International Journal of Pressure Vessels and Piping 87 (2010) 239e244

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

International Journal of Pressure Vessels and Piping

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/ijpvp

Stress distributions in a horizontal pressure vessel and the saddle supports

Shafique M.A. Khan*
Department of Mechanical Engineering, King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, Dhahran 31261, Saudi Arabia

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: This paper presents analysis results of stress distributions in a horizontal pressure vessel and the saddle
Received 18 July 2008 supports. The results are obtained from a 3D finite element analysis. A quarter of the pressure vessel is
Received in revised form modeled with realistic details of saddle supports. In addition to presenting the stress distribution in the
5 March 2010
pressure vessel, the results provide details of stress distribution in different parts of the saddle sepa-
Accepted 8 March 2010
rately, i.e. wear, web, flange and base plates. The effect of changing the load and various geometric
parameters is investigated and recommendations are made for the optimal values of ratio of the distance
Keywords:
of support from the end of the vessel to the length of the vessel and ratio of the length of the vessel to the
Pressure vessel
Saddle supports
radius of the vessel for minimum stresses both in the pressure vessel and the saddle structure. Physical
Stress reasons for favoring of a particular value of ratio of the distance of support from the end of the vessel to
Finite element method the length of the vessel are also outlined.
Ó 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
Horizontal pressure vessels are usually supported with two
saddle supports, which cause additional stresses in the pressure
vessel in addition to the stresses generated by the internal pressure
in the vessel. The saddle structure itself is obviously stressed too.
Therefore the design of a saddle and determination of the stresses
induced is an important step during the design of a horizontal
pressure vessel. The ASME [1] pressure vessel code does not
provide specific design procedure for the saddle design or the
induced stresses. The current practice is to use the semi-empirical
method developed by Zick [2,3], which is based on the beam theory
and various assumptions to simplify the problem. Due to these
assumptions, Zick’s method may not yield accurate results.
However, Zick’s analysis is better judged on the performance it has
demonstrated since it was first published, and therefore, it is also
the basis of the saddle design guidelines given in pressure vessel
design handbooks; see for example Megyesy [4]. The work of Tooth
and collaborators [5e7] is also invaluable literature on the saddle
design and it has been incorporated in the British Standard BS 5500
[8]. It is important to note that the work of Tooth and collaborators
is based on a more rigorous analysis as compared to Zick’s method
and employs analytical solutions using Fourier expansion terms.
Nevertheless, a more accurate analysis is always desirable. With the
advancement in the computational technology and numerical
methods, it is now possible to obtain more detailed stress
* Tel.: þ966 3 860 7225; fax: þ966 3 860 2949.
E-mail address: skhan@kfupm.edu.sa
distributions in the saddle and the vessel and thus improve the
saddle design guidelines. One of such first studies is carried out by
Widera et al. [9], which performed a complete 3D finite element
analysis of a quarter of a pressure vessel using symmetric boundary
conditions. The pressure vessel was assumed to be full of fluid as
this is the most critical condition of loading while considering the
self weight of the pressure vessel. The saddle supports are
considered to be flexible and welded to the pressure vessel. They
analyzed various saddle locations and recommended to use 0.25 as
the ratio of the distance of the saddle from the tangent line of vessel
to the total length of vessel for minimum stresses in the pressure
vessel. Ong [10] carried out numerical studies to study the effect of
a fixed or loose fitting wear plate on the stresses induced in the
pressure vessel and concluded that the peak stress in the vessel at
the saddle horn is reduced by 15e40% with wear plate, which has
the same thickness as the vessel and extends at least 5
above the
saddle horn. It was also found that a fixed (welded) wear plate
performs better in reducing stresses in the pressure vessel than
a loose fitting wear plate. Ong and Lu [11] performed a parametric
study to determine the optimal support radius of a loose fitting
saddle and recommended the use of a clearance fit saddle support
to reduce the localized stresses in the pressure vessel at the saddle
horn. Chan et al. [12] presented results from an experimental study
aimed at understanding the pressure vessel collapse mechanism
onto the saddles. They concluded that the collapse mechanism is
dependent on the two parameters studied, i.e. radius-thickness
ratio of the pressure vessel and the type of support (loose fitting or
welded). El-Abbasi et al. [13] performed a 3D finite element anal-
ysis of a flexible and loose fitting saddle-supported pressure vessels

