Wind loading, on pressure vessels

Any horizontal force imposed on the vessel by ancillary equipment, the line of thrust of which does not pass through the centre line of the vessel, will produce a torque on the vessel. Such loads can arise through wind pressure on piping and other attachments. However, the torque will normally be small and usually can be disregarded. The pipe work and the connections for any ancillary equipment will be designed so as not to impose a significant load on the vessel. 

Standard calculation forms can save considerable time in pressure vessel design. These forms also systematize the mechanical design procedure to insure that nothing is omitted. Most engineering contractors have developed their own vessel calculation forms. Basically, all are alike in that they correlate, in easy-to-use fashion, the design rules set forth in Section VIII of the ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code for Unfired Pressure Vessels. They also include design considerations not covered by the code, such as wind loading for tall vessels. (Text continues on p. 139.)... 

When an estimator costs pressure vessels such as reactors and distillation columns, care must be taken to ensure that the wall thickness is adequate. The default method in IPE calculates the wall thickness required based on the ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code Section VIII Division 1 method for the case where the wall thickness is governed by containment of internal pressure (see Chapter 13 for details of this method). If other loads govern the design, then the IPE software can significantly underestimate the vessel cost. This is particularly important for vessels that operate at pressures below 5 bara, where the required wall thickness is likely to be influenced by dead weight loads and bending moments from the vessel supports, and for tall vessels such as distillation columns and large packed-bed reactors, where wind loads may... 

Consider a pressurized, vertical vessel bending due to wind, which has an inward radial force applied locally. The effects of the pressure loading are longitudinal and circumferential tension. The effects of the wind loading are longitudinal tension on the windward side and longitudinal compression on the leeward side. The effects of the local inward radial load are some... 

Vessels will vibrate based on an exciting force such as wind or earthquake. There are two distinct types of loadings as a result of wind. The first is the static force from wind loading pressure against the vessel shell. The second is a dynamic effect from vortex shedding due to wind flow around the vessel. Tall, slender, vertical vessels are more susceptible to the effects of vortex shedding. 

Attention focuses on the cylindrical section of the hydrogen vessel subjected to internal pressure with close-end effect loading (Figure 1). The itmer radius Rq and its thickness e are constant. The vessel strength is ensured by Ug layers of filament wound composite. The k layer is characterised by its thickness ep(k) and winding angle P(k). The radial, the hoop and the axial coordinates are respectively denoted by r, 0 and z. Regarding at the usual assumption, the displacement fields is expressed as ... 

Wind, seismic and vibrational stresses and accumulated dead weight compression loadings primarily affect the axial stress and produce only a small effect as a result of Poisson s relationship on the circumferential stress. Therefore, the shell thickness of the upper portion of a tall vertical vessel designed to operate under either internal pressure or vacuum is determined by the circumferential stress. 

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