Int. J. Pres. Ves.

& Piping 42 (1990) 237-246

A New Mechanical Model for Rectangular Structures

Subjected to Internal Pressure

Zhao-Jing Zeng
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Nanjing Institute of Chemical
Technology, Nanjing 210009, People's Republic of China

Ying-Zheng Guo
Department of Mathematics and Mechanics, Southeast University,
Nanjing 210000, People's Republic of China

&
Jia-Ju Gao
Shanghai Research Institute of Chemical Technology,
Shanghai 200062, People's Republic of China

(Received 24 December 1989; accepted 24 January 1990)

ABSTRACT

For a rectangular vessel with short axial length the design equations derived
from rigid frame theory are conservative. Therefore a new mechanical model
and closed form formulae for analysing a rectangular vessel are proposed in
this paper. For a rectangular vessel with a larger aspect ratio the results from
the new model are in agreement with those from the A S M E Code formulae.
For the case with low aspect ratio, moment parameters (which are the
simplified forms of the developed formulae) are presented to meet design
needs.

INTRODUCTION

T h e cross section o f a pressure vessel is usually designed to be circular, but

s o m e t i m e s in o r d e r to meet the needs o f a special process or m a n u f a c t u r e it is
237
Int. J. Pres. Ves. & Piping 0308-0161/90/$03-50 © 1990 Elsevier Science Publishers Ltd,
England. Printed in Great Britain
238 Zhao-Jing Zeng, Ying-Zheng Guo, Jia-Ju Gao

//
Fig. 1. Rigid frame model and plate model.

necessary to design pressure vessels of non-circular cross-section: for instance,

some sterilizers, heat exchangers and air-cooled exchangers are often
designed to be rectangular structures.
Mechanical models for calculating the strength of rectangular vessels can
be broadly classified into two categories: the rigid frame model and the plate
model. In the former, a rectangular vessel is cross-cut to a unit length ring
element (Fig. 1), and the distributed m o m e n t on the ring element can be
found from the rigid frame theory of the mechanics of materials.1-4 In the
latter category, each wall of a rectangular vessel is considered to be a
rectangular plate (Fig. 1), and the formula for rectangle flat heads and covers
derived from the theory of elastic plates is used for design purposes. 3
In each mechanical model for rectangular vessels, however, only the
dimensions in two directions are considered, and the interaction between the
dimensions in three directions (length, width and height) is neglected.
Therefore rectangular structures designed using the above-mentioned
models are frequently overconservative when the axial length is short. As
pointed out in the A S M E Code, 1 the design equations for rectangular
pressure vessels derived from rigid frame theory are conservative when they
are used to design vessels with an aspect ratio of less than 4.
In this paper, the two kinds of models are combined into a new model, in
which the side walls of a rectangular vessel are considered as plates and the
interaction between these side plates is taken into account. The formulation
for a rectangular structure with axial simply supported ends, which is the
most conservative case amongst various axial end conditions, is derived in
detail. The influence of axial length on bending moments is discussed; and
the moment parameters for a rectangular vessel with a lower aspect ratio are
presented.

FORMULATION FOR RECTANGULAR STRUCTURES

The formulation is derived using the superposition method.

 Rectangular structures 239

S Q Q

TTs. _ 1o.
T' b2 R' R'

Fig. 2. New mechanical model. Fig. 3. The model after releasing bounds.

(1) Releasing bounds

The side walls of a rectangular vessel are considered as plates (Fig. 2). After
releasing the bounds, we assume that the four side plates of a rectangular
structure are hinged one by one and there are distributed moments on these
hinges (see Fig. 3). Because of symmetry the distributed moments along the
edges ST, QR, Q'R' and S'T' should equal each other. Let M(x) describe the
distributed m o m e n t along edge QR and let us choose rectangle plates QRTS
and QQ'R'R as the object of study.