0308-0161/$ e see front matter Ó 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.ijpvp.2010.03.005
240 S.M.A. Khan / International Journal of Pressure Vessels and Piping 87 (2010) 239e244

Head & Saddle

Vessel between
Nomenclature

Saddle Horn
Ves s el a t t h e
V e s s el H e a d

Midsection
R The radius of the pressure vessel

Vessel
L The length from tangent to tangent line of the
pressure vessel
A The distance from the tangent line to the saddle
center
B The distance from the base plate to the centerline of R

MIDSPAN
the vessel
W The width of the base plate of the saddle
C The width of the base plate and lower end of the
flange plate of the saddle
D The width of the upper end of the flange plate of the
saddle
G The thickness of the base plate of the saddle
H The thickness of the flange plate of the saddle
H1 The thickness of the web plate of the saddle A
K The thickness of the wear plate of the saddle
R/2 L/2
sMises,max Maximum value of von Mises stress
E Elastic modulus of steel
n Poisson’s ratio of steel
r Density of steel
b
5o

25mm

25 m m
D
120o
using a newly developed finite element that accounts for the
contact stresses between the vessel and the saddle supports. They K
B
concluded that a saddle radius 1e2% larger than that of the vessel
leads to a 50% reduction in the stresses and an overhang of 5e10
H1
leads to 25e40% reduction. In addition, the optimal horizontal
H
location of saddles is recommended as 0.1e0.15 for the ratio of the
G
distance from the pressure vessel tangent line to the saddle to the
total length of the vessel. This is different than the one recom-
W C
mended by Widera et al. [9], however the results of Widera et al. [9]
are for welded saddles. Magnucki et al. [14] performed a parametric Fig. 1. a: Pressure Vessel Configuration, b: Saddle support structure.
analysis of horizontal pressure vessel with flexible and welded
saddle supports using finite element method. They recommended
equal to R/2. The saddle is located at a distance A from the tangent
a value of 1/30 for the ratio of distance from the vessel tangent line
line and is considered welded to the vessel. The details of the saddle
to the saddle to the total length of the vessel, which is in complete
design are taken from Megyesy [4] for a nominal pressure vessel
contradiction with Widera et al. [9]. They also recommend a value
diameter of 660 mm. The geometric parameters of the pressure
of 12e16 for the length to radius ratio of the pressure vessel for
vessel and saddle supports are given in Fig. 1. B is the height from
minimum stresses.
the base of the saddle (i.e. the rigid surface) to the center of the
It is noted that the open literature is focused more on the stresses
pressure vessel, W is the width of the saddle, C is the width of the
induced in the pressure vessel and less on the stresses developed in
base plate and the flange plate at the lower end, and D is the width
the saddle supports. El-Abbasi et al. [13] looked into the contact
stresses only in the wear plate but rest of their saddle support model
lacks realistic design. Magnucki et al. [14] have analyzed the
maximum stress in the saddle structure as a whole without any
regard as to where this maximum stress is occurring. In addition, they
recommended the use of same thickness plates for all parts of the
saddle, which is contrary to the current practice as available in the
pressure vessel design handbooks [4]. The author has previously
presented a preliminary analysis of the stress distributions in the
saddle supports [15]. This study aims to take a sample case from the
saddle designs given in Megyesy [4] and build a solid model with
realistic geometry of the saddle together with the pressure vessel, and
employ finite element method to analyze the effect of various factors
on the stress distributions both in the saddle and the pressure vessel.

