The flange spreader has been used to withdraw butterfly valves during maintenance. The typical flange spreaders required an excessive working space, and the pipe and flange are damaged by the load. In the previous study, the author developed a valve easy out tool with collet, and designed collet shape to ensure structural safety. However, clamping force of the collet had not been checked. In this study, design of collet shape was performed to improve clamping force. Techniques of structural analysis were established and design parameters were selected. Through parametric study, the collet shape with clamping force of 159,748N was suggested. This will contribute to stability and efficiently of valve maintenance.

The flange spreader has been used to withdraw gaskets and valves during butterfly valve maintenance. When using the conventional flange spreader, an excessive working space (pipe separation distance) appears, and the pipe and flange are damaged by the load. Also, the equipment can’t be operated safely when the pipe has eccentric fitting. To solve the problems, a valve easy out tool with collet was developed for safely fixing and spreading flange. By using Ansys Workbench 2021 R2, the structural analysis of the original collet was performed, and shape design of the collet was carried out to improve structural safety.