The Four Heads

Four commonly used head types on vessels are Hemispherical (Hemi), Semi Elliptical (SE),
Flanged and Dished (F&D) and Flat. For this blog post, a 48” OD vessel with a 0.5000” wall
(47” ID) is designed in SA-516 70 material, code rated for 20,000 psi at 100°F. The vessel is
fully radiographed on long and circ seams and no corrosion is assumed. The ASME VIII-1
calculated design pressure is 420 psi (see the calculation set linked below for the full
calculations).

Each of the four heads is designed to match the 47” ID of the cylindrical shell, but the head
thickness is varied as required to meet the 420 psi design pressure of the cylinder. The
results:

Outside Height Volume [US

Head Thickness [in] Weight [lbs]
[in] gal]
Cylinder, 24”
0.5 24 180.25 506.7
long
Hemi 0.2474 23.75 117.7 245.5
SE * 0.4947 13.74 70.1 397.3
F&D * 0.8901 10.29 47.7 602.9
Flat 3.9120 3.91 0 1920.8
* Including the 1 ½” straight flange

Four Heads (left to right) Hemispherical, Semi Elliptical, Flanged and Dished and Flat

Hemispherical Head (Hemi)

The hemispherical head has a simple radial geometry: the depth of the head is half the
diameter. With a 47” ID, the required wall thickness is 0.2474”, about half the thickness of
the shell (if the head was modelled at 47.25” ID, providing the same average diameter as the
shell, the thickness would be closer to half the cylinder thickness). Because the head is
thinner than the shell, a standard code 3:1 taper is used on the transition, a part of the stronger
head, the shell is not tapered down on the straight section because it needs the full thickness.

Usually a hemi head cannot be formed from a flat sheet, instead it is made from welded
pieces, making this, the thinnest head, sometimes the most expensive. It is commonly used in
large diameter or high pressure applications where material savings are important. Two
spherical heads back to back make a storage sphere, the most efficient shape for pressurized
storage.

Semi Elliptical Head (SE)

The Semi Elliptical head has an elliptical form – the most common ratio is 2:1 – or the width
of the ellipse is twice the depth. Other ratios are possible but not commonly used. In practice
the fabricator will often make the SE head from 3 radii that approximate an ellipse – large in
the crown, smallest at the outside diameter, with an intermediate radius in the middle. Code
rules dictate how close the approximation has to be to a true ellipse. Code rules also exist
allowing a two radius – crown and knuckle – which would normally be considered as a F&D
head, to be considered a SE head if special values are used (Ug-32(c): An acceptable
approximation of a 2:1 ellipsoidal head is one with a knuckle radius of 0.17D and a spherical
radius of 0.90D.).

This 2:1 SE head is made from half of the ellipse, so the head depth is a quarter the diameter
– half the hemi head, but more than the F&D and Flat head. SE heads can be made from a
flat plate, resulting in what is often the most economical head for low pressure vessels.

The SE is not as efficient at handling stresses as the hemi, so the design rules require more
thickness. The ASME code design formulas for a 2:1 SE are very close to that of the cylinder
– in this case resulting in a required thickness of 0.4947” for the SE vs 0.500”.

Flanged and Dished (F&D)

Flanged and Dished heads are commonly used where pressure is moderate and the overall
height is important. Here the 48” inside radius (equal to the outside diameter of the cylinder)
along with a tight 2.973” knuckle results in a head that is lower than the semi-elliptical. The
tight knuckle radius results in high forming stresses – in this case post forming heat treatment
(stress relief) is required.

The flanged and dished head requires more thickness than the matching cylinder, here
0.8901”. Again a code standard 3:1 transition on the straight flange (Which only needs to be
0.5000”) handles the difference in thickness. Unless the height is important, a vessel with a
pressure as high as this 48” design would typically use a SE instead.

Flat Head

The hemi head is the most efficient, containing the pressure in pure tension. The other
designs substitute various amounts of bending stresses at lower efficiency to lower the head
height and pay for it in increased weight. This flat head, working purely in bending, pays for
it with a massive 3.9120” thickness. Flat heads are usually reserved for processes that require
flat inside surfaces.

Many solutions have been developed to provide flat heads on the inside of the vessels with
more efficient methods of handling the pressure stresses:

 Thin flat plate with tie rods or rings connected to the SE or F&D head it is mounted
in. The head supports the load, and the plate provides a flat inside surface.
 Pouring a flat concrete floor in SE or F&D heads.
 Thin flat plate supported by Exterior beams across the width.
 Thin flat plate with stay rods (or tubes) through the length of the vessel to the opposite
flat head.
 Thin flat plate with diagonal stay rods tied to the shell – often seen in boilers.

Stresses

Cylinder and Hemi Head Tresca Stresses

The ASME VIII-1 code equations used for Cylinders and Hemi heads are easily derived. The
½” thick cylinder ends up with a stress equal to the code design stress limit of 20,000 psi –
actual measured stresses = 20,484 psi Tresca or Stress Intensity P1-P3. Also the 0.2474”
thick hemispherical head ends up with a stress of 20,364 psi. Both stresses are very close to
the target.

