9/8/2016

MaterialsSelectionandTemperature

Solution
Thisquestionillustratessomeaspectsofmaterialselectioninthedesignofapressurevessel,whichexperiencesarangeof
operatingtemperatures.Hencematerialtoughness,asafunctionoftemperature,formsanimportantpartofthefracturesafedesign
process.Thisisdemonstratedgraphicallyinthequestion.
Itshouldtakearound15minutestocomplete.
p)of40MPaandattemperaturesfrom0Cto300C.Theproposedwallthickness(t)is100mmandthediameter(D)is2m.Two
candidatesteelalloyshavebeensuggested:
SteelA:Forthissteel,KC=(150+0.05T)MPamwhereTisoperatingtemperatureindegreescentigrade,andtheyieldstrength
variesinalinearfashionfrom549MPaat0Cto300MPaat300C.
SteelB:HereKC=(100+0.25T)MPam,andtheyieldstrengthvarieslinearlyfrom650MPaat0Cto500MPaat300C.
Graphicallydetermine,byinspection,therangeoftemperaturesoverwhicheachofthesealloyswouldhavethehighestsafety
factorwithrespecttofastfracture.
Throughthicknesscrackscanbeassumedtobecriticalandthestressintensityfactorforsuchcracksinthisgeometryisgivenby:

ThemembranestressinthepressurevesselwallmaybetakenaspD/4t.
ScientificCalculator|RPNCalculator|Theory
Answer:SteelAisbestbelowapproximately212C,SteelBisbetterabovethistemperature.

SolvingthisquestionissimplyamatterofcalculatingtherequiredvaluesoffracturetoughnessKCtoavoidfractureatvarious
temperaturesintheoperatingrange,say0C,100C,200Cand300Cforbothsteels.Thesecanbeplottedagainsttheactual
valuesofalloytoughnessatthesametemperatures,andthealloywiththehighesttoughness,andthehighestmarginbetween
actualandrequiredtoughnessvalues,assessedvisually.Graphicalpresentationofengineeringdataisoftenmoreuseful,and
accessible,thanpresentingthesameinformationanalytically,orinatable.Theproblemcouldbesolvedanalyticallyforthecross
overtemperaturebutatthelossofeasyvisualisationofsafetymarginsinfractureperformance.
Themembranestressissimplyfoundfrom:

Althoughthedesigncaseisbasedonleakbeforebreak,theamountofpressurereliefcausedbyathroughthicknesscrackis
unknown.Itisthereforeconservativetoassumethattheinternalpressurewillloadthecracksurfaces,hencethetotalstress
intensityfactorwillbecalculatedusingthesumofthemembranestressandtheinternalpressure,i.e.240MPa.Leakbeforebreak
designrequiresthepressurevesseltotolerateathroughthicknesscrackoftotallength2a=thesurfacelength(2c)ofthepre
cursorsemiellipticcrack.Aswehavenoinformationregardingcrackellipticity,wewillhavetoassumethatitwassemicircularand
hence2a=2t,wheretisthewallthickness.Thereforetherequiredvaluesoftoughnessarefoundfrom:

Thetablebelowgivesrequiredandavailabletoughnessvaluesforthetwoalloys.

SteelA

YieldStrength
MPa
RequiredKC
MPam

0C

100C

200C

300C

540

460

380

300

141.7

144.7

150.3

163.1

https://www.fose1.plymouth.ac.uk/fatiguefracture/tutorials/FractureMechanics/StressIntensity/Solutions/Solution14.htm

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9/8/2016

MaterialsSelectionandTemperature

ActualKC

150

155

160

165

650

600

550

500

139.4

140.2

141.4

143.0

100

125

150

175

MPam
SteelB

YieldStrength
MPa
RequiredKC
MPam
ActualKC
MPam

Thisdataisplottedinthegraphbelow.Byinspection,thetoughnessvaluesforSteelAarehighestandthereforethesafetymargin
greatest,uptoabout212C.Abovethattemperature,SteelBhasbecomethebestchoicebecauseofitsverysteepincreasein
toughnesswithtemperature.

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