A Review Limite Load Solution

A review of limit load solutions for cylinders with axial cracks
and development of new solutions

Y. Lei
*
British Energy Generation Ltd., Barnett Way, Barnwood, Gloucester GL4 3RS, UK
a r t i c l e i n f o
Article history:
Received 15 July 2008
Received in revised form 22 August 2008
Accepted 4 September 2008
Keywords:
Limit load
Axial crack
Surface crack
Through-wall crack
Thick-walled cylinder
a b s t r a c t
Limit load solutions for axially cracked cylinders are reviewed and compared with available nite
element (FE) results. New limit solutions for thick-walled cylinders with axial cracks under internal
pressure are developed to overcome problems in the existing solutions. The newly developed limit load
solutions are a global solution for through-wall cracks, global solutions for internal/external surface
cracks and local solutions for internal/external surface cracks. The newly developed limit pressure
solutions are compared with available FE data and the results show that the predictions agree well with
the FE results and are generally conservative.
2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
1. Introduction
The limit load of a component containing defects is one of the
most important inputs when a structural integrity assessment is
performed using R6 [1]. This is because the limit load gives the load
carrying capacity for plastic collapse of the defective component
and also denes the J-integral via the reference stress method for
elasticplastic fracture. The cylinder is one of the most commonly
used components in power stations, such as in pipelines and
pressure vessels. Circumferential and axial cracks are two common
types of defects found in girth and longitudinal welds in cylinders.
In this paper, limit load solutions for axial defects in cylinders will
be reviewed rst and some new solutions will then be proposed.
For a part-through defect, the limit load may be dened
according to the plastic deformation behaviour of either the overall
defective structure (global limit load) or that in the crack ligament
(local limit load). A global limit load is the load at which the load
point displacement becomes unbounded and is relevant to failure
of the whole structure. A local limit load corresponds to a loading
level at which gross plasticity occurs in the crack ligament and may
be relevant to ligament failure. The local limit load is always less
than or equal to the global limit load for a cracked structure and,
therefore, can yield a conservative result in an assessment. In this
paper both the global and local limit loads are considered.
Miller [2] summarised the limit load solutions for cylinders with
through-wall, surface and extended surface axial defects under
internal pressure available before 1987, such as solutions due to
Kiefner et al. [3] for through-wall and surface defects, Kitching et al.
[4,5] for surface and through-wall defects, Ewing [6] for surface
defects and Chell [7,8] for surface cracks and extended surface
cracks. Further solutions for cylinders with axial defects were
developed by Carter [9]. Staat [10,11] modied some of Carters
solutions [9] for thin-walled cylinders to extend them to thick-
walled cylinders and compared the modied solutions with
experimental data. Recently, Staat and Vu [12] further improved the
solutions due to Staat [10,11]. Kim et al. [13,14] carried out elastic-
perfectly plastic nite element (FE) analysis for axially cracked
cylinders and proposed some limit load solutions for extended
internal cracks and surface cracks under internal pressure based on
the FE results. Jun et al. [15] performed 3-DFE analyses for cylinders
with axial surface defects under internal pressure and presented
results for the local limit pressure. Zarrabi et al. [16] also performed
3-D FE analyses for axial cracked cylinders, but did not give
formulae for the limit load solutions.
The layout of this paper is as follows. Section 2 denes the
geometry parameters and material properties. Recent develop-
ments in limit load solutions for cylinders containing axial cracks
under internal pressure or combined internal pressure, tension and
bending are reviewed in Section 3. New limit load solutions for
cylinders with axial through-wall and surface cracks under internal
pressure are then derived and validated in Section 4. Conclusions
are presented in Section 5. In Appendix A, the Folias factor is
* Tel.: 44(0)1452652285; fax: 44(0)1452653025.
E-mail address: yuebao.lei@british-energy.com
Contents lists available at ScienceDirect
International Journal of Pressure Vessels and Piping
j ournal homepage: www. el sevi er. com/ l ocat e/ i j pvp
0308-0161/$ see front matter 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.ijpvp.2008.09.001
International Journal of Pressure Vessels and Piping 85 (2008) 825850
discussed to clarify some confusions in its use in the limit load
solution for axially cracked cylinders. The back-wall effect on the
limit pressure of a cylinder with an axial crack is discussed in
Appendix B and the calibration of the stress magnication factor for
cylinders with through-wall cracks is detailed in Appendix C.
2. Geometry denition and material properties
For consistency, solutions from different sources are converted
according to a uniform notation system in this paper. The dimen-
sions of a cylinder are described by its inner radius, R
i
, and outer
radius, R
o
. The mean radius of the cylinder, R
m
, can then be simply
expressed as R
m
R
o
R
i
=2 and the thickness of the cylinder, t,
can be expressed as t R
o
R
i
. A cylinder can then be described
by the ratio between its outer and inner radii, k, i.e. k R
o
=R
i
, the
ratio between t and R
m
, t=R
m
, the ratio between t and R
i
, t=R
i
, or the
ratio between t and R
o
, t=R
o
. The relationships between these
various parameters are as follows.
t
R
i
k 1;
t
R
m
2
k 1
k 1
;
t
R
o
k 1
k
(1)
For a thin-walled cylinder, k/1. The length and depth of an
axial surface crack in a cylinder are dened by 2c and a, respec-
tively. The crack depth, a, is measured from the inner surface of the
cylinder for internal cracks and from the outer surface for external
cracks. The surface crack becomes an extended surface crack when
c/Nand a through-wall crack when a t.
The load types considered are internal pressure, p, through-wall
membrane stress, s
m
, and through-wall bending stress, s
b
. Their
limit values are denoted as p
L
, s
m
L
and s
b
L
, respectively. Solu-
tions corresponding to other loading types, such as axial tension, N,
and axial global bending moment, M, are also reviewed.
The material considered is an elastic-perfectly plastic type with
yield stress of s
y
. Therefore, all limit load solutions for closed-end
cylinders subjected to internal pressure may be approximately
expressed as
p
L
gL
_
k;
a
t
;
a
c
; .
_
s
y
(2)
where L is a geometric function and g is the constraint factor, with
g
1 for Tresca yield condition
2
3
p for von Mises yield condition
_
_
_
(3)
for pressurised defect-free cylinders.
In this paper, the limit pressure is generally normalised by the
limit pressure of the crack-free cylinder based on the von Mises
yield criterion, p
0
, dened by
p
0

2
3
p s
y
ln k (4)
3. Review of the available solutions
In this section, limit load solutions for cylinders containing axial
surface/through-wall cracks under internal pressure, combined
Nomenclature
a Crack depth
A
df
Crack area
c Half crack length
c
1
, c
2
Equivalent lengths of crack-free cylinders for dening
local limit pressure
c
eq
Equivalent through-wall half crack length for surface
cracks
D Equivalent length of crack-free cylinder for dening
global limit pressure
f
pt
, f
ps
Crack face pressure factor for through-wall and
internal surface cracks, respectively
F
pt
Stress transfer factor
h
1
, h
2
k Ratio between the outer and inner radii of a cylinder,
k R
o
=R
i
L Function of geometry for limit load denitions
M Global axial bending moment
M
a1
wM
a3
Stress magnication factors due to the curvature of
cylinders (see denitions where they rst appear)
M
an
; M
axn
M
ax1
wM
ax2
M
Lp
Limit moment applied to the back-wall of a cylinder
due to internal pressure
M
t
Folias factor
M
teq
Folias factor for equivalent through-wall cracks
M
t1
wM
t4
M
tn
Stress magnication factor for through-wall cracks due
to the curvature of cylinders (see denition where it
rst appears)
N Axial tension force
N
L
Limit axial tension force
p Internal pressure
p
0
Limit pressure for a crack-free cylinder
p
I
Global limit pressure for a cylinder with an internal
surface crack under internal pressure
p
L
Limit pressure
p
Lf
Pressure corresponding to the front-wall failure of
a cylinder with a through-wall crack
Dp
L
Extra limit pressure due to the back-wall effect in
cylinders
R
i
Inner radius of the cylinder
R
m
Average radius of the cylinder, R
m
R
o
R
i
=2
R
o
Outer radius of the cylinder
R
*
1
Equivalent radius considering the crack face pressure
for surface cracks dened by Carter
R
2
; R
*
2n
for surface cracks (see denitions where they rst
appear)
R
t
; R
*
tn
for through-wall cracks (see denitions where they
rst appear)
s
1
; s
2
t Cylinder thickness, t R
o
R
i
f Coefcient for dening the stress magnication factor
g 2=
3
p
for von Mises yield criterion and 1 for Tresca
yield criterion
l Load ratio
r
i
; r
m
; r
o
r factors dened by inner, mean and outer radii,
respectively
s
b
Through-wall bending stress
s
b
L
Limit through-wall bending stress
s
m
Through-wall membrane stress
s
m
L
Limit through-wall membrane stress
s
y
Yield stress.
Y. Lei / International Journal of Pressure Vessels and Piping 85 (2008) 825850 826
membrane stress and through-wall bending, and combined internal
pressure, tension and global bending are reviewed and discussed.
3.1. Solutions for extended axial surface cracks
under internal pressure
For an extended surface crack, the crack depth is a and the crack
length c/N(see Fig. 1). In this sub-section, only internal pressure
is considered.
3.1.1. Internal defects
The geometry and dimensions of a cylinder with an internal
extended crack, a, under internal pressure are shown in Fig. 1(a).
Chell [8] proposed a limit pressure solution for an internal
extended crack in a thick-walled cylinder without crack face pres-
sure, which can be expressed as
p
L
s
y
g
t a
R
i
a
g
k 1
_
1
a
t
_
1
a
t
k 1
(5)
where g takes the values dened in Eq. (3) for solutions based on
the von Mises and Tresca yield criteria. Note that Eq. (5) does not
reduce to the limit pressure for uncracked thick-walled cylinders
(see Eq. (4) for the case g 2=
3
p
) when a=t/0.
Carter [9] gave a limit pressure solution for thick-walled
cylinders, based on the Tresca yield criterion (g 1), in the
form
p
L
s
y
R
i
R
*
1
ln
_
R
o
R
i
a
_

t
R
*
1
k 1
ln
_
k
1
a
t
k 1
_
(6)
where
R
*
1

_
R
i
without crack face pressure
R
i
a with crack face pressure
(7)
Kim et al. [13] performed elastic-perfectly plastic FE analyses,
using the von Mises yield criterion, for extended internal surface
cracks in cylinders under internal pressure and proposed a formula,
based on the FE results, which can be expressed as
p
L
s
y
3
p
t
R
m
_
1 0:356
a
t
1:6882
_
a
t
_
2
1:0442
_
a
t
_
3
_
3
p
2k 1
k 1
_
1 0:356
a
t
1:6882
_
a
t
_
2
1:0442
_
a
t
_
3
_ (8)
The cylinders considered were for t=R
m
0:2 and 0.05 with
50% of the internal pressure applied to the crack surface. Therefore,
Eq. (8) is valid for thin-walled cylinders with pressurised crack
faces.
Staat [10,11] applied the g factor to Carters solution (Eq. (6)) to
extend it to solutions based on both the von Mises and Tresca yield
criteria. He also applied a pressure magnifying factor, R
i
a=R
i
, to
the right-hand side of Eq. (6) arguing that the pressure acts on the
inner surface of the cylinder rather than the surface at radius R
i
a
[10,11]. Staat and Vu [12] considered the resistance of the back-wall
of the cracked part of the cylinder to the internal pressure and
further improved Staats solution [10,11]. The newsolution [12] is as
follows
p
L
s
y
g
R
i
R
*
2
R
i
a
R
i
ln
_
R
o
R
i
a
_
_

