There is no chance of the wall thickness increasing as the ring thermally expands, not a chance at all, Corus.
Material volume of the ring is conserved before and after thermal expansion. Cut the ring open and flatten out the circumference; apply tension. Does the openned ring not behave similar to a wire under tension? I can't see the wall thickness increasing!
Rather, you would see the wall experiencing "necking". As the circumference increases due to diametrical expansion the ring MUST decrease in both width and wall thickness. In other words:
eX = (Sx - vSy - vSz) / E
eY = (-vSx + Sy - vSz) / E
eZ = (-vSx - vSy + Sz) / E
which is the strain matrix for triaxial loading of the wall element in basis <x,y,z>. You can easily see the loss in dimensions of the latter two basis as strain increases in the first basis. The role of the negative sign explicitly denotes LOSS, not gain in dimensional value(s).
Clearly, given e=strain, S=stress, E=Youngs Modulus and v=Poisson Ratio then: e=a dT L for a=coefficient of thermal expansion, dT=temperature difference and L=length. Stress and strain are intimently linked via Hookes Law, S=Ee for e=(L-L')/L, L'=final length.
Therefore a guy can clearly see the influence of material properties and mass conservation of the ring under thermal flux. The gain in one dimension obviously implies loss in measurement of the latter two dimensions.
Kenneth J Hueston, PEng
Principal
Sturni-Hueston Engineering Inc
Edmonton, Alberta Canada