Slope Discontinuities in Pressure Vessels

Abstract

A closed-form solution is obtained for the problem of a shell of revolution with a meridional slope discontinuity, which might occur at a weld seam in a pressure vessel. The effect of significant variation in the slope occurring within the usual “edge zone” and the nonlinear pressurization effect are taken into consideration. Graphs are presented from which maximum stresses can be easily computed for a wide variation of the parameters. The theoretical results agree with numerical values obtained from a computer program, even for shells that are relatively thick, for slope discontinuities that are relatively severe, and for high pressurization.