2019-20

Dept. Science et Génie des Matériaux

Mechanics of Materials

chapter 1 - Thick tubes

Contents
1 Solving an elastic problem from displacement 2

2 Definition of the problem : thick tube under hydrostatic pressure 2

3 Strain tensor 3

4 Calculation of the stress tensor 4

5 Equlibrium equations 4

6 Stress field on an example 7

7 Endings of the tube 8

7.1 Closed tube . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
7.2 Blocked ends . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

8 Simplification to thin tubes 9

9 Questions of chapter 1 10
INSA-Lyon - 4SGM - Mechanics of materials chapter 1: Thick tubes

1 Solving an elastic problem from displacement

A problem of elasticity can be solved either from the displacement equations or from the stress/strain equations. The
first case has already be seen last year with the example of the torsion of a tube. There is no specific difficulties since
we start from the knowledge of the displacement field ~u, from which by a simple differentiation we can obtain the strain
field ε̃ and then the stress field σ̃. Generally, the displacement field is "known" to some constant that can be calculated
applying the equilibrium equation (divσ̃ = 0 if static and in absence of volume forces) and the boundaries equations
(σ̃ · ~n = FS~ext , where FSext represents a force per unit of surface).
Starting from the knowledge of the strain or the stress field is more difficult since we need to conduct an integration
to obtain the displacement field. Therefore a new set of equations representing the integrability equations appears. In
3D there are 6 equations known as compatibility equations that must be satisfied to solve the problem.
Let’s take a second example of generic type of problems where we can have an idea of the displacement field : thick
wall tube submitted to external pressures. This is an interesting case, since it can correspond to many industrial
applications in different fields. We say "thick" wall because we can not neglect the thickness of the tube wall with
respect to its diameter. In addition this solution could be simply adapted to thin wall tube by studying the limit of
the equation solutions.

2 Definition of the problem : thick tube under hydrostatic pressure

We consider a circular tube of internal and external radii R1 and R2 , submitted to internal and external pressures P1
and P2 (figure 1). Owing to the symmetry of the problem, we consider a cylindrical axis system (r, θ, z), where z is
along the cylinder axis.

Figure 1: View of the tube and a cross-section

We first concentrate on the cross section of the tube and consider a point M, somewhere within this section. Owing
to the symmetry of the problem (symmetry of the geometry and of the loading), clearly the displacement of this point
after applying the load will only be radial. All the point located at the same distance r from the axis z will be submitted
to the same displacement ~u(r) (figure 2). Therefore the points located at radius r in the initial state, before loading
are all located at the same radius r0 after loading (see figure below).

Figure 2: Cross section, before and after loading

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INSA-Lyon - 4SGM - Mechanics of materials chapter 1: Thick tubes

This means that the displacement field is solely a function of r.

3 Strain tensor
Again owing to the symmetry of the problem, the axis system (r, θ, z) is principal. Let’s calculate the two principal
strains εr and εθ . For this, we recall the definition seen last year and we apply it to a specific case. If P is the given
point at distance r from the axis, lets define two other different points Q and R, closed to P, but Q along the same radial
axis and R along the same radius (figure 3). The distances between these two points and the first one are PQ = dr,
and PR = dθ.

Figure 3: essai

Theses points goes to P0 , Q0 and R0 after applying the loading. The strains can therefore been defined from these
points:
P0 Q0 − PQ P0 R0 − PR
εr = and εθ =
PQ PR
The different distances are represented in the schematic drawing figure 4. Since the different distances are : PQ = dr,

Figure 4: Schematic drawing allowing the calculation of the radial (left) and tangential (right) strain

PP0 = u, the point Q is close to P, along the axis ~r then PQ = dr and the distance between Q and Q0 is equal to the
displacement plus a small variation of this displacement, so QQ0 = u + du. Therefore:

(dr − u + u + du) − dr du
εr = =
dr dr
In the second case, since both points P and R are located at the distance r from the axis, after loading the corresponding
points P0 and R0 are both located at the distance r + u. Therefore:

(r + u)dθ − rdθ u
εθ = =
rdθ r
Let’s consider the last strain component εz , the value is due to "Poisson" effects from the loading along axis ~r, but
also on only loading at the end of the cylinder. Since we will only consider simple loadings such as nil displacement or
constant pressure, we assume the strain component to be constant, so εz = a.

