Issues regarding the heat treatment of heat exchanger shells
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Question: GB/T151 specifies that if the diameter of lateral openings in the tube box exceeds 1/3 of the inner diameter of the cylinder, heat treatment is required. Then, if the openings in the shell are also larger than 1/3 of that diameter, is heat treatment necessary?
It shouldn’t be necessary; the tube box is small, and welding large-diameter openings would cause deformation and stress concentration. That’s why it’s specified that carbon steel and low-alloy steel need to undergo heat treatment – that’s my understanding.