2. Problem setup

2.1. Pressure vessel and saddle structure

A pressure vessel with radius R, tangent to tangent line length of

L and with ellipsoidal heads is considered. The depth of head is Fig. 2. Meshed finite element model with saddle model inset.
 S.M.A. Khan / International Journal of Pressure Vessels and Piping 87 (2010) 239e244 241

140 constant for the study are: R ¼ 330 mm, B ¼ 482 mm, W ¼ 572 mm,
C ¼ 100 mm, D ¼ 150 mm, G ¼ 6 mm, H ¼ 6 mm, H1 ¼ 6 mm,
130 Vessel K ¼ 6 mm. The values of the rest of the parameters will change and
will be mentioned with the results.
σ Mises,max (MPa)

120

110 Saddle Structure 2.2. Finite element model

100 Commercial finite element software ANSYS version 11 is used

for finite element analysis. The solid model as detailed in the
90 previous section is built completely in the ANSYS environment.
Taking advantage of the symmetry of the problem, only a quarter of
80 the pressure vessel and saddle is modeled. The material properties
15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 used for steel are E ¼ 207 GPa, n ¼ 0.3, and density
No. of Finite Elements (x1000) r ¼ 7.85  103 kg/m3. The pressure vessel is considered full of fluid
and the self weight of the pressure vessel is also considered in the
Fig. 3. Mesh sensitivity analysis. analysis. The solid model is meshed using 8-noded brick elements.
At least three layers of finite elements are used through thickness of
of the flange plate at the upper end. G, H, H1 and K are the thick- the pressure vessel and two layers through thickness of the saddle
nesses of the base plate, flange plate, web plate and wear plate structure. The meshed model is shown in Fig. 2. Symmetric
respectively. A contact angle of 120
is considered with 5
overhang boundary conditions are applied at all the outer faces of the model.
for the wear plate. Numerical values of parameters that are In addition, lower face of the base plate of the saddle is fixed in all

a 400
A/L = 0.15
L/R = 10 Flange Plate
350

300
Vessel at the
σ Mises,max (MPa)

Saddle Horn
250
Base Plate

200
Vessel Midsection
Wear Plate
150
Vessel Head

100 Web Plate

Vessel between
Head & Saddle
50

0
0.20 0.40 0.60 0.80 1.00 1.20 1.40 1.60
Normalized Load
b

Fig. 4. a: Effect of increasing the load on saddles; A/L ¼ 0.15, L/R ¼ 10, b: Stress distribution (in MPa) in saddle parts, for normalized load of 0.9.
242 S.M.A. Khan / International Journal of Pressure Vessels and Piping 87 (2010) 239e244

of the pressure vessel and saddle will be presented and discussed

a 450
Flange Plate L/R = 10 where appropriate.
400

350 3.1. Maximum load on the saddle

σ Mises,max (MPa)

300 Base Plate

The maximum load a saddle can support is an important design
250 Vessel at the
Saddle Horn
parameter. Different components of the saddle may yield under
200 different maximum loads. Therefore, in this section the effect of
Vessel Midsection increasing the load on a saddle is investigated. A value of 0.15 for A/L
150
Vessel Head
and 10 for L/R is used for this section. Results are plotted in Fig. 4a.
100 Wear Plate
To make the results more understandable, normalized load is
50 Vessel between Web Plate plotted on the abscissa. The normalizing parameter used is the
Head & Saddle maximum load on a saddle as per Megyesy [4] so that a value of
0
0.00 0.05 0.10 0.15 0.20 0.25 0.30 0.35 0.40 unity on the abscissa in Fig. 4a (and Figs. 7 and 8) implies the
A/L maximum weight as recommended by Megyesy [4]. This is
reasonable as the saddle design and dimensions are also taken from
b 700 L/R = 14 the same source, and it will better access the standard design.
Flange Plate

600
Assuming that the yield strength of the carbon steel used in vessel/
saddle construction is close to 220 MPa, let’s analyze the results.
500 The highest stresses are occurring in three sections, which are the
σMises,max (MPa)

