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Design and Optimisation of Pressure Vessel Using Metaheuristic

Approach
1
Sulaiman Hassan, 2Kavi Kumar, 3Ch Deva Raj, 4Kota Sridhar
1
Mechanical & Manufacturing Department, University Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia,Malaysia
2
Faculty of Science Technology and Human Development, University Tun Hussein Onn
Malaysia,Malaysia
3
Mechanical Engineering Department, RVR &JC,Guntur,India
4
Mechanical & Manufacturing Department, University Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia,Malaysia
1
sulaiman@uthm.edu.my, 2kavi@uthm.edu.my, 3chdevaraj@gmail.com,
4
kotasridhar17@gmail.com
Keywords: - Design optimization, Ant colony optimization Algorithm, Pressure Vessels
Abstract: The objective of design optimization of pressure vessels is cost reduction by reducing
weight with adequate strength and stiffness. Optimization is the act of obtaining the best result
under given circumstances. Conventional design aims at finding acceptability design which merely
satisfies the functional and other requirements of the problem. In general, there will be more than
one acceptable designs and the purpose of design optimization is to choose the best. In the present
work parameters such as thickness of the shell, and dish end, length and radius of the pressure
vessel are optimized by making use of ACO has been shown for a Pressure vessel problem with
four variables and four design constraints. It is found that the results obtained from ACO are better
as its search is for global optimum as against the local optimum in traditional search methods. The
results of the ACO have been checked using ANSYS, and it is found to perform satisfactorily.
Introduction
The pressure vessels are to store fluids under pressure. The fluid being stored may undergo a
change of state inside the pressure vessel as in case of steam boilers or it may combine with other
reagents as in a chemical plant. The pressure vessels are designed with great care because rupture of
a pressure vessel means an explosion which may cause loss of life and property. The material of
pressure vessels may be brittle such as cast iron, or ductile such as mild steel.

Literature survey
This paper[1] presents a hybrid swarm intelligence approach (HSIA) for solving nonlinear
optimization problems which contain integer, discrete, zero-one and continuous variables. This
paper[2] presents the design process of the pressure vessels and experimental results acquired by
high-pressure tests. This paper[3] presents a practical review of the use of PC-based Finite Element
software in the analysis of typical pressure vessel components. This paper[4] presents a modified
particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm for engineering optimization problem with
constraints. This paper[5] a generic algorithm based on Ant Colony Optimization to solve ulti-
objective optimization problems. The proposed algorithm is parameterized by the number of ant
colonies and the number of pheromone trails. This paper [6] proposes the Omicron ACO (OA), a
novel population-based ACO alternative originally designed as an analytical tool. This paper[7]
makes a comparison of the effectiveness of the three methods on a particular optimization problem,
namely the tuning of the parameters for a PID controller.

Ant Colony Algorithm
Ant behavior was the inspiration for the metaheuristic optimization technique the ant colony
optimization algorithm (ACO), is a probabilistic technique for solving computational problems
which can be reduced to finding good paths through graphs.

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This algorithm is a member of ant colony algorithms family, in swarm intelligence methods, and it
constitutes some metaheuristic optimizations. Initially proposed by Marco Dorigo in 1992 in his
PhD thesis, the first algorithm was aiming to search for an optimal path in a graph; based on the
behavior of ants seeking a path between their colony and a source of food. The original idea has
since diversified to solve a wider class of Numerical problems, and as a result, several problems
have emerged, drawing on various aspects of the behavior of ants.

Problem Formulation
The Problem is to design a compressed air storage tank with a working pressure of 1000 psi and a
minimum volume of 750 ft3. The schematic of a pressure vessel is shown in Fig.6.1. The cylindrical
pressure vessel is capped at both ends by hemispherical heads. Using rolled steel plate (SAEJ 2340
TYPE 830 R), the shell is to be made in two halves that are joined by two longitudinal welds to
form a cylinder. Each head is forged and then welded to the shell. Let the design variables be
denoted by the vector X=[x1, x2, x3, x4]T, x1 is the spherical head thickness, x2 is the shell
thickness, x3 and x4 are the radius and length of the shell, respectively.
The objective in this Project is to minimize the manufacturing cost of the pressure vessel. The
manufacturing cost of the pressure vessel is a combination of material cost, welding cost and
forming cost. That can be refer in Sandgren (1990) for more details on how cost is determined.
The constraints are set in accordance with respective ASME codes. The mathematical model of the
problem is:

Objective function
Here our main objective is to reduce the cost by reducing weight of Pressure Vessel. So the
objective function
2 2 2
f ( x) 0.6224 x1 x 2 x3  1.7781x1 x3  3.1661x 2 x 4  19.84 x 4 x1

x1 R Radius of the shell
x2 L Length of the shell

x3 Ts Thickness of the shell

x4 Tb Thickness of the dish end

Design variables
x Radius ( R)
x Length (L)
x Thickness of the shell
x Thickness of the dish end

Design parameters
1. Circumferential or Hoop Stress
2. Longitudinal Stress
3. Volume

x4 Th x3 Ts
x1 R

x2 L


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Design constraints
The four important constraints under consideration are
1. Hoop stress Allowable stress
g1 x  0.0193x1  x4 d 0
2. Longitudinal stress Allowable stress
g2 x  0.00954 x1  x3 d 0
3. Volume  inch3
4
g 3 x  750 u 1728  Sx1  Sx1 x2 d 0 4. Length
3 2

