Self-Weight Stresses in Hyperbolic Cooling Towers of General Shape

Abstract

Explicit analytical results are developed for self-weight membrane stresses in hyperbolic cooling towers of general shape, for a number of different patterns of shell-thickness variation along a meridian of the shell of revolution. The very general nature of the results makes them particularly useful in obtaining quick estimates of dead-weight stresses for structures of this type, and any desired parametric studies may readily be undertaken, permitting the designer to choose the most optimum shell-thickness variation for a given combination of geometric parameters of the hyperboloid of revolution. The results are intended for use during the preliminary phase of the design process. Other equally important effects (such as wind loading and thermal gradients) are best taken into account numerically using the finite element method, and will therefore not be treated in this paper. Some numerical results for self-weight stresses are then obtained on the basis of special but very practical cases, and an analysis of these results reveals interesting design implications.