Base Plate
400
Vessel at the
300
Saddle Horn
200 Vessel
Midsection
Vessel Head
100
Vessel between Web Plate
Head & Saddle
0
0.00 0.05 0.10 0.15 0.20 0.25 0.30
A/L
Fig. 5. Effect of the ratio A/L; a: L/R ¼ 10, b: L/R ¼ 14.
degrees of freedom to prevent rigid body motion. The vessel is
loaded with 1 MPa internal pressure.
2.3. Mesh sensitivity analysis
A mesh sensitivity analysis is performed, both in the pressure
vessel and saddle structure, to ensure optimum mesh size for proper
convergence and accurate numerical results. The value of maximum
von Mises stress (sMises,max) occurring in the structure is used as the
convergence criterion. Results are shown in Fig. 3; starting with
18,000 finite elements, the mesh is first refined in the pressure vessel
only, up to 26,500 finite elements and it is found out that the mesh is
already sensitive enough in the pressure vessel. This is due to the fact
that because of certain geometric restrictions for mapped meshing,
an initial fine mesh was inevitable to use. Once the convergence is
established in the vessel, then the mesh is refined step by step in
different parts of the saddle structure until the maximum von Mises
stress reaches a plateau, at which point the mesh in both the vessel
and saddle structures is converged. The chosen meshed model is
shown in Fig. 2, which will be used for further studies.
3. Results and discussion
Results from parametric studies for the effect of various
parameters will be presented in this section. The maximum value of
von Mises stress (sMises,max) will be observed, analyzed and pre-
sented in eight sections of the model. The first four sections are the
saddle components, i.e. web, wear, flange and base plates. Further,
the pressure vessel is divided into four sections: the vessel head,
the section supported by the saddle, the section between the
previous two sections and the rest of pressure vessel towards the
mid span (please see Fig. 1a). 3D stress contours of the critical parts
flange plate, the base plate and the pressure vessel at the saddle
horn. The vessel shows yield at the saddle horn at about 10%
additional load than the maximum load as recommended by
Megyesy [4]. The base and flange plates approach the yield strength
at 30% additional load and at 73% of the maximum load respec-
tively. All of the other sections are well under yield value for up to
33% additional load. To check the design at this point, for normal-
Wear Plate ized load of 0.9, three parameters were changed to see the effect.
0.35 0.40
The results are listed in Table 1. It is noted that the maximum stress
in the vessel at the saddle horn is only affected by the wear plate
overhang and a reduction of 20% is observed by increasing the
overhang from 5
to 10
, which is consistent with previous studies
[10,13]. Increasing the flange plate thickness, H, causes the
maximum stress to reduce only in the flange and actually increases
the maximum stress in the base plate. Changing the thickness of
the base plate, G, does not affect the stresses in other parts and
reduces stress only in the base plate. The maximum stress values in
the other five sections remain essentially unchanged for the four
cases. Please note that all dimensions are changed back to the
original values (Case 1 in Table 1) for further studies. The curves in
Fig. 4a show a slight non-linear behavior, which may be attributed
to the fact that each part making up the saddle is being analyzed
separately. Although the overall saddle will be in linear elastic
range, however individual components may experience high local
loads giving the non-linear behavior.
Fig. 4b represents the stress contours corresponding to normal-
ized load of 0.9 in Fig. 4a. The stress distribution is not uniform and
the flange plate is the highly stressed part of the saddle structure.
3.2. Effect of the A/L ratio
Next the effect of the ratio A/L is investigated, which is varied
from 0.05 to 0.35 with 0.05 increments. The first set of results is
shown in Fig. 5a for L/R ¼ 10. The stresses in all the saddle parts
show a dip at A/L ¼ 0.25. The most critical section in the vessel, i.e.
at the saddle horn and the vessel midsection also shown a dip at
A/L ¼ 0.25, whereas the other two vessel sections considered
(vessel head and the section between the head and saddle) are not
affected by the A/L ratio. The same conclusion can be drawn by
analyzing the second set of results for a different L/R ¼ 14 ratio in
Fig. 5b. Therefore, the overall recommendation is to use a value of
A/L close to 0.25 for minimum stresses in the pressure vessel and
the saddle. This conclusion is inline with the recommendation of
Widera et al. [9] but contradicts the recommendation of Magnucki
et al. [14]; this may be explained based on the geometry of the
 S.M.A. Khan / International Journal of Pressure Vessels and Piping 87 (2010) 239e244 243

