ABSTRACT
Pressure vessels are structures designed to contain or preclude a significant pressure, that is, a force distributed over the entire surface of the vessel in question. Pressure vessels show up in a variety of settings and typically are in one of two shapes. Nuclear reactor containment vessels are often cylinders with spherical caps, although newer nuclear plants tend to have spherical containment tanks. Pressure vessels have given way or exploded in some rather dramatic fashions. The design and construction of a pressure vessel is at least as important as its shape. In fact, a major piece of regulatory code is the ASME International Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code that governs the design and manufacture of pressure vessels. A gas pressure vessel typically contains a large volume of gas that has been compressed to fit into the vessel’s much smaller volume, which produces the constant pressure that acts on the container’s inner wall.