_
1
a
t
t
R
*
2
_
1
2
_
a
t
_
2
_
t
R
*
2
_
2
_

_
1
1
2
a
t
t
R
*
2
__
g
t
R
*
2
k 1
_
1
a
t
k 1
_
ln
_
k
1
a
t
k 1
_
_
1
a
t
t
R
*
2
_
1
2
_
a
t
_
2
_
t
R
*
2
_
2
_

_
1
1
2
a
t
t
R
*
2
__
9
where
R
*
2

R
i
R
i
a
2
with crack face pressure
_
(10)
The second termin the right-hand side of Eq. (9) corresponds to
the extra pressure carried by the cylinder of inner radius R
i
and
thickness a with an extended penetrating crack. For a thin-walled
cylinder, this term is negligible. However, it can be signicant for
thick-walled cylinders. It is also seen from Eq. (10) that the crack
face pressure correction factor differs from Eq. (7) where the
internal pressure is assumed to be applied to a diameter 2R
i
a.
In contrast, in Eq. (10) the internal pressure is applied to 2R
i
a,
considering force equilibrium.
Internal crack
External crack
R
m
t
x
y
R
i
R
o
a
p
R
m
t
x
y
R
i
R
o
a
p
a
b
Fig. 1. Geometry and dimensions of axial extended surface cracks in thick-walled
cylinders under internal pressure.
The solutions of Eqs. (5), (6), (8) and (9) (g 2=
3
p
for Eqs. (5)
and (9)) are compared with FE results based on the von Mises yield
criterion due to Staat and Vu [12]
,a
and Kim et al. [13] in Figs. 2
and 3 for various k. In the gures, the limit pressure is normalised
using p
0
dened by Eq. (4) and plotted against the normalised crack
depth, a=t.
Fig. 2 is for cases without crack face pressure. There is only one
set of available FE results, for k 2. From the gure, Chells solution
(Eq. (5)) is non-conservative for shallow cracks and Carters solu-
tion (Eq. (6)) is conservative, partly due to its use of a factor g 1.
The solution due to Staat and Vu (Eq. (9)) provides the best
predictions and is conservative compared with the FE results.
Fig. 3 is for cases with crack face pressure. Fig. 3(a) and (b) are for
thin-walled cylinders with FE results from Kim et al. [13] and
Fig. 3(c) is for a thick-walled cylinder with FE results fromStaat and
Vu [12].
a
From Fig. 3, Carters solution (Eq. (6)) is conservative for
both thin-walled and thick-walled cylinders. The solution due to
Kim et al. (Eq. (8)) is very accurate for thin-walled cylinders
(Fig. 3(a) and (b)) because Eq. (8) was obtained by tting the FE data
shown in the two gures. It also gives good predictions for k 2
(Fig. 3(c)). The solution due to Staat and Vu (Eq. (9)) gives good
predictions for both thin-walled and thick-walled cases. However,
it may slightly over-estimate the limit pressure for thin-walled
cylinders with very deep cracks.
3.1.2. External defects
The geometry and dimensions of a cylinder with an external
extended crack of depth, a, under internal pressure are shown in
Fig. 1(b).
Chell [8] proposed limit pressure solutions based on both the
von Mises and Tresca yield criteria for a cylinder with an extended
external crack under internal pressure, which can be expressed as
p
L
s
y
g
t a
R
i
gk 1
_
1
a
t
_
(11)
This equation does not reduce to the limit pressure for
uncracked thick-walled cylinders (see Eq. (4) for the case
g 2=
3
p
) when a=t/0.
Carters limit pressure solution [9] for thick-walled cylinders,
based on the Tresca yield condition (g 1), can be expressed as
p
L
s
y
ln
_
R
o
a
R
i
_
ln
_
k
a
t
k 1
_
(12)
The solutions due to Staat and Vu [12] based on both the von
Mises and Tresca yield criteria are as follows
p
L
s
y
gln
_
R
o
a
R
i
_
_
_
R
o
R
i
_
R
o
R
i
a
t
t
R
i
_
1
2
_
a
t
_
2
_
t
R
i
_
2

_
R
o
R
i
1
2
a
t
t
R
i
_
_
_
gln
_
k
a
t
k 1
_
_
k
_
k
a
t
k 1
_
1
2
_
a
t
_
2
k 1
2
_
_
k
1
2
a
t
k 1
_
_
13
FE, Staat & Vu
Prediction, Carter (eqn.(6)), (
Prediction, Kim et al. (eqn. (8))
Prediction, Staat & Vu (eqn. (9)), ( 3) = 2
3) = 2
k = 1.05
k = 1.22
k = 2
0.0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1.0
1.2
p
L
/
p
0
0.0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1.0
1.2
p
L
/
p
0
0.0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1.0
1.2
p
L
/
p
0
FE, Kim et al.
Prediction, Carter (eqn.(6)), (
Prediction, Kim et al. (eqn.(8))
3) 2 =
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1
a/t
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1
a/t
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1
a/t
FE, Kim et al.
Prediction, Carter (eqn. (6)), (
Prediction, Staat & Vu (eqn. (9)), ( 3) 2 =
3) = 2
a
b
c
Fig. 3. Comparison of normalised limit pressures between various solutions and FE
results due to Kim et al. [13] and Staat and Vu [12] for extended internal cracks under
internal pressure (with crack face pressure).
0.0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1.0
1.2
1.4
1.6
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1
a/t
p
L
/
p
0
FE, Staat & Vu
Prediction, Chell (eqn. (5)),
Prediction, Carter (eqn. (6))
( 3)
= 2
results due to Staat and Vu [12] for extended internal cracks under internal pressure.
a
All the FE data presented in 3-D plots in Ref. [12] were provided by Prof.
Manfred Staat.
The three solutions of Eq. (12) and Eqs. (11) and (13) with
g 2=
3
p
are compared in Fig. 4 with FE results based on the von
Mises yield criterion for k 2 obtained by Staat and Vu [12]. In the
gure, the normalised limit pressure is plotted against the nor-
malised crack depth, a=t. From Fig. 4, Chells solution (Eq. (11)) is
non-conservative for a=t <0:6. Carters solution (Eq. (12)) is
conservative for all crack depths. The solution due to Staat and Vu
gives the best predictions and is conservative for this case.
3.2. Solutions for through-wall cracks under internal pressure
The geometry and dimensions of a cylinder with a through-wall
crack, a t, of length, 2c, under internal pressure are showninFig. 5.
For cylinders with through-wall cracks under internal pressure,
the solution due to Kiefner et al. [3] must be mentioned. Based on
pipe burst data, Kiefner et al. [3] found that the limit pressure of
a pipe with a through-wall crack can be approximately expressed as
p
L
s
y
t
R
m
M
t
2
M
t
k 1
k 1
(14)
where M
t
is the Folias factor [17] and can be approximately
expressed as (see Appendix A)
M
t

_
1 1:255 r
2
m
0:0135 r
4
m
_
0:5
(15)
where
r
m

c
R
m
t
p
2
k 1
k 1
_
t
c
(16)
Note that Eq. (14) is valid for thin-walled cylinders because
it was based on thin-walled pipe burst test data and the Folias
factor was dened for thin-walled cylinders [17]. Also, the Folias
factor was dened for r
m
< 4:4 [17] and there is no denition of M
t
beyond this limit. In addition, Eq. (14) cannot be used for the cases
with crack face pressure because the pipes used in the burst tests
carried out by Kiefner et al. were all sealed from the inside [3].
Another early solutionwas proposed by Erdogan [18], which can
be expressed as
p
L
s
y
t
R
m
M
t1
2
M
t1
k 1
k 1
(17)
where
M
t1
0:614 0:87542 r
m
0:386 exp 2:275r
m
(18)
Eq. (17) does not reduce to the solution for an uncracked thick-
walled cylinder when the crack length becomes very small and,
therefore, can only be used for thin-walled cylinders.
Carter [9] also proposed a limit pressure solution similar to that
due to Kiefner et al. [3], but he used an older Folias factor [19], i.e.
p
L
s
y
t
R
i
M
t2
k 1
M
t2
(19)
where M
t2
is the Folias factor dened by
M
t2

_
1 1:61 r
2
i
_
0:5
(20)
Note that Eq. (20) is slightly different from that in Ref. [19]
where r
m
was used. However, in Eq. (20), r
i
is used instead, dened
by
r
i

c
R
i
t
_
k 1
p
t
c
(21)
Carter dened the M
t2
factor using the internal radius of the
cylinder, R
i
, rather than the mean radius, R
m
, to lead to a conser-
vative prediction of the limit pressure. The use of Eq. (20) is further
discussed in Appendix A. Similar to Eqs. (14) and (17), Eq. (19) also
does not reduce to the solution for an uncracked thick-walled
cylinder when the crack length tends to zero and, therefore, is
unsuitable for use with thick-walled cylinders.
Kim et al. [13] proposed a limit pressure solution as follows,
based on their elastic-perfectly plastic FE analyses, using the von
Mises yield criterion,
p
L
s
y
3
p
t
R
m
M
t3
3
p
2
M
t3
k 1
k 1
(22)
where M
t3
was obtained by tting the FE results for t=R
m
0:2 and
0.05 and can be expressed as
M
t3

_
1 0:34 r
m
1:34 r
2
m
_
0:5
(23)
Note that, intheir FEanalyses, Kimet al. applied50%of theinternal
pressure to the crack face. Therefore, Eqs. (22) and (23) are appro-
priate for cases with crack face pressure. Eq. (22) is also restricted to
0.0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1.0
1.2
1.4
1.6
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8
a/t
p
L
/
p
0
FE, Staat & Vu
Prediction, Chell (eqn. (11)), (
Prediction, Carter, (eqn. (12))
3) = 2
1
Fig. 4. Comparisonof normalisedlimit pressures betweenvarious solutions andFEresults
due to Staat and Vu [12] for extended external cracks under internal pressure (k 2).
2c
t
R
i
R
o
p
R
m
Fig. 5. Geometry and dimensions of an axial through-wall crack in a thick-walled
cylinder under internal pressure.
thin-walledcylinders because of the thin-walledstyle of the equation
itself and the thin-walled FE data used in the calibration of M
t3
.
Staat and Vu [12] also proposed limit pressure
solutions based on both the von Mises and Tresca yield criteria
for thick-walled cylinders by considering the back-wall effect,
that is
p
L
s
y
g
M
t4
ln
_
R
o
R
i
_
_
_
1
t
R
i
1
2
_
t
R
i
_
2

