Calculating Vessel Wall Thickness
Calculating Vessel Wall Thickness
(OP)
I am trying to determine the required wall thickness of a vessel. There is one hydraulic feed hole in the wall of the vessel. My first prototype failed and cracked between the feed hole and outer diameter at approx 40,000 cycles.
Because of the feed hole I am not sure what formulas to use to calculate the problem or if there is a beneficial relationship to the placement of the feed hole. (Example, thicker wall between feed hole to O.D. or between feed hole to I.D.
Current internal operating pressure of hydraulic fluid in feed hole and bore = 5000psi
Redesigned Values
I.D. of vessel = 1.438 Inch
Max. internal pressure in 1.438 Inch Bore = ?
O.D. of Vessel = 1.995 Inch
Location of hydraulic feed hole in wall = .844 inches from center
Diameter of hydraulic feed hole in wall = .118 inches
Total wall thickness (No Hole) = .28125
Wall thickness between feed hole and O.D. = .0945 Inch
Wall thickness between feed hole and I.D. = .066 Inch
Yield strength of material 60000psi
Max. permissible stress 40000psi
Any help would greatly be appreciated.
Thanks in advance
Nick
Because of the feed hole I am not sure what formulas to use to calculate the problem or if there is a beneficial relationship to the placement of the feed hole. (Example, thicker wall between feed hole to O.D. or between feed hole to I.D.
Current internal operating pressure of hydraulic fluid in feed hole and bore = 5000psi
Redesigned Values
I.D. of vessel = 1.438 Inch
Max. internal pressure in 1.438 Inch Bore = ?
O.D. of Vessel = 1.995 Inch
Location of hydraulic feed hole in wall = .844 inches from center
Diameter of hydraulic feed hole in wall = .118 inches
Total wall thickness (No Hole) = .28125
Wall thickness between feed hole and O.D. = .0945 Inch
Wall thickness between feed hole and I.D. = .066 Inch
Yield strength of material 60000psi
Max. permissible stress 40000psi
Any help would greatly be appreciated.
Thanks in advance
Nick





RE: Calculating Vessel Wall Thickness
If you can I would get professional assistance. It sounds that you are joining two pipes under high pressure in a cyclic service. This can be a tough design problem. You will probably need a piping designer, well versed in the air.
RE: Calculating Vessel Wall Thickness
There is one cylinder or pipe.
The I.D. of the pipe is 1.438
The O.D. of the pipe is 1.995
The wall thickness is .28125
There is a .118 diameter hole in the wall.
I hope this helps.
Thank you,
Nick
RE: Calculating Vessel Wall Thickness
Cheers,
gr2vesels
RE: Calculating Vessel Wall Thickness
Yes you are correct the hole is along the wall of the pipe, parallel with the I.D. of the pipe.
If I understand you correctly, because the pressure inside the pipe and the pressure inside the hole are equal we are not as concerned with the thickness between the I.D.of the pipe and the hole (does that mean the .066 wall in this area may ok). Therefore our calculated vessel thickness is between the hole and the outer diameter.
My research has found the highest stress to be at the I.D circumference and does the hole having equal pressure cause the deviation of that.
Also, where can I find information on the Pressure Vessel Code you mention.
Thank you so very much
Your view points are greatly appreciated
Nick
RE: Calculating Vessel Wall Thickness
The minimum shell thickness calculation I used is the very basic one from ASME VIII, which is essentially identical with most of the recognised pressure vessel codes, EN 13445, PD5500, AS 1210, the Russian code, etc...If you need rigorous calculations, you should use an appropriate software, in order to consider other factors, including corrosion allowance, fatigue analysis;- I also doubt the correctness of the allowable design stress you mentioned as it sound excessively high. You should select the apropriate value as listed or calculated in accordance with the design code you are using. Please note that those design stress values differ from ASME to EN 13445 and other codes and is inapropriate to quote a certain value without referring to the code using that allowable stress.
However, from your reply I understand that you have limited knowledge of the pressure vessel design and I suggest to ask for the help of a professional pressure vessel designer who can help you. It will take years of studies to understand and apply the rules of pressure vessel design;- it will also take time to master any pressure vessel design software to the extent required for your little, but interesting exercise.
It would be very instructive to read a bit the posts and replies in this forum, in order to understand the depth of the engineering issues debated and analysed here.
Good luck,
cheers,
gr2vessels
RE: Calculating Vessel Wall Thickness
However, as you don't, you can calculate the basic stress in the wall by this formula, based on simple considerations of equilibrium that are used, without longitudinal holes of course, also in pressure vessel codes:
S=P(0.5+(D+d)/(2t-d)),
where P=5000, D=1.438, d=.118, t=.28125 and S=20 ksi
However this result doesn't account for fatigue: it explains only why you don't get a failure or a permanent deformation at the first pressurization.
For fatigue the notch effect caused by the hole comes into play. For this I suppose it would be beneficial, as the failure occurred at the OD, to put the hole closer to ID, but you are already too close to ID, and the gain would anyway be minimal.
From your quoted allowable stress, I suppose you are with an unwelded construction and a cold worked material, so you could have a too hard material, with low ductility and low fatigue resistance. As you have a good margin with respect to the basic stress, as shown above, I suggest a heat treatment or the choice of a ductile material, simply a standard forging or seamless pipe for pressure vessel construction, that you can easily have with a 20 ksi allowable stress.
prex
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RE: Calculating Vessel Wall Thickness
Also, since the hydraulic jack appears to have load reversals,he should identify his max,min,range, endurance and yield stresses as well as a stress concentration factor in order to determine the hoop stress that governs this analysis. A reference would be MF Spotts "Design of machine elements" on working stresses.
RE: Calculating Vessel Wall Thickness
RE: Calculating Vessel Wall Thickness
I would like to thank all that responded to my inquiry.
As is evident it has been a long time since these items where covered in collage and I am light in this area, None the less I need to come up with a resolution for my problem.
Exactly what it is I am doing and what I am looking for.
I am designing a hydraulic component that needs to be minimal in size. (Note much room for over design)
I need a method to calculate preliminary wall thickness between the bore and feed hole also between the feed hole and outside diameter. These dimensions will be used in my preliminary design.
I know the answer is somewhere between Roark's Formulas for Thick Shell Pressure Vessels and Petersons Stress Concentration Factors.
I picked up Petersons Stress Concentration Factors today and I am finding very interesting but having a hard time applying my application to come up with a Concentration Factor.
Any help in this area would greatly be appreciated.
Thank You,
Nick