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West Texas A&M University

Stress-Strain Analysis for a Cylindrical Pressure

Vessel and a Rectangular Beam

Dr. Fisseha (Fish) Alemayehu

MENG 4350

Submitted by Alton Hutchinson

9/28/16
Abstract

The purpose of this lab was to conduct stress-strain analysis for two different scenarios;
the opening of a can of soda and the bending of a simply supported beam. For both
cases, strain rosettes were used to record the strain values. The strain values were then
used to evaluate the internal pressure of the soda can and the bending stresses
associated with the beam. The internal pressure of the soda came out to be about 229
kPa with the two pressures from the hoop stress and the longitudinal stress being only
0.5 kPa apart. The internal pressure result also fit nicely in the expected range of 276
kPa to 207 kPa from room temperature to refrigerated soda cans respectively. The
simply supported beam experiment resulted in an average elastic modulus of 216.8,
leading to carbon or nickel steel alloys being the best assumptions for the material. Due
to not knowing the true material of the test sample in the beam experiment, it is difficult
to comment on the accuracy of the results.

Introduction

Stress-strain analysis is a crucial part to many engineering disciplines for the design,
maintenance, and investigation of structures and mechanical parts. Two notable
applications would be that of a pressure vessel and a simply supported beam with a
point load. This lab deals with both of these basic applications in two different
experiments.

Pressure vessels have a wide variety of uses and often hold gases for industrial
application. Failure of these vessels can be catastrophic so it is vital that they are
designed to be as safe as possible. Stress-strain analysis is crucial to designing
pressure vessels so that they can safely withstand their operating pressures. One
method to simplify the stress analysis on pressure vessels is to use the thin-walled
theory when it is applicable. The thin-walled vessel theory can be applied to any
cylindrical pressure vessel that has a wall thickness less than one-tenth of the radius [1].
For thin-walled vessels the tangential stress, also known as hoop stress, may then be
determined as shown below:
𝑝𝑖 𝑑𝑖
𝜎𝑡 = 𝜎ℎ = (1)
2𝑡

In the pressure vessel experiment an unopened soda will serve as a closed cylindrical
vessel. Since the vessel is closed, there must be a longitudinal stress due to the
pressure at the ends. If the longitudinal stress is considered to be uniform over the wall
thickness then it may easily be determined as follows:

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𝑝𝑑𝑖
𝜎𝑙 = (2)
4𝑡

The simply supported beam undergoing bending will require a different approach.
Before the bending stress may be calculated, the moment of inertia and the bending
moment must first be determined. The moment of inertia for the cross section and the
bending moment of the beam may easily be determined using the following two
equations:

𝑏ℎ3
𝐼= (3)
12

𝐹𝑥
𝑀= (4)
2

With the moment of inertia and bending moment, the bending stress may then be
determined using the equation shown below:
𝑀𝑐
𝜎= (5)
𝐼

where c would be half the height of the bar in this case.

Given a beam of unknown material, a plot of stress versus strain may then be created.
The slope of the plot will be the Young’s modulus of elasticity, which can be used to
determine the material of the beam.
𝜎
𝐸= (6)
𝜀

Although there is no method to directly measure the stresses in a material, there are
methods to obtain the strain values which can be used to calculate the stresses. For
these experiments the strain values will be obtained through the use of strain rosettes.
Strain rosettes operate off of an electronic circuit called a Wheatstone bridge that uses
very small changes in resistance to measure strain. The figure below illustrates the
basic network of a Wheatstone bridge.

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Figure 1: Basic network of a Wheatstone bridge

The resistance arms may be attached to strain gauges and any changes in resistance
will result in an output voltage that is used to determine the strain. These rosettes come
in three types; quarter-bridge, half-bridge, and full-bridge rosettes. For the beam in
bending a half-bridge rosette is used to have one placed on top of the beam and the
other below. For the pressure vessel a 45 degree quarter-bridge rosette will be used,
meaning only one of the resistors will be replaced. An illustration of this rosette can be
seen below in figure 2.

Figure 2: Illustration of the 45 degree strain rosette

The strain equations for the 45 degree rosette can be seen below:

𝜀𝑦 = 𝜀𝑐 (7)

𝜀𝑥 = 𝜀𝑎 (8)

𝛾𝑥𝑦 = 2𝜀𝑏 − (𝜀𝑎 + 𝜀𝑐 ) (9)

Going back to the stress equations for the pressure vessel, Hooke’s law may now be
applied in order to solve directly for the pressures as shown:
2𝑡 𝐸
𝑃𝜎𝑙 = | (𝑣𝜀ℎ + 𝜀𝑙 )| (10)
𝑟 1−𝑣 2

3
𝑡 𝐸
𝑃𝜎ℎ = | (𝑣𝜀𝑙 + 𝜀ℎ )| (11)
𝑟 1−𝑣 2

Using this method, the strain values can now be plugged in directly to obtain the
pressure values.

Experimental Procedure

To perform the experiments the following materials must be obtained: an unopened can
of soda, access to strain rosettes with a Model P3 Strain Indicator and Recorder, a
strain testing apparatus for a simply supported beam, degreaser, a conditioning agent, a
neutralizer, and weights for the simply supported beam.

