Analysis of Stresses in Open and Close Ended Thin Cylinder using Strain Gauge

Ajitha Nishma, Amar Deep Jyoti, Angshuman Bhardwaj, Ankita

Shandilya, Ashwin S.H., Chintan Panigrahi, Dhirendra Singh Raj
Department of Aerospace Engineering
Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology, Trivandrum
(Dated: February 27, 2017)
(Experiment No. 1)
The objective of this experiment is to analyze the stresses and strains developed on an open
ended and a closed ended thin cylinder. Poissons ratio and Youngs Modulus of Elasticity is also
determined and compared with standard values. A thin cylinder apparatus from TecQuipment Ltd.
is used for the study, where a hand pump is used to pump oil into the thin cylinder and increase
pressure.

I. INTRODUCTION

Cylindrical and spherical pressure vessels are com-

monly used in many industries for storage of gases or
liquids at pressures much higher than ambient, like the
boilers and tanks. The problem of finding the stresses
in a cylinder subjected to internal pressure is statically
indeterminate. Its solution requires the consideration of
equilibrium forces, compatibility of displacements, the re-
lationship between stress and strain, and the boundary
considerations of the problem. For thin cylinders how-
ever, whose diameter to thickness ratio (D/t) is typically
greater than 10, a satisfactory solution can be obtained
by making some simplifying approximations. In this ex-
periment, we analyze the stresses on a thin cylinder (with
D/t27) under both open-ended and close-ended condi-
tions. The open end condition typically simulates that
of a high pressure flow in a long pipe while the close end
condition is applicable for the gas storage tanks etc. [1] FIG. 1. a) Hoop b)Longitudinal c)Radial Stresses

II. THEORY Open Ended

In general, three types of stresses are developed in pres- In the open ended condition, it is expected that there
sure vessels - circumferential/hoop stress, radial stress will be only a hoop stress but a longitudinal stress ap-
and longitudinal stress as seen in image 1. pears due to Poisson effect and is compressive in nature.
In a thin walled cylinder, the stresses are assumed to
be constant over the wall and the radial stresses are ne- Hoop Strain
glected in the analysis because the variation of the radial h
stress is from a high pressure value inside the cylinder to h = (3)
E
a minimum over a very small thickness.
For a thin cylinder, Longitudinal Strain
Hoop Stress h
l = (4)
pr E
h = (1)
t
where is the Poissons ratio and E is the Youngs
Longitudinal Stress Modulus of Elasticity
pr
l = (2)
2t Close Ended
where r is radius of the cylinder (for thin cylinder, in-
ner radiusouter radius), p is inner pressure and t is In the close ended condition, the longitudinal stress is
thickness of the cylinder. borne by the walls of the cylinder. There is also an impact
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of the Poisson effect on both the strains. By method of

superposition,

Hoop Strain
h l
h = (5)
E

Longitudinal Strain
l h
l = (6)
E

where is the Poissons ratio and E is the Youngs

Modulus of Elasticity.

FIG. 3. Strain Gauge Alignment

III. EXPERIMENTAL SETUP AND
PROCEDURE
5. At the end, the pressure control valve is released to
release the pressure.

Close Ended

1. The piston ends are loosened.

2. The rest of the experiment is repeated exactly as
done in the open condition upto 3MPa pressure.

IV. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

FIG. 2. Apparatus for experiment
Open Ended Cylinder
The apparatus for the experiment is as seen in figure
2. The thin cylinder is a thin-walled aluminium alloy Figure 8 shows that the strain and stress has a linear
cylinder, seating on a sturdy frame. On both ends, there relationship. Thus Hookes Law is verified. From figure
is a free moving piston that can be tightened or loosened 9 we find the slope as 63.93 GPa, which is very close to
using the hand wheel to maintain a open ended or close the actual values of the Youngs Modulus of Elasticity
ended condition respectively. There is a set of electri- for Aluminium (69 GPa).
cal strain gauges fixed on the surface of the cylinder in
configuration as shown in figure 3, whose readings (in
) are available on the display. Internal Pressure is ap-
plied using a hydraulic hand pump to pump oil into the
cylinder.[2]

Open Ended

1. The apparatus is switched ON.

2. The piston ends are tightened using the hand
wheel.
3. Internal Pressure is increased with the hand pump
incrementally in steps of 0.2 MPa upto a maximum
of 3 MPa.
4. For each pressure value, the strain readings for all FIG. 4. Strain vs Pressure for Open Cylinder
the six gauges are noted.
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FIG. 5. Hoop Stress vs Hoop Strain for Open Cylinder. Slope FIG. 7. Experimental (big) and Theoretical (small) Mohrs
is Youngs Modulus of Elasticity Circle for strain for Open Cylinder.

