Pressure vessels and pipes are vital components in many engineering systems. Specifically, among space applications, the Space Shuttle and Space Station Freedom contain many pressure vessels and lines containing hazardous or nonhazardous fluids whose failure will either be catastrophic or lead to abortion of the mission. Fracture mechanics methods are necessary to assess the structural integrity of such components. Typically, crack-life flaws resulting from improper welding and forging are modeled as cracks in hollow cylinders. This paper describes some recent efforts at improving the stress intensity factor solutions for such geometries. Specifically, two crack configurations are concentrated upon. One is a full circumferential crack in hollow cylinders. The other is a part-through axial crack in hollow cylinders. Solutions were sought which cover the entire range of the geometrical parameters such as cylinder thickness, crack aspect ratio, crack depth and the position of cracks internal or external. The finite element method, both in its h- and p-versions, was employed. Another major aspect addressed in this paper is the treatment of nonuniform stresses across the plane of a potential crack. The weight function approach using two reference solutions was used in the case of part-though cracks in hollow cylinders. For circumferential cracks, an earlier work of the authors described the development of a weight function approach, and some new results using that technique are presented in this paper. The methods used here show promise and provide accurate solutions for a variety of geometrical configurations.


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    Title :

    Fracture mechanics evaluation of pressure vessels and pipes in aerospace applications


    Additional title:

    Bruchmechanische Untersuchung von Druckbehältern und -rohren in der Luft- und Raumfahrt


    Contributors:
    Forman, R.G. (author) / Mettu, S.R. (author) / Shivakumar, V. (author)


    Publication date :

    1992


    Size :

    12 Seiten, 27 Bilder, 14 Quellen


    Type of media :

    Conference paper


    Type of material :

    Print


    Language :

    English




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