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INSA-Lyon - 4SGM - Mechanics of materials chapter 1: Thick tubes

In the end, the strain tensor matrix can be expressed as :

du
 
0 0
 dr
u

ε̄¯ = 
 0 0 

r
0 0 a

4 Calculation of the stress tensor

We recall the Lame’ equation : σ̃ = λ · tr(ε̃) · I˜ + 2G · ε̃ with :

νE E
λ= and G =
(1 − 2ν)(1 + ν) 2(1 + ν)

Replacing in this equation by the expression of the strain tensor as function of u, r and a, leads to the expressions :

  du u  du

 σr = λ + + a + 2G


 dr r dr
  du u  u
σθ = λ + + a + 2G

 dr r r
du u

  

σ = λ
z + + a + 2Ga
dr r
We note that the stress tensor depends only on the displacement u(r)

5 Equlibrium equations
The equilibrium equations are more complicated for a cylindrical coordinate system than for a cartesian coordinate
system, since the equilibrium is applied on an elementary volume with different surfaces. The equations are :

∂σrr 1 ∂σrθ ∂σrz σrr − σθθ



 + + + =0


 ∂r r ∂θ ∂z r
∂σrθ 1 ∂σθθ ∂σθz σrθ

+ + +2 =0

 ∂r r ∂θ ∂z r
 ∂σrz + 1 ∂σθz + ∂σzz + σrz = 0



∂r r ∂θ ∂z r
They simplify in the principal axis as :

∂σr σr − σθ


 + =0


 ∂r r
1 ∂σθ

=0
 r ∂θ

 ∂σz = 0



∂z
Since the stress tensor depends on the sole coordinate r, the two last equations are automatically satisfied. Let’s
consider the first equation and replace σr and σθ by their expression as function of u, r and a, which gives for both
terms of the equation:


∂σr  d2 u 1 du u d2 u

 =λ + − + 2G
∂r dr2 r dr r2 dr2
σ
 r
 − σ θ
 1 du u 
= 2G − 2
r r dr r

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INSA-Lyon - 4SGM - Mechanics of materials chapter 1: Thick tubes

then :
∂σr σr − σθ  d2 u 1 du u d2 u  du u 
+ = 0 ⇐⇒ λ + − + 2G + 2G − =0
∂r r dr2 r dr r2 dr2 dr r
This equation can be rearranged :
 d2 u 1 du u d2 u 1 du u
(λ + 2G) + − = 0 ⇐⇒ + − 2 =0
dr2 r dr r2 dr2 r dr r
This equation can be simplified, recognising a differential :

d2 u 1 du u ∂ du u

2
+ − 2 = 0 ⇐⇒ + =0
dr r dr r ∂r dr r
This can be integrated with respect to r leading to :
du u
+ = C1 where C1 is a constant.
dr r
du u 1 ∂(u · r)
rearranging again the equation such as + = allows another simple integration :
dr r r ∂r
1 ∂(u · r) ∂(u · r) C1 2 C1 C2
= C1 ⇐⇒ = C1 · r ⇐⇒ u · r = r + C2 ⇐⇒ u = r+
r ∂r ∂r 2 2 r
This calculation based on the equilibrium equation shows that the displacement function must be of this form to satisfy
C1 C2
the problem : u(r) = r+
2 r
We still have two unknown constants that can be evaluated from the boundary equations.

1-6 Boundary equations

On the cross section, the two boundaries are of the same type : a constant pressure is applied. Therefore the boundary
equations must be written in terms of stress 1 . Let’s report the shape of the displacement u (r) in the expressions of
the stresses:
C1 C2 ∂u(r) C1 C2 u(r) C1 C2
u(r) = r+ and = − 2 and = + 2
2 r ∂r 2 r r 2 r

 du u    
 du C1 C2 C1 C2 C1 C2
σr = λ + + a + 2G ⇐⇒ σr = λ − 2 + + 2 + a + 2G − 2
dr r dr 2 r 2 r 2 r
C2
⇐⇒ σr = (λ + G)C1 + λa − 2G 2
r
B
This expression can be rewritten, changing the constants to simplify : σr = A − 2
r
We can do the same calculation for the second component, which gives :
 du u  u C2 B
σθ = λ + + a + 2G ⇐⇒ σθ = (λ + G)C1 + λa + 2G 2 , or again changing the constants : σθ = A + 2
dr r r r r

If we do the same calculation for the last component we obtain :

 du u 
σz = λ + + a + 2Ga ⇐⇒ σz = λC1 + (λ + 2G)a, changing the constant leads to : σz = C
dr r
1 However, it should be noted that if we had one boundary "loading" in terms of constant (nil for instance) applied displacement, we

would write the boundary equation in terms of displacement

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INSA-Lyon - 4SGM - Mechanics of materials chapter 1: Thick tubes

In the end, to summarise using the constants A, B and C the expression of the stress field is :
B


