Size it, check it, run FEA on the nozzles and stamp the report in one file.
Aleph designs shells, heads, cones, nozzles, flanges, tubesheets and supports to ASME Section VIII Division 1. Every result cites the paragraph it comes from, and when a nozzle falls outside the WRC charts, Aleph runs a finite element model of it without leaving the project.
Build the vessel in 3-D, not in a spreadsheet
Start from a few design conditions and add components from the palette. Click any part of the model to open its inputs and full calculation. Every change recalculates at once and the model updates behind the window.
A model you can click
Shell courses, cones, heads, nozzles, boots, saddles, legs, skirts and tubesheets, in any number. Parts are coloured by their code check: grey passes, amber needs inputs, red fails.
Nozzle schedule from Excel
Paste every nozzle at once: mark, size, location, flange class, pad and more. Aleph checks each row first and changes nothing if one is wrong.
Sized for you
New parts start at the thinnest standard plate that passes, and nozzles at the lightest schedule that passes UG-45 and reinforcement. A pad is added when Sch 160 is not enough.
Dimension sketches
Each window has a sketch of the part with your values on it. The dimension you are editing turns orange, and the same sketches go into the PDF.
Linked values
A course follows the diameter of the one before it, and static head comes from the liquid level. Type a value to break a link; one click relinks it. Fields accept arithmetic like 129*12+5.5.
Autosave and recovery
Aleph saves your work in the background. If the program or the PC stops unexpectedly, it offers the last version when you start it again.
What Aleph checks
Each component runs through the rules that govern it, and the controlling result carries up to the vessel MAWP, MDMT and test pressure. U.S. customary or SI, with the Code's own SI values when you design in SI.
Shells
Internal and external pressure for every course, with its own static head, pipe under-tolerance and corrosion allowance. External design lengths follow the lines of support.
Formed heads
2:1 ellipsoidal, F&D and hemispherical heads, inside or outside basis, straight flange MAWP, external pressure and UCS-79 forming strain with the heat-treatment decision.
Cones
Conical sections and their junctions under internal and external pressure. Each junction is judged a line of support or not, and the design lengths follow.
Flat heads and covers
Flat heads with the Fig. UG-34 conditions and weld throats, bolted covers and blind flanges, spherically dished covers and App. 2 body flanges.
Flanges
B16.5 ratings and dimensions verified cell by cell against the 2020 edition. Break flanges, heavy barrel nozzles and Code Case 2901 external loads with B16.20 / B16.21 gaskets.
Pipe and caps
Pipe schedules and B16.9 pipe caps, including modified caps with openings, the E and E1 lengths and the length tolerance from the 2024 edition.
Nozzles
Reinforcement in all planes, hillside nozzles, overlapping openings, internal projections, pads, neck thickness and shear, and every Fig. UW-16.1 weld detail.
Local nozzle stresses
Six nozzle loads entered once. WRC 537 on cylinders and spheres with the full 8-point table, or a finite element run when the nozzle is outside the WRC curves.
MDMT and MET
MDMT per component, flange and bolting, the −155 °F floor and impact-test exemptions, nameplate MDMT at MAWP, and the full MDMT / MET curve.
Tubesheets
U-tube, fixed and floating tubesheet exchangers, with tubes, channel and the seven UHX-13 load cases.
Supports
Saddles by Zick's method, legs, and skirts with access openings, base ring, anchor bolts and concrete bearing. Wind and seismic to ASCE 7 for U.S. sites, or NBC 2015 with data for all 679 Canadian locations.
Test, weights and fabrication
Hydrostatic or pneumatic test pressure, empty, operating and test weights, capacity and centre of gravity, and a list of fabrication requirements such as PWHT.
When the WRC charts run out, run the FEA
WRC 537 only covers a range of shell and nozzle proportions. Small drains in caps, nozzles in formed heads and hillside nozzles fall outside it. Aleph's built-in NozzleFEA builds a 3-D solid model of the nozzle from the calculation already in your project, so nothing is typed twice and nothing is exported to another package.