1
2
_
1
R
o
R
i
_
_
_
g
M
t4
ln k
_
1 k 1
1
2
k 1
2
_

1
2
1 k
_ (24)
The rst part in the right-hand side of Eq. (24) is similar to Eq.
(17), but expressed in the thick-walled form. The second part
corresponds to the back-wall correction, which has been found to
be signicant for thick-walled cylinders [12]. In Eq. (24), M
t4
is
dened by
M
t4

_
1 1:25 r
2
o
_
0:5
(25)
where
r
o

c
R
o
t
p
k 1
k
_
t
c
(26)
Eq. (25) was calibrated using FE data for k 1.1, 1.25, 1.5, 1.75 and
2 [12], and, therefore, can be used for both thin-walled and thick-
walled cylinders. Examining Eq. (24), it can be seen that the second
termin the right-hand side of the equation is a constant for given k.
This means that the limit pressure may be greater than that for the
uncracked cylinder when the crack length is very small and hence
M
t4
/1.
The ve solutions of Eqs. (14), (17), (19), (22) and (24) with g
2=
3
p
are compared in Figs. 6 and 7 with available FE results based
on the von Mises criterion due to Staat and Vu [12] (digitised from
Fig. 3 in Ref. [12]) and Kim et al. [13] for various k values. In the
gures, the normalised limit pressure is plotted against r
2
o
, where
r
o
is dened by Eq. (26).
The predictions for cases without crack face pressure are
compared with FE results based on the von Mises criterion due to
Staat and Vu [12] in Fig. 6. From the gure, Eq. (24) gives the best
predictions for all the ve k values but is slightly non-conservative
compared with the FE results. This is because the FE data presented
in Fig. 6 were used to calibrate Eq. (25). It is also seen from the
gure that Eq. (24) over-estimates the limit pressure when r
o
/0,
especially for large k (Fig. 6(e)). The other two solutions, that is, Eq.
(14) due to Kiefner et al. and Eq. (17) due to Erdogan are conser-
vative for all the ve k values considered. This is probably because
they are all based on the Tresca criterion. From Fig. 6(a) and (b),
they can all predict the FE results very well if a factor of 2=
3
p
is
applied. But, for thick-walled cylinders (Fig. 6(e)), they may
signicantly under-estimate the limit pressure even if the factor
2=
3
p
is applied. The solution due to Carter, Eq. (19), is conservative
for k 1:25 (Fig. 6(a) and (b)). However, for thick cylinders
(Fig. 6(c)(e)), it over-estimates the limit pressure for small r
o
,
although it is still conservative for large r
o
due to using the Tresca
criterion.
Fig. 7 compares predictions with FE results for cases with crack
face pressure due to Kim et al. [13] (Fig. 7(a)) and to Staat and Vu
[12] (Fig. 7(b)). Among the ve solutions, only Eq. (22) due to Kim
et al. can predict the limit pressure when the crack face pressure is
considered. From Fig. 7, Eq. (22) can predict the FE results for
k 1.22 very accurately (the FE data in Fig. 7(a) were used to
calibrate Eq. (23)), but it over-estimates the FE results for k 2. This
indicates that Eq. (22) is non-conservative for thick-walled
cylinders.
3.3. Global solutions for axial surface cracks under internal pressure
The geometry and dimensions of a cylinder with an internal/
external surface crack of depth, a t, length 2c under internal
pressure are shown in Fig. 8.
Currently, the limit pressure solutions have been obtained by
simplifying the surface cracked cylinder to two coaxial cylinders,
Cylinder A with a through-wall crack and Cylinder B without
a crack (Fig. 9). The limit pressure is taken as the sum of the
limit pressures for the two cylinders. For the case of an internal
crack (Fig. 9(a)), for example, the inner cylinder, Cylinder A, with
an internal radius R
i
and thickness a contains a through-wall
crack of length 2c and the outer cylinder, Cylinder B, is crack-
free with an internal radius R
i
a and thickness t a. Various
limit pressure solutions have been obtained because different
limit pressure solutions for through-wall and crack-free cylinders
were adopted.
Ewing [6] gave a limit pressure solution, based on the thin-
walled limit pressure solutions for both cracked and crack-free
cylinders, which can be expressed as
p
L
s
y
t
R
m
_
1
a
t

a
t
1
M
a1
_

2k 1
k 1
_
1
a
t

a
t
1
M
a1
_
(27)
where
M
a1

_
1 1:61
c
2
R
m
a
_0:5
_
1 1:61
2
a
t
k 1
_
a
c
_
2
k 1
_
0:5
(28)
Eq. (27) can be used for cases of internal cracks without crack
face pressure and for external cracks.
3.3.1. Internal cracks
The geometry and dimensions of a cylinder with an internal
surface crack, a t, under internal pressure are shown in Fig. 8(a)
and the simplied model is shown in Fig. 9(a).
Carter [9] used his limit pressure solution for a cylinder with
a through-wall crack (Eq. (19)), which is for thin-walled cylinders,
and the limit pressure solution for a thick-walled uncracked
cylinder and obtained the following equation
p
L
s
y
a
R
i
1
M
a2
R
i
R
*
1
ln
_
R
o
R
i
a
_

a
t
k 1
M
a2
R
i
R
*
1
ln
_
k
1
a
t
k 1
_
(29)
where
M
a2

_
1 1:61
c
2
R
i
a
_0:5
_
1 1:61
a
t
k 1
_
a
c
_
2
_
0:5
(30)
The mis-match of thin-walled and thick-walled solutions for,
respectively, the cylinder with a through-wall crack and the crack-
free one may cause problems when Eq. (29) is used for thick-walled
cylinders. It is also seen from Eq. (29) that the crack face pressure
term, R
i
=R
*
1
, is applied only to the crack-free cylinder. The correction
for the crack face pressure vanishes when a=t/1.
Staat and Vu [12] constructed limit pressure solutions based on
both the von Mises and Tresca yield criteria using their solution for
cylinders with through-wall cracks (Eq. (24)) and the limit pressure
expression for crack-free thick-walled cylinders, which can be
expressed as
k = 1.1 k = 1.25
k = 1.5
0.0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1.0
1.2
0 1 2 3 4 5
p
L
/
p
0
0.0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1.0
1.2
p
L
/
p
0
0.0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1.0
1.2
1.4
p
L
/
p
0
0.0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1.0
1.2
1.4
p
L
/
p
0
0.0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1.0
1.2
p
L
/
p
0
FE, Staat & Vu
Prediction, Kiefner et al. (eqn. (14))
Prediction, Erdogan (eqn. (17))
Prediction, Staat & Vu (eqn. (24)), (
Prediction, present work (eqn. (56)), (
2
o
2
o
2
o
0 2 4 6 8 10
2
o
3) = 2
3) = 2
FE, Staat & Vu
Prediction, present work (eqn. (56)), ( 3) = 2
3) = 2
0 10 15
FE, Staat & Vu
3) = 2
k = 1.75
k = 2
FE, Staat & Vu
3) = 2
FE, Staat & Vu
Prediction, present work (eqn. (56)), ( 3) 2 =
3) 2 =
5 0 10 15 20 5
2
o
0 10 15 20 25 5
a b
c
e
d
Fig. 6. Comparison of normalised limit pressures between various solutions and FE results due to Staat and Vu [12] for cylinders with through-wall cracks under internal pressure
(without crack face pressure).
p
L
s
y
min
_
_
gln
_
R
o
R
i
_
; g
R
i
R
*
2
_
1
M
a3
ln
_
R
i
a
R
i
_
R
i
a
R
i
ln
_
R
o
R
i
a
__
_

1
a
t
t
R
*
2
1
2
_
a
t
_
2
_
t
R
*
2
_
2
_

_
1
1
2
a
t
t
R
*
2
__
_
_
min
_
_
gln k; g
R
i
R
*
2
_
1
M
a3
ln
_
1
a
t
k 1
_
_
1
a
t
k 1
_
ln
_
k
1
a
t
k 1
__
1
a
t
t
R
*
2
1
2
_
a
t
_
2
_
t
R
*
2
_
2
_

_
1
1
2
a
t
t
R
*
2
__
_
_
(31)
where
M
a3

_
1 1:25
c
2
R
i
aa
_0:5
_
1 1:25
a
t
k 1
_
a
c
_
2
1
a
t
k 1
_
0:5
(32)
Eq. (31) may be non-conservative for short cracks for the
following two reasons. Firstly, the solution for cylinders with
through-wall cracks (Eq. (24)) is non-conservative for short cracks,
as discussed in Section 3.2 above. Secondly, a pressure magnica-
tion factor, R
i
a=R
i
, is applied to the crack-free cylinder solution
assuming that the pressure applied on the outer cylinder is lower
than that applied on the inner one. However, for short cracks,
M
a3
/1 and the second formula in Eq. (31) will be greater than
gln k. Although a limit gln k is set in Eq. (31), it can still
potentially over-estimate the limit pressure for short cracks.
Kim et al. [13] proposed a limit pressure solution, based on their
elastic-perfectly plastic FE analyses with the von Mises yield
criterion, and expressed it as
p
L
s
y
3
p
t
R
m
_
1 A
1
a
t
A
2
_
a
t
_
2
_
3
p
2k 1
k 1
_
1 A
1
a
t
A
2
_
a
t
_
2
_
(33)
where
_
A
1
0:0462 0:0589 r
m
0:013 r
2
m
A
2
0:0395 0:3413 r
m
0:0652 r
2
m
(34)
and r
m
is dened by Eq. (16).
Eqs. (33) and (34) are based on FE data for
t=R
m
0:2; 0:1; 0:05and0:025, with 50% internal pressure applied
on the crack faces, and, therefore, are valid for thin-walled cylinders
with crack face pressure. Note that Eq. (33) is inconsistent with Eq.
(22) when a=t 1.
Fig. 10 compares the normalised limit pressures predicted
using Eqs. (27), (29) and (31) (g 2=
3
p
) with FE results based
on the von Mises yield criterion due to Staat and Vu [12] for cases
of k 2 without crack face pressure. From the gure, Eqs. (27)
and (29) due to Ewing and Carter, respectively, are conservative
for 0 a=t 1 and 0:2 a=c 1 probably because they are
based on the Tresca yield criterion. The predictions using Eq. (31)
due to Staat and Vu are very close to the FE results but are non-
conservative for short and shallow cracks and through-wall
cracks.
Figs. 1113 compare the normalised limit pressures predicted
using Eqs. (29), (31) (g 2=
3
p
) and Eq. (33) with FE results based
on the von Mises yield criterion due to Staat and Vu [12] (Fig. 11 for
k 2), and due to Kim et al. [13] (Fig. 12 for k 1.05 and Fig. 13 for
k 1.22) for cases with crack face pressure. From Fig. 11 for k 2,
predictions using Eq. (33) due to Kim et al. are very close to the FE
results for shallow cracks but are non-conservative for deep cracks.
Carters solution (Eq. (29)) is conservative for long and shallow
cracks but over-estimates the FE results for short and deep cracks. It
is also seen from the gure that the predictions using Eq. (31) due
to Staat and Vu are reasonably close to the FE results but are slightly
k = 1.22
k = 2
0.0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1.0
1.2
0 2 8 10
p
L
/
p
0
0.0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1.0
1.2
p
L
/
p
0
FE, Kim et al .
0 2 8 10 12 14 16
FE, Staat & Vu
4 6
4 6
a
b
results due to Staat and Vu [12] and Kim et al. [13] for cylinders with through-wall
cracks under internal pressure (with crack face pressure).
Internal surface crack
External surface crack
2c
a
t
R
i
R
o
R
m
p
2c
a
t
R
i
R
o
R
m
p
a
b
Fig. 8. Geometry and dimensions of axial surface cracks in cylinders under internal
pressure.
non-conservative for shallowcracks and some through-wall cracks.
For thin-walled cylinders (Figs. 12 and 13), the solution due to Kim
et al. (Eq. (33)) gives accurate predictions of the FE results up to
a=t 0:8 but signicantly over-estimates the limit pressure for
through-wall cracks. This is not surprising because Eq. (33) was
tted to the FE data presented in Figs. 12 and 13. From the gures,
Carters solution is conservative for all crack lengths and depths
considered by comparison with the FE data. The solution due to
Staat and Vu is reasonably close to the FE results and conservative,
but it slightly over-estimates the limit pressures for through-wall
cracks.
3.3.2. External cracks
The geometry and dimensions of a cylinder with an external
surface crack, a t, under internal pressure are shown in Fig. 8(b)
and the simplied model is shown in Fig. 9(b).
Carters solution [9] for a cylinder with an external crack can be
expressed as
p
L
s
y
a
R
o
a
1
M
ax1
ln
_
R
o
a
R
i
_
a
t
k 1
k
a
t
k 1
1
M
ax1
ln
_
k
a
t
k 1
_
(35)
where
M
ax1