 σr = A − 2


 r
B
σθ = A + 2
r




σz = C


We can now apply the boundary conditions, recalling that it is of the type : σ̃ · ~n = FS~ext . We have two different
boundaries (figure 5):

Figure 5: Boundary conditions on each side of the tube wall

syms s r s t s z P1 % r e c a l l o f t h e boundary e q u a t i o n c a l c u l a t i o n
s = [ sr 0 0;0 st 0;0 0 sz ] ;
n= - [1;0;0];
P = [ P1 ; 0 ; 0 ] ;
s ∗n

ans =
 
−sr
 0 
0
The first one, the inner surface, located at r = R1 , where the normal is ~n = −~r, the surface force is P1~r, the equation is
therefore : σ̃ · (−~r) = −σr · ~r = P1~r ⇐⇒ σr = −P1 (Note that this result is not surprising since a pressure corresponds
to a negative stress).

B
σ(R1 ) = −P1 ⇐⇒ A − = −P1
R1 2
The second one, on the outer surface at r = R2 , the normal is ~n = ~r and the surface external force is −P2~r, replacing
similarly gives : σr = −P2 .
B
σ(R2 ) = −P2 ⇐⇒ A − = −P2
R2 2

We just have to solve this simple equation system :

B

A − = −P1

R1 2


B
A − = −P2


R2 2

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INSA-Lyon - 4SGM - Mechanics of materials chapter 1: Thick tubes

syms R1 R2 P1 P2 A B
a1 = A-B/R1 ^ 2 + P1 ; % equation (1) equal to 0
a2 = A-B/R2 ^ 2 + P2 ; % equation (2) equal to 0
[ A1 , B1 ] = e q u a t i o n s T o M a t r i x ( [ a1 , a2 ] , [ A, B ] ) ;
mat = ( i n v (A1) ∗B1 ) ;
A = mat ( 1 )

A =
P2 R2 2 P1 R1 2
−
R1 2 − R2 2 R1 2 − R2 2

B = mat ( 2 )

B =
P2 R 1 2 R 2 2 P1 R 1 2 R 2 2
−
R1 2 − R2 2 R1 2 − R2 2

and the result given by Matlab is :


 P1 2 R1 2 − P2 2 R2 2
A=

R2 2 − R1 2


 R1 2 R2 2
B = (P1 − P2 )


R2 2 − R1 2
So in the end, the solution is of the stress in the thick tube is given by the equations with the constants above.

6 Stress field on an example

Let’s consider a tube of internal and external radii R1 = 40 mm and R2 = 60 mm, submitted to internal and external
pressures P1 = 600 MPa and P2 = 100 MPa, and let’s draw the evolution of the stresses as function of r on Matlab
(figure 6).

P1 = 600 e6 ; P2 = 100 e6 ; R1 = 40 e - 3 ; R2 = 60 e - 3 ;
r = R1 : ( R2 - R1) / 2 0 : R2 ;
s r = e v a l (A-B. / r . ^ 2 ) /1 e6 ; % i n MPa
s t = e v a l (A + B. / r . ^ 2 ) /1 e6 ; % i n MPa
p l o t ( r ∗ 1 0 0 0 , s r , r ∗ 1 0 0 0 , s t , ’ LineWidth ’ , 2 )
g r i d on
xlim ( [ 3 8 6 2 ] )
a = g e t ( gca , ’ XTickLabel ’ ) ;
s e t ( gca , ’ XTickLabel ’ , a , ’ FontName ’ , ’ H e l v e t i c a ’ , ’ f o n t s i z e ’ , 1 4 )
x l a b e l ( ’ r (mm) ’ )
y l a b e l ( ’ C o n t r a i n t e (MPa) ’ )
l e g e n d ( ’ \ sigma _ r ’ , ’ \ sigma _ t ’ )

We can check that the solution is correct since we find the boundary condition on the σr component in the inner
and outer surfaces. In addition, we note that the maximum stress is the component σθ , which is a hoop stress
(circumferential), and it is a tensile stress. The extreme value might seam odd, since the maximum tensile stress is
obtained at r = R1 where we apply the maximum external pressure. It is however logical since this pressure tends to
increase the circumference of the inner circle. In order to visualise the stress state, it is usual to draw the elementary
volume on the tube section (figure 7).
On a practical point of view, the inner tensile hoop stress is dangerous, since it might open pre-exiting flaws or crack,
and could lead to an explosion for high pressure tubes.

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INSA-Lyon - 4SGM - Mechanics of materials chapter 1: Thick tubes

Figure 6: plot of the radial, σr (r) and hoop, σθ (r) components.

Figure 7: Schematic drawing showing the stress state on an elementary volume on the inner and outer wall surface.