- Model from the vessel. Shell or head, nozzle, pad, welds and flange come from the nozzle calculation, with corroded dimensions.
- Same loads as WRC. Design pressure plus the six nozzle loads P, VL, VC, ML, MC and MT, as one combined case or as separate sustained and operating cases.
- Mesh and solve on your PC. 27-node quadratic solid elements, with a Coarse or Standard mesh. A run takes about one to two and a half minutes, with a progress window.
- Linearize and check. Stresses are linearized through the wall per ASME VIII-2 Annex 5-A and checked to Part 5: PL ≤ 1.5S and PL+Pb+Q ≤ SPS, the same checks as the WRC 537 results.
Small nozzles on caps
A drain on a modified pipe cap, like N06 in our benchmark, trips the WRC 537 ρ and γ limits. Aleph flags it and offers the FEA run.
Nozzles in heads
2:1, F&D and hemispherical heads, at the centre or offset, normal to the head or hillside, including the knuckle region.
Hillside nozzles and flat heads
Hillside nozzles on cylinders with the exact intersection, and nozzles in flat heads and bolted covers modelled as plates on the shell.
Checked against seven published vessel reports
We rebuilt seven calculation packages from two leading commercial programs in Aleph and compared every result. Each comparison is kept as a regression test, so a later change cannot quietly break it.
In detail: the vapour eliminator
A 131-page report. Where the numbers differ, the table says why. Both approaches are permitted by the Code; Aleph's choice is shown so you can decide.
| Item | Report | Aleph | Δ | Why |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cylinder MAWP | 724.58 psi | 724.58 psi | 0 | |
| Top cap MAWP, B16.9, App. 1-1(a) | 724.58 psi | 724.58 psi | 0 | |
| Bottom cap MAWP, modified, App. 1-4(c) | 750.37 psi | 750.37 psi | 0 | |
| Vessel MAWP | 285 psi | 285.0 psi | 0 | Governed by the Class 150 flanges, B16.5 U.S. table |
| Hydrotest, UG-99(b) | 370.5 psi | 370.5 psi | 0 | |
| Rated MDMT | −55 °F | −55 °F | 0 | UCS-66(g) for impact-tested LF2 flanges |
| N01 A41 weld area | 0.1406 in² | 0.1406 in² | 0 | |
| UW-16 throat, N01 / N02 / N04 / N06 | 0.1221 / 0.1859 / 0.1088 / 0.1312 | same | 0 | |
| Cylinder design thickness | 0.1681" | 0.1654" | −1.6 % | UG-27(c)(1) on inside radius vs App. 1-1 on outside radius |
| N01 / N03 area required | 0.4381 in² | 0.4269 in² | −2.6 % | Same radius basis as the shell |
| N04 / N05 WRC PL, PL+Pb+Q | 16,431 / 29,193 psi | 16,277 / 28,323 psi | −0.9 / −3.0 % | WRC 537 curves vs WRC 107, same pressure factor |
| N01 / N03 WRC PL, default factor | 25,445 psi | 27,401 psi | +7.7 % | Aleph derives the pressure factor from the A41 weld area, which is more conservative here. With the report's factor: 25,889 psi |
| N06 drain local stresses | WRC at 815 psi | FEA advised | range | Outside WRC 537 limits for ρ and γ, so Aleph flags it for finite element analysis |
| Capacity | 28 US gal | 28.1 US gal | 0 |
Pressure results match to the second decimal. Shell, both caps, flange rating, vessel MAWP, test pressure and rated MDMT are identical. The benchmark turned up four rules where Aleph had been off, and each was fixed and covered by a regression test before release.
Where Aleph differs, it shows its basis. Thickness on the inside radius, WRC 537 rather than WRC 107 curves, and a pressure factor from the weld geometry. You can enter the pressure factor yourself to match a client's report.
