Creep damage and life assessment of thick cylindrical pressure vessels with variable thickness made of 304L austenitic stainless steel

Using first-order shear deformation theory (FSDT), a semi-analytical solution is employed to analyze creep damage and remaining life assessment of 304L austenitic stainless steel thick (304L ASS) cylindrical pressure vessels with variable thickness subjected to the temperature gradient and internal non-uniform pressure. Damages are obtained in thick cylinder using Robinson\'s linear life fraction damage rule, and time to rupture and remaining life assessment is determined by Larson-Miller Parameter (LMP). The thermo-elastic creep response of the material is described by Norton\'s law. The novelty of the present work is that it seeks to investigate creep damage and life assessment of the vessels with variable thickness made of 304L ASS using LMP based on first-order shear deformation theory. A numerical solution using finite element method (FEM) is also presented and good agreement is found. It is shown that temperature gradient and non-uniform pressure have significant influences on the creep damages and remaining life of the vessel.