99

Stresses from radial loads and external moments in

spherical pressure vessels
N F Rilo1*, J F da Silva Gomes2, J M O S Cirne1 and R A da Costa Pereira Leal1
1
Centro de Engenharia Mecânica da Universidade de Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal
2
Laboratório de Métodos Opticos e Mecânica Experimental, Porto, Portugal

Abstract: In this paper analytical solutions for displacements and stresses in spherical shells over
rectangular areas are developed. The analysis is based on spherical shallow shell equations, and solu-
tions are obtained through the use of double Fourier series expressions to represent the displacement
and loading terms. Three types of loading were considered: radial load, overturning moment and
tangential shear. In order to test the results, an experiment and
nite element investigation has been
carried out to determine the state of stress in a spherical shell model and results are compared in graphs.
The proposed solution is also applied to compute the local stresses around a support leg in a spherical
shell, and results are compared with those obtained by the Bijlaard method used in American code
ASME VIII, Part 2, and British code PD 5500:2000.

Keywords: stresses, radial loads, external moments, spherical pressure vessels, displacement

1 INTRODUCTION equations. These circumstances limit the usefulness of

Analytical solutions for local displacements and stresses
in cylindrical shells with loading over rectangular area
were developed by Bijlaard [1–3] and other authors
[4–11] using double Fourier series and different govern-
ing differential equations and models of attachments.
However, until the work of Chao [12] this method had
never been extended to spherical shells with rectangular
attachments, although this type of attachment is often
used for lifting and support legs (Fig. 1). In the paper by
Chao [12] the procedure to obtain the solution is
described, but no results are presented. Therefore, the
purpose of this investigation is to develop a computer
program to determine displacements and stresses using
this method and to validate the analytical results by
comparison with numerical
nite elements and experi-
mental data.
The British code PD 5500:2000 [13] and American
code ASME VIII Part 2 [14] are based on the work of
Bijlaard [15], where the stress and deection analysis of
spherical shells is carried out for a solid cylindrical
attachment subjected to a radial load and external
moment, by using approximate spherical shallow shell
The MS was received on 30 March 2000 and was accepted after
revision for publication on 29 September 2000.
*Corresponding author: Dep. Eng. Mecanica da FCTUC, Polo II da
UC, 3030 Coimbra, Portugal.
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the results–diameter ratios below 0.33. Later, Wichman
et al. [16] extended Bijlaard curves on the basis of
available test data and issued them in a ‘cook book’
referred to as WRC 107.
When designing rectangular attachments in spherical
vessels by current American and British pressure vessel
codes, approximations have to be made to estimate
stresses using available data for spherical shells with a
solid cylindrical attachment. In doing so, tangential
forces are negligible and effects of the radial component
and moment load are superposed.
One method is to assume the rectangular attachment
to be equivalent to a circular one. For the radial com-
ponent, the radius would give the same area, and, for the
moment load, the equivalent radius would be given by
[2b2c/(3p)]1/3, where b and c are the appropriate sides of
the rectangle.
A more re
ned, but equally reliable, method was given
by Kitching and Olsen [17] and Kitching [18], where the
total load is taken to be a series of loads acting over small
circular areas. For the radial component, deection of the
shell along the bracket is known to be almost constant,
from which the load on each element can be calculated,
as well as the corresponding stress distribution, using the
same analysis as for the spherical shell with small solid
cylindrical attachment. A similar approximation to the
stress distribution in the shell due to moment load can be
made by assuming the shell deformations to be linear
along the length of the bracket.
Proc Instn Mech Engrs Vol 215 Part E
100 N F RILO, J F da SILVA GOMES, J M O S CIRNE AND R A da COSTA PEREIRA LEAL

Fig. 1 Rectangular spherical pressure vessel attachments: (a) support leg and (b) lifting bracket

2 LINEAR SPHERICAL EQUATIONS AND second and third second-order equations are used to solve
FOURIER SERIES SOLUTIONS for the tangential displacements u and simultaneously.
The displacement double Fourier series satisfy, a
Linear shallow equations of thin spherical shells can be priori, the boundary conditions and a particular solution
expressed in terms of the displacements u, , w and of differential equations (1) is sought. For each term
applied surface loading pr, pf and py as follows: (m £ n), wmn is calculated from the
rst equation and then
replaced in the other two. Then a system of 2 £ 2
Lw ˆ L1 pr ‡ L2 py ‡ L3 py algebraic equations must be solved to obtain umn and mn.
Finally, using the stress resultant–displacement rela-
L11 u ‡ L12 ˆ Cpf ‡ L1 w tions, the values of Nf, Ny, Nfy, Mf, My and Mfy can be
obtained for each loading, from which stresses can be
L21 u ‡ L22 ˆ Cpy ‡ L2 w
found in the usual manner.
…1† A computer program coded in Fortran was subse-

