Prediction of Fracture Stresses of High Pressure Gas Cylinders Containing Cracklike Flaws

Full scale tests were conducted on high pressure gas cylinders containing cracklike flaws. The cylinders were then pressurized to destruction, and the membrane hoop stress at failure in the cylinder wall was calculated from the failure pressure. Mechanical properties, including tensile and fracture data, were obtained on specimens representing the heats of the tested cylinders. Analyses were performed to predict the failure stresses using several methods available in the open literature. This paper presents the results of the predicted and measured fracture stresses.