Figure 6 gives the Poisson ratio for the material

(.32136) which is also very close to the true value. (0.33)

FIG. 8. Strain vs Pressure for Closed Ended Cylinder

FIG. 6. Longitudinal Strain v Hoop Strain. Slope is Poissons

Ratio

Figure 7 shows the Mohr Circle for Strain for the open
cylinder. It is observed that the values predicted by the
experimental Mohr Circle match closely to that obtained
from the experiment. As has been observed, the Mohrs
Circle predicts a near zero value of stress for the 30deg
strain gauge. The theoretical Mohr circle predicts lesser
values for both normal strain and shear strain respec-
tively.

FIG. 9. Hoop Stress vs Hoop Strain for Closed Ended Cylin-

Close Ended Cylinder der. Slope is Youngs Modulus of Elasticity

Figure 8 shows the linearity of the strain and stress

values. Figure 10 shows the variation of longitudinal strain vs
Figure 9 shows that the slope is not close to the value the hoop strain. Its a linear variation. Here the slope is
of Youngs modulus due to the presence of direct longi- not Poissons ratio as the Poisson effect is coupled and
tudinal strain and the poisson effect in play. there is direct longitudinal strain in play.
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FIG. 12. Open Cylinder : Variation of Hoop Stress in the

cylinder wall.

FIG. 10. Longitudinal Strain v Hoop Strain. Slope is NOT

Poissons Ratio.

Figure 11 shows the Mohrs strain circle for the Close FIG. 13. Open Cylinder : Variation of Longitudinal Stress in
Ended Cylinder. the cylinder wall.

FIG. 14. Open Cylinder : Variation of Stresses in the cylinder

wall along the axial direction.

FIG. 11. Mohrs Circle for strain for Closed Ended Cylinder.

FIG. 15. Closed Cylinder : Variation of Hoop Stress in the

cylinder wall.
FEM Results

A 2D FEM analysis was done in ANSYS 14.5 with

axi-symmetric condition for both open and closed
cylinder with 5 MPa inside pressure.

Results are seen to closely match the theoritical

results for stresses as shown in figure 17 and 14, except
near the caps due to boundary effects. FIG. 16. Closed Cylinder : Variation of Longitudinal Stress
in the cylinder wall.
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TABLE II. Closed End Cylinder Observations

Strain (1e-6)
Pressure(MPa) Hoop Stress(MPa)
1 2 3 4 5 6
0.2 2.666666667 41 0 12 18 31 38
0.4 5.333333333 75 8 26 35 58 69
0.6 8 111 15 40 58 86 104
0.8 10.66666667 146 24 56 79 116 140
1 13.33333333 180 30 70 99 142 172
1.2 16 214 36 82 118 170 206
1.4 18.66666667 247 45 98 138 197 240
1.6 21.33333333 282 51 112 158 225 274
1.8 24 318 59 126 178 252 308
FIG. 17. Closed Cylinder : Variation of Stresses in the cylin- 2 26.66666667 350 65 140 196 279 340
der wall along the axial direction. 2.2 29.33333333 383 72 152 215 305 373
2.4 32 417 86 175 238 341 410
2.6 34.66666667 448 93 186 252 361 437
V. APPENDIX 2.8 37.33333333 485 102 201 275 391 472
3 40 519 109 217 296 418 506

TABLE I. Open Cylinder Observations

Strain Gauge Readings
Pressure(MPa) Hoop Stress(MPa)
1 2 3 4 5 6
0.2 2.663 42 -16 0 7 30 40
0.4 5.327 78 -28 0 17 54 73
0.6 7.99 120 -43 0 30 82 116
0.8 10.654 164 -57 0 43 111 158
1 13.317 203 -70 0 55 137 194
1.2 15.981 254 -87 0 70 173 246
1.4 18.644 288 -97 1 79 193 275
1.6 21.307 330 -112 1 93 224 319
1.8 23.971 373 -124 2 106 252 360
2 26.635 410 -136 3 118 276 398
2.2 29.298 456 -150 5 133 307 441
2.4 31.961 498 -163 5 145 335 489
2.6 34.625 537 -176 5 157 361 520
2.8 37.288 580 -191 5 170 390 564
3 39.952 624 -204 7 185 417 606

VI. REFERENCES

[1] Hibbeler R.C.,Mechanics of Materials, Pearson Education,

2014.
[2] SM1007 Thin Cylinder Lab Manual, 6th Sem Structures
Lab, IIST, Thiruvananthapuram