_
1 1:61
c
2
R
o
aa
_0:5
_
1 1:61
a
t
k 1
_
a
c
_
2
k
a
t
k 1
_
0:5
(36)
Eq. (35) was constructed using the limit pressure solution for
a cylinder with a through-wall crack (Eq. (19)), which is for thin-
walled cylinders, and the limit pressure solution for crack-free
thick-walled cylinders. This mis-match may also cause problems
when Eq. (35) is used for thick-walled cylinders.
The limit pressure solutions based on both the von Mises and
Tresca yield criteria for external surface cracks due to Staat and Vu
[12] can be expressed as follows
p
L
s
y
g
_
1
M
ax2
ln
_
R
o
R
o
a
_
ln
_
R
o
a
R
i
__
_

R
o
R
i
_
R
o
R
i
a
t
t
R
i
_
1
2
_
a
t
_
2
_
t
R
i
_
2

_
R
o
R
i
1
2
a
t
t
R
i
_
_
_
g
_
1
M
ax2
ln
_
k
k
a
t
k 1
_
ln
_
k
a
t
k 1
_
_
_

k
_
k
a
t
k 1
_
1
2
_
a
t
_
2
k 1
2
_

_
k
1
2
a
t
k 1
_
_
(37)
where
M
ax2

_
1 1:25
c
2
R
o
a
_0:5
_
1 1:25
k 1
a
t
k
_
a
c
_
2
_
0:5
(38)
Eq. (37) may over-estimate the limit pressure for short cracks
because the second term in the right-hand side of Eq. (37) does not
depend on crack length.
Figs. 14 and 15 compare normalised limit pressures predicted
using Eqs. (27), (35) and (37) (g 2=
3
p
) with FE results
based on the von Mises yield criterion due to Staat and Vu
[12] for cases of k 2 and due to Zarrabi et al. [16] for k 1.57.
From the gures, Eq. (27) due to Ewing is conservative for all
crack lengths and depths considered. Carters solution (Eq. (35))
is also conservative, except for very short and deep cracks (see
Fig. 15(e)). It is also seen from Figs. 14 and 15 that the predictions
using Eq. (37) due to Staat and Vu are very close to the FE results
but slightly non-conservative for very short and through-wall
cracks.
3.4. Local solutions for axial surface defects under internal pressure
The limit pressure expression for a cylinder with a surface
crack under internal pressure given by Kiefner et al. [3] may be
expressed as
p
L
s
y
t
R
m
1
a
t
1
a
t
1
M
teq
2
k 1
k 1
1
a
t
1
a
t
1
M
teq
(39)
where the factor M
teq
should be evaluated using Eqs. (15) and (16).
The half crack length, c, in Eq. (16) should be replaced by the
equivalent half crack length, c
eq
, dened by
c
eq

A
df
2a
(40)
Internal crack
External crack
2c
a
t
R
i
R
o
Cylinder A
Cylinder B
p
2c
a t
R
i
R
o
Cylinder A
Cylinder B
p
a
b
Fig. 9. Mechanics models for determining the global limit pressures for cylinders with
surface cracks.
where A
df
is the crack area and A
df
2ac for rectangular cracks.
Eq. (39) is an empirical formula obtained from burst experiments
on thin-walled pipes with internal or external defects [3]. It is,
therefore, a solution for thin-walled cylinders with internal/
external cracks. Note that the defective pipes used in the experi-
ments were sealed from the inside of the pipes for the case of
internal defects. Hence, Eq. (39) applies to cases without crack face
pressure.
3.4.1. Internal cracks
Carter [9] dened the local limit pressure for a cylinder with
an internal surface crack under internal pressure as follows.
Firstly, the global limit pressure for a cylinder with an internal
surface crack under internal pressure (Eq. (29)) is alternatively
expressed as the average of the limit pressures of two crack-
free cylinders of length D and a cylinder of length 2c with
an extended internal surface crack of depth a (see Fig. 16(a)),
that is
p
L
s
y
1
D c
_
D
p
L
for crack-free cylinder
s
y
c
p
L
for cylinder with extended crack
s
y
_
(41)
where D is an equivalent length of the crack-free cylinder,
which can be determined by equating Eq. (41) to Eq. (29). The
local limit pressure is then dened in a similar way to Eq. (41)
with a reduced equivalent length of the crack-free cylinder,
c
1
D, as
a/c = 0.2 a/c = 0.4
a/c = 0.6
FE, Staat & Vu
Prediction, Ewing (eqn. 27))
Prediction, present work (eqn.(62)), ( 3) 2 =
3) 2 =
FE, Staat & Vu
Prediction, Ewing (eqn. (27))
3) = 2
FE, Staat & Vu
3) 2 =
a/c = 0.8
a/c = 1
FE, Staat & Vu
3) = 2
0.0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1.0
1.2
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8
a/t
p
L
/
p
0
0.0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1.0
1.2
p
L
/
p
0
0.0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1.0
1.2
p
L
/
p
0
0.0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1.0
1.2
p
L
/
p
0
0.0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1.0
1.2
p
L
/
p
0
FE, Staat & Vu
3) = 2
1
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8
a/t
1 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8
a/t
1
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8
a/t
1 0 0.2
a b
c d
e
0.4 0.6 0.8
a/t
1
Fig. 10. Comparison of normalised limit pressures between various solutions and FE results due to Staat and Vu [12] for cylinders with internal surface cracks under internal
pressure (k 2, without crack face pressure).
FE, Staat & Vu
3) = 2
FE, Staat & Vu
3) = 2
FE, Staat & Vu
Prediction, Staat & Vu (eqn. 31)), (
3) = 2
FE, Staat & Vu
Prediction,present work (eqn. (62)), ( 3) = 2
3) = 2
FE, Staat & Vu
3) = 2
a/c = 0.2 a/c = 0.4
0.0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1.0
1.2
a b
c d
e
p
L
/
p
0
0.0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1.0
1.2
p
L
/
p
0
0.0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1.0
1.2
p
L
/
p
0
0.0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1.0
1.2
p
L
/
p
0
0.0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1.0
1.2
p
L
/
p
0
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8
a/t
1 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8
a/t
1
a/c = 0.6 a/c = 0.8
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8
a/t
1
a/c = 1
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8
a/t
1
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8
a/t
1
Fig. 11. Comparison of normalised limit pressures between various solutions and FE results due to Staat and Vu [12] for cylinders with internal surface cracks under internal
pressure (k 2, with crack face pressure).
t/c = 0.894 t/c = 0.447
t/c = 0.224
FE, Kim et al.
a b
c d
3) 2 =
FE, Kim et al .
Prediction, Staat & Vu (eqn (31)), (
Prediction, present work(eqn. (62)), ( ) 3 2 =
) 3 2 =
FE, Kim et al.
3) 2 =
3) 2 =
t/c = 0.149
FE, Kim et al .
3) 2 =
3) 2 =
0.0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1.0
1.2
p
L
/
p
0
0.0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1.0
1.2
p
L
/
p
0
0.0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1.0
1.2
p
L
/
p
0
0.0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1.0
1.2
p
L
/
p
0
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8
a/t
1 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8
a/t
1
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8
a/t
1
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8
a/t
1
Fig. 13. Comparison of normalised limit pressures between various solutions and FE results due to Kim et al. [13] for cylinders with internal surface cracks under internal pressure
(k 1.22, with crack face pressure).
t/c = 0.447 t/c = 0.224
t/c = 0.112
FE, Kim et al .
Prediction, present work(eqn. (62)), ( 3) = 2
3) = 2
FE, Kim et al.
Prediction, Staat & Vu (eqn (31)), (
3) = 2
3) = 2
FE, Kim et al.
3) 2 =
t/c = 0.075
FE, Kim et al.
3) 2 =
0.0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1.0
1.2
a b
c d
p
L
/
p
0
0.0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1.0
1.2
p
L
/
p
0
0.0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1.0
1.2
p
L
/
p
0
0.0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1.0
1.2
p
L
/
p
0
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8
a/t
1
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8
a/t
1 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8
a/t
1
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8
a/t
1
Fig. 12. Comparison of normalised limit pressures between various solutions and FE results due to Kim et al. [13] for cylinders with internal surface cracks under internal pressure
(k 1.05, with crack face pressure).
a/c = 0.2 a/c = 0.4
a/c = 0.6
FE, Staat & Vu
Prediction, Staat & Vu (eqn. (37)),
Prediction, present work (eqn. (65)), ( ) 3 2 =
( ) 3 2 =
FE, Staat & Vu
( ) 3 2 =
FE, Staat & Vu
( ) 3 2 =
FE, Staat & Vu
( ) 3 2 =
FE, Staat & Vu
( ) 3 2 =
a/c = 0.8
a/c = 1
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8
a/t
1
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8
a/t
1 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8
a/t
1
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8
a/t
1 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8
a/t
1
0.0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1.0
1.2
p
L
/
p
0
0.0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1.0
1.2
p
L
/
p
0
0.0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1.0
1.2
p
L
/
p
0
0.0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1.0
1.2
p
L
/
p
0
0.0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1.0
1.2
p
L
/
p
0
a b
c d
e
Fig. 14. Comparison of normalised limit pressures between various solutions and FE results due to Staat and Vu [12] for cylinders with external surface cracks under internal
pressure (k 2).
FE, Zarrabi et al.
) 3 2 =
a/t = 0.9
0.0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1.0
1.2
e
d c
b a
0 2 3 6
a/c
p
L
/
p
0
4 5 1
a/t = 0.7
0 2 3 6
a/c
4 5 1
a/t = 0.5
0 2 3
a/c
4 1
a/t = 0.3
0 1 3
a/c
2
a/t = 0.1
0 2 3
a/c
1
0.0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1.0
1.2
p
L
/
p
0
0.0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1.0
1.2
p
L
/
p
0
0.0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1.0
1.2
p
L
/
p
0
0.0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1.0
1.2
p
L
/
p
0
FE, Zarrabi et al.
) 3 2 =
FE, Zarrabi et al.
) 3 2 =
FE, Zarrabi et al.
) 3 2 =
FE, Zarrabi et al.
Prediction, Staat & Vu (eqn. (37)), ( ) 3 2 =
Fig. 15. Comparison of normalised limit pressures between various solutions and FE results due to Zarrabi et al. [16] for cylinders with external surface cracks under internal
pressure (k 1.57).
p
L
s
y
1
c
1
c
_
c
1
ln
_
R
o
R
i
_
c
R
i
R
*
1
ln
_
R
o
R
i
a
_
_
1
c
1
c
1
_
c
1
c
ln k
R
i
R
*
1
ln
_
k
1
a
t
k 1
_
_
(42)
where
c
1
c