3
g 4 x  x2  240 d 0

Variable bounds
The upper and lower bounds on two design variables are
1. 25 d x1 d 150

2. 25 d x2 d 240
3. 0.0625 d x3 d 1.25
4. 0.0625 d x4 d 1.25 Note: All are in inch

Problem Description
A typical input data required to develop a mathematical model for pressure vessel design is
Pressure vessel material = SAE J2340 830R
Where R=High Strength Recovery Annealed
1. Modulus of elasticity (E) = 200x109 4. Allowable Yield Strength = 540 MPA
2
N/mm 5. Applied Pressure = 6.80272 N/mm2
2. Yield Strength = 960 MPA (1000 PSi)
3. Factor of safety = 1.78

Input ACO parameters:
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=0.2
Number of iterations = 5000
Number of ants = 150
Number of Divisions for x1 = 150
Number of Divisions for x2 = 250
Number of Divisions for x3 = 10
Number of Divisions for x4 = 10
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Fixing up the above parameters is a very crucial in an optimization problem because there are no
guide lines for these. One has to fix the ACO parameters for a particular depending on the
convergence of the problem as well as on solution time. After executing various run with different
ACO parameters depending on convergence of the value.

Results and Discussions
The values of best design variables and the constraints for the 5000 iteration obtained after running
the program for Ant colony algorithm written in the C-language is given below.



Graphical Results

The optimum values are obtained at 2829 th iteration and it remain as constant from the point on
word that indicates that the optimal value is global minima.
x1 = Radius of the shell = 40 inch
x2 = Length of the shell = 232.26 inch
x3 = Thickness of the shell = 0.537 inch
x4 =Thickness of the shell =0.775 inch
g1 =Constraints of Hoop Stress = -0.003
g2 = Constraints of Longitudinal Stress= -0.156
g3 = Constraints of volumes = -138821
g4 = Constraints of Length = -7.74
Finally function value f(x) = 4856.205 $
These results are compared with the results of the pervious works using various other optimization
methods and are in a table given below

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ANSYS Analysis: Design of pressure vessel

1
ELEMENTS
/EXPANDED
TYPE NUM

Z X

Structure of pressure Vessel


1
NODAL SOLUTION
STEP=1
SUB =1
TIME=1
/EXPANDED
SEQV (AVG)
DMX =.313E-05
SMN =127.635
SMX =456.355

Z Y

MX
MN

127.635 200.684 273.733 346.782 419.83

164.16 237.208 310.257 383.306 456.355

von misses Stress of pressure vessel


Conclusion
In the present work parameters such as thickness of the shell, and dish end, length and radius
of the pressure vessel are optimized by making use of Ant colony metaphor; powerful non-
traditional optimization method and these results are compared with other Optimization Methods.
It is found that the results obtained from ACO are better as its search is for global optimum as
against the local optimum in traditional search methods. The results of the ACO have been checked
using ANSYS, and it is found to perform satisfactorily.
It can be concluded that by applying Ant colony algorithm, the optimal design parameters for
the pressure vessel are obtained and the objective minimization of cost by reducing weight of
Pressure vessel is achieved.
In the present study the application of ACO has been shown for a Pressure vessel problem
with four variables and four design constraints.

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References
[1] GUO Chuang-xin, HU Jia-sheng , YE Bin , CAO Yi-MLD Swarm Intelligence For Mixed-
9DULDEOH'HVLJQ2SWLPL]DWLRQ Journal of Zhejiang University SCIENCE ISSN 1009-3095
[2] Tae-Hwan Joung, In-Sik Nho, Chong-Moo Lee, Pan-Mook Lee, Seung-Il Yang, Seok-Won
Hong A Study on the Pressure Vessel Design, Structural Analysis and Pressure Test of a 6,000
m Depth-UDWHG8QPDQQHG8QGHUZDWHU9HKLFOHWKH,QWHUQDWLRQDOVRFLHW\RI2IIVKRUHDQG3RODU
Engineers ISBN 1-880653-64-8
[3] 0LFKDHO $3RUWHU'HQQLV +0DUWHQV3HGUR0DUFDO 2Q8VLQJ )LQLWH (OHPHQW $QDO\VLVIRU
Pressure Vessel 'HVLJQ PVP Vol. 368, ASME, New York, NY, pp. 139-146.
[4] ;LDRKXL +X 5XVVHOO &(EUWKDUW <XKXL 6KL (QJLQHHULQJ 2SWLPL]DWLRQ ZLWK SDUWLFOH 6ZDUP
Purdue University, Simulation, vol.62,no.4, pp.242-254,1994
[5] $OD\D&6ROQRQ.*KHGLUD$QWDOJRULWKPIRUWhe multi-GLPHQVLRQDONQDSVDFNSUREOHP
Proceedings of International Conference on Bioinspired Optimization Methods, their
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[6] 2VYDOGR *RPH] DQG %HQMDPQ %DU 2PLFURQ $&2 $ 1HZ $QW &RORQ\ 2SWLPL]DWLRQ
$OJRULWKP D &/(, (/(&7521,& -2851$/ 92/80(  180%(5  3$3(5 
AUGUST 2005
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particle swarm optimization IRUSLG&RQWUROOHUWXQLQJ ,QWHUQDWLRQDO&RQIHUHQFHRQ&RPSXWHU
Systems and Technologies - &RPS6\V7HFK