DOI 10.

1007/s11223-021-00238-6
Strength of Materials, Vol. 52, No. 6, November, 2020

ANISOTROPY EFFECT OF THE MECHANICAL METAL PROPERTIES

ON THE ASSESSMENT OF THE LOAD-CARRYING ABILITY
OF THE LAUNCH VEHICLE OXIDANT TANK

V. V. Kharchenko,a O. Yu. Chirkov,a,1 V. P. Lamashevskyi,a UDC 539.3

a b
Î. V. Drozdov, and D. V. Klymenko

The paper presents the results of the calculated estimate of the critical pressure level in the oxidant
tank of the launch vehicle using generalized diagrams of elastic-plastic deformation of the
aluminum alloy AMg6. These diagrams consider the anisotropy of the physical and mechanical
properties of the material. The calculation of the stress-strain state is performed using the simplified
calculation scheme for the specified structural element of the tank depending on the internal
pressure in the axisymmetric statement considering the elastic-plastic deformations. The calculation
analysis is based on the mixed scheme of the finite element method, which provides the continuous
approximation of displacements and stresses. It allows one to determine the stress-strain state of the
tank element with high accuracy. It is implied that the maximum values of stresses and strains occur
in the area of the fillet region connecting the ring with the cylindrical shell of the tank. Complying
with the obtained data, the calculation of the stress-strain state of the tank element using
generalized deformation diagrams, taking into account the anisotropy of physical and mechanical
properties and the nature of the load of aluminum alloy AMg6, leads to a more conservative
estimate of the critical pressure level as compared with the standard calculation based on the
uniaxial tensile diagram.

Keywords: oxidant tank of the launch vehicle, elastic-plastic deformation, physical and mechanical properties, mixed
scheme of the finite element method

Introduction. In the assessment of the load-carrying ability of complex critical structures, such as the
oxidant tank of launch vehicle under internal pressure, except for the issues of selection of calculation model and
method for calculating the stress-strain state (SSS), attention should be paid to the use of adequate material
deformation model and its limit state criterion to determine the critical pressure in the tank.
The traditional approach, which is used in the calculation of SSS and the assessment of the strength of
structural elements, is based on the use of the stress-strain state diagram of the material from uniaxial tensile tests on
the standard specimens.
At present, the normative literature has accumulated a significant amount of information about the standard
characteristics of the physical and mechanical properties of structural materials. However, this information does not
always meet the growing demands to improve the accuracy of calculations of the carrying ability of engineering
products, especially those operating under extreme conditions of complex thermomechanical loading.
Since the aluminum alloy AMg6, which is used to manufacture the oxidant tank, is characterized by the
initial deformation anisotropy of physical and mechanical properties [1–4], for a more accurate calculation of SSS
a
Pisarenko Institute of Problems of Strength, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Kyiv, Ukraine
( chirkale82@gmail.com). bYangel Yuzhnoye State Design Office, Dnipro, Ukraine. Translated from Problemy
1

Prochnosti, No. 6, pp. 29 – 35, November – December, 2020. Original article submitted September 29, 2020.

0039–2316/20/5206–0843 © 2020 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 843

 Fig. 1. Generalized stress-strain state diagrams for ÀÌg6 for different ratios of principal stresses:
( )K , ( ) K 0, and ( ) K 0.5.

