The Thrust Exerted on a Gas-Pressurized Vessel During Axial Rupture

Abstract

This paper investigates the thrust exerted on a vessel as a result of axial rupture, which has not previously been examined theoretically or practically. A simple model is developed to predict the peak thrust when the breach is large, that is when the fracture is propagating with constant velocity and the maximum rate of separation of the free edges downstream of the fracture tip has been achieved. The model assumes that the depressurization process within the breach zone is dominated by the transverse rarefaction wave initiated by the arrival of the breach as it advances along the vessel. The prediction is compared with a measurement made during a burst test on a large air-pressurized steel vessel. A novel measurement technique employed an inverse Brinell hardness test, in which the indentation size was used to calculate back to the force that produced it. This was interpreted with the help of a finite element computer simulation of the indentation process.