STATIC, BUCKLING, MODAL AND FRACTURE ANALYSIS OF

TORISPHERICAL HEAD PRESSURE VESSEL USING FINITE ELEMENT

ANALYSIS

Anand A1, Nityananda B.S1, Mohammed Zahid Abbas Khuraishi2, Pruthvi Jagadish2
1 2
Assistant Professor, Seminar Associate, Mechanical Department,
Visvesvaraya Technological University
Vidyavardhaka College of Engineering, Mysuru, India
Email ID: 1anand.a@vvce.ac.in, 2whalezahid@gmail.com

ABSTRACT:
Pressure vessels are being widely employed worldwide as means to carry, store or receive fluids. The
pressure differential is dangerous and many fatal accidents have occurred in the history of their
development and operation. Torispherical Heads have a dish with a fixed crown radius (CR), the size of
which depends on the type of torispherical head. The transition between the cylinder and the dish is called
the knuckle. The knuckle has a toroidal shape. Torispherical heads require less forming than semi-
ellipsoidal heads.
The main aim of the research is to carry out Static analysis, Buckling analysis, Modal analysis and Fracture
analysis in a torispherical head pressure vessel due to applied internal pressure. The above analyses
characteristics are investigated by Finite Element Method (FEM) using ANSYS 12.0 software. For Static,
Buckling, and Modal analyses, a pressure vessel will be designed and then modeled using Solid Edge
software. For Fracture analysis, the dimensions will be taken from literature survey.
Keywords: Pressure vessel, Torispherical Heads, Static analysis, Buckling analysis, Modal analysis and Fracture
analysis, Stress Intensity Factor.

OBJECTIVE:
The research is aimed to analyze torispherical head pressure vessel for different internal pressures.
Theoretical validation will be done for Static analysis and Fracture analysis.

1. INTRODUCTION
The predicted lifespan of parts and components is a key question regarding the safety of certain components,
such as pressure vessels, airplanes, cars, or with regard to the reliability of micro-electronic components or
implants in the human body.
Pressure vessels store substances under pressure higher than atmospheric conditions and are found all over
the place. They are used in homes and hospitals for hot water storage, in many different factories and
plants, and in mining and oil refineries. Pressure vessels store large amounts of energy; the higher the
operating pressure and the bigger the vessel, the more the energy released in the event of a rupture and
consequently the higher the extent of damage or disaster or the danger it poses, hence there should be no
complacency about the risks. Unfortunately, pressure vessels accidents happen much more than they
should.
Fracture is a problem that society has faced for long as there have been man-made structures. The problem
may actually be worse today than in previous centuries, because more can go wrong in our complex
technological society. Major airline crashes, for instance would not be possible without modern aerospace
technology.
Mechanical parts are designed and controlled in order to guarantee that they do not contain a macroscopic
crack, i.e. detectable by standardized test methods such as metal sweating and ultrasonic control. These
increasingly sophisticated devices, together with strict and standardized procedures, are used in order to
guarantee that at the end of production cycle the assembled parts are free from detectable cracks. In
addition, defects can be implemented during the assembly stage (e.g., during welding). Lastly, a
mechanical sys- tem, even when completely healthy at the end of manufacturing and assembly stages, may
still be damaged when in use due to the encountered stresses(e.g., static, buckling), as well as well as
thermal or environmental. Sometimes, synergies exist between these damage mechanisms which can then
lead to anticipated failures.

2. METHODOLOGY

To achieve the objectives listed above the following steps are considered:
• Designing of a torispherical head pressure vessel
• Modeling the pressure vessel as per design data
• Static analysis using ANSYS software
• Buckling analysis using ANSYS software
• Modal analysis using ANSYS software
• Modeling of pressure vessel fracture analysis
• Finding the stress intensity factor using ANSYS software.

3. DESIGN DETAILS
3.1 MATERIAL SELECTION

By literature survey we have selected the material as SA-240 304, which is widely used for pressure
vessels. Type 304 stainless steel is a variation of 18% chromium - 8% nickel austenitic alloy, the most
familiar and most frequently used alloy in the stainless steel family. These alloys may be considered for a
wide variety of applications: resistance to corrosion, prevention of product contamination, resistance to
oxidation, ease of fabrication, excellent formability, beauty of appearance, ease of cleaning high strength
with low weight, good strength and toughness at cryogenic temperatures, ready availability of a wide range
of product forms. Table 1 shows the chemical composition of material SA-240 304.