Fig. 6. Stress distributions in the vessel at the saddle horn and the flange plate corresponding to Fig. 5a.

saddle used by them [9,14] and the present study. As mentioned
previously, these two studies are in contradiction with each other
over the suitable value of A/L ratio, although both have considered
flexible saddles welded to the pressure vessel.
Fig. 6 presents stress contours for two sections, one each for the
pressure vessel and the saddle for varying A/L ratio corresponding
to Fig. 5a. These two sections are chosen as they depict the highest
stresses and therefore symbolize the pressure vessel and the saddle
structure respectively. It is observed that as the ratio A/L increases
(i.e. the saddle moves towards the vessel mid span), the stress
distribution becomes uniform when the ratio A/L approaches 0.25.
For A/L < 0.25, both the vessel and the saddle have higher stress
values on the vessel midsection side and for A/L > 0.25, the higher
stress values shift towards the vessel head side. For A/L values close
to 0.25, both the pressure vessel and the saddle have uniform stress
distributions and therefore minimum stresses. It is worth
244 S.M.A. Khan / International Journal of Pressure Vessels and Piping 87 (2010) 239e244

350 Table 1
A/L = 0.25
L/R = 10
Effect of varying the thickness of the flange and base plates and the wear plate
300 Flange Plate overhang.
Vessel at the
Saddle Horn H G Wear plate Vessel at the Base plate Flange
250
(mm) (mm) overhang saddle horn (MPa) (MPa) plate (MPa)
σ Mises,max (MPa)

Vessel between
Head & Saddle
200 Case 1 6 6 5
185 160 255
Case 2 7 6 5
187 166 236
Vessel Case 3 7 8 5
187 152 237
150 Midsection
Case 4 7 8 10
147 152 233
Vessel Head
100
Wear Plate
50 Base Plate 4. Conclusions
Web Plate

0
0.60 0.80 1.00 1.20 1.40 1.60 1.80 2.00
1. The highly stressed area, beside the pressure vessel at the
Normalized Load saddle horn, is the flange plate of the saddle.
2. The maximum load on a saddle as given by Megyesy [4] may be
Fig. 7. Effect of increasing the load on saddles, A/L ¼ 0.25. conservative or liberal, depending upon the value of the ratio
A/L used. Furthermore, the design of the saddle structure may
mentioning that for A/L ¼ 0.25, each saddle is in the center of its
be optimized by redesigning selectively.
side of the half length of the pressure vessel. This means that each
3. A value of 0.25 for the ratio A/L is favored for minimum stresses
saddle is carrying roughly half of the total weight and this might be
in the pressure vessel and the saddle. This is the same as rec-
the physical reason as to why a value of 0.25 for A/L gives minimum
ommended by Widera et al. [9] but differs from the recom-
stresses irrespective of the L/R ratio.
mendation of Magnucki et al. [14].
Fig. 7 presents a look back at the effect of the load increase on
4. The physical reason for favoring an A/L close to 0.25 may lie in
the saddles with the new value of A/L ¼ 0.25, which is found to be
the fact that at this ratio, each saddle is located roughly at the
the optimal for minimum stresses. For this A/L value, the flange
center of the half of the pressure vessel thus supporting the
plate reaches yield stress after taking an additional 32% load and
pressure vessel (or alternatively loading the saddle) uniformly.
the vessel at the saddle horn after taking an additional 42% load.
5. The slenderness ratio (L/R) of less than 16 is found to generate
Considering the results of Fig. 4a (the vessel at the saddle horn
minimum stresses in the pressure vessel and the saddle. This is
yielded at 10% additional load and the flange plate yielded at 73% of
the same as recommended by Magnucki et al. [14].
the maximum load), it is concluded that the maximum load on
saddles as given in Megyesy [4] depends on the ratio A/L. For
example, for the flange plate, it is overestimated for A/L ¼ 0.15 and Acknowledgements
underestimated for A/L ¼ 0.25. Keeping in mind the results pre-
sented in Table 1, the saddle parts can be selectively redesigned to The author acknowledges the support of King Fahd University of
optimize the design, e.g., by increasing the thickness of the flange Petroleum and Minerals (KFUPM), Dhahran, Saudi Arabia in
plate and the overhang of the wear plate to 10
. carrying out this research work.

