Discontinuity stress analysis of pressure vessels using the finite element method

Abstract

In pressure vessels the centre lines of the cylinder and dome portions often do not coincide thereby leading to a discontinuity at their junction. Structural analysis of such a structure assuming the centrelines of the cylinder and dome portions to be coincident leads to an incorrect estimation of stress and displacement distributions around the discontinuity. To predict accurately the stress and displacement distributions around the discontinuity, an iterative finite element scheme is developed in this paper using a conical shell finite element. The method is applied to two typical pressure vessels, one with hemispherical end domes and the other with ellipsoidal end domes. It is found that the solution converges in a few iterations.