Pressure Vessel Design Charts

This Section is Under Development Commentary:

Although not suited for final vessel calculations, design charts can be very useful for preliminary design and quotation purposes. The charts on this page provide pressure ratings, weight and volume for various sizes and wall thicknesses of components. The charts on this page are in pdf format - adobe pdf reader version 4.0 or later is required to view or print them. To use these charts, you will need to know the rated stress for the materials you will be using. Currently, the rated stresses for pressure vessels are found in the Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code Section II part D - about 6 pounds of paper covering thousands of materials. The material design temperature is also required to lookup material properties. You will also need to know what joint efficiency to use - a deep and difficult subject.

Example:
Your task is to quote a vessel made of SA-516 70 material that will operate at 100 psi at 200F. The tank needs to have a volume of 100 cubic feet. The customer prefers elliptical heads. What is the best diameter and size to use? How much will it weigh? How long will it be? Step 1 - Material Ratings - from ASME IID, at 200F, SA-516 70 has a rating of 20,000 psi. So the 20,000 psi charts will be used. Step 2 - Efficiency - from previous jobs, you know that radiography will not be used, The efficiencies used in past jobs have been 0.85 for the head and 0.7 for the circ and long seam welds on the rolled shell. Step 3 - Get the correct charts - 20,000psi rating charts for Rolled or Machined Cylinders, and 2:1 Semi Elliptical Heads Step 4 - Choose Diameter - Ignoring the heads, how long would the shell have to be get 100 cubic feet volume? 36" dia - aprox 7 cuft per ft - or 14 ft long. 48" dia - aprox 12 cuft per ft = 8.3 ft long. 60" dia - aprox 19.5 cuft per ft or 5 ft long. The 4 ft diameter tank seems a good start. Step 5 - Pick a shell wall thickness - According to the Rolled or Machined Cylinders chart, at 48" diameter, E = 0.7, a 3/16" wall is adequate for 110 psi. Based on previous experience, you decide that a 1/4" shell will be easier to fabricate. Step 6 - Pick a head thickness - According to the 2:1 Semi Elliptical Heads chart, at 48" diameter, E = 0.85, a a 3/16" wall head is good for 134 psi. note: this is the guaranteed minimum thickness after forming. The head fabricator will normally need a thicker plate to guarantee the after forming thickness. In this case, they might use a 1/4" flat plate prior to forming. Step 7 - Volume and Weight - 48" 2:1 SE head made from 1/4" plate - volume = 8.1cuft, weight = 178lbs. Required volume of shell = 100cuft - 2*8.1 = 83.8 cuft. for 1/4" shell, volume = 12.3cuft/ft. Required length = 83.8/12.3 = 6.8ft - use 7ft = 84" - volume of shell = 86.1 cuft. Weight of shell = 127.6lbs/ft x 7 = 893 lbs. Total weight = 127.6lbs (shell) + 2*178 (head) = 483 lbs. Total volume = 86.1 cuft (shell) + 2*8.1 cuft (heads) = 102.3 cuft. Step 8 - Length - 7 ft of shell = 84" = 2*12.13 head height = 108.26" Step 9 - Skirt on Heads - Heads are normally made with a straight skirt. The head in this example is often made with a 1 1/2" skirt. To keep the length, volume and weight

calculated above, the shell would have to be shortened by 3" to compensate for the skirts.

F&D Head Notes:

The F&D heads in these charts are based on the ASME specification from ASME Boiler and Pressure vessel code Section VIII-1 UG-32(d). These heads have an inside crown radius = outside diameter of the skirt. Other crown radii are allowe under ASME VIII-1 Appendix 1-4(d). A crown radius 6" less than the outside diameter is fairly common, but this and any other variation on the head dimensions will not work with these charts.

Semi Elliptical Head Notes:

Like the F&D heads, a large variety of elliptical height to diameter ratios are allowed in ASME VIII 1-4(c). The 2:1 Semi Elliptical charts only work with heads formed to a 2:1 ratio per ASME VIII-1 UG-32(d).