3.3. Effect of the L/R ratio References

Fig. 8 represents the results for the effect of the slenderness ratio [1] ASME. Boiler and pressure vessel code, section VIII, pressure vessels division.
New York: ASME; 1989.
L/R. For A/L ¼ 0.25, L/R is varied between 10 and 20 with increments [2] Zick LP. Stresses in large horizontal cylindrical pressure vessels on two saddle
of 2. The maximum stress in the flange plate shows a different supports. Weld J Res Suppl 1951;30:435e45.
behavior than the other sections with a steady rise in the maximum [3] Zick LP. In: Stresses in large horizontal cylindrical pressure vessels on two
saddle supports. Pressure vessel and piping: design and analysis e a decade of
stress value with increasing L/R ratio. For all the other seven sections, progress, vol. 2. New York: ASME; 1985. p. 959e70.
the value of the maximum stress is nearly constant between 10 and [4] Megyesy EF. Pressure vessel handbook. Tulsa, Oklahoman, USA: Pressure
16 for L/R. It is therefore recommended to use L/R < 16 for minimum Vessel Publishing, Inc.; 2001.
[5] Duthie G, White GC, Tooth AS. An analysis for cylindrical vessels under local
stresses in the vessel and the saddle. This recommendation is inline
loading e application to saddle supported vessel problems. J Strain Anal
with the recommendation of Magnucki et al. [14]. 1982;17(3):157e67.
[6] Tooth AS, Duthie G, White GC, Carmichael J. Stresses in horizontal storage vessels
200 e a comparison of theory and experiment. J Strain Anal 1982;17(3):169e76.
A/L = 0.25
180
[7] Tooth AS, Jones N. Plastic collapse loads of cylindrical pressure vessels sup-
Flange Plate ported by rigid saddles. J Strain Anal 1982;17(3):187e98.
160 Vessel between [8] British Standards Institution. Unfired Fusion Welded Pressure Vessels, BS
Vessel at the Head & Saddle 5500. BSI; 1997.
140 Saddle Horn Vessel Midsection
[9] Widera GEO, Sang ZF, Natarajan R. On the design of horizontal pressure
Mises, max (MP a)

120 vessels. ASME J Pres Ves Tech 1988;110:393e401.

Wear Plate
Vessel Head
[10] Ong LS. Effectiveness of wear plate at the saddle support. ASME J Pres Ves
100 Tech 1992;114:12e8.
80
[11] Ong LS, Lu G. Optimal support radius of loose-fitting saddle support. Int J Pres
Ves Pip 1993;54(3):465e79.
60 [12] Chan GCM, Tooth AS, Spence J. An experimental study of the collapse of
Web Plate
horizontal saddle-supported storage vessels. Proc IME Part E J Process Mech
40 Base Plate Eng 1998;212(3):183e95.
20 [13] El-Abbasi N, Meguid SA, Czekanski A. Three-dimensional finite element
analysis of saddle supported pressure vessels. Int J Mech Sci
0 2001;43:1229e42.
8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 [14] Magucki K, Stasiewicz P, Szyc W. Flexible saddle support of a horizontal
L/R cylindrical pressure vessel. Int J Pres Ves Pip 2003;80:205e10.
[15] Khan SMA. Initial investigation into optimizing design of a pressure vessel
Fig. 8. Effect of the ratio L/R; A/L ¼ 0.25. saddle. Proc ASME-PVP2008; PVP2008e61271.