Strength of Materials

9.1 INTRODUCTION

Fluids, gases or dry materials with or without pressures are stored in specially made vessels. The walls of these vessels are in the form of shells with certain thickness but adequate to sustain the load and pressure. The shapes of such vessels are in the form of cylinders and spheres. Steam boilers, reservoirs, pressure tanks, storing fluids (gases or liquids), working chamber of engines, compressed air receivers, etc. are the common examples of shells.

Generally, the walls of such vessels are thin compared to their diameters. If the ratio of the thickness of the wall of the shell to internal diameter is less than 1/20, it is known as a thin shell. In such cases, pressure is uniformly distributed through the thickness of wall ...