Effectiveness of Wear Plate at the Saddle Support

A theory is presented to analyze the effectiveness of incorporating a wear plate at the saddle support of a cylindrical pressure vessel. The wear plate can be either welded to the vessel or of loose fitting. The theory is based on a contact stress formulation together with the use of a cylindrical shell bending theory for simply supported cylinder. The effectiveness of the wear plate in reducing the peak circumferential saddle-horn stress is quantified by definition of a stress reduction factor. Parametric data are carried out for the saddle angle of 120 deg. From the study, the optimum thickness of the wear plate for three different angular extensions, are obtained.