7 Endings of the tube

So far, we haven’t considered the tube’s ends. Different possibilities can be analysed.

7.1 Closed tube

The tube is closed, defining a reservoir and the surfaces perpendicular to ~z are submitted to the pressures P1 and P2
(figure 8).

Figure 8: tube with closed ends, like a reservoir

A cross-section of normal ~n = ~z will be submitted to a uniform tensile stress if the force due to P1 is larger than
that due to P2 or to a uniform compressive stress on the opposite case. In fact the cylinder is submitted to the force
f~ = P1 πR1 2 − P2 πR2 2 , applied on the area of its cross-section S = π(R2 2 − R1 2 ) . The stress component in that case

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INSA-Lyon - 4SGM - Mechanics of materials chapter 1: Thick tubes

is equal to :

f P1 2 R1 2 − P2 2 R2 2
σz = = = A.
S R2 2 − R1 2

The value is therefore between σθ and σr .

7.2 Blocked ends

We imagine a tube fixed between two plates, such that the distance is imposed (figure 9).

Figure 9: Cylinder with blocked end, i.e. the distance between both ends does not vary

The strain component εz = 0, therefore a = 0. The expression of the stress (given un part 5) can be simplified to :
A
σz = λC1 + (λ + 2G)a ⇐⇒ σz = λC1 . And we have also (λ + G)C1 = A ⇐⇒ C1 = λ+G Reporting the last equation
in the former leads to :
λ
σz = A
λ+G

8 Simplification to thin tubes

When wall of the tube is thin, so like a membrane, it is difficult to imagine an external pressure, since it would easily
collapse by buckling (see chapter 4 of this course). Therefore, we consider a tube of thickness e of external radius R
submitted to a sole internal pressure P . We also assume that thickness of the tube can be assumed negligible with
respect to its radius. This means that the constants A and B can therefore be simplified since R2 = R1 , R1 = R − e,
P2 = 0, and P1 = P to:

P R2 P R2 P R2 PR
A= = =  ≈
R2 − (R − e)2 R2 − (R2 − 2Re + e2 ) R 2e − Re2 2e

R2 (R − e)2 R2 (R − e)2 R(R − e)2 PR

B= 2 2
P = 2 2 2
P =  P ≈ (R − e)2
R − (R − e) R − (R − 2Re + e ) e
R 2e − R
2 2e

In order to calculate the stress we assume that r = R, so that

B P R (R − e)2 PR
= ≈
R2 2e R2 2e
B B PR
In the end, σr = A − 2 = 0 and σθ = A + 2 =
R R e
Therefore, the radial stress is nil and the circumferential component is constant and in tensile state. Of course, depending
on the end of the tube, there might have a non nil z component. The most interesting case, is that of closed end, the

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INSA-Lyon - 4SGM - Mechanics of materials chapter 1: Thick tubes

system defining then a cylindrical reservoir submitted to an internal pressure. We have seen in that case that
the stress σz = A then after simplification, one obtain σz = P2eR . To summarise the stress state is :


 σr = 0


 PR
σθ =
 e
 σz = RP



2e

9 Questions of chapter 1
1-1 Displacement function for the tube under pressure.
- Justify that (r, θ, z) is a principal axis system for the tube.
- Explain why the displacement is solely a function of r : u(r).
- The displacement is of the shape u(r) = C1 /2r + C2 /r. Explain clearly how it is established.

1-2 Stress function for the tube under pressure.

- From the expression of the strain tensor and of the displacement function, u(r) = C1 /2r + C2 /r, establish the
expression of the stress tensor components : σr = A − B/r2 , σθ = A + B/r2 and σz = C.
- Considering that the external pressure is P2 and the internal pressure P1 calculate the constants A and B as
function of the pressures and the radii of the tube.

1-3 Ends of the tube.

- Consider a closed tube, calculate the component σz
- Consider a tube with blocked ends (total length is constant), calculate the component σz .

1-4 Stress field in a closed tube

- Consider a closed tube of internal and external radii R1 = 60 mm and R2 = 65 mm and pressures P1 = 300 MPa
and P2 = 100 MPa. The Elastic constants are E = 70 GPa and ν = 0.3. Calculate the stress field.
- Represent the evolution of the stress components as function of r.

- Where is the maximum stress, and what is its sign ?

- Represent the stress state on elementary volumes located at r = 60 mm, r = 62.5 mm and r = 65 mm.

1-5 Mixed boundary conditions

- Consider a tube submitted to an internal pressure P1 and to an applied displacement up on the external radius.
We can consider different displacement values such as nil, positive or negative.
- Write the mix boundary condition and express the stress field.

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