Finite Element Analysis and Design of an Annular Tank Available to Purchase

The objective of this paper is to design an annular tank. The annular tank is to store various criticality liquids used in today’s industry. The initial over all dimensions of the annular tank are determined from the capacity of the stored liquids. The design function is performed using the ASME Code Sec VIII Div 1. The annular tank design is broken up into (a) outer cylinder, (b) inner cylinder, (c) top cover, and (d) bottom head. It is supported at the bottom. It is anchored at the top. The deflection of the annular space is a critical requirement. Stresses are usually acceptable because the requirement is on the deflection. For vacuum condition the outer cylinder can be treated for external pressure and the inner cylinder can be treated for internal pressure. For internal pressure condition the design pressure consists of working internal pressure plus static head. For this the outer cylinder can be treated for internal pressure and the inner cylinder can be treated for external pressure. The covers are designed for internal pressure at the bottom where the pressure is the maximum. The designed dimensions are used to recalculate the stresses for the annular tank. The dimensioned annular tank is modeled using STAAD III finite element Software. The stresses from the finite element Software are compared to the stresses obtained from recalculated stresses obtained using ASME Code Sec VIII Div 1. The difference in the stress values is explained. This paper’s main objective is to compare the ASME Code to the finite element analysis. The design is found to be safe for the specific configuration considered. In addition the annular tank is checked for temperature and seismic load conditions, which the code does not address.