and the level of critical pressure in the tank, it is important to consider the anisotropy properties of the material
during elastic-plastic deformation under conditions of complex stress state.
Pisarenko Institute of Problems of Strength of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine has investigated
the mechanisms of deformation and the limit states of AMg6 under complex stress conditions in a wide range of
temperatures [4–6]. The stress-strain state diagrams of this alloy for different ratios of principal stresses during
loading of thin-walled pipe-like specimens with axial force and internal pressure are obtained. According to the
results, the following mechanisms have been established: the alloy possesses anisotropy of physical and mechanical
properties, the parameters of which within the studied temperature range are faintly dependent on the temperature;
deformation mechanisms and the ultimate state of the alloy depend on the type of stress state.
The paper aims at the evaluation of the influence of considering the anisotropy of mechanical properties of
AMg6 alloy on the calculated determination of the critical pressure level in the oxidant tank using the results of
experimental studies of deformation mechanisms and the limit state of the alloy for different loads.
Estimation of Critical Pressure in the Tank. The authors of the paper did not set the task of determining
the level of critical pressure in the tank with the maximum possible consideration of design features and other factors
affecting its limit state. The task was reduced to the calculated estimation of the critical pressure using separate
stress-strain state diagrams considering the anisotropy of the alloy and the stress state type. The calculation of SSS
was performed using the simplified calculation model and load scheme for the specified structural element of the
oxidant tank.
Below are the results of the calculated evaluation of the critical pressure level in the oxidant tank employing
the stress-strain state diagrams of AMg6. The calculation of SSS was performed in an axisymmetric formulation
considering the elastic-plastic deformations and test results of the AMg6 alloy. The level of critical pressure was
estimated using tensile diagrams in the axial and tangential directions, as well as in the case of tensile consistent with
the main stress ratio of 0.5. Each of the listed stress-strain state diagrams is characterized by K z , where
z is the axial stress and is the tangential stress. Therefore, for axial tension K , while for tension in the
tangential direction K 0, in case of consistent tension with the ratio between the principal stresses 0.5, K 0.5.
Figure 1 illustrates the generalized stress-strain state diagrams (stress intensity i vs strain intensity i ) for
various ratios K, which were used during the SSS calculations for the oxidant tank.
The calculation of the SSS kinetics during loading for the oxidant tank element with internal pressure was
performed in the elastic-plastic statement employing the equations of the theory of plastic flow with isotropic
hardening [7]. The calculation analysis is based on the mixed scheme of the finite element method, which provides a

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 a b c
Fig. 2. Axisymmetric finite element model of the tank element: (à) specified structural tank element; (b) fragment
of the grid in the joint between the ring and cylindrical shell; (c) mesh within the upper fillet.

continuous approximation of displacements and stresses, which allowed one to determine the SSS parameters within
the stress concentration of the tank element with a high degree of accuracy [8].
The calculated model of the specific structural element of the oxidant tank contains a separate section in the
form of a smooth cylindrical shell considering two rings. The lower end of the model was fixed from longitudinal
displacements, and axial tension was applied to the upper end to consider the internal pressure on the spherical
bottoms of the tank. The pressure was applied to the inner surface of the cylindrical shell of the tank and the surface
of the rings.
The calculated analysis of the SSS kinetics of the oxidant tank element was performed by solving the
elastic-plastic problem by gradually increasing the internal pressure.
The axisymmetric finite element model of the specified structural element of the oxidant tank and its
fragments are shown in Fig. 2. It includes 38,519 nodes and 75,168 triangular finite elements. For the calculation
model and load scheme used for calculations, an increase in the number of grid nodes and calculation sections does
not affect the calculation results.
To estimate the critical pressure in the tank, the authors used the limit state criterion. In compliance with this
criterion, the value of equivalent strain for a certain ratio between the principal stresses corresponds to the loss of
stability of local plastic deformation of the material, which leads to unstable dependence of maximum deformation
on the tank pressure. In the first and sufficient approximation it was assumed that the onset of the limit state is
determined by the maximum equivalent deformation i max in the tank element under consideration for a certain
material deformation diagram.
Figures 3 and 4 illustrate the calculated distributions of tangential and axial z stresses within the joint
between the ring and cylindrical shell of the tank. The distributions are responsible for the critical pressure level and
are obtained from the stress-strain state diagrams for ÀÌg6 for different ratios K.
Figures 5 and 6 demonstrate the distributions of tangential and axial z strains within the joint between
the ring and cylindrical shell of the tank obtained from the stress-strain state diagrams for various ratios K.
Figures 7 and 8 show the dependencies of the maximum equivalent stress and equivalent strain on the
internal pressure level obtained from the results of the SSS calculation for the tank.
The maximum stresses and strains occur within the region of the joint between the ring and cylindrical shell
of the tank element. From the calculated data it follows that the consideration of the mechanical properties of ÀÌg6
leads to the decrease of the maximum stress and strain levels.
From the diagrams shown in Figs. 7 and 8 the following conclusion is drawn. During the loading process,
the maximum equivalent stresses at the critical point of the fillet increase almost linearly with the increase in the
pressure level upon the achievement of the limit value for the equivalent strain. However, the dependence of the

