Thin-walled pressure vessels

STRESSES IN PRESSURE-LOADED THIN-WALLED CYLINDERS

The walls of an ideal thin-walled pressure vessel act as a
membrane, i.e., no bending of the walls takes place. A cylindrical vessel
is an ideal shape for a close pressure vessel if the contents are negligible
weight. A spherical vessel is also good. Both of these types of pressure
vessels are exceedingly important in industry. This section focuses on the
analysis of hin-!alled cylindrical press"re vessels.
RO#AN LETTER SY#$OLS
D = inside diameter m
= length of cylindrical portions m
t = plate or wall thickness m
p = fluid pressure !a
"T
= tangential, girth, hoop or circumferential stress !a
"
= longitudinal stress !a
# = bursting force $
T = tensile force $
AT
= area under stress m
%
Ap
= area under stress m
%
I% TAN&ENTIAL STRESS 'S
T
(
&a' section A-A through the typical longitudinal pressure
loaded cylinder
&b' free-body diagram of the half cylinder isolated
by the cutting plane A-A

Thin-walled pressure vessels
ANALYTICAL DETER#INATION O) $URSTIN& )ORCE )
et( p ) internal pressure in excess of external pressure&gage pressure', !a
D ) internal diameter of the cylinder
d ) an infinitesimal angle
&D*%'d ) area of the cylinder caused by the internal pressure acting
normal to the said area.
p&D*%'d ) bursting force #, on the infinitesimal area of the cylinder
caused by the internal pressure acting normal to the said area.
&p&D*%'d' sin ) The vertical component of bursting force
d# ) p&D*%' sin d
d ) p&D*%'&-cos '
which reduces to( # ) pD
Applying vertical summation of forces(
& #
y
) +' %! ) #
%! ) pD
%&A
T
"
T
' ) pD
%&txx"
T
' ) pD
"
T
) pD*%t &e,n.---'
DIRECT E*ALUATION O) $URSTIN& )ORCE )
A simpler method of determining the bursting force # is indicate in the figure
below.
The stress in the longitudinal section that resists the bursting force # is obtained
by dividing it by the area of the two cut surfaces.
" ) #*A "
T
) pD*%t
"
T
) pD*%t
& #
y
) +' %! ) #
%&A
T
"
T
' ) pD
%&txx"
T
' ) pD
"
T
) pD*%t &e,n --%'
Thin-walled pressure vessels
The normal stress given by e,n. --% is often referred to as the tangential stress
because it acts tangent to the surface of the cylinder. .ther common names are
circ"+,erenial sress- .irh sress /r he h//p sress. /,n. --% is valid only for thin-
walled cylinders &where r
o
r
i
', as it gives the average stress in the hoop. The wall
thickness can reach one-tenth of the internal radius, and the error applying e,n. --% will
still be small.
II% LON&ITUDINAL STRESS 'S
L
(
The other normal stress acting in a cylindrical pressure vessel acts l/n.i"dinally
and it is determined by solving a simple axial force problem. By passing a section
through the vessel perpendicular to its axis.
#ree body is shown below(
&a' cutting plane - to the axis bursting force # on a
transverse section

&b' #BD of right section showing


& #
x
) +' T ) #
A

"

) p A
p

Dt "

) &*0' D
%
"

) pD*0t &e,n --1'
#or spherical vessels(
& #
x
) +' T ) #
A

"

) p A
p

Dt "

) &*0' D
%
"

) pD*0t &e,n --0'
Thin-walled pressure vessels
The normal stress given by e,n. --1 denotes what is called the longitudinal stress
because it acts parallel to the longitudinal axis of the cylinder.
S
T
vers"s S
L
ongitudinal stress &"

' is one-half the value of the tangential stress &"

T
'.
Therefore, "T
>
"

and maximum stress is e,ual to "T. This is e,uivalent to stating
that, if the pressure in a cylinder is raised to the bursting point, failure will occur along a
longitudinal section or longitudinal seam of a cylinder. 2hen a cylindrical tank is
composed of two sheets riveted together, the strength of the longitudinal 3oint should be
twice the strength of the girth 3oint.
longitudinal joint
girth joint
4n other words, if the longitudinal 3oint is not twice as strong as the girth 3oint, the
permissible internal pressure will depend on the strength of the longitudinal 3oint.
Exercises:
-. A cylindrical pressure vessel %.5 m in diameter and -% mm thick operates at
-.56!a internal pressure. Determine the stresses acting normal and tangential to
a section of the cylinder. Ans. "t ) -57.%5 6!a "b ) 89.-%5 6!a
%. A water tank -+ m in diameter and -5m high is half-filled. Determine the
minimum thickness of the tank plating if the stress is limited to 7+ 6!a.
Ans. t ) 7.-1 mm
1. The strength per meter of the girth 3oint is -9+ :$, whereas for the longitudinal
3oint is 05+ :$. Determine the maximum diameter of the cylindrical tank if the
internal pressure is -.8 6$*m
%
. Ans. D ) 5%+ mm D ) 0%1 mm
0. The cross-section of a tank shown in the figure below is fabricated from 8.5 mm
aluminum plate. D ) 0++ mm
a' Determine the maximum longitudinal and circumferential stresses by an
internal pressure of -.%5 6!a. a ) -9++ mm
Ans. "t ) -91.1 6!a " ) %;.5- 6!a
b' #ind dimension a of the tank shown in the figure below which is fabricated
from 7.%5 mm steel plate if the stress is limited to 0+ 6!a and internal
pressure of -.5 6!a.
Ans. a ) +.878 m
Thin-walled pressure vessels
0++mm
-9++mm