Mechanical Design of

Process Equipment - Vessel

Perancangan Alat (CHE 331)
10.02.2023

Dept. of Chemical Engineering - Widya Mandala Surabaya Catholic University Surabaya

Classification of pressure vessels
• Subdivided into two classes depending on the ratio of the wall
thickness to vessel diameter:
- thin-walled vessels (thickness ratio < 1:10)
- thick-walled vessels
Question: when to use these thin-walled vessels and thick-walled
vessels?

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Pressure vessel codes and standards
• Section VIII contains 3 subdivisions:
Division 1: Contains general rules and is most
commonly followed particularly for low-pressure
vessels.
Division 2: Contains alternative rules that are more
restrictive on materials, design temperatures, design
details, fabrication methods, and inspection, but allow
higher design stresses and hence thinner vessel walls.
Usually chosen for large, high-pressure vessels where
the saving in metal cost and fabrication complexity
offsets the higher engineering and construction costs.
Division 3: Contains alternative rules intended for
vessels with design pressures > 10,000 psig. It does not
establish a maximum pressure for vessels designed in
accordance with D.1 or D.2, but provides alternative
rules that can be followed for thicker-walled vessels

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 Pressure vessel codes and standards
• In the European Union, the design, manufacture, and use of pressure
systems is covered by the Pressure Equipment Directive (Council Directive
97/23/EC). European standard EN 13445 provides similar rules and
guidelines to the ASME BPV Code.
• In the United Kingdom, pressure vessels for use in the chemical and allied
industries are designed and fabricated according to the British Standard PD
5500 or the EN 13445.
• Where national codes are not available, the ASME, British, or European
codes would normally be used.

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 Principal stresses
• The principal stresses are the maximum values of the normal stresses
at the point, which act on planes on which the shear stress is zero.

σ : normal stress
τ : shear stress
• The maximum shear stress at the point is equal to half the
algebraic difference between the principal stresses:

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Theories of failure
• Maximum principal stress theory: Postulates that a member will fail
when one of the principal stresses reaches the failure value in simple
tension, σ’e. The failure point in a simple tension is taken as the
yield-point stress, or the tensile strength of the material, divided by a
suitable factor of safety.
• Maximum shear stress theory: Postulates that failure will occur in a
complex stress system when the maximum shear stress reaches the
value of the shear stress at failure in simple tension.

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Theories of failure
For a system of combined stresses, there are three shear stress
maxima:

The maximum shear stress will depend on the sign of the principal
stresses as well as their magnitude, and in a two-dimensional stress
system, such as that in the wall of a thin-walled pressure vessel, the
maximum value of the shear stress may be that given by putting σ3 = 0
in eqn. 13.3b and c.

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Theories of failure
• Maximum strain energy theory: postulates that failure will occur in a
complex stress system when the total strain energy per unit volume
reaches the value at which failure occurs in simple tension.
The maximum shear stress theory has been found to be suitable for
predicting the failure of ductile materials under complex loading and is
the criterion normally used in pressure vessel design.

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 Elastic stability
• Under certain loading conditions, failure of a structure
can occur not through gross yielding or plastic failure,
but by buckling or wrinkling.
• This mode of failure will occur when the structure is not
elastically stable – when it lacks sufficient stiffness, or
rigidity, to withstand the load.
• The walls of pressure vessels are usually relatively thin
compared with the other dimensions and can fail by
buckling under compressive loads.
• Elastic buckling is the decisive criterion in the design of
thin-walled vessels under external pressure.

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Membrane stresses in shells of revolution
• A shell of revolution is the form swept out by a
line or curve rotated about an axis. Most
process vessels are made up from shells of
revolution: cylindrical and conical sections; and
hemispherical, ellipsoidal, and torispherical
heads.
• The actual thickness required will also depend
on the stresses arising from the other loads to
which the vessel is subjected.

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 Membrane stresses in shells of revolution
• Consider the forces acting on the element defined by
the points a, b, c, d. then the normal component
(component acting at right angles to the surface) of the
pressure force on the element

Stress in a shell of revolution

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Shells of revolution: Cylinder

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Shells of revolution: Sphere

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Shells of revolution: Cone

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Shells of revolution: Ellipsoid

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Shells of revolution: Torus

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Shells of revolution: Torispherical heads

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General equation for flat plates
• Used as covers for manholes, as blind flanges, and for the ends of
small diameter and low-pressure vessels.

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