A study of the stresses at the junctions between two cylinders of different diameters and a conical transition section

A comparison is presented of ASME code allowable, theoretically calculated, and measured model stresses at the junctions between two cylinders of different diameters and a conical transition section. The code allowable stresses v/ere determined by use of the 1965 American Society of Mechanical Engineers Code for Unfired Pressure Vessels formulas for cylindrical and conical sections. Derivation of formulas for determining the theoretical stresses was based on the theory of shells. The junction area of a model vessel was instrumented with electric resistance strain gages to compare the model stresses with the previously calculated stresses. The mathematically derived stresses agree substantially with the measured stresses, and near the junctions both are greatly in excess of the code stresses. Using the maximum pressure allowed by the ASME code formulas for the model under investigation, the material remains in the elastic range and no permanent damage is done to the vessel.Civil and Environmental Engineering, Department o