where L and L are differential operators of coordinates

(r, f, y), as de
ned in the Appendix.
Several authors [10, 12, 19] have presented these
spherical shallow shell equations. In shallow geometry
simpli
cations, shear forces Qf and Qy are negligible in
the meridional and tangential force equilibrium equations
and membrane displacements u and are not considered
in bending strain expressions.
Spherical coordinates and rectangular loading area are
shown in Fig. 2. The centre of the loading area is located
at y ˆ 0° and f ˆ 90°. Two circles parallel to the equator
bound two sides of the loading area and the other two are
assumed to be bounded by two meridians. In this
arrangement, loading development in the form of double
Fourier series of spherical coordinates closely approxi-
mate a rectangular loading area. A general loading can be
represented by a radial component surface loading, two
overturning moments and two tangential surface load-
ings.
The
rst of equations (1) is a linear eighth-order partial
differential equation and is used to solve for w. Then, the Fig. 2 Coordinates and loading area
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 STRESSES FROM RADIAL LOADS AND EXTERNAL MOMENTS IN SPHERICAL PRESSURE VESSELS 101

Fig. 3 Convergence rates for radial displacement and stress resultants due to a radial load

quently written with arithmetic double precision, called
CHAO.
Figures 3 and 4 show the convergence rates for the
radial displacements and stress resultant at the centre of a
uniformly distributed load area of 50 mm £ 50 mm of the
test sample used in the experimental investigations. The
converged value was taken from m ˆ n ˆ 1000 terms. It
is seen that displacements converge faster then stress
resultants, but it was considered that the solution had
essentially converged after 100 £ 100 terms as results
become almost invariant with subsequent increases.
These results were achieved for a mean radius–thickness
ratio of 148.65 and for a square loaded area. Rectangular
attachments of different properties must be examined
before the general suitability of the analysis developed
can be established. Also, the accuracy of the spherical
shell equations used must be studied with increase of
thickness–radius ratio of the shell. Certainly accuracy
will decrease when shear stresses become more and more
important.
3 FINITE ELEMENT MODELLING
The
nite element analysis has been performed using the
MODULEF program developed by the Modulef Club at
INRIA, Paris. In the analysis, the well-known three-node
shell element of the discrete Kirchhoff theory type, called
TRIA CQFA in the element library program, was used.
This element is a simple at three-node, with six degrees
of freedom per node, triangular shell element, valid for
the analysis of thick to thin shells. The element stiffness
matrix is obtained by superimposing its bending and

Fig. 4 Convergence rates for radial displacement and stress resultants due to a moment load
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102 N F RILO, J F da SILVA GOMES, J M O S CIRNE AND R A da COSTA PEREIRA LEAL

Fig. 5 Finite element mesh and deformed shape due to moment load

membrane stiffness matrices, which is well described by
Bathe and Ho [20]. The deformed shape due to moment
loading is represented in Fig. 5.
4 EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATIONS
The test rig arrangement is shown in Fig. 6. The test
sample was a spherical shell of internal radius 400 mm,
mean thickness 2.7 mm, limited by a 375 mm parallel
radius, and material was mild steel with Young’s
modulus E ˆ 205.8 GPa and Poisson’s ratio n ˆ 0.275.
The shell was simply supported on the two cross-
members during testing and a steel block of size
50 mm £ 50 mm £ 40 mm was machined to
t the
spherical cup and glued to the pipe using Parmabond
toughened acrylic adhesive. Five MicroMeasurements

Fig. 6 Spherical test shell in test rig

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 STRESSES FROM RADIAL LOADS AND EXTERNAL MOMENTS IN SPHERICAL PRESSURE VESSELS
Fig. 7 Inside surface strain gauge positions
rectangular rosettes, type CEA-06-125 UT-120, were
mounted along each meridian line and two three-element
rosettes, type EA-06-125RA-120, at points P and V as
shown in Fig. 7.
Strain gauges were switched and balanced in MM
SB10 units and readings were obtained in a MM P3500
strain indicator, all loads being applied to equal intervals.
Following conventional experimental stress analysis
procedures, meridional and circumferential stresses on
the inside surface were obtained. Radial load application
was achieved by means of a single loading cell and
moment loads by a pair of opposite forces by loading
cells at equal distances from the plane of symmetry.
Fig. 8 Radial displacement along PA direction produced by a 1 kN radial load
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103
5 RESULTS
Using the method described above, it is possible to
predict the displacement and stress results in spherical
shells subjected to radial load, overturning moment and
shear.
To assess the performance of the analysis, tests were
performed on a spherical shell model and the results from
the program CHAO were compared with experimental
results and with
nite element results (Figs 8 to 13).
Tables 1 and 2 also show the comparation of stresses
around a rectangular support in a spherical pressure
vessel (Fig. 14), as calculated from the Bijlaard model,
and stress results from a Fourier series analysis of the
same equivalent load over a rectangular area of the
vessel.
A general agreement between results from Fourier
series,
nite element method and experimental data can
be observed. However, it could be interesting, and
prudent, to investigate the sensitivity of this agreement
with other radius–thickness ratios of the shell and
different sizes and shapes of loading blocks. The authors
of this paper are engaged in developing electron speckle
pattern interferometry (ESPI) techniques for better
accuracy of experimental measurements and in investi-
gating the potential of using ESPI and
nite element
procedures to study local attachments.
6 CONCLUSION
Graphical results of displacements and stresses for
Fourier series shell analysis,
nite elements and strain
gauge data (Figs 8 to 13) are found to be in general good
Proc Instn Mech Engrs Vol 215 Part E
104 N F RILO, J F da SILVA GOMES, J M O S CIRNE AND R A da COSTA PEREIRA LEAL

Fig. 9 Radial displacement along PA direction produced by a 100 N m moment load

Fig. 10 Meridional stress component along PA direction due to a 1 kN radial load

Fig. 11 Circumferential stress component along PA direction due to a 1 kN radial load

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 STRESSES FROM RADIAL LOADS AND EXTERNAL MOMENTS IN SPHERICAL PRESSURE VESSELS 105

Fig. 12 Meridional stress component along PA direction due to a 100 N m moment load

agreement. However, some discrepancies can be The stress results in the spherical pressure vessel due to
detected between the experimental data and the a support leg (Tables 1 and 2) show the following:
numerical and theoretical predictions. This indicates
1. The highest stress from CHAO is ¡1143 £ 10¡4 MPa
that the model for the distributed load from an
against ¡1439 £ 10¡4 MPa from the Bijlaard model.
attachment to the shell must be improved and further
2. In CHAO analysis, the highest stress is circumferential
work is recommended. It would also be interesting to
and is obtained at the centre of loading area, in contrast
investigate the sensitivity of this agreement with other
to code results where it is meridional.
shell radius–thickness ratios and different sizes and
3. The action of the tangential component is very small
shapes of loading blocks.
and insigni
cant.
Fourier series solutions can be developed into a
tabular/graphical method to determine local stresses in This means that WRC 107, and thus American and
spherical shells with rectangular attachments. British codes, give conservative estimates.

Fig. 13 Circumferential stress component along PA direction due to a 100 N m moment load
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 106

Table 1 Stress results (£10¡4 MPa) obtained by the program CHAO and by the Bijlaard model, WRC 107 [2], at points A, B, C and D
Point A Point B Points C and D

Internal External Internal External Internal External

Loads Method Meridional Circumferential Meridional Circumferential Meridional Circumferential Meridional Circumferential Meridional Circumferential Meridional Circumferential

P Bijlaard 571 169 ¡1102 ¡338 571 169 ¡1102 ¡338 169 571 ¡338 ¡1102

Proc Instn Mech Engrs Vol 215 Part E

CHAO ¡248 290 ¡467 ¡497 ¡248 290 ¡467 ¡497 ¡82 ¡12 ¡631 ¡615
M Bijlaard ¡232 ¡60 ¡336 88 232 60 ¡336 ¡88 0 0 0 0
CHAO 95 63 ¡230 ¡205 ¡95 ¡63 230 205 0 0 0 0
T Bijlaard — — — — — — — — — — — —
CHAO ¡59 ¡10 ¡78 ¡10 59 10 78 10 — — — —
Total Bijlaard 339 110 ¡766 ¡250 803 229 ¡1439 ¡426 169 571 ¡338 ¡1102
CHAO ¡212 343 ¡775 ¡712 ¡248 237 ¡159 ¡282 ¡82 ¡12 ¡631 ¡615

Table 2 Stress results (£10¡4 MPa) obtained by the program CHAO and by the Bijlaard model, WRC 107 [2], at points E and F
Point E Point F

Internal External Internal External

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Loads Method Meridional Circumferential Meridional Circumferential Meridional Circumferential Meridional Circumferential

P Bijlaard — — — — — — — —
CHAO ¡72 450 ¡973 ¡1143 ¡213 38 ¡287 ¡235
M Bijlaard — — — — — — — —
CHAO — — — — 66
N F RILO, J F da SILVA GOMES, J M O S CIRNE AND R A da COSTA PEREIRA LEAL