Mechanical & Physical properties Tab. 1: SA-240 304 Chemical composition

Element Percent by
• Density, ρ = 8.03 g/cm3 Carbon weight
0.08
• Modulus of rigidity, E = 200 GPa
Manganese 2.00
• Yield strength, σy = 215 MPa
Phosphorou 0.045
• Tensile strength, σt = 505 MPa s
Sulphur 0.03
• Hardness, = 201 BHN
Silicon 0.75
Chromium 18.00
Nickel 8.00
Nitrogen 0.10
Iron 70.995

3.1.1 Thickness calculations

Assumptions

Internal Pressure, Pi = 5 N/mm2

Internal Diameter, Di = 1000mm

Poisson’s ratio, µ = 0.29

Where, σh= Hoop or Tangential stress σa= Axial stress

According to Von-Mises criterion,
Thickness calculation for Torispherical head
According to UG 31 of ASME sec VIII Div 1, minimum thickness required is given by

Where,
C = Corrosion allowance = 3mm
E = Efficiency of the joint= 1.0

Therefore, taking the higher value for thickness as 12 mm

Dimensions of cylinder
• Inner radius,ri = 500 mm
• Outer radius,ro = ri + t = 512 mm
• Length of the cylinder,Lc = 2000 mm

Dimensions of Torispherical head

• Crown radius,L = do = 1024 mm
• Knuckle radius,r = 0.1 do = 102.4 mm
• Straight Flange,SF = 3.5 t = 42 mm
• Dished height,DH
= (0.1935 d0) − (0.455 t) = 192.684 mm
• Total head height,THi = SF + DH = 234.684 mm

3.1.2 Crack length calculations

According to Murthy et al(16), crack length parameter is given by

Assume β as 1. (Assumption is based on continuum mechanics method)

3.2 FINITE ELEMENT MODEL DEVELOPMENT

3.2.1 SHELL 93 (8 Node) Element Description

• SHELL 93 is particularly well suited to model curved shells.

• The element has six degrees of freedom at each node: translations in the nodal x, y, and z directions
and rotations about the nodal x, y, and z-axes.
• The deformation shapes are quadratic in both in-plane directions.
• The element has plasticity, stress stiffening, large deflection, and large strain capabilities.
• The geometry, node locations, and the coordinate system for this element are shown in Figure 1.

Fig. 1: Shell 93(8 Node) Geometry

• The element is defined by eight nodes, four thicknesses, and the orthotropic material properties.
• A triangular-shaped element may be formed by defining the same node number for nodes K, L and O.

3.2.2 Model for static analysis

For the static analysis to be performed first step is to construct the finite element model. The elements
chosen for this is Shell 8-node 93. Once the model has been constructed the next step is to define the
material property, the material used is SA-240 304. Mechanical properties of Steel-304 and Dimensions of
the pressure vessel are shown in Table 2 & Table 3 respectively. The next step is to mesh the model; the
size of the mesh depends upon the thickness of the vessel. Once the material property is assigned we are left
with the boundary condition in the pre-processor stage. The vessel is subjected to a uniform pressure of 1
Mpa .The apex at the top of vessel is constrained in X-direction and Z- direction. This completes the
preprocessing work. The same Model is subjected to Stress analysis for different pressure of vessel
varying from 1 MPa, 2 MPa and 3 MPa.
The geometry of the model is shown in Fig 2.

Tab. 2: Mechanical Properties Steel-304

Tab. 3: Dimensions of pressure vessel for static analysis

Fig. 2: Torispherical head pressure vessel

3.2.3 Model for buckling analysis

Eigen buckling analysis of 3D torispherical head subjected to internal pressure of 1 Mpa to 3 MPa is
performed to determine the critical buckling load and to predict the buckling mode shape under internal
pressure. The eigen value approach takes the results obtained from the static analysis. Hence we first solve
for the static analysis and then run the eigen value buckling. In this case the static analysis follows the
same procedure as explained in previous section. The Geometry of the 3D torispherical head is shown in
figure 3. In this study, 8 node SHELL 93 is used as element. The Dimensions of the torispherical head is
shown in table 4.
 Tab. 4: Dimensions of torispherical head for buckling and modal
analysis

Fig. 3: Torispherical head for Buckling analysis

3.3.4 Model for modal analysis

Modal analysis of 3D torispherical head subjected to an internal pressure of 1 Mpa to 3MPa is carried out
to determine the vibration characteristics (natural frequencies and mode shapes) of a pressure vessel head.
The Dimensions of the torispherical head is shown in table 4. The geometry of the model used is shown in
Fig. 4.

Fig. 4: Torispherical head for Modal analysis

3.2.5 Model for fracture analysis

The axisymmetric problem deals with the analysis of structures of revolution under axisymmetric loading.
A structure of revolution is obtained by a generating cross section which rotates 360 degrees about an axis
of revolution, as shown in Fig. 5. Such structures are said to be rotationally symmetric.