A report your reviewer can follow
- A summary up front. A cover with the 3-D model, contents, then the vessel summary with the elevation drawing and nozzle schedule.
- Every component, with its math shown. Each formula is printed with your numbers substituted, and only when it reproduces the result beside it. Dimension sketches sit on the same pages.
- FEA results in the same report. Contour plots, linearization lines and the PL and PL+Pb+Q checks sit beside the nozzle's other calculations.
- MDMT / MET curve and fabrication list. The pressure–temperature curve and the fabrication requirements close out the package.
- Your company on every page. Set your company details once and they go on the cover and page headers of every report.
Published prices. No sales call.
Every price is on this page. Download the full program and use it for 30 days before you pay anything.
The pressure parts of an ASME VIII-1 vessel and its PDF report.
- Shells and formed heads, with B16.9 caps
- Nozzles: UG-37, UG-45, UW-16
- B16.5 flanges, MDMT, hydrotest
- Full PDF calculation report
Every calculation in Aleph, from cones and tubesheets to supports and nozzle FEA.
- Everything in Essentials
- WRC 537 and NozzleFEA local stresses
- Skirts, saddles, legs, base rings, anchor bolts
- Wind and seismic, ASCE 7 or NBC
- Cones, covers, tubesheets, weights
Pro, yours to keep. Updates cover new builds released while they are active.
- All Pro features
- No subscription
- Keeps working if you stop updates
- Offline licence file
Open .pvc files and view or print the report. For clients, inspectors and reviewers.
Every Pro feature for 30 days. Reports carry a trial footer.
All of Pro for 30 days, for the one vessel you would otherwise send out.
| Included | Reader | Essentials | Pro · Pass · Perpetual |
|---|---|---|---|
| Open files and print reports | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Shells, formed heads, B16.9 caps | – | ✓ | ✓ |
| Nozzle reinforcement, UG-45, UW-16 welds | – | ✓ | ✓ |
| B16.5 flanges, MDMT, hydrotest, PDF report | – | ✓ | ✓ |
| Cones, flat heads, bolted covers, tubesheets | – | – | ✓ |
| WRC 537 local stresses and NozzleFEA | – | – | ✓ |
| Skirts, saddles, legs, base rings, anchor bolts | – | – | ✓ |
| Wind and seismic, ASCE 7 or NBC 2015 | – | – | ✓ |
Paste your licence key once. After that Aleph runs without internet and picks up renewals when it's online. A computer with no internet can use a licence file instead.
If a licence lapses, Aleph still opens and prints every file. Nothing is ever locked or deleted.
Prices in US dollars per seat, for buyers outside Canada. In Canada you buy from Aleph, an Alberta company, with GST or HST; card payments are processed by Stripe. Outside Canada, orders are processed by our reseller Paddle.com, which adds US sales tax or VAT where it applies. Moving from another vessel program? Ask about the switch offer.
Buy Aleph
Pay by card and your licence key arrives straight away, on screen and by email. Paying by purchase order or bank transfer? Create an order request instead and we reply with an invoice; the key follows when it's paid.
Choose a licence and seats. The total updates as you go.
Pay by card. Stripe in Canada, Paddle everywhere else. Your licence key comes by email.
Activate. Run Aleph-Setup.exe, choose Activate and paste the key. Aleph connects once, then works offline.
Runs on the PC you have
Windows 10 or 11. Install with Aleph-Setup.exe and run Aleph.exe; no Python or other software needed.
Projects save as .pvc files, with any NozzleFEA results inside, so a reopened file shows them without a rerun.
U.S. customary or SI. In SI, Aleph uses the Code's own SI values (U-4), and flange ratings follow the matching B16.5 table.
ASME VIII-1, checked against the 2019 edition and every paragraph revised in 2023, with WRC 537, VIII-2 Part 5, AISC 360-16, ASCE 7 and NBC 2015.