Thin Cylinder Experiment

Introduction: This experiment gives us an opportunity to experiment with a cylinder that

has a diameter/thickness ratio > 10, i.e. thin-walled. This cylinder will undergo the pressure
loading that’ll introduce hoop stress and longitudinal stress on the surface of the material. The
fact that the cylinder is thin-walled allows us to assume that the hoop stress and longitudinal
stress are constant throughout wall thickness /area. We will test two different conditions of
pressure loading: “open end” and the “close end”.
The open end condition can be explained as studying a portion of a very long pipeline, while
closed end conditions can be thought of as observing at an enclosed gas tank which holds a
certain amount of pressure.

Aim: Using this experiment we will introduce varying amounts of pressure into cylinder and
utilize strain gage readings on surface of the cylinder to determine Young’s modulus (E), Poisson’s
ratio, ν, and to study the strain of Mohr's circles of the open and end conditions.

Apparatus; We have used a thin cylinder SM1007

Theory:

Thin pressure vessels are defined as closed cylindrical or spherical containers

designed for holding & storing fluids at pressure substantially different from the
ambient pressure. These Pressure vessels can be classified on the basis of ratio of
diameter (D) to thickness(t) and on the basis of shape of the pressure vessel:

Circumferential stress or hoop stress:

These are normal stresses that act in direction of circumference due to the internal fluid
pressure; these are tensile in nature. In thin pressure vessels, hoop stresses are assumed to be
uniform across thickness.
Longitudinal stress (axial stress):
Pressure force by fluid <= Resisting force owing to longitudinal stresses OL

Hoop Strain:

Longitudinal strain:

Ratio of hoop strain to longitudinal strain:

Thin cylinder technical information:

Items Details
Dimensions 370 mm high x 700 mm long x 380 mm front
to back

Nett weight 30 kg

Electrical supply 85 VAC to 264 VAC 50 Hz to 60Hz

Fuse 20 mm 6.3 A Type F

Maximum cylinder pressure 3.5 MNm-2 Set by a pressure relief valve on

the hand pump

Strain gauges Electrical resistance self-temperature

compensation type

Cylinder oil Shell Tellus 37 (or equivalent)

Total oil capacity Approximately 2 litres

Cylinder dimensions 80 mm internal diameter 3mm wall thickness

359 mm length

Cylinder material Aged aluminium alloy 6063

Young’s modulus (E) 69 GN/m2

Poisson’s ratio 0.33

Experiment 1 - Open Ends:

Procedure:

● First we open the pressure control and screw the hand wheel so that the open ends
condition can be obtained.
● We close the pressured control. Then, we press the ‘press & hold to zero’ button to
ensure that the reading for strain gauge displays reading zero.
● Then we increase pressure starting from 0.0 MPa up to 3 Mpa. The reading of hoop
stress (MPa) and strain for gauge 1 until gauge 6 are being recorded in the table by us.
● Then we open pressure control to relieve the pressure.
Experiment 2 - Close Ends:

Procedure:

● First we open the pressure control and unscrew the hand wheel so that the close ends
condition can be obtained.
● Then we open the pressure control to release the pressure.
● We close the pressured control. Then, we press the ‘press & hold to zero’ button to zero
the strain gauge display readings.
● Then we increase pressure starting from 0.0 MPa up to 3 Mpa. The reading of hoop
stress (MPa) and strain for gauge 1 until gauge 6 are being recorded in the table by us.

Observations:

Open End Condition

Readi Pressu Hoop Strain readings from Gauges
ng re stress
Gauge 1 Gauge 2 Gauge 3 Gauge 4 Gauge 5 Gauge 6
No. (MPa) (M Pa)
1 0 0 -2 -2 1 2 -2 1
2 0.5 6.7114 101 -24 9 34 66 99
3 1 13.423 201 -55 13 68 130 196
4 1.5 20.134 297 -86 16 99 191 291
5 2 26.846 395 -116 20 132 256 390
6 2.5 33.557 494 -147 22 166 322 489
7 3 40.268 586 -182 21 195 381 581
Values from actual Mohr’s Circle
(at 3 MN.m^2) 583.5 -182 9.375 200.75 392.125 583.5
Values from theoretical Mohr’s
Circle (at 3 MN.m^2) 583.6 -192.588 1.459 195.506 389.553 583.6
 Closed End Condition
Readi Pressu Hoop Longitu Strain readings from Gauges
ng re stress dinal
Gauge 1 Gauge 2 Gauge 3 Gauge 4 Gauge 5 Gauge 6
No. (MPa) (M Pa) Stress
 (MPa)
1 0 0 0 -2 -2 1 2 -2 1
2 0.5 6.7114 3.356 64 -9 13 29 51 70
3 1 13.423 6.7114 141 1 43 74 111 148
4 1.5 20.134 10.067 214 14 71 116 166 220
5 2 26.846 13.423 297 29 105 163 231 303
6 2.5 33.557 16.779 377 42 136 210 293 382
7 3 40.268 20.134 468 57 171 262 363 473
Values from actual Mohr’s Circle
(at 3 MN.m^2) 470.5 57 160.375 263.75 367.125 470.5
Values from theoretical Mohr’s
Circle (at 3 MN.m^2) 487.29 99.2 196.2 293.26 390.3 487.3
References:
● Mechanics and Materials laboratory manual
● F.P. Beer, E.R. Johnston, J.T. DeWolf & D.F. Mazurek. 2015. Mechanics of Materials. 7
th Ed (SI Units). McGraw Hil
● Grade up : https://gradeup.co/thin-cylinders-i-edbfe3b5-c4f7-11e5-ab49-025f7a33034e
● www.engineeringcorecourses.com/solidmechanics1/C7-stress-transformation/C7.3-
mohrs-circle/example/