a
_
1
a
t
_
M
a2
R
i
_
ln
_
R
o
R
i
_
R
i
R
*
1
ln
_
R
o
R
i
a
_
_
a
k 1
a
t
_
1
a
t
_
M
a2
_
ln k
R
i
R
*
1
ln
_
k
1
a
t
k 1
_
_
a
t
k 1
(43)
and
c
1
D
_
1
a
t
_
(44)
Staat and Vu [12] dened their local limit pressures based on
both the von Mises and Tresca yield criteria, using the methodology
employed by Carter [9] but their own limit pressure solutions for
a cylinder with a through-wall crack (Eq. (24)) and a cylinder with
an extended crack (Eq. (9)), as
p
L
s
y
gln
_
R
o
R
i
_
glnk for
p
I
gs
y
!lnk
g
s
1
c
_
s
1
ln
_
R
o
R
i
_
c
R
i
a
R
*
2
ln
_
R
o
R
i
a
_
_
g
s
1
c
1
_
s
1
c
lnk
R
i
R
*
2
_
1
a
t
k1
_
ln
_
k
1
a
t
k1
_
_
for
p
I
gs
y
<lnk
45
_
_
where
and
p
I
gs
y
R
i
R
*
2
_
1
M
a3
ln
_
R
i
a
R
i
_
R
i
a
R
i
ln
_
R
o
R
i
a
__
R
i
R
*
2
_
1
M
a3
ln
_
1
a
t
k 1
_
_
1
a
t
k 1
_
ln
_
k
1
a
t
k 1
__
(47)
Thetwolocal limit pressure solutions arenowcomparedwiththe
FE results. There is only one set of well documented FE results for
local limit pressureavailable, whichis theresults duetoJunet al. [15]
based on the von Mises yield criterion and the crack ligament
yielding. Eqs. (42) and (45) (g 2=
3
p
) due to Carter [9] and Staat
andVu[12], respectively, are comparedwiththeFEresults duetoJun
et al. [15] in Figs. 1719 for k 1.05, 1.11 and 1.22, respectively, for
internal surface cracks with crack face pressure. Eq. (39) is also
plotted in the gures for comparison, though it is for cases without
crack face pressure. From Figs. 1719, the predictions using Carters
solution (Eq. (42)) are reasonably close to the FE results and
conservative for all the three k values except for shallow cracks in
a very thin cylinder (see Fig. 17(a) and (b)). It is also seen from the
gures that the solution due to Staat and Vu [12] for g 2=
3
p
is
non-conservative for short and shallow cracks, especially for the
cylinder with a very thin wall (Figs. 17 and 18). The formula due to
Kiefner et al. (Eq. (39)) shows very good and conservative predic-
tions for k 1.11 (Fig. 18) and 1.22 (Fig. 19). However, it may be non-
conservative for short and shallowcracks for k 1.05 (see Fig. 17).
3.4.2. External cracks
Similar to the cases of internal cracks, Carters local limit pres-
sure solution [9] for an external surface crack (see Fig. 16(b)) under
internal pressure is dened as follows
s
1
c

_
1
a
t
_
R
i
R
*
2
ln
_
R
i
a
R
i
_
M
a3
_
ln
_
R
o
R
i
_
R
i
R
*
2
_
1
M
a3
ln
_
R
i
a
R
i
_
R
i
a
R
i
ln
_
R
o
R
i
a
__
_
1
a
t
_
R
i
R
*
2
ln
_
1
a
t
k 1
_
M
a3
_
ln k
R
i
R
*
2
_
1
M
a3
ln
_
1
a
t
k 1
_
_
1
a
t
k 1
_
ln
_
k
1
a
t
k 1
__
_
(46)
Internal crack, D
t
a
c
1
= 1
External crack, c
2
D
t
a
= 1
D D
2c
c
1 c
1
Crack
a
t
R
i
R
o
p
D D
2c
c
2
c
2
Crack
a
t
R
i
R
o
p
a
b
Fig. 16. Alternative partitions to dene global and local limit pressures for cylinders
with surface cracks under internal pressure.
p
L
s
y
1
c
2
c
_
c
2
ln
_
R
o
R
i
_
cln
_
R
o
a
R
i
__
1
c
2
c
1
_
c
2
c
ln k ln
_
k
a
t
k 1
__
(48)
where
c
2
c

a
_
1
a
t
_
M
ax1
R
o
aln
_
R
o
R
o
a
_
a
k 1
a
t
_
1
a
t
_
M
ax1
_
k
a
t
k 1
_
ln
_
k
k
a
t
k 1
_
a
t
k 1
(49)
The local limit pressure for external crack due to Staat and Vu
[12] can be expressed as
p
L
s
y
g
s
2
c
_
s
2
ln
_
R
o
R
i
_
cln
_
R
o
a
R
i
__
g
s
2
c
1
_
s
2
c
ln k ln
_
k
a
t
k 1
__
(50)
where
s
2
c

1
a
t
M
ax2
1
(51)
No relevant FE results have been found for local limit pressures
of cylinders with external surface cracks.
a/c = 0.33
a/c = 0.167
a/c = 0.083 a/c = 0.05
a/c = 0.033
FE, Jun et al.
Prediction, Staat (eqn. (45)), (
Prediction, present work (eqn. (67))
3) 2 =
0.0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1.0
1.2
a b
c d
e
p
L
/
p
0
0.0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1.0
1.2
p
L
/
p
0
0.0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1.0
1.2
p
L
/
p
0
0.0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1.0
1.2
p
L
/
p
0
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8
a/t
1
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8
a/t
1
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8
a/t
1
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8
a/t
1
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8
a/t
1
0.0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1.0
1.2
p
L
/
p
0
FE, Jun et al.
FE, Jun et al.
FE, Jun et al.
FE, Jun et al.
Fig. 17. Comparison of normalised local limit pressures between various solutions and FE results due to Jun et al. [15] for cylinders with internal surface cracks under internal
pressure (k 1.05, with crack face pressure).
3.5. Limit load solutions for axial cracks in cylinders subjected to
combined membrane and through-wall bending stresses
Limit load solutions for axially cracked cylinders subjected to
combined membrane and through-wall bending stresses
(Fig. 20) are generally obtained from solutions for cracked plates
under combined tension and bending [1,9,20,21], ignoring the
effect of curvature. In R6 [1], the limit load solution for a thin-
walled cylinder with an internal axial surface crack under
combined membrane and through-wall bending stresses is
a local solution based on the plate solution due to Goodall and
Webster [22] and Lei [23,24]. Actually, this solution can be
extended to thick-walled cylinders with internal/external
surface cracks as long as the bending stress tends to open the
crack because the plate solution [2224] was derived for any
thickness of the plate.
3.6. Limit load solutions for axially cracked cylinders
under combined loading
A limit load solution for thin-walled cylinders with axial surface
cracks under combined internal pressure, axial tension and global
bending was proposed by Desquines et al. [25], followed Kitching
et al. [4]. However, the limit pressures predicted using this solution
are much lower than those predicted using the solution due to
Kiefner et al. [3] for the limiting case of a cylinder with a through-
wall crack under internal pressure alone.
Kim et al. [14] performed an FE analysis for a cylinder of t=R
m

0:05 with a surface crack of a=t 0:2 and a=c 0:0224 under
combined internal pressure and global bending and concluded
that a bending load has only a slight effect on the limit pressure for
axial cracks. This might not be true for short cracks where the
limit pressure of the cylinder approaches the limit pressure of the
a/c = 0.33 a/c = 0.167
a/c = 0.083 a/c = 0.05
a/c = 0.033
FE, Jun et al.
Prediction, present work (eqn. 67)
( ) 3 2 =
0.0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1.0
1.2
p
L
/
p
0
0.0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1.0
1.2
p
L
/
p
0
0.0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1.0
1.2
p
L
/
p
0
0.0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1.0
1.2
p
L
/
p
0
0.0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1.0
1.2
p
L
/
p
0
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8
a/t
1 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8
a/t
1
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8
a/t
a/t
1 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8
a/t
1
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1
FE, Jun et al.
( ) 3 2 =
FE, Jun et al.
( ) 3 2 =
FE, Jun et al.
( ) 3 2 =
FE, Jun et al.
( ) 3 2 =
a b
c d
e
crack-free cylinder when internal pressure only is applied. Further
investigation is necessary for the limit load of axially cracked
cylinders under combined loading.
4. New limit load solutions for cylinders with
axial cracks under internal pressure
The results of the reviewof the limit loads for axially cracked cylin-
ders under internal pressure in Section 3 can be summarised as follows.
(1) For extended internal/external surface cracks, solutions due to
Staat and Staat and Vu (Eqs. (9) and (13)) are for thick-walled
cylinders and give good predictions of the available FE results.
(2) For through-wall cracks, the solution due to Staat and Vu (Eq.
(24)) is for thick-walled cylinders and gives good predictions of
available FE results for both thin-walled and thick-walled
cylinders. However, Eq. (24) is non-conservative for short and
shallow cracks because the back-wall correction in the equa-
tion is incorrect and the stress magnication factor, M
t4
, needs
to be re-calibrated.
(3) For the global limit pressure of internal surface cracks, the limit
pressure solution due to Staat and Vu (Eq. (31)) is for thick-
walled cylinders and gives good predictions for available FE
results for both thin-walled and thick-walled cylinders.
However, it over-estimates the FE results for short and shallow
cracks due to the probleminthe solutionfor through-wall cracks
described in (2) and the pressure magnifying factor, R
i
a=R
i
,
applied to the term corresponding to the crack-free cylinder.
(4) For the global limit pressure of external surface cracks, the limit
pressure solution due to Staat and Vu (Eq. (37)) is for thick-
walled cylinders and gives good predictions for available FE
results for thick-walled cylinders. However, it over-estimates
a/c = 0.33 a/c = 0.167
a/c = 0.083
0.0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1.0
1.2
0.0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1.0
1.2
0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1.0
0.0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1.0
1.2
0.0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1.0
1.2
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1
0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1
a/t
p
L
/
p
0
p
L
/
p
0
FE, Jun et al.
( =2
a/t
FE, Jun et al.
( ) 3 2 =
0.0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1.0
1.2
a/t
p
L
/
p
0
FE, Jun et al.
a/c = 0.05
a/c = 0.033
a/t
p
L
/
p
0
FE, Jun et al.
( = 2
a/t
p
L
/
p
0
FE, Jun et al.
Prediction, Staat & Vu (eqn. (45)), ( =2
3)
3)
3)
a
b
c
d
e
( = 2 3)
the FE results for short and shallow cracks due to the problem
in the solution for through-wall cracks described in (2).
(5) For the local limit pressures for internal/external surface
cracks, Carters solutions (Eqs. (42) and (48)) are for thick-
walled cylinders and give reasonably good and conservative
predictions of FE results for thin-walled cylinders. However,
the expressions for the local limit pressure are based on the
relevant global solutions. Therefore, they need to be re-derived
to maintain consistency with the global solutions.
New limit pressure solutions for axially cracked thick-walled
cylinders under internal pressure are derived in this section. They
can also be used for thin-walled cylinders.
4.1. Through-wall cracks under internal pressure
Newlimit load solutions based on both the von Mises and Tresca
yield criteria for a thick-walled cylinder with a through-wall crack
under internal pressure are obtained by summing the pressure
corresponding to the front-wall failure, p
0
=M
tn
, and the back-wall
correction, Dp
L
(see Eq. (C1) in Appendix C). FromEq. (C1), the limit
pressure without considering the crack face pressure can be
expressed as
p
L
s
y
p
0
M
tn
s
y
Dp
L
s
y
(52)
where M
tn
is the stress magnication factor and is dened using the
outer radius of the cylinder, with the coefcient being re-calibrated
using the FE data for k 2 (see Appendix C), that is,
M
tn

