Fracture analysis of surface and through cracks in cylindrical pressure vessels

Abstract

A previously developed fracture criterion was applied to fracture data for surface- and through-cracked cylindrical pressure vessels to see how well the criterion can correlate fracture data. Fracture data from the literature on surface cracks in aluminum alloy, steel, and epoxy vessels, and on through cracks in aluminum alloy, titanium alloy steel, and brass vessels were analyzed by using the fracture criterion. The criterion correlated the failure stresses to within + or - 10 percent for either surface or through cracks over a wide range of crack size and vessel diameter. The fracture criterion was also found to correlate failure stresses to within + or - 10 percent for flat plates (center-crack or double-edge-crack tension specimens) and cylindrical pressure vessels containing through cracks