Pipe Notes:
ANSI/ASME B36.10M - 1995 covers the dimensions of pipe. The diameters and wall thickness in the charts on this web page are based on the presentation of this standard found in the twenty-sixth edition of the Machinery's Handbook pages 2504-2506. Trivia from the handbook: [The] OD was originally selected so that pipe with a standard OD and having a wall thickness that was typical of the period would have an inside diameter (ID) approximately equal to the nominal size. although there is now no such relation between the existing standard thicknesses, ODs and nominal sizes, these nominal sizes and standard ODs continue in use as "standard" The ANSI/ASME B36.10M - 1995 standard does not cover all of the commonly used wall thickness - especially thin wall pipes. My collection of pipe charts also disagrees on what to call items such as schedule 5, 10, 10S, and sometimes, what the wall thickness should be. My solution is to leave the names off of some of the wall thicknesses. Remember to check with your vendor to make sure that the pipe that meets your pressure requirement is really available. For many common pipe specs, mills are allowed a generous under-tolerance on the wall thickness. Ie, the wall can be thinner than specified when purchasing the product. The most commonly allowed under-tolerance is 12.5%. A pipe specified with a 1" thick wall and a 12.5% undertolerance could be shipped with a wall of 0.875 inches. This 12.5% under-tolerance has been removed from the pipe wall thickness in the pipe charts. Allowable under-tolerance varies from from 5% to 15%, or is sometimes specified as a fixed dimension. See specs SA-530 and SA-450 from ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code Section IIA. The Pipe and Shell Spreadsheet contains under-tolerance charts for most common pipe and tube specs.

ASME Ratio Flanged and Dished Heads (F&D):

Flanged and Dished Head made of 20,000 psi rated materials Flanged and Dished Head made of 18,000 psi rated materials Flanged and Dished Head made of 16,000 psi rated materials Flanged and Dished Head made of 14,000 psi rated materials Flanged and Dished Head made of 12,000 psi rated materials Flanged and Dished Head made of 10,000 psi rated materials Flanged and Dished Head made of 8,000 psi rated materials Flanged and Dished Head made of 6,000 psi rated materials Flanged and Dished Head made of 4,000 psi rated materials Flanged and Dished Head made of 2,000 psi rated materials

2:1 Semi Elliptical Heads:

Semi Elliptical made of 20,000 psi rated materials Semi Elliptical made of 18,000 psi rated materials Semi Elliptical made of 16,000 psi rated materials

Semi Elliptical made of 14,000 psi rated materials Semi Elliptical made of 12,000 psi rated materials Semi Elliptical made of 10,000 psi rated materials Semi Elliptical made of 8,000 psi rated materials Semi Elliptical made of 6,000 psi rated materials Semi Elliptical made of 4,000 psi rated materials Semi Elliptical made of 2,000 psi rated materials

Rolled Plate or Machined Cylinders:

Rolled Plate or Machined Cylinder made of 20,000 psi rated materials Rolled Plate or Machined Cylinder made of 18,000 psi rated materials Rolled Plate or Machined Cylinder made of 16,000 psi rated materials Rolled Plate or Machined Cylinder made of 14,000 psi rated materials Rolled Plate or Machined Cylinder made of 12,000 psi rated materials Rolled Plate or Machined Cylinder made of 10,000 psi rated materials Rolled Plate or Machined Cylinder made of 8,000 psi rated materials Rolled Plate or Machined Cylinder made of 6,000 psi rated materials Rolled Plate or Machined Cylinder made of 4,000 psi rated materials Rolled Plate or Machined Cylinder made of 2,000 psi rated materials

Pipe:
- Pressure rating for wall thickness at E = 1.0 - Pressure rating for wall thickness at E = 0.85 - Volume per foot - Weight per foot (for carbon steel) Pipe made of 20,000 psi rated materials Pipe made of 18,000 psi rated materials Pipe made of 16,000 psi rated materials Pipe made of 14,000 psi rated materials Pipe made of 12,000 psi rated materials Pipe made of 10,000 psi rated materials Pipe made of 8,000 psi rated materials Pipe made of 6,000 psi rated materials Pipe made of 4,000 psi rated materials Pipe made of 2,000 psi rated materials

80:10 Flanged and Dished Heads (F&D):

80:10 Flanged and Dished Head made of 20,000 psi rated materials 80:10 Flanged and Dished Head made of 18,000 psi rated materials 80:10 Flanged and Dished Head made of 16,000 psi rated materials 80:10 Flanged and Dished Head made of 14,000 psi rated materials 80:10 Flanged and Dished Head made of 12,000 psi rated materials 80:10 Flanged and Dished Head made of 10,000 psi rated materials 80:10 Flanged and Dished Head made of 8,000 psi rated materials 80:10 Flanged and Dished Head made of 6,000 psi rated materials 80:10 Flanged and Dished Head made of 4,000 psi rated materials 80:10 Flanged and Dished Head made of 2,000 psi rated materials

Hemispherical Heads:
Hemispherical Heads Head made of 20,000 psi rated materials Hemispherical Heads Head made of 18,000 psi rated materials Hemispherical Heads Head made of 16,000 psi rated materials Hemispherical Heads Head made of 14,000 psi rated materials Hemispherical Heads Head made of 12,000 psi rated materials Hemispherical Heads Head made of 10,000 psi rated materials Hemispherical Heads Head made of 8,000 psi rated materials

Hemispherical Heads Head made of 6,000 psi rated materials Hemispherical Heads Head made of 4,000 psi rated materials Hemispherical Heads Head made of 2,000 psi rated materials