MECHANICS

RESEARCH COMMUNICATIONS

Mechanics Research Communications 34 (2007) 466–471

www.elsevier.com/locate/mechrescom

A comparison on failure pressures of cylindrical pressure vessels

Uğur Güven
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Yıldız Technical University, Besßiktasß 34349, Istanbul, Turkey

Received 12 December 2006; received in revised form 2 May 2007

Available online 24 May 2007

Abstract

In this work, the failure pressures of thick and thin walled cylindrical pressure vessels considering the Voce hardening
law and plastic orthotropy effect are obtained. The solution presented is used to compare the failure pressures of copper
and brass cylindrical pressure vessels.
Ó 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Cylindrical pressure vessels; Failure pressure; Large deformation; Voce hardening law; Plastic orthotropy

1. Introduction

The safety design of cylindrical vessels subjected to high internal pressure widely used in various industrial
applications requires the estimation of failure pressure. In general, the failure pressures are obtained from
plastic stress–strain relations by assuming large plastic strains. The literature in this field is rather large, see
Christopher et al. (2002) and a review in this article. In the present literature, most of the works consider
the stress–strain relation of the Ludwik or Holloman type defined by
r ¼ ro en ð1Þ

where r is the effective stress, e is the effective strain, ro and n are the strength coefficient and the strain hard-
ening exponent, respectively. However, as reported previously (Kleemola and Ranta-Eskola, 1976; Sing and
Rao, 1997), the stress–strain relationship of copper and, especially, brass can be represented using the Voce
relationship as
r ¼ B  ðB  AÞ expðno eÞ ð2Þ

where A, B and no are material parameters determined from experimental data.

The aim of this work is to present a relatively simple analysis and the more general analytical solution for
the failure pressures of thick and thin walled cylindrical vessels. The present analysis is based on Voce hard-
ening law, Hill’s yield criterion (Hill, 1950) and the usual assumptions, i.e., the rigid plastic behaviour and the

E-mail address: uguven@yildiz.edu.tr

0093-6413/$ - see front matter Ó 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.mechrescom.2007.05.001
 U. Güven / Mechanics Research Communications 34 (2007) 466–471 467

large plastic strains. The present solution is used to compare the failure pressures of copper and brass cylin-
drical pressure vessels.

2. Thick walled cylindrical vessel

We consider a thick walled cylindrical vessel subjected to an internal pressure p and whose internal and
external radii are Ri and Ro, respectively. The equilibrium equation in the cylindrical coordinates under axial
symmetry and the large deformation assumptions can be written as (e.g. Christopher et al., 2002)
drr
ðr þ uÞ ¼ r h  rr ð3Þ
dðr þ uÞ
where r, u and (r + u) are, the initial radius, the radial displacement and the present radius, respectively. rr and
rh are the radial and circumferential stresses, respectively.
Similarly, the geometric relations and strain compatibility equation are given by (e.g. Christopher et al.,
2002):
 
du
er ¼ ln 1 þ ð4Þ
dr
 u 
eh ¼ ln 1 þ ð5Þ
r
deh
ðr þ uÞ ¼ 1  expðeh  er Þ ð6Þ
dðr þ uÞ

where er and eh are the radial and circumferential strains, respectively.

The plastic behaviour of the thick walled cylinder is governed by Hill’s criterion (Hill, 1950) and the expres-
sions for the effective stress r and the effective strain e are given by
qffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
1
r ¼ pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi ðrh  rz Þ2 þ ðrr  rz Þ2 þ Rðrr  rh Þ2 ð7Þ
1þR
pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi qffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
1þR 2 2 2
e¼ ðeh  Rez Þ þ ðer  Rez Þ þ Rðer  eh Þ ð8Þ
1 þ 2R
where rz and ez are the axial stress and the axial strain, respectively and the parameter R is a measure of plastic
orthotropy.
To represent the stress–strain relation is adopted Voce hardening law given by Eq. (2). Using plane strain
(ez = 0) and incompressibility (er + eh + ez = 0) conditions, the effective stress and the effective strain are
expressed as
sffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
1 þ 2R
r¼ ðrh  rr Þ ð9Þ
2ð1 þ RÞ
rffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
2ð1 þ RÞ
e¼ eh ð10Þ
1 þ 2R
If the dimensionless quantities x is defined as x ¼ rþu
Ri
, then the compatibility equation (6) becomes
deh
x ¼ 1  expðeh  er Þ ð11Þ
dx
Integrating Eq. (11), the circumferential strain eh is given by (Christopher et al., 2002):
 
1 x2
eh ¼ ln ð12Þ
2 1  x2i þ x2
where xi is the value of x at the inner surface. Substituting Eq. (12) in Eq. (10), the effective strain e is obtained
as
468 U. Güven / Mechanics Research Communications 34 (2007) 466–471
 
g x2
e ¼ ln ð13Þ
2 1  x2 þ x2
qffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi i
where g ¼ 2ð1þRÞ
1þ2R
.
As a result of the plane strain and the incompressibility assumptions, the area of the cross-section of the
thick walled cylindrical vessel before and after deformation remains the same. Thus, this condition can be
expressed as (Christopher et al., 2002):
p½ðRo þ uo Þ2  ðRi þ ui Þ2  ¼ pðR2o  R2i Þ ð14Þ
where ui and uo are the radial displacements at the inner surface (r = Ri) and at the outer surface (r = Ro),
respectively.
Dividing Eq. (14) by pR2i
x2o  x2i ¼ j2  1 ð15Þ
where j ¼ RRoi .
Considering Eq. (15), from Eq. (13), the effective strains at the inner surface (r = Ri) and at the outer sur-
face (r = Ro) are expressed as
ei ¼ g ln xi ð16Þ
2  3
g 4 1  exp 2g ei
eo ¼ ln 1  5 ð17Þ
2 j2

