Thermal stresses in thick-walled pipes subjected to fully developed laminar flow

Thick-walled pipes experiencing internal heat flow find wide applications in industry. These applications include; heat exchangers, furnaces, heat pipes, etc. The thermal stresses due to temperature gradient developed in the pipe wall are very important when assessing the size and material properties of the pipe. In the present study, a fully developed laminar flow through a uniformly heated pipe from an external source is considered. The thermal stresses due to the developing of the temperature field are computed numerically. The thermal stresses due to the development of the temperature gradient are also computed. It is found that the wall thickness and pipe diameter are significant parameters affecting the resulting stress distribution. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.