Design, Development and Testing of Inconel Alloy IN718 Spherical Gas Bottle for Oxygen Storage

Abstract

This paper describes the details of design, manufacture and testing of 200 mm diameter spherical gas bottle of Inconel 718 (IN718) with nominal wall thickness of 2.3 mm. Gas bottle was designed for the specified internal pressure loading with a thickness of 2.9 mm at the circumferential weld which was brought down to 2.3 mm at the membrane locations. Hemispherical forgings produced through closed-die hammer forging were machined and electron beam welded to produce a spherical gas bottle. Duly welded gas bottle was subjected to standard aging treatment to achieve the required tensile strength. Aged gas bottle was inspected for dimensions and other stringent quality requirements using various nondestructive testing techniques. After inspection, gas bottle was subjected to pressure test for maximum expected operating pressure and proof pressure of 25 and 37.5 MPa, respectively. Strain gauges were bonded at different locations on the gas bottle to monitor the strains during the pressure test and correlated with the predicted values. The predicted strain matched well with the experimental strain confirming the design and structural integrity.