PRESSURE VESSEL RELIABILITY AS A FUNCTION OF ALLOWABLE STRESS.

From Winter meeting of American Society of Mechanical Engineers; Detroit, Michigan, USA (11 Nov 1973). The probability of failure corresponding to specified levels of allowable design stress was calculated for pressure vessels designed in accordance with the ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code. The analysis was performed for maximum shear stress failure and for cyclic stress failure. The significance of such failure prediction is ddscussed and a rationale for selecting an allowable stress is presented. Examples are presented that demonstrate the estimation of vessel failure probability as a function of load variation, strength variation, and design safety factor. (auth)