(2) Angles of rotation 0~ and 0~

Next, it is necessary to find the angles of rotation 0~ and 0g along the edge
QR and the maximum moments at the center of the simply supported
rectangular plates QRTS and QQ'R'R under a uniform pressure p. Here
symbols with subscripts 1 or 2 correspond to the plate QRTS or the plate
QQ'R'R respectively, as in the following.
A simply supported rectangular plate with sides a and b is loaded under a
uniform pressurep. The co-ordinate axes are shown in Fig. 4. The differential

~x

_j
Fig. 4. A simply supported plate with a uniform load.
 240 Zhao-Jing Zeng, Ying-Zheng Guo, Jia-Ju Gao

equation for the small deflection surface is: 5

~4w i t~4wi t~4wi p
Ox---r -t- 2 63x20y
~ + -c3y
- 4 - Di (i = 1, 2) (1)

According to the given boundary conditions, and setting mnbi/(2a) = ami,

from the above equation we have:

= Owp 2pa 3 ~ 1
OPly=bi/2 Oy y =hi~2 -- 7z4Di ~-d (O~rai-- °~rnit h 2 °Cmi-- th a,,i) sin mnXa
m = 1,3 . . . . (2)

where D i is the flexural rigidity of a plate, w p is the deflection, and the

superscript p for w means that the deflection is caused by uniform pressurep
(th = tanh). The other superscripts may be deduced by analogy.
Equation (2) gives the angle of rotation of the simply supported
rectangular plate on the side ofy -- b/2. In this case, the maximum moments
are located at the center of the plate:

4pa 2
Me,x, Ixy ==Oa/2 _ _
~-a (-1)(m-1)/2 I 1 c~,.ith~,.~ ]
~3 ~-~ 1 chct,., 2c-~ (1 - #) (3)
m=1,3 ....

MP.lx=a/2
Y'y=0 --
4pa2~
7"C3
(--1)(m-I)~2[ O~mith O~mi
m3 / 2ch~/ (1-#)
]2
cho~mi
+#] (4)

m=1,3 ....

where p is the Poisson ratio (ch--cosh).

(3) Angles of rotation O~ and M2

Now we find the angles of rotation 0~ and 0~t along the edge QR and the
maximum moments at the center of the plate in the case, in which the
simply supported plates QRTS and QQ'/R'R are symmetrically loaded
under constrained bending moments M(x) on the two sides y = _+b/2, as in
Fig. 5.

y~k \ k \ \ \ \ \ \
Fig. 5. Plate loaded with distributed moments
along couple of boundaries.
 Rectangularstructures 241

We take M(x) in the form of a trigonometric series: 5

M(x) = ~ E,. sin mnx__ (5)

a
m=1,3 ....

F r o m the differential equation of the deflection surface and the boundary

conditions we find that the angle of rotation along the sides of y = _ b/2 is:

0/MlY = b ' a Oy r=b,a

_ a ~ sin [(mnx)/a] E,.(amith 2 a,.i - th a,~i - a.i) (6)

2nD i ,__. m
m = 1 , 3 ....

The m a x i m u m m o m e n t s are at the center of the plate:

'~ ( _ 1)(~- 1)/2

MMIx=a/2
x. r= o = L 2cha,.i E , , [ 2 # + ( 1 - l a ) a ~ i t h a = i ] (7)
re=l,3 ....

MMIE-~/2,-v = ~ (-1)(m-1)2/Ech
=[2-(1am,
2 --/~)amitha,j (8)
re=l,3 ....

(4) Deformation compatibility and finding redundant M(x)

We propose to set the deformation compatibility between plate Q R T S and

plate Q Q ' R ' R as follows:
0~ + 0~ = --(0~ + 02M) (9)
It is identical with the deformation compatibility for the above-mentioned
frame model.
Assuming the flexural rigidity D of the two plates in Fig. 3 to be equal,
from eqns (9), (2) and (6) we obtain:

[-2pa3 1
Ln---~ m4:(aml -- a,.1 th 2 am1 - th a,.1)
m=1,3 ....

a E.
q (am1 th 2 am1 -- th am1 - a m l ) --[- 2pa3 1 (am2 _ am2 th E a m 2 __ t h a=2 )
2nD m n4D rn4

a Em ( a m 2 th 2 am2 - th am2 - - 0~m2)lsin mnXa= 0

+ 2nDm--
242 Zhao-Jing Zeng, Ying-Zheng Guo, Jia-Ju Gao

The above formula should be suited to an arbitrary value of x, so we have:

4pa 2 f 2thorax + 2the,.2

Em= rc3m3 k --O~ml + O~mlth2 O~ml-- th o~ml -O~m2 W Otm2th2 °~m2-- th am2
+1)
(10)

The distributed redundant m o m e n t M(x) can easily be obtained from eqns

(5) and (10).

