Behaviour of Thick-Walled Steel Cylinders Subjected to Internal Pressure

Abstract

In this paper the literature on the strength of thick-walled cylinders subjected to internal pressure is reviewed and equations are given which enable the initial yield pressure, collapse pressure, and ultimate pressure to be calculated from shear stress-strain data. Pressure tests on thick-walled cylinders made from 0.15 per cent carbon steel, 0.3 per cent carbon steel, and Vibrac steel are described, the maximum pressure reached being 42 ton/in2. For 0.15 per cent carbon steel results of tests on cylinders with a ratio of outer to bore diameter of up to 8.05 are given. Numerous tensile and torsion tests have been carried out on these steels and these are fully reported.For the 0.3 per cent carbon steel which was tested first no measurements were made of initial yield and collapse pressures. The results for the 0.15 per cent carbon steel, however, show good agreement with the calculated values if allowance is made for the influence of shear stress gradient when computing the initial yield pressure. With Vibrac steel the experimental results lie between the two curves computed from the extreme shear stress-strain curves. The experimental pressure-expansion curves at large strains and the ultimate pressures for the three materials all agree very well with the computed values. Values of the ultimate pressures have also been calculated from several empirical equations but they all give considerable errors, though up to a diameter ratio of 4 the mean diameter formula is satisfactory.