MECHANICAL VIBRATIONS 2

LECTURE 3

PRESSURE VESSELS (THIN CYLINDERS & SPHERES)

Mechanical & Maintenance Engineering Dept. FBC/USL/STN-MECHANICS OF MATERIALS-MENG 312

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 Pressure vessels (i.e. cylinders or tanks) are used to store fluids under pressure.

 The fluid being stored may undergo a change of state inside the pressure vessel as in case of steam
boilers or it may combine with other reagents as in a chemical plant, oil tankers etc.

 The pressure vessels are designed with great care because rupture of a pressure vessel means an
explosion which may cause loss of life and property.

Figure 1
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1. Classification of Pressure Vessels

The pressure vessels may be classified as follows:

 According to the dimensions

 The pressure vessels, according to their dimensions, may be classified as thin shell or thick shell. If the
wall thickness of the shell (t) is less than 1/20 of the diameter of the shell (d), then it is called a thin
shell.

 On the other hand, if the wall thickness of the shell is greater than 1/20 of the diameter of the shell,
then it is said to be a thick shell.

 Thin shells are used in boilers, tanks and pipes, whereas thick shells are used in high pressure
cylinders, tanks, gun barrels etc.
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 According to the end construction

 The pressure vessels, according to the end construction, may be classified as open end or closed end.

 A simple cylinder with a piston, such as cylinder of a press is an example of an open end vessel.

 whereas a tank is an example of a closed end vessel.

 In case of vessels having open ends, the circumferential or hoop stresses are induced by the fluid
pressure, whereas in case of closed ends, longitudinal stresses in addition to circumferential stresses
are induced.
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1. Stresses in a Thin Cylindrical Shell due to an Internal Pressure

The wall of a cylindrical shell subjected to an internal pressure has to withstand tensile stresses of the
following two types:

i. Circumferential or hoop or stress , and

ii. Longitudinal stress

1. Circumferential or Hoop or Stress

 This is the stress acting in a direction tangential to the circumference of the vessel is called
circumferential or hoop stress.
 This is the stress which is set up in resisting the bursting effect of the applied pressure and can be most
conveniently treated by considering the equilibrium of half of the cylinder. Consider Figure 1 showing a
half-cylinder
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Let

= Intensity of internal pressure,

(a)
= Internal diameter of the cylindrical shell,

= Length of the cylindrical shell,

t = Thickness of the cylindrical shell, and

= Circumferential or hoop stress for the material of the

cylindrical shell.

= Longitudinal stress for the material of the cylindrical

(b)
shell
Figure 2
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Total force F on half-cylinder owing to internal pressure =

………………………………………… (i)

Total resisting force F owing to hoop stress on set up in the cylinder walls
………… .(ii)

For the equilibrium of the half cylinder, the force due to the internal pressure must equal to the total resisting
force so;
Equating (i) and (ii)
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2. Longitudinal stress
Consider now the cylinder as shown below subjected to an internal pressure. A tensile stress acting in the
direction of the axis is called longitudinal stress is set up.

Figure 3
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Total force on the end of the cylinder owing to internal pressure

……………..(iii)

Area of metal resisting this force ……………(iv)

Now we have,
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Changes in dimensions
Consider an element of cylinder wall which is subjected to two mutually perpendicular normal stresses and
Note that P acts as a compressive radial stress on inner surface of cylinder. Stresses and are much larger than
P; Therefore in calculation of strains, the effect of internal pressure P is neglected. Say E is Young’s modulus
and is Poisson’s ratio of the material. Figure 4

Figure 4
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Circumferential strain

Longitudinal strain
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Volumetric strain
𝜋 2
𝑉𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑐𝑦𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑟 𝑉 = 𝑑 𝐿
4
Taking partial derivatives
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Change in length, diameter and volume

 The change in length of the cylinder may be determined from the longitudinal strain, i.e. neglecting the
radial stress.