Before beginning the pressure vessel experiment, the can of soda needs to be prepared.
Start off by applying a degreaser to the soda and sanding all of the paint off of it. After
degreasing the can and sanding all of the paint off, apply a conditioner and then finish
with a neutralizer. With the can of soda prepared, glue the strain rosette to the can with
the shiny surface up. The wires to the rosette may first need to be soldered on
depending on the rosettes used. The orientation of the rosette is not important but be
sure to define an axis for the can. After the rosette has been glued on, secure it with a
piece of tape. Refer to the manual for the strain recorder for the proper terminal
connections of the rosette. With the rosette connected and the strain recorder powered
on; balance the recorder, ensure that the channels are active and select the preferred
recording method and units. With the recorder set up and running, proceed to open the
can of soda and note the recorded strain values. Once the strain is recorded the
rosettes may be detached, the strain indicator powered off, and the soda can disposed
of properly.

For the simply supported beam, a 25x4x750mm rectangular beam with loading at the
middle was used. Begin the beam experiment by turning the testing apparatus on and
making sure that no weights are attached. Zero the machine and attach the first set of
weights to the mass holder, being careful to make sure there is no motion in them.
Record the strain shown holder on the device and continue to add or replace additional
weights until at least eight trials have been completed. Carefully remove the masses
and power the machine off once testing is complete.

Results and Discussion

The strains obtained for the pressurized vessel experiment can be seen below in Table
1. To see the properties used for the can refer to Table 4 in Appendix A.

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𝝁𝒎⁄
𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒊𝒏 𝒎
𝜺𝒂 185
𝜺𝒃 685
𝜺𝒄 915
Table 1: strain values obtained for the can of soda

The strain values followed closely to what was expected; the tangential strain was much
greater than the longitudinal strain. Using the strain values along with EQN’s 10 & 11,
the following pressure values were obtained:

Pressure
(kPa)
𝑷𝝈𝒉 228.9
𝑷𝝈𝒍 228.4
Table 2: Pressure values calculated for can of soda

The two pressure values came out to be nearly exactly the same, which was to be
expected since they were obtained from the two principal stresses. The standard
pressure for a soda can at room temperature can be expected to be around 276 kPa
[2].A refrigerated can of soda would result in a pressure of about 207 kPa [3]. The
pressure values obtained fit well in this range, considering the test can was refrigerated
and then left in room temperature for some minutes while setting up the experiment.
Considering this, the results matched expectations with no apparent sources of high
error. However, some potential sources of error should still be noted. First, the amount
of time the soda was left to warm and the temperature were not obtained during the
experiment. There may have also been some mild shaking of the can during the
experiment causing a change in the internal pressure. Lastly, while the strain rosette
was positioned to line up with the longitudinal and tangential axes of the can, it is likely
that it did not line up exactly with it, creating some amount of small error.

For the beam in the bending experiment, the recorded strain values were used with
EQN 5 to obtain the bending stress values for each of the different loads. To see the
calculated moment forces refer to Table 5 in Appendix A. The results of the bending
stress values can be seen below in Table 3 along with strain values for each of the
loads.

5
Weight Strain Bending
(kg) (𝝁𝒎⁄𝒎) Stress
(MPa)
0.5 62 13.8
1 125 27.6
1.5 188 41.4
2 254 55.2
2.5 320 69.0
3 385 82.8
3.5 451 96.6
4 517 110.4
4.5 585 124.2
Table 3: Strain-Stress data for the rectangular beam

The stress and strain values were then plotted against each other as seen in the
following graph.

Stress vs Strain
140000000

120000000

100000000
Stress (Pa)

80000000

60000000

40000000

20000000

0
0 0.0001 0.0002 0.0003 0.0004 0.0005 0.0006 0.0007
Strain

Figure 3: Stress-Strain plot for the rectangular beam

From the graph and EQN 6, it was easily determined that the average slope was 216.8
GPa. Since the Young’s modulus is equivalent to the slope, this led to some form of
carbon or nickel steel being the best approximations for the material of the beam. This
is due to the fact that these materials have a standard Young’s Modulus of around 207
GPa that can vary depending on the exact alloy, which is closer to the recorded value
than other alloys. Potential sources of error for the beam experiment could include the

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weights not being their exact weight or overuse of the test sample. It is difficult to
comment on the potential error since the actual material is not known.

Conclusion

The pressure vessel experiment was successful in producing expected results for the
internal pressure of the can and returning almost the exact same value for both of the
pressure values. Comparing the pressure value of 229 kPa to the values of 276 kPa for
room temperature and 207 kPa for refrigerated cans resulted in the conclusion that it
was a good approximation with low percent error. The can of soda used for the
experiment had been refrigerated and then set out in room temperature minutes before
the experiment began, so it makes sense that the value obtained falls in between the
reference values. The beam experiment resulted in an elastic modulus of 216.8 GPa
and pointed towards a possible carbon or nickel steel alloy. The conclusions of the
beam experiment have some uncertainty due to the fact that the actual material is not
known. Knowing the true material of the test sample would allow for a more accurate
analysis on the experiment.

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References

[1] Budynas R. and Nisbett J., 2015, Mechanical Engineering Design, McGraw-Hill
Education, New York, NY.

[2] Kimmey, R. Pepsi Brooklyn Bottling Center. Fax. 25 May 2000

[3] Murphy, P., E. Klages & L. Shore. The Science Explorer: Family Science
Experiments from the World's Favorite Hands-On Museum. 5.

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Appendix A

E (GPa) D t (mm) v
(mm)
Material 69 66.04 0.1 0.33
Properties
Figure 4: Properties used for can based on the standards of soda cans produced in the U.S.

Weight Moment
(kg) (N*m)

0.5 0.9196875
1 1.839375
1.5 2.7590625
2 3.67875
2.5 4.5984375
3 5.518125
3.5 6.4378125
4 7.3575
4.5 8.2771875
Figure 5: Moment forces for each loading in the beam experiment

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