Thermoelastoplastic Stress Analysis of a Thick-Walled Tube of Nonlinear Strain Hardening

Abstract

In pressure vessel technology or nuclear power plants, some of the mechanical components are often subjected to rapid heating. If the temperature gradient during such process is high enough, thermoelastoplastic stresses may be developed in the components. These plastic deformations are permanent and may result in the incremental deformation of the structure in the long term. Accordingly, determination of thermoelastoplastic stresses during this process is an important factor in design. In this paper, a thick-walled cylinder of nonlinear strain hardening is considered for the thermoelastoplastic analysis. The properties of the material are assumed to be temperature dependent. The cylinder is subject to rapid heating of the inside surface while the outside surface is kept at the room temperature. A quasi-static and uncoupled thermoelastoplastic analysis based on incremental theory of plasticity is developed and a numerical procedure for successive elastic approximation is presented. The thermoelastoplastic stresses developed during this process are also presented. The effect of strain hardening and temperature dependency of material on the results are investigated.