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 a b c
Fig. 3. Tangential stresses (MPa) within the joint between the ring and cylindrical shell of the tank.
[Here and in Fig. 4–6: (a) K ; (b) K 0; (c) K 0.5.]

a b c
Fig. 4. Axial stresses z (MPa) within the joint between the ring and cylindrical shell of the tank.

a b c
Fig. 5. Tangential strains (%) within the region of joint between the ring and cylindrical shell of the tank.

a b c
Fig. 6. Axial strains z (%) in the region of the joint between the ring and cylindrical shell of the tank.

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 Fig. 7. Dependence of the maximum equivalent stress i max in the fillet region of the tank
on the internal pressure level. [Here and in Fig. 8: ( ) K ; ( ) K 0; ( ) K 0.5.]

Fig. 8. Dependence of the maximum equivalent strain i max within the fillet region of the tank
on the internal pressure level.

maximum strain on the pressure is nonlinear, and with the increase in the pressure, there is a drastic increase in
strain. Complying with the accepted criterion of the ultimate state of the material, the results implied the following.
There is a loss of stability of the plastic material deformation when strain attains its limit values, as well as under
small additional loading of the tank by internal pressure. This leads to the loss of the load-carrying ability of the tank
(an increase of the critical pressure level lower than 3.6% in case of the use of the tensile diagram in the axial
direction, for two other diagrams the increase in the pressure level is even lower).
The following values of the critical pressure level are obtained from the results of the SSS calculations:
p1 1.53 MPa (based on the tensile diagram data in the axial directions), p2 1.12 MPa (from tensile diagrams in
the tangential direction), and p3 0.4 (from two-axial tensile diagrams with a ratio of the principal stress 0.5).

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 The calculation of the SSS of the tank element using the stress-strain state diagram of the alloy in the
tangential direction (considering the anisotropy of the alloy) leads to a decrease in the critical pressure by 27% as
compared with the pressure obtained from the tensile diagram in the axial direction. The use of the data obtained
from the generalized diagram of the deformation of the alloy under biaxial tensile with the main stress ratio
(considering the type of stress) reduces the critical pressure in the tank by 38% as compared with the calculation
based on the uniaxial tensile diagram in the axial direction.
Therefore, the specified calculation of the SSS for the assessment of the load-carrying ability of the oxidant
tank element considering anisotropy of the mechanical properties and type of stress state of ÀÌg6 results in the more
conservative evaluation of the critical pressure level as compared with the standard calculation based on the uniaxial
tensile diagram.

CONCLUSIONS

1. The paper provides the results of the calculated estimate of the critical pressure level in the oxidant tank of
the launch vehicle using the generalized elastic-plastic stress-strain diagrams of ÀÌg6, which consider the
anisotropy of the physical and mechanical properties of the materials in axial and tangential directions.
2. The calculation of the stress-strain state was performed using the calculation scheme for the specified
structural element of the tank depending on the internal pressure effect in axisymmetric formulation considering
elastic-plastic strains.
3. In compliance with the data obtained, the use of the stress-strain diagrams, which consider the anisotropy
of the physical and mechanical properties and character of loading for ÀÌg6, leads to a more conservative
assessment of the critical pressure level in the oxidant tank as compared with the standard calculation based on the
uniaxial tensile diagram.

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