Dividing Eq. (3) by Eq. (6), and using Eq. (10) and, er + eh = 0, the basic relationship between the radial stress
and the effective strain is obtained as
drr r
¼   ð18Þ
de 1  exp 2eg

Integrating Eq. (18), using the Voce hardening law and considering the boundary conditions as at the inner
surface rr = p, e = ei and at the outer surface rr = 0, e = eo, the internal pressure can be obtained as
Z eo
B  ðB  AÞ expðno eÞ
p¼   de ð19Þ
ei 1  exp 2eg

At instability and failure the derivative of the internal pressure with respect to the effective strain becomes
zero. Nonlinear equation obtained from Eq. (19) in terms of ei may be solved by using Mathematica software.

3. Thin walled cylindrical vessels

We now consider a thin walled cylindrical pressure vessel whose initial radius and initial thickness are Ri
and ti, respectively. As stated previously, there is no change in the area of the cross-section of the thin walled
cylindrical vessel before and after deformation. Thus, this condition can be expressed as (Christopher et al.,
2002):
2pRi ti ¼ 2pðr þ uÞt ð20Þ
where t is the present thickness.
Since it is assumed the radial stress, rr = 0, considering Eq. (20), the circumferential and axial stresses are
written as
pRi 2
rh ¼ x ð21Þ
ti
pR
rz ¼ i x2 ð22Þ
2ti
 U. Güven / Mechanics Research Communications 34 (2007) 466–471 469

In this case the effective stress r and effective strain e become

rh
r¼ ð23Þ
g
e ¼ g ln x ð24Þ
Substituting Eq. (21) in Eq. (23) and considering the Voce hardening law and Eq. (24), the internal pressure is
given by
 
gti B ðB  AÞ
p¼  2þgno ð25Þ
R i x2 x
The point instability occurs when dp
dx
¼ 0, since p is maximum. Thus, the value of x which correspond to point
of instability is obtained as
 1
ðB  AÞð2 þ gno Þ gno
x¼ ð26Þ
2B

Fig. 1. Variations of failure pressures with radius ratio for copper and brass cylindrical vessels.
470 U. Güven / Mechanics Research Communications 34 (2007) 466–471

Substituting the value of x given by Eq. (26) in Eq. (25) gives the maximum pressure as
 2þgn o
g2 no t i 1 2B gno
pmax ¼ ð27Þ
2Ri ðB  AÞ2=ðgno Þ 2 þ gno

4. Numerical results and discussion

The variation of failure pressures with radius ratio for copper and brass thick walled cylindrical vessels is
shown in Fig. 1. For copper A, B, no and R are taken (Kleemola and Ranta-Eskola, 1976) to be 91 MPa,
376 MPa, 4.71 and 0.86, respectively. For brass A, B, no and R are taken (Kleemola and Ranta-Eskola,
1976) to be 105 MPa, 732 MPa, 2.36 and 0.81, respectively. The stress–strain curves of copper and brass gen-
erated by the given coefficients and Voce equation is shown in Fig. 2. Considering the plastic orthotropy effect
the more general a comparison is presented.

Fig. 2. Stress–strain curves of copper and brass according to the Voce equation.
 U. Güven / Mechanics Research Communications 34 (2007) 466–471 471

The failure pressures for copper and brass thin walled cylindrical vessels from Eq. (27) are obtained as
22.041 MPa and 29.84 MPa, respectively. In numerical calculations is Rtii ¼ 0:1.
If we replace Voce hardening law with Ludwik stress strain relation, in thin walled cylindrical vessels, the
value of x which correspond to point of instability is obtained as
n
x ¼ exp ð28Þ
2
It is interesting to observe from Eq. (28), in this case x is independent of the plastic orthotropy parameter R.
However, it is seen by comparing Eqs. (26) and (28) that the analysis based on the Voce equation considers the
plastic orthotropy.

5. Conclusion

In the present work, the failure pressures of cylindrical pressure vessels considering Voce hardening law and
plastic orthotropy effect are investigated in the more general form. The failure pressures of thick and thin
walled cylindrical vessels are solved by numerical and closed form solutions. The solutions presented are used
to compare the failure pressures copper and brass cylindrical vessels. As reported previously in Kleemola and
Ranta-Eskola (1976) and Sing and Rao (1997), brass is well represented by use of the Voce hardening law.
Therefore, the present comparative study may provide useful and reliable information for structural designers
and engineers.

References

Christopher, T., Rama Sarma, B.S.V., Govindan Potti, P.K., Nageswara Rao, B., Sankarnarayananasamy, K., 2002. A comparative study
on failure pressure estimations of unflawed cylindrical vessels. International Journal of Pressure Vessels and Piping. 79, 53–66.
Hill, R., 1950. The Mathematical Theory of Plasticity. Clarendon Press, Oxford.
Kleemola, H.J., Ranta-Eskola, A.J., 1976. Comparison of the strain hardening parameters of sheet metals in uniaxial and biaxial tension.
Metallurgical and Materials Transactions A 7, 595–599.
Sing, W.M., Rao, K.P., 1997. Role of strain hardening laws in the prediction of forming limit curves. Journal of Materials Processing
Technology 63, 105–110.