Abstract
This paper presents the results of computations for determining the stresses in a cylindrical pressure vessel with a flat head closure. The accurate bending theory of shells is used to evaluate the local bending stresses in the neighborhood of the junction of the flat head and the cylindrical body. Tables show the magnitudes of the shear stress, the circumferential stress, and the axial stress as multiples of pd/2t. For the axial and circumferential stresses, the tables show the magnitude and sense of the stress on the internal and external surfaces of the vessel. The locations where these stresses are critical are also determined. Curves are given showing the maximum stresses as functions of the diameter-thickness ratio of the shell and of the thickness ratio of head to shell body. The range of calculation includes most vessel sizes encountered in practice.
Tables of influence numbers for the cylinder and the flat head are presented. These tables can be utilized in problems in which other elastic structures are attached to either member. The paper includes a discussion of the mathematical procedure.
