Stresses in a Pressure Vessel With a Conical Head

Abstract

Abstract This paper presents the results of computations for determining the stresses in a pressure vessel with a conical head. The accurate bending theory of shells is used to evaluate the local bending stresses in the neighborhood of the junction of the conical head and the cylindrical body. Tables show the magnitudes of the shear stress, the circumferential stress, and the axial stress at the junction as multiples of pd/2t. For the axial and circumferential stresses, the tables show the magnitude and sense of the stress on both the internal and external surfaces of the vessel. Additional results show the magnitude and location of the maximum stress (of each of the three types) in the cylinder. Curves are given showing the maximum stresses for values of cone apex angle, ratio of conical head thickness to cylinder thickness, and ratio of cylinder diameter to cylinder thickness which will include most of the vessels encountered in practice. Tables of influence numbers for the conical head are presented. These can be utilized in many problems which require attaching a conical shell to some other elastic structure. A discussion of the mathematical procedure is contained in an Appendix.