Three-Dimensional Stress Analysis for Semi-Elliptical Cracks in the Connection of Cylinder-Hemispherical Head for Thick-Walled Cylindrical Pressure Vessels

These pressure vessels are made by different type of heads. One of them is hemi-spherical head. The area of geometrical discontinuity, like the connection of the cylinder to its hemi-spherical head, are the most susceptible areas for crack initiation along their welds. So it is worthwhile to consider cracks located at this connection. The purpose of this article is to investigate the effect of variation of stress field and geometry of problem on distribution of Stress Intensity Factor (SIF) for a semi-elliptical surface crack which is located at the connection of cylinder to its hemispherical head. The three dimensional finite element analysis is performed by employing singular elements along the crack front. The ratio of crack depth to crack length (a/c) ranged from 0.3 to 1.2; the ratio of crack depth to wall thickness (a/t) ranged from 0.2 to 0.8; and the cylinder geometry parameter of vessel  ranged from 1.2 to 2. For better comparison the results are normalized and reported in non-dimensional formats. The results show that the crack configuration, vessel thickness and radius have significant influence on the stress intensity factor distribution along the crack front. Also For a fixed    and    the maximum value of SIF occur in the cylindrical part and approximately near the deepest point of crack; not on the deepest point of crack depth and this may be due to changing stress field in this connection. The stress intensity factors are presented in suitable curves for various geometrical configurations providing useful tool for the fracture mechanics design of cracked pressure vessels.