Thermo-Elastic Creep Analysis and Life Assessment of Thick Truncated Conical Shells with Variable Thickness

Abstract

A semi-analytical method is presented to investigate time-dependent thermo-elastic creep behavior and life assessment of thick truncated conical shells with variable thickness subjected to internal pressure and thermal load. Based on the first-order shear deformation theory (FSDT), equilibrium equations and boundary conditions are derived using the minimum total potential energy principle. To the best of the researcher’s knowledge, in previous studies, thermo-elastic creep analysis of conical shell with variable thickness based on the FSDT has not been investigated. Norton’s law is assumed as the material creep constitutive model. The multilayered method is proposed to solve the resulting equations, which yields an accurate solution. Subsequently, the stresses at different creep times can be obtained by means of an iterative approach. Using Robinson’s linear life fraction damage rule, the creep damages of conical shells are determined and Larson–Miller parameter (LMP) is employed for assessing the remaining life. The results of the proposed approach are validated with those of the finite element method (FEM) and good agreement was found. The results indicate that the present analysis is accurate and computationally efficient.