A numerical approach for the static analysis of the body of pressurized dry gas holders

Authors: You, L.H., Zhang, J.J., Wu, H.B. and Sun, R.B.

Journal: Canadian Journal of Civil Engineering

Volume: 30

Issue: 2

Pages: 381-390

ISSN: 0315-1468

DOI: 10.1139/l02-095

Abstract:

In this paper, a numerical method is developed to calculate deformations and stresses of the body of dry gas holders under gas pressure. The deformations of the wall plates are decomposed into out-of-plane bending and in-plane deformation. the out-of-plane bending of the wall plates is described by the theory of orthotropic plates and the in-plane deformation by the biharmonic equation of flat plates under plane stress. The theories of beam columns and beams are employed to analyze the columns and corridors, respectively. By considering compatibility conditions between the members and boundary conditions, equations for the determination of deformations and stresses of dry gas holders under gas pressure are obtained. Both the proposed approach and the finite element method are used to investigate the deformations and stresses of the body of a dry gas holder under gas pressure. The results from the proposed method agree with those from the finite element method. Because far fewer unknowns are involved, the proposed method is computationally more efficient than both the finite element method and the series method developed from the theory of stiffened plates.

Source: Scopus

Preferred by: Jian Jun Zhang and Lihua You