The load carrying behaviour of cylindrical thin-walled shell structures under pressure load is strongly dependent on the nature and magnitude of the imperfections invariably caused by various manufacturing processes. The present paper examines instabilities of long homogeneous and isotropic thin elastic tubes, characterized by geometric imperfections like eccentricity or ovality, on the buckling behaviour in conditions for which, at present, a complete theoretical analysis was not found in literature. Moreover, the additional aspect of the influence of the welded joint geometry and position is investigated over a wide range of diameter to thickness ratio, extending the findings of previous works. The problem of buckling for variable load conditions is relevant in the context of NPP applications as, for instance the optimisation of an integrated and innovative LWR Steam Generator (SG) tubes, according to the updated ASME rules. To the purpose, at Pisa University a rather intense research activity is being carried out on the buckling of thin walled metal specimens in the dimensional range suitable for the above mentioned application. Therefore a test equipment (with the necessary data acquisition facility), suitable for carrying out test series on this issue, as well as numerical models implemented on the MARC FEM code, were set up. The experiments were conducted on test specimens with different materials, e.g. A-316 ASTM (with and without seam weld) and Inconel 690 TT, as well as different loading conditions (lateral and hydrostatic external pressure). A validation of numerical evaluations by comparison with test results is also performed. A good agreement has been observed between the experimental data and the elasto-plastic finite element analyses results, highlighting also the different influence of the mentioned imperfections on the buckling loads.
Experimental evidence of imperfection influence on the buckling of thin cylindrical shell under uniform external pressure
LO FRANO, ROSA;FORASASSI, GIUSEPPE
2009-01-01
Abstract
The load carrying behaviour of cylindrical thin-walled shell structures under pressure load is strongly dependent on the nature and magnitude of the imperfections invariably caused by various manufacturing processes. The present paper examines instabilities of long homogeneous and isotropic thin elastic tubes, characterized by geometric imperfections like eccentricity or ovality, on the buckling behaviour in conditions for which, at present, a complete theoretical analysis was not found in literature. Moreover, the additional aspect of the influence of the welded joint geometry and position is investigated over a wide range of diameter to thickness ratio, extending the findings of previous works. The problem of buckling for variable load conditions is relevant in the context of NPP applications as, for instance the optimisation of an integrated and innovative LWR Steam Generator (SG) tubes, according to the updated ASME rules. To the purpose, at Pisa University a rather intense research activity is being carried out on the buckling of thin walled metal specimens in the dimensional range suitable for the above mentioned application. Therefore a test equipment (with the necessary data acquisition facility), suitable for carrying out test series on this issue, as well as numerical models implemented on the MARC FEM code, were set up. The experiments were conducted on test specimens with different materials, e.g. A-316 ASTM (with and without seam weld) and Inconel 690 TT, as well as different loading conditions (lateral and hydrostatic external pressure). A validation of numerical evaluations by comparison with test results is also performed. A good agreement has been observed between the experimental data and the elasto-plastic finite element analyses results, highlighting also the different influence of the mentioned imperfections on the buckling loads.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
