A numerical model that predicts high temperature pressure vessel rupture was developed. The finite element method of analysis was used to determine the effects that various parameters had on pressure vessel failure. The work was concerned with 500, 1000 and 33000 US gallon pressure vessels made of SA 455 steel. Experimental pressure vessel fire tests have shown that vessel rupture in a fully engulfing fire can occur in less than 30 minutes. This experimental work was used both to validate the numerical results as well as to provide important vessel temperature distribution information. Due to the fact that SA 455 steel is not meant for high temperature applications, there was little published high temperature material data. Therefore, elevated temperature tensile tests and creep rupture tests were performed to measure needed material properties. Creep and creep damage constants were calculated from SA 455 steel’s creep rupture data. The Kachanov One-State Variable technique and the MPC Omega method were the creep damage techniques chosen to predict SA 455 steel’s high temperature time-dependent behaviour. The specimens used in the mechanical testing were modeled to numerically predict the creep rupture behaviour measured in the lab. An extensive comparison between the experimental and numerical uniaxial creep rupture results revealed that both techniques could adequately predict failure times at all tested conditions; however, the MPC Omega method was generally more accurate at predicting creep failure strains. The comparison also showed that the MPC Omega method was more numerically stable than the One-State Variable technique when analyzing SA 455 steel’s creep rupture. The creep models were modified to account for multiaxial states of stress and were used to analyze the high temperature failure of pressure vessels. The various parameters considered included pressure vessel dimensions, fire type (fully engulfing or local impingement), peak wall temperature and internal pressure. The objective of these analyses was to gain a better understanding of the structural failure of pressure vessels exposed to various accidental fire conditions. The numerical results of rupture time and geometry of failure region were shown to agree with experimental fire tests. From the fully engulfing fire numerical analyses, it was shown that pressure vessels with a smaller length to diameter ratio and a larger thickness to diameter ratio were inherently safer. It was also shown that as the heated area was reduced, the failure time increased for the same internal pressure and peak wall temperature. Therefore, fully engulfing fires produced more structurally unstable conditions in pressure vessels then local fire impingements. / Thesis (Master, Mechanical and Materials Engineering) -- Queen's University, 2008-07-04 10:55:32.008

In this work, the deformation and strength of an oxide/oxide ceramic matrix composite system under stress-rupture conditions were studied both experimentally and analytically. A rupture model for unidirectional composites which incorporates fiber strength statistics, fiber degradation, and matrix damage was derived. The model is based on a micromechanical analysis of the stress state in a fiber near a matrix crack and includes the effects of fiber pullout and global load sharing from broken to unbroken fibers. The parameters required to produce the deformation and lifetime predictions can all be obtained independently of stress-rupture testing through quasi-static tension tests and tests on the individual composite constituents. Thus the model is truly predictive in nature. The predictions from the model were compared to the results of an extensive experimental program. The model captures the trends in steady-state creep and tertiary creep but the lifetime predictions are extremely conservative. The model was further extended to the behavior of cross-ply or woven materials through the use of numeric representations of the fiber stresses as the fibers bridge matrix cracks. Comparison to experiments on woven materials demonstrated the relationship between the behavior of the unidirectional and cross-ply geometries. Finally, an empirical method for predicting the durability of materials which exhibit multiple damage modes is examined and compared to results of accurate Monte Carlo simulations. Such an empirical method is necessary for the durability analysis of large structural members with varying stress and temperature fields over individual components. These analyses typically require the use of finite element methods, but the extensive computations required in micromechanical models render them impractical. The simple method examined in this work, however, is shown to have applicability only over a narrow range of material properties. / Ph. D.

A new method for stress-rupture experiments in bending has been developed and used to characterize unidirectional polymer matrix composites. The method. which makes use of very simple fixtures, led to coherent results. These results have been modeled using the large deflection of buckled bars theory (elastica) and it is possible to predict with good accuracy the strain at each point of the specimen if the end-to-end distance is known. The failure process has been experimentally characterized. The formation and propagation of microbuckles leads to a compressive failure. Based on the elastica and the classical lamination theory, a model for the distribution of the Young's modulus along the length of the specimen has been established. Three different micromechanical models have been applied to analyze the time-to-failure versus strain behavior at two temperatures - one below and one above the glass transition. The first micromechanical model considers the nucleation of the microbuckles as the main cause of failure. In addition, the stiffness and stress distributions at any time before failure are calculated based upon the rotation of the fibers in the damaged region. The second and last models, respectively based upon a Paris Law and energy considerations relate the time-to-failure to the propagation of the main microbuckle. For this last model, a good correlation between experimental and theoretical data has been obtained. Finally the influence of the temperature on these models has been studied. / Master of Science