Fig. 5: Axisymmetric model for Fracture analysis

 4. RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS

4.1 STATIC ANALYSIS

The static stress analysis of torispherical head pressure vessel subjected to an internal pressure of 1 Mpa to
3 Mpa is performed. The Ansys outputs are shown in the following figures, Fig. 6, Fig. 7 and Fig. 8. The
analytical and Ansys results are compared in the below shown Table 5.

Tab. 5: Comparison between Analytical and Ansys Values

Fig. 6: Von-Mises stress Distribution for internal

pressure of 1 Mpa

Fig. 7: Von-Mises stress Distribution for internal pressure of 2 Mpa

Fig. 8: Von-Mises stress Distribution for internal

pressure of 3 Mpa

Fig. 9: Comparison between Analytical and Fig. 10: Comparison between Analytical and Ansys
Ansys values - Cylinder portion values - Head portion
 Fig. 11: Comparison between Analytical and Ansys values - Percentage Error

It can be observed from the figures that the stresses in knuckle regions and cylindrical portions are closely
matching with analytical values. And also it can be observed that, the stresses are more in knuckle region
compared to cylindrical portion. Hence the knuckle region is considered as the critical region of the vessel.
For internal pressures of 1 MPa and 2 MPa, the Von-Mises stress values are found to be 85.463MPa and
170.926 MPa respectively which is below yield strength of 215 MPa.
For an internal pressure of 3 MPa, the Von-Mises stress is found to be 256.388 MPa, which is greater than
the yield strength of 215 MPa. Hence the vessel with thickness 12 mm can withstand the applied internal
pressure of 2 Mpa.

4.1.1 Validation
4.2 BUCKLING ANALYSIS
The Eigen value buckling analysis of 3D torispherical head subjected to internal pressures of 1 Mpa, 2
Mpa and 3 MPa is performed. The parametric study is performed to determine the critical buckling load of
the vessel. The effect of parameter such as internal pressure variation on the torispherical head is shown in
the below.
Buckling shape of the vessel having thickness 12 mm subjected to an internal pressure of 1 MPa, 2Mpa
and 3MPa is shown in Figures, Fig. 12 to Fig. 17. By the method of Eigen value buckling analysis, the
critical buckling pressure at which the vessel undergoes buckling is found to be,

• 234.795 MPa for 1 MPa internal pressure

• 117.400 MPa for 2 MPa internal pressure
• 078.266 MPa for 3 Mpa internal pressure

The vessel buckling is seen in knuckle region because of geometric discontinuity.

The values of buckling stress for each mode is shown in the below table 6.

Tab. 6: Values of critical buckling pressure for different modes

Fig. 12: Modes shape for 1 MPa internal pressure

Fig. 13: Modes shape for 1 MPa internal pressure Fig. 14: Modes shape for 2 MPa internal pressure

Fig. 15: Modes shape for 2 MPa internal pressure Fig. 16: Modes shape for 3 MPa internal pressure

Fig. 17: Modes shape for 3 MPa internal pressure Fig. 18: Variation of critical buckling pressure for 1 MPa
internal pressure
 Fig. 19: Variation of critical buckling pressure Fig. 20: Variation of critical buckling pressure
for 2 MPa internal pressure for 3 MPa internal pressure

4.3 MODAL ANALYSIS

Modal analysis of 3D torispherical head subjected to the internal pressures of 1 Mpa to 3 MPa is carried
out to determine the vibration characteristics (natural frequencies and mode shapes). The results of modal
analysis are shown in the following figures 21 to 29.

The below table 7 shows the values of natural frequencies for different internal pressures and different
modes.

Tab. 7: Values of natural frequency for different internal pressure and modes
Total 10 modes were extracted for each internal pressure. In this report only three modes for each internal
pressures are shown.
• Mode-I, mode-III, and mode-V for internal pressure of 1 MPa (Figures 21, 22, 23)

• Mode-II, mode-IV, and mode-VI for internal pressure of 2 MPa (Figures 24, 25, 26)

• Mode-VI, mode-VIII, and mode-X for internal pressure of 3 MPa (Figures 27, 28, 29)

Fig. 21: Mode shape for 1 MPa internal pressure Fig. 22: Mode shape for 1 MPa internal pressure

Fig. 23: Mode shape for 1 MPa internal pressure Fig. 24: Mode shape for 2 MPa internal pressure
Fig. 25: Mode shape for 2 MPa internal pressuret Fig. 26: Mode shape for 2 MPa internal pressure

Fig. 27: Mode shape for 3 MPa internal pressure Fig. 28: Mode shape for 3 MPa internal pressure