_
1 1:4 r
2
o
_
0:5
_
1 1:4
c
2
R
o
t
_0:5
_
1 1:4
k 1
k
_
t
c
_
2
_
0:5
fork 2 (53)
The crack face pressure can be considered, following Staat
and Vu [12], by applying a factor R
i
=R
*
t
for the pressure corre-
sponding to the front-wall failure and Eq. (52) can be further
expressed as
p
L
s
y
R
i
R
*
t
p
0
M
tn
s
y
Dp
L
s
y
(54)
where R
*
t
is dened in Eq. (B6) (see Appendix B) and the second
term in the right-hand side of Eq. (54) is given by Eq. (B7) in
Appendix B. Note that Eq. (54) leads to the limit pressure for
a defect-free cylinder R
i
=R
*
t
p
0
< p
0
when c/0 because the factor
R
i
=R
*
t
does not change with crack length, c, noting that the second
term in the right-hand side of Eq. (54) tends to zero and M
tn
/1. In
order to avoid this, the R
*
t
in Eq. (54) may be replaced by R
*
tn
, which
is dened as
Internal crack
External crack
b
2c
a
t
R
i
R
o
2c
a
t
R
i
R
o
a
b
m
Fig. 20. Geometry and dimensions of axial surface cracks in thick-walled cylinders subjected to membrane stress and through-wall bending.
R
*
tn

R
i
R
i
t
2
forc ! t
R
i
c
2
forc < t
_
_
_
_
(55)
It is seen from Eq. (55) that for long cracks (c ! t) R
*
tn
R
*
t
and
for short cracks (c < t) it is a linear interpolation between R
i
t=2
and R
i
. This allows the effect of the crack face pressure factor to
vanish when the crack length tends to zero and the limit pressure of
the crack-free cylinder to be accurately reproduced. Here, choosing
c < t as short cracks is for consistency with the cases of surface
cracks with c < a and is somewhat arbitrary. Using R
*
tn
, the limit
pressure for a thick-walled cylinder with a through-wall crack
under internal pressure can be expressed as
where f
pt
is the crack face pressure factor and can be expressed as,
from Eq. (55),
f
pt

R
i
R
*
tn
1 without crack face pressure

R
i
R
i
t
2
1
1
1
2
k 1
for
t
c
1
R
i
R
i
c
2
t
c
t
c
1
2
k 1
for
t
c
> 1
_
_
_
_
(57)
The new solution, Eq. (56) (g 2=
3
p
), is compared with
other existing solutions and the FE data due to Staat and Vu [12]
and Kim et al. [13] in Figs. 6 and 7. From Figs. 6 and 7, Eq. (56)
provides the best predictions of the FE results compared with
all other solutions. It is slightly conservative compared with the
FE data for cases without crack face pressure (Fig. 6) and accu-
rate or slightly non-conservative for cases with crack pressure
(Fig. 7).
4.2. Surface cracks under internal pressure
4.2.1. Internal cracks (global)
New limit load solutions based on both the von Mises and
Tresca yield criteria for a thick-walled cylinder with an internal
surface crack under internal pressure are obtained by summing
the limit pressure corresponding to the cylinder of inner radius
R
i
and thickness a with a through-wall crack of length 2c
(Cylinder A in Fig. 9(a)) and that for the crack-free cylinder of
inner radius R
i
a and thickness t a (Cylinder B in Fig. 9(a)),
that is
p
L
s
y
p
L
Cylinder A
s
y
F
pt
R
i
R
*
2n
p
L
Cylinder B
s
y
(58)
where R
i
=R
*
2n
is the crack face pressure factor dened for Cylinder
A. The equivalent radius R
*
2n
is the R
*
tn
for Cylinder A and can be
obtained by applying Eq. (55) to Cylinder A, that is
R
*
2n

R
i
R
i
a
2
forc ! a
R
i
c
2
forc < a
_
_
_
_
(59)
In Eq. (58), F
pt
is the pressure transfer factor and is dened as
F
pt
1
a
R
i
_
1
1
M
an
_
(60)
where M
an
is the stress magnication factor for Cylinder A and can
be obtained by applying Eq. (53) to Cylinder A, that is
M
an
_
11:4
c
2
R
i
aa
_0:5
_
11:4
a
t
k1
_
a
c
_
2
1
a
t
k1
_
0:5
for
_
1
a
t
k1
_
2 (61)
The pressure transfer factor, F
pt
, is applied to the termin Eq. (58)
representing the limit pressure of the crack-free cylinder (Cylinder
B in Fig. 9(a)) to capture the behaviour of pressure transferring from
the inner surface of Cylinder A to the inner surface of Cylinder B
(Fig. 9(a)). For an extreme case c/N and hence M
an
/N, i.e. an
extended penetrating crack in Cylinder A in Fig. 9(a), F
pt
tends to
R
i
a=R
i
1a=R
i
because Cylinder A in Fig. 9(a) is almost
elastic and the pressure transfer is based on radial force equilib-
rium. Another extreme case is c/0 and hence M
an
/1. In this case,
F
pt
tends to 1 because the fully yielded Cylinder A in Fig. 9(a) cannot
bear any more pressure difference and the pressure is transferred
constantly from the inner surface of Cylinder A (Fig. 9(a)) to the
inner surface of Cylinder B (Fig. 9(a)). For all other cases between
these two limits, the factor is estimated using linear interpolation
based on 1=M
an
.
Determining the limit pressure of Cylinder A in Fig. 9(a) by
applying Eq. (56) to a cylinder of inner radius R
i
and outer radius
R
i
a with a through-wall crack of length 2c and the limit pressure
for the defect-free cylinder of inner radius R
i
a and outer radius
R
o
(Cylinder B in Fig. 9(a)), the limit pressure of a thick-walled
cylinder with an internal surface crack can be obtained from Eq.
(58) and expressed as
p
L
s
y
R
i
R
*
tn
g
M
tn
ln
_
R
o
R
i
_
_
_
_
1
1
2
1
1
M
tn
t
R
*
tn
_
2
1
4
_
1
1
M
2
tn
__
t
R
*
tn
_
2
_

_
1
1
2
_
1
1
M
tn
_
t
R
*
tn
_
_
_
fpt
g
Mtn
ln k
_
_
_
1
1
2
1
1
M
tn
k 1f
pt
_
2
1
4
_
1
1
M
2
tn
_
_
k 1f
pt
_
2
_

_
1
1
2
_
1
1
M
tn
_
k 1f
pt
_
_
_
(56)
where f
ps
is the crack face pressure factor and is dened, using
Eq. (59), as
f
ps
R
i
R
*
2n
1 without crackfacepressure
R
i
R
i
a
2
1
1
1
2
a
t
k1
for
a
c
1
R
i
R
i
c
2
a
c
a
c
1
2
a
t
k1
for
a
c
>1
withcrackfacepressure
_
_
_
_
(63)
Note that Eq. (62) is valid for p
L
=gs
y
1 because the pressure
transfer factor for long cracks is dened based on the assumption of
an elastic Cylinder A and yielding may take place in Cylinder A even
for the case of an extended surface crack when p
L
>gs
y
. This
condition is always satised for cylinders of k2:718 with any
crack size.
Eq. (62) reduces to Eq. (56) for through-wall cracks, when
a=t/1, and to Eq. (9) for internal extended cracks when a=c/0
and a=t > 0. It also reproduces the limit pressure for crack-free
thick-walled cylinders when a=t 0 or a=c/N.
The new solution, Eq. (62) with g 2=
3
p
, is compared with
other existing solutions and the FE data due to Staat and Vu [12] in
Figs. 10 and 11 and those due to Kimet al. [13] in Figs. 12 and 13. For
cases without crack face pressure (Fig. 10), Eq. (62) has largely
removed the non-conservatism of the solution due to Staat and Vu
[12] for short cracks. From the gure, the predictions using Eq. (62)
are close to the FE results and conservative. For cases with crack
face pressure (Figs. 1113), Eq. (62) has also improved the non--
conservatism of the solution of Staat and Vu [12] for short
and shallow cracks for thick-walled cylinders (Fig. 11) and gives
reasonably good and conservative predictions for both thick-walled
(Fig. 11) and thin-walled (Figs. 12 and 13) cylinders.
4.2.2. External cracks (global)
New limit load solutions based on both the von Mises and
Tresca yield criteria for a thick-walled cylinder with an external
surface crack under internal pressure are obtained by directly
summing the limit pressure corresponding to the cylinder of inner
radius R
o
a and outer radius R
o
with a through-wall crack of
length 2c (Cylinder A in Fig. 9(b)) and that for the crack-free
cylinder of inner radius R
i
and outer radius R
o
a (Cylinder B in
Fig. 9(b)), that is
p
L
s
y
p
L
Cylinder A
s
y
p
L
Cylinder B
s
y
(64)
In Eq. (64), a simple addition for the limit pressures for the two
cylinders is used because Cylinder B in Fig. 9(b) is defect-free and
the pressure transfer factor from the inner surface of Cylinder B
(Fig. 9(b)) at R
i
to the inner surface of Cylinder A (Fig. 9(b)) at R
o
a
is unity (see Section 4.2.1 above).
Determining the limit pressure of Cylinder A of Fig. 9(b) by
applying Eq. (56) to a cylinder of inner radius R
o
a and outer
radius R
o
with a through-wall crack of length 2c and the limit
pressure for the defect-free cylinder of inner radius R
i
and outer
radius R
o
a (Cylinder B in Fig. 9(b)), the limit pressure of a thick-
walled cylinder with an external surface crack can be obtained from
Eq. (64) and expressed as
pL
s
y