(5) Maximum moments on the edge QR and in the rectangular plate

The m a x i m u m m o m e n t M(x) which occurs at the middle point of the edge

Q R is:

M(x)l:,=a/2 = ~-~ (-- 1)~'- l~/2Em (1 1)

re=l,3 ....

Superposing eqn (3) on eqn (7) and eqn (4) on eqn (8) we obtain the
m o m e n t s in the center of a plate:

4pa 2 ~ (-- 1)(m- 1~/2I 1 gmi th o~mi __11)1

Mxilx=a/2
y=O
__ rt3 m3 1 cho~mi 2chopin i (1
re=l,3 ....

+ ( - 1)t"- 1)/2 Em [2/* + (1 - #)~,.~ th ~mi] (12)

2 ch ~,.i
m=1,3 ....

4/002 ( _ 1)~,.- 1)/2 V ].2 ~ O~mith O~mi(1 - #) 1

Myi[x=a/2- n3 L# ch ~,.i 2 ch ~,.i
y=O
r e = l , 3 ....

+ ( - 1)(m 1)/2
2
re=l,3 ....
2 ch 0~,.i
E,.[2 -- (1 -- #)~,.i th ~,.i] (13)

The above series solutions converge so rapidly that the solution can be
obtained with sufficient accuracy by taking only the first two or three terms.
Therefore the numerical results can easily be obtained by means of a pocket
calculator.
 Rectangular structures 243

ILLUSTRATIVE EXAMPLE

Assume that the ratio between height and width of a rectangular vessel is
b~/b2 = 1.4, the axial length is a (Fig. 2) and the Poisson ratio/~ --- 0.3. F r o m
eqns (10), (11) and (13) the m a x i m u m bending m o m e n t s can be obtained, and
the results are shown in Table 1.

TABLE 1
M a x i m u m Bending Moments

a/bl

1 1"5 2 2"5 5

Ma 0'036 1 lpb 2 0"049 26pb 2 0'054 8 lpb 2 0'057 08pb 2 0'058 77pb 2
MB 0-014 65pb 2 0'007 79pb21 0-002 53pb 2 - 0"000 26pb~ - 0-002 42pb~
Mc - 0-055 45pbZ~ - 0"063 72pb~ - 0"065 82pbZ~ - 0"066 45pb~ - 0"067 69pb~

Subscripts A, B and C represent points: point A is located at the center of the plate with sides a
and b l; point B is located at the center of the plate with sides a and bz; point C is located at the
middle point of the edge a.

On the other hand, from the formulae in the rigid frame model (see Ref. 1),
we have:

Ma
=Pb~{ 1 2b2 - 2~_12 = 0"058 67pb 2
24 \ + ~

M pb 2f _ 2b z b~'~
. = - ~ - ! k - 2 + ~-1 + ~-x) = - 0.002 55pb~

pb 2 ( b2 b2"~ - 0 . 0 6 6 33pbi
Mc- i2 _ l - ~ - + bi,]=
C o m p a r i n g the results in Table 1 with those from the rigid frame model
we observe the following: when a/b 1 is smaller than 2 the influence of axial
length on bending m o m e n t s is significant; as the value of a/bx increases the
influence of axial length on bending m o m e n t s decreases; when a/b1 = 5 the
results from the formulae derived above almost agree with those of the rigid
frame model.

MOMENT PARAMETERS

As mentioned above, the aspect ratio has a significant influence on the

bending m o m e n t when it is smaller than 2. Therefore it is necessary to
244 Zhao-Jing Zeng, Ying-Zheng Guo, Jia-Ju Gao

introduce the m o m e n t parameters fix, fly and y to design a rectangular vessel

with a short axial length.
Assume that the axial length of a rectangular structure subjected to
internal pressure p is a, the height (longer side) is b, and the width (shorter
side) is b 2 (Fig. 2). Because the m o m e n t s in the center of the longer sideplate
are larger than those in the center of the shorter side plate, when the
thickness of the wall in the longer side plate is equal to that of the shorter side
plate, the m o m e n t s at the center of the longer side plate usually need to be
calculated during design. The value of the m o m e n t s at the center of the
longer side plate can be expressed in the form:
M x = flxpb~ My = flypb 2 (14, 15)
where the vectors Mx and My are shown in Fig. 2.
The m o m e n t at the midpoint of the edge Q R can be expressed as:
M e = ),pb 2 (16)

