Fully stressed head of a pressure vessel

This work is devoted to a head of a vessel charged with internal uniform pr essure. The analysis is aimed at finding a shape of the head that ensures i ts full charge with stresses. In a classical torispherical or ellipsoidal h ead the region of its joint with the cylindrical shell is loaded with shear force and bending moment as a result of the forced consistency of displace ments of both parts of a vessel. The load causes high bending stresses in t he area of the joint. Therefore, a shape of a head meridian is sought for w hich the shear force and the bending moment approach zero. Only membrane st ate stresses should occur in such a structure. The mathematical description is based on the theory of shells, taking account of boundary disturbances. The numerical solution determines the sought-after shape of the head and i ts minimal relative convexity. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights re served.