¡12 ¡130 ¡134

T Bijlaard — — — — — — — —
CHAO — — — — — — — —

E01800
Total Bijlaard — — — — — — — —
CHAO ¡72 450 ¡973 ¡1143 ¡848 ¡855 ¡1098 ¡1245

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 STRESSES FROM RADIAL LOADS AND EXTERNAL MOMENTS IN SPHERICAL PRESSURE VESSELS
Fig. 14 Detailed spherical pressure vessel support leg presented by Kitching [19]
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Contract PBIC/C/CEG/1919/95 with FCT (Foundation
for Science and Technology, Ministry of Science and
Education of Portugal) is acknowledged.
REFERENCES
1 Bijlaard, P. P. Stresses from radial loads in cylindrical
pressure vessels. Weld. J., 1954, 33(12) (Research Suppl.),
615–623.
2 Bijlaard, P. P. Stresses from loading in cylindrical pressure
vessels. Trans. ASME, 1955, 77, 805–816.
3 Bijlaard, P. P. Stresses from radial loads and external
moments in cylindrical pressure vessels. Weld. J., 1955,
34(12) (Research Suppl.), 608–617.
4 Hughes, J. F. and Kitching, R. Pad-reinforced cylindrical
shell loaded radially through a plate bracket attachment. J.
Strain Analysis, 1980, 15(1), 1–14.
5 Duthie, G., White, G. C. and Tooth, A. S. An analysis for
cylindrical vessels under local loading—application to
saddle supported vessels under local loading—application
to saddle supported vessel problems. J. Strain Analysis,
1982, 17, 157–167.
6 Timmins, W., Little, W. and Findlay, G. E. An assess-
ment of local radial loads on cylinders based on the Sanders
linear shell equations. J. Strain Analysis, 1987, 22(3), 139–
143.
7 Findlay, G. E. and Timmins, W. Local radial loads on
cylinders: BS 5500 predictions versus experimental results.
Int. J. Pressure Vessels Piping, 1987, 27, 3348.
8 Tooth, A. S. and Motashar, F. A. Radial loading of a
cylindrical vessel through a rectangular rigid attachment.
Int. J. Pressure Vessels Piping, 1989, 37, 345–363.
9 Redecop, D. and Azar, P. Ram bending of a cylindrical
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pipe in the elastic range. Int. J. Pressure Vessels Piping,
1989, 37, 307–320.
10 Rilo, N. F. Local loads in pressure vessels and piping. PhD
thesis, Coimbra University, 1992.
11 Rilo, N. F., Vaz, M. A. P., Melo, F. J. Q. and Silva Gomes,
J. F. An assessment of the stress and deformation
distribution in thin-walled cylindrical shells under the
inuence of local attachments. In Recent Advances—
Experimental Mechanics, Proceedings of the Tenth Inter-
national Conference on Experimental Mechanics, Lisboa,
Portugal, July 1994, pp. 389–394.
12 Chao, T. L. Stresses in spherical shells due to local load-
ings over a rectangular area. J. Pressure Vessel Technol.,
May 1985, 107, 205–207.
13 PD 5500: 2000 Un
red Fusion Welded Vessels, 2000
(British Standard Institution, London).
14 ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code, 1986 (American
Society of Mechanical Engineers, New York).
15 Bijlaard, P. P. Computation of the stresses from local loads
in spherical pressure vessels or pressure vessel heads.
Welding Research Council Bulletin 34, March 1957.
16 Wichman, K. R., Hopper, A. G. and Mershon, J. L. Local
stresses in spherical and cylindrical shells due to external
loadings. Welding Research Council Bulletin 107, August
1965.
17 Kitching, R. and Olsen, B. E. Pressure vessel support
brackets: stresses due to dead loads. J. Strain Analysis,
1967, 2(1), 1.
18 Kitching, R. Local loading and local attachments. In Stress
Analysis of Pressure Vessels and Pressure Vessel Com-
ponents (Ed. S. S. Gill), 1970, pp. 221–266 (Pergamon,
Oxford).
19 Kitching, R. Local loading of shells. Notes for lecture 4,
Pressure Vessel Design Course, Curso de Mestrado em
Engerharia Estrutural, Porto, 1982.
20 Bathe, K. J. and Ho, L. W. A simple and effective element
for analysis of general shell structures. Computers Structs,
1981, 13, 673–681.
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108 N F RILO, J F da SILVA GOMES, J M O S CIRNE AND R A da COSTA PEREIRA LEAL

