Full Description

In the past, openings in pressure vessels have been reinforced according to the area-replacement rule. Vessels so designed have, by and large, performed satisfactorily; however, in the relatively few cases where problems have developed in pressure vessels; those problems have often been associated with the nozzles or openings. Prior to the work of the past few years, the stress levels, fatigue loading resistance, and maximum pressure capacities of nozzles in pressure vessels were known only very roughly.

The trend towards the use of higher strength materials and higher nominal stresses in pressure vessel design, along with the advent of nuclear vessels with their very high reliability requirements, intensified the need for better knowledge of the behavior of reinforced openings in pressure vessels. In recognition of this need, the Subcommittee on Reinforced Openings of the Pressure Vessel Research Committee has sponsored a broad program of both experimental and analytical work directed toward the determination of the behavior of reinforced openings in pressure vessels, considering both the effects of internal pressure and external loads. A summary of this work, as of the time of publication, is given by J.L. Mershon.

This report covers one phase of the overall problem of reinforced openings in pressure vessels; specifically, the development of a design procedure for radial nozzles in spherical shells loaded with internal pressure. The design procedure is intended to define acceptable reinforcing details for radial nozzles in spherical vessels, hemispherical heads, torispherical heads provided the opening is in the spherical section sufficiently away from the toroidal section, and ellipsoidal heads in the central section. Reinforcing, if any is required, is assumed to be continuous with the shells, as contrasted to "welded-on" pads. Since limit analysis is used to establish the design procedure, an implied assumption is that the material of the shells and the weld metal is ductile, e.g., is capable of withstanding several percent of local strain in a complex stress field at all temperatures at which the vessel may be loaded.

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Published: 1968 Number of Pages: 39 File Size: 1 file , 1000 KB