_
_
g
Maxn
ln
_
Ro
Roa
_
_

_
Ro
R
i
1
2
1
1
Maxn
a
t
t
R
i
_
2
1
4
_
1
1
M
2
axn
_
_
a
t
t
R
i
_
2

_
R
o
R
i
1
2
_
1
1
M
axn
_
a
t
t
R
i
_
_
_
_
_
gln
_
Roa
R
i
_
g
_
1
Maxn
ln
_
k
k
a
t
k1
_
ln
_
k
a
t
k 1
_
_
_

_
k
1
2
1
1
Maxn
a
t
k 1
_
2
1
4
_
1
1
M
2
axn
_
_
a
t
k 1
_
2

_
k
1
2
_
1
1
M
axn
_
a
t
k 1
_
_
_
(65)
pL
s
y

_
_
R
i
R
*
2n
g
M
an
ln
_
R
i
a
R
i
_
_
_
_
1
1
2
1
1
M
an
a
t
t
R
*
2n
_
2
1
4
_
1
1
M
2
an
__
a
t
t
R
*
2n
_
2
_

_
1
1
2
_
1
1
M
an
_
a
t
t
R
*
2n
_
_
_
_
_
1
a
R
i
_
1
1
M
an
__
R
i
R
*
2n
gln
_
R
o
R
i
a
_
gf
ps
_
1
M
an
ln
_
1
a
t
k 1
_
_
1
a
t
k 1
_
1
1
M
an
__
ln
_
k
1
a
t
k 1
__
_
_
_
1
1
2
1
1
M
an
a
t
f
ps
k 1
_
2
1
4
_
1
1
M
2
an
_
_
a
t
f
ps
k 1
_
2
_

_
1
1
2
_
1
1
M
an
_
a
t
f
ps
k 1
_
_
_
for k 2:718
(62)
where the stress magnication factor, M
axn
, can be obtained by
applying Eq. (53) to Cylinder A in Fig. 9(b) and expressed as
M
axn

_
1 1:4
c
2
R
o
a
_0:5
_
1 1:4
k 1
a
t
k
_
a
c
_
2
_
0:5
for
k
k
a
t
k 1
2 (66)
Eq. (65) reduces to Eq. (56) for through-wall cracks when a=t/1
and to Eq. (13) for external extended cracks when a=c/0 and
a=t > 0. It also reproduces the limit pressure for crack-free thick-
walled cylinders when a=t 0 or a=c/N.
The new solution, Eq. (65) with g 2=
3
p
, is compared with
other existing solutions and the FE data due to Staat and Vu [12] in
Fig. 14 and those due to Zarrabi [16] in Fig. 15. From the gures, Eq.
(65) has largely removed the non-conservatism of the solution due
to Staat and Vu [12] for deep and short cracks. It is also seen from
the gures that the predictions using Eq. (65) are very close to the
FE data and conservative for all cases shown in Figs. 14 and 15
except for the cases with very shallow cracks, where the FE results
are slightly over-estimated by Eq. (65).
4.2.3. Internal cracks (local)
A new local limit pressure solution for a thick-walled cylinder
with an internal surface crack under internal pressure is obtained
from the methodology used by Carter [9] (see Section 3.4.1
above) based on the new limit load solutions for thick-walled
cylinders with internal surface cracks (Eq. (62)) and the limit
load solution for thick-walled cylinders with internal extended
cracks under internal pressure due to Staat and Vu [12] (Eq. (9)).
Following Carter [9], the local limit pressure for a thick-walled
cylinder with an internal surface crack of depth a and length 2c
can be expressed as the weighted sum of the limit pressures of
a cylinder of length 2c with an internal extended crack of depth
a and two crack-free cylinders of length h
1
(refer to Fig. 16(a)
with c
1
replaced by h
1
), that is
p
L
s
y
1
h
1
c
_
h
1
ln
_
R
o
R
i
_
c
R
i
R
*
2
R
i
a
R
i
ln
_
R
o
R
i
a
_
_
z
1
h
1
c
1
_
h
1
c
ln k f
ps
_
1
a
t
k 1
_
ln
_
k
1
a
t
k 1
__
(67)
where R
i
=R
*
2
f
ps
for c ! a (see Eq. (63)) and R
i
=R
*
2
zf
ps
for c < a
have been adopted. The normalised equivalent length of the crack-
free cylinder, h
1
=c, can be obtained by following Eqs. (41)(44) but
using Eq. (62) as the global limit pressure for a thick-walled
cylinder with an internal surface crack and Eq. (9) as the limit
pressure for a thick-walled cylinder with an internal extended
crack. The result can be expressed as
Note that the back-wall correction terms in Eqs. (9) and (62)
have been omitted as only local ligament yielding is considered.
The g factor is also set to unity because the comparison with
the FE data below shows the solution based on the von Mises
yield criterion may be non-conservative for short and shallow
cracks.
The new solution, Eq. (67), is compared with other existing
solutions and the FE data due to Jun et al. [15] in Figs. 1719 for
k 1.05, 1.11 and 1.22, respectively. From the gures, the limit
pressure obtained using Eq. (67) is very close to, but slightly
higher than that predicted using Carters solution. It is also
seen from the gures that the predictions using Eq. (67) are
reasonably close to and conservative compared with the FE
results for all cases shown in Figs. 1719. The conservatism of
Eq. (67) may increase with increase of k, noting the trends
shown in Figs. 1719.
4.2.4. External cracks (local)
A new local limit pressure solution for a thick-walled cylinder
with an external surface crack under internal pressure is obtained
from the methodology used by Carter [9] (see Section 3.4.2 above)
based on the new limit load solutions for thick-walled cylinders
with external surface cracks (Eq. (65)) and the limit load solution
for thick-walled cylinders with external extended cracks under
internal pressure due to Staat and Vu [12] (Eq. (13)). Following
Carter [9], the local limit pressure for a thick-walled cylinder with
an external surface crack of depth a and length 2c can be expressed
as the weighted sumof the limit pressures of a cylinder of length 2c
with an external extended crack of depth a and two crack-free
cylinders of length h
2
(refer to Fig. 16(b) with c
2
replaced by h
2
),
that is
p
L
s
y
1
h
2
c
_
h
2
ln
_
R
o
R
i
_
cln
_
R
o
a
R
i
__
1
h
2
c
1
_
h
2
c
ln k ln
_
k
a
t
k 1
_
_
(69)
The normalised equivalent length of the crack-free cylinder,
h
2
=c, can be obtained by following Eqs. (48)(50) but using Eq. (65)
as the global limit pressure for a thick-walled cylinder with an
external surface crack and Eq. (13) as the limit pressure for a thick-
walled cylinder with an external extended crack. The result can be
expressed as
h
2
c

1
a
t
M
axn
1
(70)
Note that, again, the back-wall correction terms in Eqs. (13) and
(65) have been omitted as only local ligament yielding is consid-
ered. The g factor is also set to unity because of the same reason
given in Section 4.2.3 for internal cracks.
No relevant FE results have been found for local limit pressures
of cylinders with external surface cracks.
h
1
c

_
1
a
t
_
f
ps
_
ln
_
R
i
a
R
i
_
a
t
t
R
i
ln
_
R
o
R
i
a
__
M
an
_
ln
_
Ro
R
i
_
f
ps
_
1
Man
ln
_
R
i
a
R
i
_
_
1
a
R
i
_
1
1
Man
__
ln
_
Ro
R
i
a
___
1
a
t
_
f
ps
_
ln
_
1
a
t
k 1
_
a
t
k 1ln
_
k
1
a
t
k1
__
M
an
_
ln k f
ps
_
1
Man
ln
_
1
a
t
k 1
_
_
1
a
t
k 1
_
1
1
Man
__
ln
_
k
1
a
t
k1
___
(68)
5. Conclusions
1. The limit load solutions for axially cracked cylinders have been
reviewed and compared with available FE results. The ndings
are as follows.
(1) For extended internal/external cracks under internal pres-
sure, solutions due to Staat and Vu (Eqs. (9) and (13)) are for
thick-walled cylinders and give the best predictions of the
available FE results.
(2) For through-wall cracks under internal pressure, the solu-
tion due to Staat and Vu (Eq. (24)) is for thick-walled
cylinders and gives the best predictions of available FE
results for both thin-walled and thick-walled cylinders.
However, it is non-conservative for short cracks because
the back-wall correction in the equation is incorrect and
the stress magnication factor needs to be re-calibrated.
(3) For the global limit pressure of internal surface cracks, the
solution due to Staat and Vu (Eq. (31)) is for thick-walled
cylinders and gives the best prediction of available FE results
for both thin-walled and thick-walled cylinders. However, it
over-estimates the FE results for short and shallowcracks due
to the problems in the solution for through-wall cracks
addressedin(2) andthepressureamplifyingfactor, R
i
a=R
i
,
applied to the term corresponding to the crack-free cylinder.
(4) For the global limit pressure of external surface cracks, the
solution due to Staat and Vu (Eq. (37)) is for thick-walled
cylinders and gives the best prediction of available FE results
for thick-walled cylinders. However, it over-estimates the FE
results for short and through-wall cracks due to the problem
in the solution for through-wall cracks addressed in (2).
(5) For the local limit pressures of internal/external surface
cracks, Carters solutions (Eqs. (42) and (48)) are for thick-
walled cylinders and give reasonably good and conserva-
tive predictions of available FE results for thin-walled
cylinders. However, the expressions for the local limit
pressure are based on the corresponding global solutions.
Therefore, they need to be re-derived to maintain consis-
tency with the global solutions. The solutions due to Staat
and Vu (Eqs. (45) and (50)) are for thick-walled cylinders.
However, the solution for internal cracks (Eq. (45)) with
g 2=
3
p
is non-conservative for short and shallow
cracks, especially for the cylinder with a very thin wall
compared with the available FE results.
(6) Little information for the effect of other load types, such as
axial tension and global bending moment, on the limit
pressure of a cylinder with an axial crack can be found.
Limit load solutions for axially cracked cylinders under
combined internal pressure, tension and global bending are
currently lacking.
2. New limit pressure solutions for thick-walled cylinders with
axial cracks under internal pressure have been developed to
overcome the problems addressed in Conclusion 1, above. The
new solutions are
(1) global solution for through-wall cracks,
(2) global solutions for internal/external surface cracks,
(3) local solutions for internal/external surface cracks.
3. The newly developed limit pressure solutions have been
compared with available FE data and the results show that the
predictions using the newsolutions are conservative and agree
well with the FE results.
Acknowledgements
The author wishes to acknowledge Dr. P.J. Budden of British
Energy Generation Ltd. for his comments on this paper and Prof.
Manfred Staat of Aachen University of Applied Sciences (Germany)
for providing FE data. This paper is published by permission of
British Energy Generation Ltd.
Appendix A. Folias factor
The Folias factor is a stress magnication factor due to the
curvature of shells and was rst reported by Folias [26] to address
the stress increase in the near crack tip area in a thin-walled
spherical vessel with a fully penetrating crack under internal
pressure. Folias [19] then derived the factor for a thin-walled
cylindrical vessel with a penetrating axial or circumferential crack
under internal pressure, based on elastic thin-shell theory. At that
time, Folias [19] obtained a theoretical solution for the stress
magnication factor for axial cracks only for r
m
0:55 and
expressed it as
M
t

