Developing “Design by Analysis” Methodology for Windows for Pressure Vessels for Human Occupancy

The ASME pressure vessels for human occupancy (PVHO) codes and standards are engineering standards developed to provide a reliable design method for pressure vessel windows. This empirical method is based primarily on years of government-sponsored testing and development and does not directly use engineering theory. This empirical algorithm makes it challenging to revise without additional large-scale physical testing. The industries using the PVHO code need a way to incorporate advances in material science, manufacturing technology, and overall engineering advances without spending years in code case review. Verification and validation techniques, coupled with stochastic finite element analysis (FEA) to address operational variables, can be the basis for a “design by analysis” method to complement the existing testing requirements to produce a full engineering package consistent with other pressure vessel and pressure vessel component design. A design method sufficiently reliable for PVHO could be used in other applications.