ES13 - Mechanics of Deformable Bodies

STRESSES IN PRESSURE
VESSELS
Thin-Walled Pressure Vessels

• Pressure vessels are containers that contain pressurized

liquid or gas.

• Pressure vessels can be spherical or cylindrical.

• The thickness t of a thin-walled pressure vessel is much

smaller than its inner radius r (r/t ≥ 10).

• For thin-walled pressure vessels, the stresses are assumed to

be uniform throughout the wall thickness.
Cylindrical Pressure Vessels

• A small element on the wall

surface is subjected to
normal stresses σ1 and σ2
caused by the internal
gauge pressure p.

• σ1 is along the
circumferential or hoop
direction

• σ2 is along the longitudinal

or axial direction
Cylindrical Pressure Vessels

• Circumferential Stress / Hoop Stress

pr pd
1  
t 2t

• Longitudinal Stress / Axial Stress

pr pd
2  
2t 4t

• Maximum Shear Stress

1 pd
 max  
2 4t
Spherical Pressure Vessels

• Due to symmetry, the

stresses exerted on the
four faces of a small
element on the wall
surface must be equal.

• Stresses σ1 and σ2 are

equal.
Spherical Pressure Vessels

• Circumferential Stress / Hoop Stress

pr pd
1  
2t 4t

• Maximum Shear Stress

1 pd
 max  
2 8t
Examples

1. A cylindrical pressure vessel has an inner diameter of 4 ft

and a thickness of 1/2 in. Determine the maximum internal
pressure it can sustain so that neither its circumferential nor
its longitudinal stress component exceeds 20 ksi.

2. A cylindrical storage tank has an outer diameter of 3.3 m and

a wall thickness of 18 mm. At a time when the internal
pressure of the tank is 1.5 MPa, determine the maximum
normal stress and the maximum shear stress in the tank.