APPENDIX For a radial load uniformly distributed over the

rectangular area, the following Fourier series were used
Spherical shell analysis to develop the solution:
The shell equations [12] used in this work are
X
1 X
1
pr ˆ pmn cos…2my† sin…nf† …3†
Lw ˆ L1 pr ‡ L2 pf ‡ L3 py mˆ0 nˆ1

L11 u ‡ L12 ˆ Cpf ‡ L1 w

…2 y…1
f
4 Pr
L21 u ‡ L22 ˆ Cpy ‡ L2 w pmn ˆ 2 sin…nf† dy df, mˆ0 …4†
p 4bc
…2† f1 0

where …2 y…1
f
8 Pr
pmn ˆ 2 cos…2my† sin…nf† dy df, m>0
12…1 ¡ n † 4 2 p 4bc
L…. . .† ˆ H …. . .† ‡
8
HR …. . .† f1 0
te2
…5†
1 4
L1 …. . .† ˆ H …. . .†
Ke
X
1 X
1
µ ¶ wˆ wmm cos…2my† sin…nf†
1 1 ‡ n @ 3 …. . .† 1 ‡ n @ 3 …. . .†
L2 …. . .† ˆ ¡ ¡ mˆ0 nˆ1
Ke R 2e r2 @ 2 y @f R 4e @ 3 f
µ ¶ X
1 X
1
1 1 ‡ n @ 3 …. . .† 1 ‡ n @ 3 …. . .† uˆ umm cos…2my† cos…nf†
L3 …. . .† ˆ ¡ 3 ¡
Ke R e r @y @ 2 f R e r3 @ 3 f mˆ0 nˆ0

2 1 @ 2 …. . .† R e @ 2 …. . .† 1 X
X 1
L11 …. . .† ˆ ‡ 2 ˆ sin…2my† sin…nf†
1 ¡ n Re @ 2f r @ 2y mm
mˆ1 nˆ1
R e @ 2 …. . .† 1 ‡ n @ 2 …. . .† …6†
L12 …. . .† ˆ ‡
r2 @ 2 y 2r @y @f
For overturning moments, a linear distributed radial
2R E …1 ‡ n†
Cˆ pressure component was considered with following
Eh Fourier series:
µ ¶
2 1 ‡ n @…. . .†
L1 …. . .† ˆ ¡ 1 X
X 1
1¡n R e @f
pr ˆ pmn sin…2my† sin…nf† …7†
2 1 ‡ n @ …. . .†
2 mˆ1 nˆ1
L21 …. . .† ˆ
1 ¡ n 2r @y @f
…2 y…1
f
8 3MR e
2 R e @ 2 …. . .† 1 @ 2 …. . .† pmn ˆ 2 sin…2my† sin…nf† dy df …8†
L22 …. . .† ˆ ‡ p 4bc3
1 ¡ n r2 @ 2 y R e @ 2f f1 0
µ ¶
2 1 ‡ n @…. . .†
L2 …. . .† ˆ ¡
1¡n r @y X
1 X
1
wˆ wmm sin…2my† sin…nf†
@ 2 …. . .† 1 @ 2 …. . .† mˆ1 nˆ1
H2 …. . .† ˆ ‡ 2
@2 x R c @ 2y X
1 X
1
uˆ umm sin…2my† cos…nf†
H4 …. . .† ˆ H2 ‰H2 …. . .†Š mˆ1 nˆ0

H8 …. . .† ˆ H4 ‰H4 …. . .†Š X
1 X
1
ˆ mm cos…2my† sin…nf†
1 @ 1 @ mˆ0 nˆ1
H2R …. . .† ˆ 2 2 …. . .† ‡ 3 2 …. . .†
Rr @ y R @ f …9†

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 STRESSES FROM RADIAL LOADS AND EXTERNAL MOMENTS IN SPHERICAL PRESSURE VESSELS 109

Similarly, solutions for tangential loadings were obtained X

1 X
1

using the following Fourier series: wˆ wmm sin…2my† sin…nf†

mˆ1 nˆ1

1 X
X 1
X
1 X
1
py ˆ pmn cos…2my† sin…nf† …10† uˆ umm sin…2my† cos…nf†
mˆ0 nˆ1
mˆ1 nˆ0

…2 y…1
f
4 Py X
1 X
1
pmn ˆ 2 sin…nf† dy df, mˆ0 …11† ˆ cos…2my† sin…nf†
p 4bc mm
f1 0 mˆ0 nˆ1
…13†
f
…2 y…1
8 Py
pmn ˆ cos…2my† sin…nf† dy df, m>0
p2 4bc
f1 0

…12†

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