 Whenever the cylinder elongates in the axial direction or longitudinal direction, this cylindrical vessel will
also get decreased in diameter or the lateral strain will also take place.
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1. Contraction in volume of liquid

If a fluid is used as the pressurization medium the fluid itself will change in volume as pressure is increased
and this must be taken into account when calculating the amount of fluid which must be pumped into the
cylinder in order to raise the pressure by a specified amount, the cylinder being initially full of fluid at
atmospheric pressure.
Now the bulk modulus of a fluid is defined as follows

where, in this case, volumetric stress = pressure p

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Thin Spherical Shell

 Consider a thin spherical shell of diameter d and wall thickness t subjected to internal fluid pressure p.

 The internal pressure p acts throughout the inner curved surface and the diametral bursting force tends
to break the thin shell in two halves, that is, two hemispherical halves.

 Because of the symmetry of the sphere the stresses set up owing to internal pressure will be two
mutually perpendicular hoop or circumferential stresses of equal value and a radial stress.

 As with thin cylinders having thickness to diameter ratios less than 1 : 20, the radial stress is assumed
negligible in comparison with the values of hoop stress set up.

 The stress system in spherical shells is therefore one of equal biaxial hoop stresses.
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Figure 5
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Figure 6
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Consider, therefore, the equilibrium of the half-sphere;

Force on half-sphere owing to internal pressure

Resisting force
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As for the cylinder,
Change in volume = original volume x volumetric strain
But,
Volumetric strain = sum of three mutually perpendicular strains (in this case all equal)

Change in volume
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Effects of end joints
 The preceding sections have all assumed uniform material properties throughout the components and
have neglected the effects of endplates and joints which are necessary requirements for their
production.
 In general, the strength of the components will be reduced by the presence of, for example, riveted
joints, and this should be taken into account by the introduction of a joint efficiency factor

Where is the efficiency of the longitudinal joint.

Where is the efficiency of the Circumferential joint.

For thin spheres:
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 Normally the joint efficiency is stated in percentage form and this must be converted into equivalent
decimal form before substitution into the above equations

Wire-wound thin cylinders

We have learnt that due to internal pressure, hoop stress developed in the cylindrical shell is double the axial
stress.

Under pressure, there are chances of development of longitudinal crack in the cylinder, if circumferential
stress exceeds the safe limit. Moreover, due to high hoop stress, the pressure-bearing capacity of cylindrical
shell is reduced.

Therefore, to reduce the intensity of hoop stress and to strengthen the cylinder in longitudinal direction, a
wire under tension is wound around the circumference of the cylinder.

Tensile stress in winding wire puts pressure on cylinder from outside and a negative hoop stress is developed
in the cylinder wall.
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This will increase the ability of thin cylinders to withstand high internal pressures without excessive increases
in wall thickness, weight and associated material cost.

It is normally required to determine the tension necessary in the tape during winding in order to ensure that
the maximum hoop stress in the cylinder will not exceed a certain value when the internal pressure is applied

Figure 7
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Consider, therefore, the half-cylinder of Figure 7, where denotes the hoop stress in the cylinder walls and ,
the stress in the rectangular-sectioned tape. Let conditions before pressure is applied be denoted by suffix 1
and after pressure is applied by suffix 2.

Figure 7
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Force owing to tape

Resistive force in the cylinder material

For equilibrium

so that the compressive hoop stress set up in the cylinder walls after winding and before pressurisation is
given by
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This equation will be modified if wire of circular cross-section is used for the winding process in preference to
rectangular-sectioned tape. The area carrying the stress will then be where a is the cross-sectional area of the
wire and n is the number of turns along the cylinder length.
After pressure has been applied another force is introduced

Again, equating forces for equilibrium of the half-cylinder,

Where is the hoop stress in the cylinder after pressurization and is the final stress in the tape after
pressurization.

Since the limiting value of is known for any given internal pressure p, this equation yields the value of
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Now the change in strain on the outside surface of the cylinder must equal that on the inside surface of the
tape if they are to remain in contact.

Where is Young’s modulus of the tape.

In the absence of any internal pressure originally there will be no longitudinal stress or strain so that the
original strain in the cylinder walls is given by

Where , is Young’s modulus of the cylinder material. When pressurized, however, the cylinder will be
subjected to a longitudinal strain so that the final strain in the cylinder walls is given by
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