PRESSURE VESSEL DESIGN DUE TO 


EXTERNAL PRESSURE
 PRESSURE EFFECTS

INTERNAL PRESSURE EXTERNAL PRESSURE

• failure by dilation (tension) • failure by buckling
• yield strength is more (compression)
important as basis for • Young’s modulus of
nominal strength elasticity has greater
design implication
• Poisson’s ratio is used
 BUCKLING

o Failure through elastic instability

o The ability of the vessel to carry loads is lost even if
the material itself may not be completely
destroyed
o Metals tend to bend prior to “breakage”
(vs brittle ceramics)
 FACTORS AFFECTING DESIGN FOR EXTERNAL PRESSURE

o Application where it is in service

o Size (note that length does not affect stresses
caused by internal pressure)
o Geometry rather than material strength
o Spacing of stiffening rings
 VESSELS SUBJECT TO 

EXTERNAL PRESSURE EFFECTS

o Vessels operated under vacuum (max is 1bar)

o Vacuum caused by failure to vent when draining
o Jacketed or multi-chambered vessels
o Vessels where there is condensing steam
 DESIGN PROCEDURE

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L
 DESIGN PROCEDURE

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Reproduce
figure in
100% scale
of original
document
 DESIGN PROCEDURE

! Wall thickness from 1st step is sufficient if Pc > Pext

! Safety factor should be >= 3 for it to be safe

 DESIGN PROCEDURE

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LS< LC
 OTHER EQUATIONS FOR Pc

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 OTHER EQUATIONS FOR Pc

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 OTHER EQUATIONS FOR Pc

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 CRITICAL BUCKLING PRESSURE 

OF VESSEL HEADS

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 Example Problem

A 300mm scuba tank has an O2 gauge showing

1800 kPa. The tank is made out of Titanium alloy
with yield stress of 700 MPa, modulus of elasticity of
207 GPa and is 0.9m long excluding the enclosure.
Evaluate the tank if Pext reaches 1107 kPa for a
deep-sea dive. The joint efficiency is 0.8
Example Problem

Di = 300mm Pg =1800 kPa

S = 700 MPa L = 0.9m
Pext = 1107 kPa E = 0.8
EY = 207 GPa
 Example Problem

Choose hemi head because it can withstand greater

pressure (twice that of a standard ellipsoidal head)
 Example Problem

Thickness is sufficient for external pressure but it may not be safe.

 Example Problem

Distance of stiffening rings is greater than the vessel

length. Therefore, stiffening rings are not needed

Critical buckling pressures of enclosures are typically

several orders of magnitude greater than the shell.
 DESIGN DUE TO 

COMBINED LOADING
 COMBINATION OF LOAD

The vessel must be designed to withstand the worst

combination of the loads likely to occur in the following
situations:
1. During building (or dismantling) of the vessel;
2. With the vessel erected but not operating;
3. During testing (the hydraulic pressure test);
4. During normal operation.
 DEAD WEIGHT STRESS

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 DEAD WEIGHT STRESS

1. The vessel shell;

2. The vessel fittings: manways, nozzles;
3. Internal fittings: plates (plus the fluid on the plates); heating and cooling
coils;
4. External fittings: ladders, platforms, piping;
5. Auxiliary equipment that is not self-supported; condensers, agitators;
6. Insulation;
7. The weight of liquid to fill the vessel. The vessel will be filled with water for
the hydraulic pressure test and may fill with process liquid due to mis-
operation.
 DEAD WEIGHT from vessel itself

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 DEAD WEIGHT from fittings

o Caged ladders, steel, 360 N/m length;

o Plain ladders, steel, 150 N/m length;
o Platforms, steel, for vertical columns, 1.7 kN/m2 area;
o Contacting plates, steel, including typical liquid loading,
1.2 kN/m2 plate area.
 DEAD WEIGHT from insulator

Typical densities of insulators (kg/m3)

o These densities should be doubled to allow for

attachment fittings, sealing, and moisture absorption.
o Solve weight from (SA)outside * tins * ρins * 2
 BENDING STRESS

Bending moments will be caused by the following loading

conditions:
o The wind loads on tall, self-supported vessels
o Seismic (earthquake) loads on tall vessels
o The dead weight and wind loads on piping and
equipment that is attached to the vessel but offset from
the vessel center line
 BENDING STRESS

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 BENDING MOMENT

due to wind

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 BENDING MOMENT due to wind

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 BENDING MOMENT

due to concentrated load

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 BENDING MOMENT

due to eccentric loads

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 TORQUE

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 CRITICAL BUCKLING STRESS

Under conditions where the resultant axial stress due to

the combined loading is compressive, the vessel may fail
by elastic instability (buckling).
Failure can occur by:
o buckling of the complete vessel, as with a strut (Euler
buckling),
o local buckling,
o or wrinkling of the shell plates.
 CRITICAL BUCKLING STRESS

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 Example Problem 13.2 (Towler)

Make a preliminary estimate of the plate thickness

for the distillation column given:
H (tangent) = 50m Di = 2m hemispherical head
Skirt support height = 3m 100 sieve plates
tins = 75mm mineral wool Pabs = 10bar
Stainless steel, S = 135 MPa @ 200°C E=1
 Example Problem

The vessel is 50m tall. A thicker wall is needed at the

column base to withstand other loads.
Use 2mm increment for every 10m height.
 
 Example Problem 13.2 (Towler)

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 Example Problem 13.2 (Towler)

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 Example Problem 13.2 (Towler)

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 Example Problem 13.2 (Towler)

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 Example Problem 13.2 (Towler)

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