Stress Intensity (P1-P3) in a Cylinder and Hemi Head equaling the code design target
stresses.
The stress is higher in the discontinuity zone of the head to shell junction (23,060 psi). The
VIII-2 code rules allow for these increases over small distances and provides limits. The
VIII-1 rules, beyond the requirement for a 3:1 taper, ignore these stresses which are known to
be acceptable.

Cylinder and Hemi Head von Mises Stresses

The previous section shows a very close match between the code rules and the measured FEA
stresses for the cylinder and the Hemi head. However, VIII-2 changed from using Tresca
(P1-P3 stress) to von Mises methods.

Von Mises stress in the cylinder and hemi head – the cylinder stress is now 12% below the
VIII-1 code

The von Mises stress results range from equivalent to up to 15% lower than Tresca (P1-P3)
results. In this example the cylinder stresses dropped to 17,740 psi, 12% below Tresca, but
the hemi head stress remains at 20,322 psi. FEA results are required to be done to VIII-2
methods, including the use of von-Mises stress reporting, however VIII-1 stress equations
that are derivable are done to Tresca methods. Most Canadian reviewers require von-Mises
stresses to be used (see ABSA guidelines), some from Saskatchewan demand Tresca, others
von Mises. ASME has been asked to interpret which stress method should be used for VIII-1
vessels and has refused to answer. This leaves the designer stuck in the middle. The
consensus answer is to use von Mises unless asked to do otherwise.

VIII-2 has rules for the design of cylinders which match the Tresca stress methods, however,
VIII-2 also allows FEA results to replace any design rule.
4.1.1.5 A design-by-analysis in accordance with Part 5 may be used to establish the design
thickness and/or configuration (i.e. nozzle reinforcement configuration) in lieu of the design-
by-rules in Part 4 for any geometry or loading conditions (see 4.1.5.1).

4.1.5.1 Design Thickness. The design thickness of the vessel part shall be determined using
the design-by-rule methods of Part 4 with the load and load case combinations specified in
4.1.5.3. Alternatively, the design thickness may be established using the design-by-analysis
procedures in Part 5, even if this thickness is less than that established using Part 4 design-by-
rule methods. In either case, the design thickness shall not be less than the minimum
thickness specified in 4.1.2 plus any corrosion allowance required by 4.1.4.

The designer will get a thinner shell when designing to VIII-2 part 5 than VIII-2 part 4. As
FEA methods from VIII-2 part 5 gradually replace code rules as found in VIII-1 and VIII-2
part 4, reduced cylindrical thicknesses can be expected. The Hemi heads will not change.

The remainder of this article uses von Mises stress.

Stresses in SE & F&D Heads

The VIII-1 formulation for 2:1 SE heads results in required thicknesses equal to that of the
shell. However, the code equation is not a predictor of actual stress. It is just a design rule
that produces results that are known to be acceptable. The actual stress in the SE head is
higher in the knuckle region and equal to the design stress in the crown. VIII-1 nozzle
reinforcement rules account for this requiring more reinforcement in the knuckle.

The F&D head, even with its thicker construction, has much higher stress in the knuckle
region. It is common in thinner F&D heads to exceed the VIII-2 allowable stresses in the
knuckle. Programs like Nozzle Pro often cannot calculate nozzles in F&D heads, because the
heads fail VIII-2 rules, even without the added stress of an included nozzle. F&D heads are
known to be safe, but if the heads were invented today, the required thickness for some would
be higher. Designers are particularly cautioned about putting large nozzles in the knuckle
region
SE (left) and F&D head – the knuckle stresses are higher, especially in the F&D head

As FEA methods are more commonly used, it can be expected that some F&D head
thicknesses (for large diameter thinner heads) will be higher. SE head designs are not
expected to change.

Stresses in Flat Heads

VIII-1 formulas for flat heads result in stresses much lower than code rules allow. The flat
head is in bending, which has allowable stresses of 1.5x membrane, or 30,000 psi in this
case. The actual center stress is half of this. The code rules vary the allowed center stress
based on the attachment method, the rules are really controlling the stress in the head to shell
discontinuity zone, not the center of the head.
Very low code allowable stresses in the flat head, higher in the shell junction

In this example, both the junction and head stresses are lower than otherwise allowed by the
code. The stress in the head is lower at the edges than the center, leading to the design of
heads that taper at the edges. These heads cannot be designed to standard VIII-1 rules,
sometimes leading Canadian reviewers to insist on the use of fully flat heads, at which point
code rules can be applied, and further once applied considerably heavier heads are
required. Insistence on the use of VIII-1 rules where not expected is unpleasant, but
sometimes a fact of life in Canada. As FEA methods become more common, expect flat head
thicknesses to reduce.