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CIVIL ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT

FLEX Course Material

Introduce the Ultimate
and Allowable stress of
materials.
Discuss the Factor of
Safety applied to strength
of materials.
Discuss the stresses acting
on thin-walled pressure
MECHANICS OF
DEFORMABLE
vessels.

BODIES

ULTIMATE AND ALLOWABLE

STRESS: FACTOR OF SAFETY,
STRESS ON THIN-WALLED
PRESSURE VESSELS

ENGR. FRANZ D. SANTOS

FACULTY, COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING
CIVIL ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT
ALLOWABLE LOAD AND ALLOWABLE
STRESS: FACTOR OF SAFETY
❑The maximum load that a structural member or a
machine component will be allowed to carry under
normal conditions is considerably smaller.
❑This smaller load is the allowable load (sometimes
called the working or design load).
❑Thus, only a fraction of the ultimate load capacity of
the member is used when the allowable load is
applied.
❑The remaining portion of the load-carrying capacity
of the member is kept in reserve to assure its safe
performance.

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ALLOWABLE LOAD AND ALLOWABLE
STRESS: FACTOR OF SAFETY

The ratio of the ultimate load to the

allowable load is used to define the
factor of safety

𝑼𝒍𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝑳𝒐𝒂𝒅
𝑭𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒐𝒓 𝒐𝒇 𝑺𝒂𝒇𝒆𝒕𝒚, 𝑭. 𝑺. =
𝑨𝒍𝒍𝒐𝒘𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝑳𝒐𝒂𝒅

Likewise, in terms of stress:

𝑼𝒍𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝑺𝒕𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒔, 𝝈𝒖𝒍𝒕

𝑭. 𝑺. =
𝑨𝒍𝒍𝒐𝒘𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝑺𝒕𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒔, 𝝈𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒐𝒘

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SAMPLE PROBLEMS
PROBLEM 1
Two loads are applied to the bracket BCD as shown.
(a) Knowing that the control rod AB is to be made of a
steel having an ultimate normal stress of 600 MPa,
determine the diameter of the rod for which the
factor of safety with respect to failure will be 3.3.
(b) The pin at C is to be made of a steel having an
ultimate shearing stress of 350 MPa. Determine
the diameter of the pin C for which the factor of
safety with respect to shear will also be 3.3.
(c) Determine the required thickness of the bracket
supports at C, knowing that the allowable bearing
stress of the steel used is 300 MPa.

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THIN WALLED PRESSURE VESSELS
❑Cylindrical or spherical vessels are commonly used
in industry to serve as boilers or tanks. When under
pressure, the material of which they are made is
subjected to a loading from all directions.
❑Although this is the case, the vessel can be analyzed
in a simple manner provided it has a thin wall.

“Thin Wall ” refers to a

vessel having an inner-
radius-to-wall-thickness
ratio of 10 or more

𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒏𝒆𝒓
> 𝟏𝟎
𝒕𝒘𝒂𝒍𝒍

Provided the vessel wall is “thin,” the stress

distribution throughout its thickness will not vary
significantly, and so we will assume that it is uniform
or constant.
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THIN WALLED PRESSURE VESSELS
Consider the cylindrical vessel subjected to a gage
pressure of “p” acting on the inside of the vessel.

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THIN WALLED PRESSURE VESSELS

𝑻𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒂𝒍 𝑺𝒕𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒔
𝒑𝑫
𝝈𝒕 =
𝟐𝒕
𝑩𝒖𝒓𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑭𝒐𝒓𝒄𝒆
𝑭 = 𝒑𝑫𝑳

𝑳𝒐𝒏𝒈𝒊𝒕𝒖𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒂𝒍 𝑺𝒕𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒔
𝒑𝑫
𝝈𝒍 =
𝟒𝒕
𝑩𝒖𝒓𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑭𝒐𝒓𝒄𝒆
𝝅𝑫𝟐
𝑭=𝒑𝒙
𝟒
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THIN WALLED PRESSURE VESSELS

We can analyze spherical pressure vessels in the same

manner.

𝒑𝑫 𝝅𝑫𝟐
𝝈= 𝑭=𝒑𝒙
𝟒𝒕 𝟒

This thin-walled pipe

was subjected to an
excessive gas pressure
that caused it to
rupture.

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SAMPLE PROBLEMS

PROBLEM 1
Determine the stress tangential and
longitudinal stress at the walls of a 200mm
diameter pipe (outside dimension), 12mm
thick under a pressure of 3.5 MPa.

PROBLEM 2
The outside diameter of a steel pipe is known
to be 150 mm with a thickness of 5 mm.
Determine the maximum pressure that the
pipe can withstand if the ultimate stress of the
vessel is 200 MPa with a factor of safety of 1.2.

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SAMPLE PROBLEMS

PROBLEM 3
A pressurized spherical tank is
sealed along its flange using steel
bolts. The inside diameter d of the
spherical is 24 in and the thickness
is 0.5 in. Applying a maximum
pressure of 600 psi, determine the
diameter of bolt required if 12 bolts
will be used to fasten and seal the
tank and if the allowable stress in
each bolt is limited to 10,000 psi.

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SAMPLE PROBLEMS
PROBLEM 4
The pipe carrying steam at 3.5 MPa has an
outer diameter of 450 mm and a wall
thickness of 10 mm. A gasket is inserted
between the flange at one end of the pipe,
and a flat plate is used to cap the end.
(a) How many 40-mm-diameter bolts must be
used to hold the cap on if the allowable stress
in the bolts is 80 MPa, of which 55 MPa is the
initial stress?
(b) What circumferential stress is developed
in the pipe?

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