The m o m e n t parameters fix, fly and 7 are functions ofa/b~ and a/b2. To be
easy to use, we systematized 216 sets of data obtained from eqns (10)-(13)
into the following expressions by the stepwise regression method:

fix = -- 0" 1425 -- O.0402(a/b1) - O'OO27(a/b2) + 0"0568 a x / ~

+ 0.0246 ax/-~2 (1 < bl/b 2 <_ 2, 0"5 < a/b~ < 2) (17)
fly = -0"9760 - O'0795(a/b 0 + O'0104(a/b2) + 0"2095 a x / ~
- 0.0096 ax//-~2 (1 < b J b 2 < 2, 0.5 _< a/bl < 2) (18)
= 0.1040 + 0-1193(a/bx) - O'O184(a/b2) - 0"3710 a x / ~
+ 0.0992 ax/-a~2 (1 < bl/b2 < 2,0.5 < a/b~ < 2) (19)
According to the above approach we have obtained the formulae for a
rectangular vessel with axial fixed supported ends. However, its m o m e n t
parameters are smaller than that with axial simply supported ends.
Therefore, from the point of view of conservation it is reasonable to design
rectangular vessels using the m o m e n t parameters fix, fl.r and ), obtained in the
simply supported condition.

COMPARISON OF THE SOLUTION WITH FEM

In order to verify the above formulae we calculated more than 20 examples

using the finite element program of plates and shells. Since the system is
symmetrical it is only necessary to analyse an eighth of the rectangular
structure (Fig. 6). The total numbers of elements and nodes are 50 and 66
 Rectangular structures 245

0'03 -

0'026

0"02~

o.o o

0'014

001( I I I I I
1.2 1.4 1'6 1"8 2'0
a/b1

Fig. 6. Calculationmodel for FEM. Fig. 7. Comparison of fl~.

respectively. When the calculation is finished, the moments at nodes of every

element are printed out.
For b 1 = b2, the calculated results from the finite element method and the
above formulae are plotted in Figs 7-9. The F E M results show that the
relative errors comparing the m o m e n t parameters fix, fly or ), developed in
this paper with that calculated by F E M are less than 6%.

CONCLUSIONS

(1) A new model and analytical expressions for calculating the strength
of rectangular vessels subjected to internal pressure are proposed in
this paper. The interaction between the sizes in three directions is
considered in the model.
(2) The illustrative example shows that the results from the present
method are in close agreement with those from the rigid frame model

0'050
- FEM
0.045

0.040

r,~ 0.035

0.03C

0'025 I I I I I
1£) 1'2 1'4 1'6 1"8 20
a/b1
Fig. 8. Comparison of fly.
246 Zhao-Jing Zeng, Ying-Zheng Guo, Jia-Ju Gao

0-10 -

0"09 -

0"08

0-07,

0"06

0'05 I I I I I
1.0 1.2 1.4 1"6 1"8 2"0
a/b1
Fig. 9. Comparison of ~'.

when the axial length of a rectangular vessel is relatively long;

however, when the axial length is shorter the axial length has larger
influence on bending moments.
(3) F o r the convenience of design, the derived formulae are simplified
into the form of moment parameters which can be used to design
rectangular vessels with short axial length, subjected to internal
pressure.
(4) Comparison of the results from derived formulae with that from
F E M indicates that the formulae presented in this paper have better
accuracy.

REFERENCES

1. ASME, Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code, Section VIII, Division I. 1983 edn.
ASME, New York.
2. Faupel, J, H., Pressure vessels of noncircular cross section (commentray on new
roles for ASME Code). Trans. A S M E , J. Pres. Ves. Technol., 101 (1979) 255-67.
3. Nohara, I., Pressure Vessels. Kyoutachi Press, Tokyo, 1970, pp. 315 19 (in
Japanese).
4. Zeng, Z. J., Gao, J. J. & Gu, Q. S., The stress analysis of rectangular pressure
vessels having thin-walled reinforcing members. Int. J. Pres. Ves. & Piping, 30
(1987) 193-204.
5. Timoshenko, S. & Woinowsky-Krieger, S., Theory of Plates and Shells, 2nd edn.
McGraw-Hill, New York, 1959.