1 fr
2
m
_
(A1)
with
f 1:61 forr
m
0:55 (A2)
where
r
m

c
R
m
t
p (A3)
Later, Erdogan and Kibler [27] solved the problem numerically
and obtained the solution for axial cracks for r
m
4:4. The
results are tabulated in Table A1. Folias [28] found that the
numerical results could still be expressed in the form of Eq. (A1),
but the coefcient f 1:05 provided a good t for the data,
that is,
f 1:05 forr
m
4:4 (A4)
Kiefner et al. [3] found that the limit pressure data from burst
tests of pipes with through-wall defects could be well correlated
using a Folias factor. In their paper [3], Kiefner et al. tted the Folias
Table A1
Numerical solution of Folias factor [27,17].
r
m
M
t
0.110011 1.0096
0.220022 1.0371
0.330033 1.0795
0.440044 1.1344
0.550055 1.1993
0.660066 1.2723
0.770077 1.3519
0.880088 1.4367
0.990099 1.5256
1.10011 1.6177
1.210121 1.7122
1.320132 1.8085
1.430143 1.906
1.540154 2.0045
1.650165 2.1035
1.787679 2.2276
1.925193 2.3519
2.062706 2.4761
2.20022 2.5999
2.337734 2.7232
2.475248 2.8459
2.750275 3.0895
3.025303 3.3303
3.30033 3.5681
3.575358 3.8029
3.850385 4.0347
4.125413 4.2637
4.40044 4.4895
factor data shown in Table A1 [27,17] and found the data could be
well represented by the following equation
M
t

1 1:255 r
2
m
0:0135 r
4
m
_
(A5)
Fig. A1 compares the three equations with the numerical data in
Table A1. From Fig. A1, Eqs. (A5) and (A1) with f 1:61 or 1.05 can
predict the numerical data very well in the region r
m
0:55. It is
also seen that Eq. (A1) with f 1:05 is a good representation and
Eq. (A5) is the best t of the data inthe regionr
m
4:4. However, Eq.
(A1) with f 1:61 is very conservative in the region 1 < r
m
4:4.
Several factors should be claried when using the Folias factor.
Firstly, the Folias factor was derived for elastic material properties.
It was used in the limit load solutions because Kiefner et al. found
that it could correlate their experimental data very well. The author
has not found any theoretical proof for elastic plastic materials.
Secondly, the Folias factor was obtained for thin-walled shells.
There is no solution for thick-walled shells. Finally, the theoretical
solution for the Folias factor is available only for r
m
4:4. Special
care should be made for problems beyond this limitation.
Appendix B. Back-wall effect on the limit pressure of
a cylinder with an axial crack
For a cylinder with an axial defect under internal pressure, the
global limit load of the defective cylinder is the pressure corre-
sponding to the plastic collapse of both the front-wall of the cylinder
containing the defect and the defect-free back-wall. The front-wall is
weaker than the back-wall due to the defect. Denoting the pressure
corresponding to the collapse of the front-wall, p
Lf
, the total global
limit pressure can be expressed as p
Lf
Dp
L
, where Dp
L
is the extra
pressure the back-wall can bear after the onset of the front-wall
collapse. For thin-walled cylinders, Dp
L
is negligible. However, it
may become signicant for cylinders with very thick walls. In this
Appendix, Dp
L
for through-wall andsurface cracks will be estimated.
The back-wall of a cracked cylinder can be treated as a plate
of thickness t subjected to combined tension force, N
L
, and bending
moment, M
Lp
, due to the internal pressure, p
Lf
Dp
L
. The limit load
of an uncracked plate with a thickness t and unit width under
combined tension and bending can be expressed as [29]
N
L
s
y
t

4l
2
1
_
2l (B1)
l
M
Lp
tN
L
(B2)
where l is the load ratio.
Cylinder with through-wall cracks
For a cylinder with an axial through-wall crack of length 2c
subjected to internal pressure, the tensile force, N
L
, and the moment,
M
Lp
, in the back-wall due to the internal pressure, p
Lf
Dp
L
, are as
follows (see Fig. B1). The resultant force and moment in the back-
wall can be obtained by taking the force equilibrium along the
direction normal to the crack face and moment equilibrium in the
back-wall, assuming that the back-wall only bears half of the force
due to p
Lf
but the full force due to Dp
L
, and expressed as
N
L
2R
*
t
Dp
L
R
*
t
p
Lf
R
*
t
_
2Dp
L
p
Lf
_
(B3)
M
Lp

_
N
L
R
*
t
p
Lf
_
_
R
*
t

t
2
_
2R
*
t
Dp
L
_
R
*
t

t
2
_
(B4)
The load ratio, l, following Eq. (B2), for this geometry is
l
M
Lp
N
L
t

2Dp
L
_
1
1
2
t
R
*
t
_
_
2Dp
L
p
Lf
_
t
R
*
t
(B5)
InEqs. (B3)(B5), R
*
t
is the equivalent radius to include the effect of
the crack face pressure and is dened, for long cracks (c ! t), as
R
*
t

R
i
R
i
t
2
_
(B6)
The normalised limit pressure increase due to the back-
wall effect, Dp
L
=s
y
, can be obtained by inserting Eqs. (B3) and
(B5) into Eq. (B1) and solving for Dp
L
=s
y
. The result can be
expressed as
Dp
L
s
y
_
1
1
2
1
1
M
tn
t
R
*
t
_
2
1
4
_
1
1
M
2
tn
__
t
R
*
t
_
2
_
1
1
2
_
1
1
M
tn
_
t
R
*
t
_
B7
In Eq. (B7), the following assumption has been adopted
p
Lf
s
y
z
t
R
*
t
1
M
tn
(B8)
using Eq. (19), replacing M
t2
by M
tn
dened by Eq. (53).
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
0 1 2 3 4 5
m
M
t
Folias Factor, data
Kiefner equation (eqn. (A5))
Eqn. (A1) with = 1.61
Eqn. (A1) with = 1.05
Fig. A1. Comparison of Folias factor between numerical data [27,17] and three
equations.
R
i
t
p
L
p
Lf
+
Front wall with a
through-wall crack
Back wall
N
L
M
Lp
2R
*
t
Fig. B1. Back-wall loads for a cylinder with a through-wall crack (R
*
t
shown for the case
of crack face pressure).
Cylinder with internal surface crack
For a cylinder with an axial internal surface crack of length 2c
and depth a subjected to internal pressure, the back-wall effect is
only from the cylinder of inner radius R
i
and thickness a with
a through-wall crack of length 2c (Fig. B2). The normalised
pressure increase due to the back-wall effect, Dp
L
=s
y
, for this case
can be obtained directly from Eq. (B7) by replacing t, R
*
t
and M
tn
in Eq. (B7) by a, R
*
2
and M
an
, respectively. The result can be
expressed as
Dp
L
s
y
_
1
1
2
1
1
M
an
a
t
t
R
*
2
_
2
1
4
_
1
1
M
2
an
__
a
t
t
R
*
2
_
2
_
1
1
2
_
1
1
M
an
_
a
t
t
R
*
2
_
B9
where R
*
2
is dened in Eq. (10) and M
an
is dened in Eq. (61).
Cylinder with external surface cracks
For a cylinder with an axial external surface crack of length 2c
and depth a subjected to internal pressure, the back-wall effect is
only from the cylinder of inner radius R
o
a and thickness a with
a through-wall crack of length 2c (Fig. B3). The normalised pressure
increase due to the back-wall effect, Dp
L
=s
y
, for this case can be
obtained directly fromEq. (B7) by replacing t, R
*
t
and M
tn
in Eq. (B7)
by a, R
o
a and M
axn
, respectively, and then applying a factor
R
o
a=R
i
to the right-hand side of Eq. (B7). The result can be
expressed as
Dp
L
s
y
_
k
1
2
1
1
M
axn
a
t
t
R
i
_
2
1
4
_
1
1
M
2
axn
_
_
a
t
t
R
i
_
2
_
k
1
2
_
1
1
M
axn
_
a
t
t
R
i
_
B10
where M
axn
is dened in Eq. (66).
Appendix C. Calibration of the stress magnication factor
for cylinders with through-wall cracks
The limit pressure, p
L
, for a cylinder with a through-wall crack
subjected to internal pressure may generally be expressed as
p
L
Dp
L
p
0
1
M
tn
(C1)
where p
0
is the limit pressure for crack-free cylinders, Dp
L
is the
pressure increase due to the back-wall effect (see Appendix B) and
M
tn
is the stress magnication factor. Staat and Vu have shown that
M
tn
can be expressed by the following equation
M
tn

1 fr
2
o
_
(C2)
The factor r
o
is a function of crack length, c, cylinder outer radius,
R
o
, and cylinder wall thickness, t, and is expressed by Eq. (26). The
coefcient f may be calibrated from FE or experimental data.
Combining Eqs. (C1) and (C2), the relationship between
p
0
=p
L
Dp
L
and r
o
is as follows
_
p
0
p
L
Dp
L
_
2
1 fr
2
o
(C3)
This equation may be used to calibrate f. Fig. C1 shows the FE
limit pressure data for cylinders with through-wall cracks under
internal pressure (without crack face pressure) due to Staat and Vu
[12], plotted as p
0
=p
L
2
against r
2
o
. FromFig. C1, the data for various
k are widely scattered with increasing r
o
and the coefcient, f, may
depend on k. Moreover, the relationship between p
0
=p
L
2
and r
2
o
is
non-linear for big k values. The FE data are then re-plotted in Fig. C2
considering the back-wall effect, Dp
L
. From the gure, the FE data
for all k values considered tend to collapse to one line and can be
represented by a straight line with a slope f 1:4. Note that Dp
L
is
a function of M
tn
(see Eq. (B7) in Appendix B) and, therefore, f. The
result f 1:4 was obtained by increasing f gradually and checking
R
i
t
p
L
p
Lf
+
N
L
M
Lp
2R
*
2
Front wall
Back wall
a
Fig. B2. Back-wall loads for a cylinder with an internal surface crack (R
*
2
shown for the
case of crack face pressure).
R
0
N
L
Front wall
Back wall
a
t
M
Lp
p
L
p
Lf
+
Fig. B3. Back-wall loads for a cylinder with an external surface crack.
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14
(
p
0

/
p
L
)
2
k = 1.1
k = 1.25
k = 1.5
k = 1.75
k = 2
Fig. C1. FE data [12] plotted in the form of Eq. (C3) for Dp
L
0.
the agreement with the FE data to obtain an upper-bound esti-
mation of M
tn
for all the FE data.
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0
5
10
15
20
25
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16
k = 1.1
k = 1.25
k = 1.5
k = 1.75
k = 2
= 1.4
1
1.4
(
p
0

/
(
p
L
-

p
L

)
)
2
Fig. C2. FE data shown in Fig. C1 re-plotted in the form of Eq. (C3) with considering the
back-wall correction.

A Review Limite Load Solution

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A Review Limite Load Solution

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A review of limit load solutions for cylinders with axial cracks

and development of new solutions

1 without crack face pressure

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