentley AutoPlant up there (formerly Rebis). I cut my teeth on vessel design using Rebis. Good stuff.

Thanks again all. Looks like I have some research to do and a decision to make!

 

[JStephen]

I use DesignCalcs off and on, but haven't used the others to compare.
You mention Div 2 and international standards, and I'm not aware of any capability there.

A few minor shortcomings with DesignCalcs that I run across when evaluating designs run by others:
-It doesn't automatically check if the limits of reinforcement extend into the knuckle- you have to catch that and check the box, and if the person running the design doesn't think to check that box, no error condition is detected.
-If you don't set the loadings up right, you don't get a saddle design, just a printout showing saddle parameters, but there's no error showing that the saddle has NOT been designed, either. So you can generate a printout that appears to show everything is hunky dory when in fact certain items haven't been designed at all.
-On the general nozzles, shells, etc., they show up red on the picture if the item is inadequate. Which is good. But then on saddles, you have to look at the output calculations and go through and check for stress ratios greater than 1; it doesn't just make the saddle red on the picture.
-It doesn't necessarily check compatibility of components (or didn't last time I checked)- so I've gotten designs in where a 30" ID manway neck was connected to a 30" OD weld-neck flange. For that matter ,you could "connect" a 12" flange to an 8" pipe, and it wouldn't detect any problem there, I don't believe.
Net result, the software itself is reasonably reliable, but you have to be familiar with some of these quirks to use it or to confirm designs run on it.

 

[mjmyers2]

Thanks JStephen. That's the type of feedback I was looking for. "Where are the bear traps"?

 

[AWDMIKE]

As an engineering contractor, I can tell you from much experience that Compress is easier (for me) to follow when reviewing calculations.

For the most part, Compress and PV Elite are quite transparent in their calculations. There are few things which I see on a regular basis needing attention but I believe this is more related to a lack of understanding of the user rather than the limitations of the software (e.g. implementation of wind and seismic codes not in Compress, vessels on structures in PV Elite, combining factored and unfactored loads in PV Elite...)

I have no experience using PV Elite, and have used Compress extensively.

Hope this helps.

 

[yigithan]

Pv elite ( EN13445 , SEC VIII DİV 1 , 2 PD5500)
VVD vİSSUAL vESSEL DESİGN ( AD2000, 13445 , ASME DİV 1 , )