In a free span, the inner pipe of a pipe-in-pipe system (PiP) bends substantially due to internal pressure and temperature and possibly contacts the outer pipe. The study is motivated by the need to understand how the interaction between the two pipes affects the PiP behavior at a free span during thermal expansion and how a PiP can be modeled adequately. The pipes were simulated with thick wall pipe, elbow, and shell elements. The interaction between the inner and outer pipes was simulated with multi-point constraints (MPC), tube-to-tube contact elements (ITT), and contact surfaces. Finite element (FE) model accuracy and cost effectiveness were compared in a case study.
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