Mechanics of Deformable Bodies

THIN WALLED TANKS/PRESSURE VESSEL

A tank or pipe carrying a fluid or gas under a pressure is subjected to tensile

forces, which resist bursting, developed across longitudinal and transverse
sections.

Tanks under internal pressure experience circumferential, longitudinal, and

radial stresses. If the wall thickness is small, the radial stress component is
negligible and can be disregarded. A cylindrical tank can be assumed to be a
Thin-walled tank if the ratio of the thickness-to-internal radius is less than
approximately 0.1.

t
<0.1 [thin walled ]
Ri

A cylindrical tank with a wall thickness-to-radius ratio greater than 0.1

should be considered a thick-walled pressure vessel. In thick-walled tanks,
radial stress is significant and cannot be disregarded, and for this reason,
the radial and circumferential stresses vary with location through the tank
wall.
If there exist an external pressure p o and an internal pressure pi, the formula
Tanks under external pressure usually fail by buckling, not by yielding. For may be expressed as:
this reason, thin-wall equations cannot be used for tanks under external
pressure. ( pi− p o ) D
σ t=
2t

Longitudinal Stress, σ L
Tangential stress/Circumferential Stress/Hoop stress
Consider the free body diagram in the transverse section of the tank:
Consider the tank shown being subjected to an internal pressure p. the
length of the tank L and the wall thickness is t. Isolating the right half of the
tank:

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 Mechanics of Deformable Bodies

The total force acting at the rear of the tank F must equal to the total Additional formula for thin-walled
longitudinal stress on the wall P T = σL Awall. Since t is so small compared to D,
the area of the wall is close to πDt. Cylindrical:
pD
σ t=
2 te

Spherical

pD
σ t=
4 te
Where,
e = efficiency

Thick-walled Pressure Vessel

If there exist an external pressure po and internal pressure pi, the formula A thick-walled cylinder has a wall thickness-to-radius ratio greater than 0.1.
may be expressed as: In thick-walled tanks, radial stress is significant and cannot be disregarded.

( p i − po ) D The maximum radial, tangential, and shear stresses occur at the inner
σ L= surface for both internal and external pressurization. Compressive stresses
4t
are negative.
It can be observed that the tangential stress is twice that of the longitudinal
stress. For Cylindrical:

2 2 2 2
σ t=2 σ L p i r i − po r o ( p i − p0 ) r o r i 1
σ t= 2 2
+ 2 2
[ 2 ]
r o−r i r o−r i r o∨i

Spherical Shell For Spherical:

If a spherical tank of diameter D and thickness t 2 2

pi r i − po r o
contains gas under a pressure of p, the stress at σ t= 2 2
the wall can be expressed as: r o−r i

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 Mechanics of Deformable Bodies

3. The wall thickness of a 4 ft diameter spherical tank is 5/16 in. Calculate

the allowable internal pressure if the stress is limited to 8000 psi.

LAME’s Equation:

t=
2
[
√
Di σ t + p i
σ t −p o
−1]

Note:

D = diameter
Do = outside diameter Di = inside diameter
r = radius
ro= outside radius ri = inside radius
σt = tangential/hoop stress
σL= longitudinal stress
p = pressure
po = outside pressure pi = inside pressure
t = thickness
e = efficiency

Example A

1. A cylindrical steel pressure vessel 400mm in diameter with wall thickness

of 20 mm, is subjected to an internal pressure of 4.5 MN/m^2. Calculate the
tangential and longitudinal stress in the steel.

2. Calculate the minimum wall thickness for a cylindrical vessel that is to

carry a gas at a pressure of 1400 psi. the diameter of the vessel is 2ft, and
the stress is limited to 12 ksi.