Inelastic Analysis of Nonaxisymmetrically Heated Thick Cylindrical Shells

The elastic-plastic-creep analysis of a thick cylindrical tube supported at the ends by elastic springs and subjected to nonaxisymmetric thermal and pressure loads is considered. The exact elasticity solution based on Fourier series is extended to determine the incremental plasticity and creep solutions. The plasticity problem is treated by using the concept of “initial stress.” Ziegler’s modification of Prager’s kinematic hardening rule is used in the elastic-plastic solution. The uniaxial stress-strain curve is assumed to be bilinear and the yield stress may be temperature dependent. The creep solution is obtained by using a strain hardening approach. Two examples of solar superheaters subjected to diurnal temperature and pressure cycles are solved by the present method and compared to the finite element solutions. The comparison shows excellent agreement between the solutions. The cost of computation of the present method is considerably smaller than that of the finite element method. The problem has applications in the conventional fossil-fired steam generators as well as in other power systems.