Fig. 29: Mode shape for 3 MPa internal pressure Fig. 30: Variation of natural frequencies for internal
pressure of 1 MPa
 Fig. 31: Variation of natural frequencies for internal Fig. 32: Variation of natural frequencies for internal pressure of 3MPa
pressure of 2 MPa

4.4 FRACTURE ANALYSIS

For the fracture analysis the problem is taken from the literature survey. The paper re- ferred is "Stress
Intensity Factors for Arbitrarily Located and Oriented Cracks in a Cylin- drical Shell with ToriSpherical
End Enclosures Subjected to Internal Pressure" by Shiv- ashankar R Srivatsa et al.(25)
The dimensions of the torispherical head pressure vessel are:

While solving the problem in Ansys, the following assumptions were made:

• Plane strain condition

• Full crack model
The stress distribution in the torispherical head pressure vessel with the presence of a circumferential crack
in the toroidal region is shown in the following figure 33 and figure 34.
 Fig. 34: Von-Mises stress distribution around the
Fig. 33: Von-Mises stress distribution
crack tip

The fracture analysis was done for torispherical pressure vessel using commercial FEA software and the
Von-Mises stress distribution over the cylinder and at the crack tip is as shown in the Fig. 33 and Fig. 34.
and it can be observed that stress is maximum at the crack tip and it is of the magnitude 2162 MPa. Since
force
the cross-sectional area is less at the crack tip and by using the principle formula stress = /area and the
area at the crack tip tends to zero, stress with larger value can be seen at the crack tip.

The following table 8 shows the values of stress concentration factors around the crack tip.

Tab. 8: Values of stress intensity factors around the crack tip

From the above table it can be seen that the SIF value of the K-I (Opening mode) is greater than the other
two values, because it takes more time and strength to initiate the crack. When we see the second SIF
i.e,K-II (Sliding mode), it is less than opening mode value, because the crack initiation has already taken
place. In this mode, the crack begins to grow. In the last stage, the value of SIF i.e, K-III (Tearing mode) is
very less compared to other two values. In this mode, the crack will be completely opened and lastly the
component fails. The failure of the component is mainly based on first two modes. Hence, it is called
mixed mode type of failure.
4.4.1 Validation

The target solution is taken from the book ’Fracture Mechanics’ by T.L. Anderson. For a through
longitudinal crack in an internally pressurized cylinder, mode-I SIF is given by,

Where,

To calculate percentage error

5. CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTIONS FOR FUTURE WORK

5.1 CONCLUSION

From the finite element analysis performed on a torispherical head pressure vessel subjected to different
internal pressures, the following conclusions were made:
• Three dimensional static stress analysis was performed on a torispherical head pres- sure vessel to
validate the methodology.
• Three dimensional static stress analysis was performed to determine the effect of internal pressure
on the stress and find the critical region in the vessel. From the Static analysis, it was found that the
Von-Mises stress is more at the knuckle region because of the geometrical discontinuities in
between head and the cylinder portions and the theoretical solution is also found to be matched.
• Eigen value buckling analysis was carried out to determine the critical buckling pres- sure at which
the vessel undergoes buckling effects. It was found that time taken to buckle is more for least
 pressure and goes on increasing as the pressure increases. Based on the study performed to
determine the critical buckling pressure of the vessel, buckling pressure is influenced by the thickness
of the vessel. Higher the thicknesses of the vessel better the buckling resistance.
• Modal analysis was carried out to determine the vibration characteristics (natural frequencies and
mode shapes) of a pressure vessel. From the obtained results we can observe that the natural
frequencies are nearly same for the internal pressures considered.
• Fracture analysis was performed on an axisymmetric model with pre generated circumferential
through crack. Singular elements were formed around the crack tip to find the stress intensity
factors. By observing the obtained stress intensity factors, the opening mode SIF is very high
compared to other two SIFs because, the stress required to initiate the crack is more. Once the crack
is initiated the growth of the crack becomes easier and the SIF decreases.
• The obtained stress intensity factors are essential to predict
(i)Mixed mode fracture under static, dynamic and sustained loads
(ii)Residual strength and
(iii)Crack growth life under cyclic loading conditions.

The results of stress analysis from validation is in good argument with results in analytical solutions, hence
the methodology is proved to be correct.

5.2 SUGGESTIONS FOR FUTURE WORK

• The research mainly focuses on the static, buckling, modal and fracture analyses of a torispherical
head pressure vessels without any provision for service holes. Further this research can be
continued by analyzing the pressure vessel by providing service holes.
• Buckling analysis is done only by FEA approach. In future the ANSYS results can be compared
with analytical values.
• Modal analysis of this study gives only the mode shapes and natural frequencies. Hence other
dynamic characteristics like transient, couple field and harmonic response can be performed.

Further using experimental investigations the predictions can be verified.

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