Strength analysis of pressure vessel with big openings

Due to the special process requirements, sometimes the big openings are needed for pressure vessels, which will form a complex stress state in the opening edge. But there is not a perfect design specification accepted by international for the pressure vessels with big openings, therefore detailed stress analysis and strength assessment are absolutely necessary. In this paper, in order to ensure that the structure of a pressure vessel with big openings which is calculated by pressure area method is correct, the finite element method has been used to perform strength analysis. Force characteristics and stress distribution are obtained. The intensity evaluation result shows that the structure is correct.