Where pd/2t stops telling the truth
The thin-wall formula rests on one quiet assumption: that the hoop stress is the same all the way through the wall. Equilibrium only fixes the AVERAGE, and for a thin wall the average is all there is. The working rule is that the wall thickness must be less than one twentieth of the internal diameter , that is, less than . It is the same as saying is above 20. Past that line the stress at the bore climbs well above the average, and the bore is where cracks start. Hydraulic cylinders, gun barrels and high-pressure tube all live on the thick side of it.
Gabriel Lamé solved the thick cylinder in 1833. For internal pressure only, the hoop stress at any radius is , read aloud sigma-theta equals p-i r-i squared, times r squared plus r-o squared, over r squared times r-o squared minus r-i squared. The subscripts are the whole convention: i is inside and o is outside. is the internal gauge pressure in MPa, the inside radius and the outside radius, both in mm. The plain , with no subscript, is the radius at which you are asking, anywhere from to . is the hoop stress there, in MPa; theta is the Greek letter for the direction around the circle.
Its companion runs through the wall: , sigma-r equals the same thing with a minus in the bracket. is the radial stress in MPa. Because never exceeds it is negative everywhere, which means compressive: the pressure squeezes the wall through its thickness. It equals exactly at the bore and exactly zero at the free outside surface.
Three facts to carry. The hoop stress is largest at the bore, where it is . It falls steadily to the outside, and the drop from bore to outside is exactly , whatever the geometry. And at every radius comes to the same constant, which is the cheapest check on both answers. One honest consequence: adding wall to a thick cylinder pays less and less, because the new metal sits where the stress is lowest.
- = Hoop stress at radius r (pressure)
- = Internal gauge pressure (pressure)
- = Inside radius (length)
- = Outside radius (length)
- = Radius at which the stress is wanted (length)
- = Radial stress at radius r (negative = compressive) (pressure)
- = Internal gauge pressure (pressure)
- = Inside radius (length)
- = Outside radius (length)
- = Radius at which the stress is wanted (length)