ME 565 Advanced FEA

Spring 03

Final project, do not discuss with anyone!

The figure illustrates the end-cap of a bolted steel cylindrical pressure vessel. There are ten 1-in.
diameter bolts preloaded so as to produce gasket sealing. The required preload should produce an
average gasket compressive stress of 10.8 kpsi. The pressure vessel is then subjected to the
internal pressure of 3500 Psi. Assume the copper-asbestos gasket has a modulus of elasticity of
E = 13.5103 psi. The design requirement is is to able to maintain the gasket seal. For that to
happen, the average gasket compressive stress should be at least 2.5 times the internal pressure.
Is this requirement satisfied for the given design? Are there any other critical areas in the design
which must be closely examined?

Follow the following guidelines when submitting your report:

1) What discretization method did you select (element type and formulation)? And why?
2) How many elements (of each type) were used? Describe, or clearly illustrate the element
distribution.
3) What Boundary conditions (loads, restraints) were employed? What approximations were
considered?
4) What method(s) of solution were employed?
5) Describe all relevant results, and how you arrived at the stated conclusions.