LOAD INTERACTION IN PRESSURIZED STRUCTURES USING THE FINITE-ELEMENT METHOD

The present study introduces a method to determine the load interactio n behaviour in pressurised structures. A plain pipe was selected, in t he first instance, to demonstrate the application of the method. The s tress levels from various load categories, which were determined using the finite element method (FEM), were apportioned according to the co mbining loads and summed. The maximum resultant effective stress gave an indication of first yield of the structure and, for the load combin ations, a series of first yield interaction diagrams, were drawn. Thes e compared well with theoretical analysis, thus illustrating the value of this method for producing load interaction rules for design purpos es. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd.