PLASTIC COLLAPSE PRESSURES FOR DEFECTED CYLINDRICAL VESSELS

Any defect in a cylindrical pressure vessel may conservatively be insc ribed within a rectangular slot. Plastic collapse pressures for the cy lindrical vessels with part-through rectangular slots are computed emp loying elastic-plastic finite element analysis. The results are repres ented for a wide range of dimensions of the vessels and slots using ap propriate non-dimensional parameters, as well as being compared with t he limited data available in the literature. In the limit when the wid th or length of the slot approaches zero, the part-through slot approx imates a part-through longitudinal or circumferential crack, respectiv ely. Therefore, the results of the present work may conservatively be used as part of assessing the integrity of cracked, eroded or corroded cylindrical vessels, tubes, and pipes.