International Journal of Science, Engineering and Technology Research (IJSETR), Volume 5, Issue 1, January 2016

Quantifying the Role of Stiffener Rings in

Pressure Vessels using FEA
1
Pushpa Khot, 2 Dr. S. G. Taji, 3 H. S. Bawiskar
1
M.E Design Engineering, SRCOE, SPPU, Pune
2
Guide, MIT, SPPU, Pune
3
Co- Guide, SRCOE, SPPU, Pune
 shapes, sizes and positions, at various angles. A nozzle is a
Abstract— Stiffener rings are a popular way of controlling cylindrical component that penetrates the shell or heads of a
stress in certain locations of the pressure vessels. They prove to pressure vessel.
II. PROBLEM DEFINITION
be cost effective and are relatively easy to assembly. However
A pressure vessel is a closed container designed to hold gases
the role they play in structural stability is unclear especially or liquids at a pressure substantially different from the
when they are located near a nozzle. The discontinuity in stress ambient pressure. In pressure vessels, stiffener rings and
nozzles are required for inlet and outlet of fluid.
generated by the nozzle opening is going to affect the stability Stiffener rings are a popular way of controlling stress in
and the presence of a stiffener rings may balance it. The certain locations of the pressure vessel. They prove to be cost
stiffener rings are to be designed and checked as per ASME
effective and are relatively easy to assembly. Stiffening-rings
have mainly been one of the best solutions for reducing the
standard. Plant safety and integrity are of fundamental thickness of cylindrical shells under external and internal
concern in stiffener ring design and these of course depend on pressure and to stop the buckling of the shells subjected to
external pressure. The greater the number of suitable rings,
the adequacy of design code. The objective of the project is to
the lower the shell thickness required to resist internal and
understand the role that stiffener ring play and try and external pressure.
quantify it into a parameter so that future designs may However the role they play in the structural stability is
unclear especially when they are located near a nozzle. The
incorporate them.
discontinuity in stress generated by the nozzle opening is
Index Terms— ASME Codes & Standards, FEA, Pressure going to affect the stability and the presence of a stiffener
Vessel Design, Stiffener ring. ring may balance it.

I. INTRODUCTION III. OBJECTIVES

Tanks, vessel and pipelines that carry, store or receive fluids The objective of present study is to make thickness
are called pressure vessel. A pressure vessel is defined as a optimization of stiffener ring such that which will lead to
container with a pressure differential between inside and understand the role in pressure vessel.
outside. The inside pressure is usually higher than the After making the thickness optimization of stiffener ring by
outside. The fluid inside the vessel may undergo a change in means of ASME Code & analytical calculations its induced
state as in the case of steam boiler or may combine with other von-mises stress &deformation is to be analyzed by using
reagent as in the case of chemical reactor. Pressure vessel structural & thermal analysis in ANSYS 15.0 version. An
often has a combination of high pressure together with high ANSYS result is needed to be verified with the experimental
temperature and in some cases flammable fluids or highly results for validation purpose.
radioactive material. Because of such hazards it is imperative .
that the design be such that no leakage can occur. In addition
vessel has to be design carefully to cope with the operating IV. MATERIAL PROPERTIES
temperature and pressure. Material used for pressure vessel is SA 516 Grade 70
(Carbon steel plate).
In pressure vessels, nozzles are required for inlet and outlet
of fluid. Pressure vessels find wide applications in thermal Description Values
and nuclear power plants, process and chemical industries, in Material SA 516 Grade 70
space and ocean depths, and fluid supply systems in
industries. Due to practical requirements, pressure vessels Modulus of elasticity 200 GPa
are often equipped with nozzles and stiffeners of various Poisson’s ratio 0.29
Allowed stress 137.8951Mpa

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ISSN: 2278 – 7798 All Rights Reserved © 2016 IJSETR
 International Journal of Science, Engineering and Technology Research (IJSETR), Volume 5, Issue 1, January 2016

V. DESIGN PARAMETERS

Design parameters for pressure vessel

Sr. Parameter Description Given Value
No.
1 Internal Pressure 0.2 MPa
2 External Pressure Atmospheric
3 Process Volume 100 cu m Fig.2 Dead weight loading conditions

4 Expected Stagnant Volume 10 cu m

5 Buffer Volume Requirement 10 cu m
6 Vessel radius 2m
7 Temperature 500 C
8 Nozzle Diameter 0.05 m
9 Number of nozzles = 4 4
10 Head type Hemispherical
11 Support Saddle
12 Support Ht 1.2 m
Fig3.Total deformation (DWC) = 10.92mm

VI. MODELING OF PRESSURE VESSEL

For this study model is created using ANSYS 15 work bench
to represent pressure vessel. It includes shell, head, support,
stiffener ring, and nozzle.

Fig4.Equivalent stress (DWS) = 522.37 MPa

Fig1.Model of pressure vessel
Max Max
VII. FINITE ELEMENT ANALYSIS
Sr. Max Von-
Total Allowable Von- Remark
no. Mises Stress
Deformation Mises Stress
Finite element analysis is a technique, which discretizes the
10.92 522.37
model into finite number of elements and nodes. It is actually 1 411 MPa Fail
mm MPa
a numerical method employed for the solution of structures
or a complex region defining a continuum. This is an
alternative to analytical methods that are used for getting VIII. OPTIMIZATION
exact solution of analysis problems.
From the above results we have seen that Max total
To apply boundary condition on pressure vessel and take
deformation and allowable stress is more. So there is need to
result
minimize that value by adding stiffener ring on the pressure
vessel.
Following results are taken by increasing thickness of
stiffener ring from 20mm to 50 mm and nozzle thickness
from 6 mm to 12 mm.
Case1: Nozzle Thickness-6mm & Stiffener ring-20mm

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ISSN: 2278 – 7798 All Rights Reserved © 2016 IJSETR
 International Journal of Science, Engineering and Technology Research (IJSETR), Volume 5, Issue 1, January 2016

Fig.5 Total deformation = 7.42 mm

Fig. 10 Equivalent stress = 412.83 MPa
Case4: Nozzle Thickness-12mm & Stiffener ring-50mm

Fig. 6 Equivalent stress = 498.86 MPa

Case2: Nozzle Thickness-8mm & Stiffener ring-30mm Fig.11 Total deformation = 1.135 mm

Fig. 12 Equivalent stress = 383.16 MPa

Fig.7 Total deformation = 5.33 mm
IX. RESULTS DISCUSSION
Ca Optimize
Allowa Optimize
se Defor Stiffener
Stress ble nozzle
No mation ring Remark
(MPa) Stress thickness
. (mm) thickness
(MPa) (mm)
(mm)

1 498.86 7.42 411 6 20 FAIL

Fig. 8 Equivalent stress = 428.72 MPa
2 428.72 5.33 411 8 30 FAIL

Case3: Nozzle Thickness-10mm & Stiffener ring-40mm 3 412.83 3.12 411 10 40 FAIL

4 383.16 1.13 411 12 50 SAFE

X. CONCLUSION

This paper outlines FEA analysis proving that deformation

stress in pressure vessel is more so there is requirement of
stiffener ring or to increase thickness of the shell. Increasing
thickness will result in increase in cost and also increase in
Fig.9 Total deformation = 3.12 mm weight, so to optimize this design implementation of stiffener
ring is preferred.

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ISSN: 2278 – 7798 All Rights Reserved © 2016 IJSETR
 International Journal of Science, Engineering and Technology Research (IJSETR), Volume 5, Issue 1, January 2016

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ISSN: 2278 – 7798 All Rights Reserved © 2016 IJSETR