FEA Opens New Market for Oasis Engineering

  • Category: FEA
  • Client: Oasis
Designing valves for the Middle East Gas Industry is one of Oasis Engineering’s key businesses, and one in which they have been very successful. Based in Tauranga one of their core competencies is providing high quality, durable and reliable valves.
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The Challenge

The boom in using CNG for transport is placing greater demands on suppliers who want to operate their plant at higher pressure. Oasis wanted to be extra sure their products were going to be robust in the extreme environmental conditions. A gas valve failure results in massive explosions, devastating the gas plant and threatening human life. Andrew Cameron, the Manager of Oasis, designs in the 3D Solid Edge software from UGS. He wanted to get his product analysed to determine at which point it was weakest, and where it was most likely to break. Andrew contracted Matrix Applied Computing to perform a Finite Element Analysis (FEA) of his product.

The Solution

FEA is a computer based method of analysing the behaviour of components and structures under a variety of conditions. The technique is based on the premise that an approximate solution can be reached by dividing the structure/component into smaller, more manageable (finite) elements. The Finite Element Model (FEM) is analysed with far greater inherent precision than hand analysis enables, because the actual shape, load, constraints and material properties can be specified with much greater accuracy, and powerful computers can perform the calculations. FEA was performed using Abaqus software from Simulia (www.simulia.com), quickly, in a week, and determined the structurally weakest point of the valve. Oasis then changed their method of manufacture and designs to produce a 50% more robust part.

The Result

This single week of work broke open a new market segment for Oasis – the higher pressure 6000psi market segment, and the size of that market is growing. The new models of the valve have been field tested with excellent results. Several customers are extremely excited about this new product. The test results confirm the reputation of Oasis as the most durable and reliable valve manufacturer on the market. Andrew Cameron states “We found Matrix reliable, productive and that they quickly understood the complexity of the problems we were asking them to solve. We definitely got value for money”.