Thermal stress and bowing of a tube subjected to a temperature distribution independent of tube length.

Abstract

The theorem of least work was used to investigate the stress pattern and bowing, i,e, uniform curvature, of an initially straight thin tube subjected to a steady temperature distribution independent of the longitudinal coordinate of the tube. Simple equations were developed for stress, strain, and bowing- They show that if the thermal strain is expressed as a Fourier series, the tangential stress is small and is a function of the first harmonic only, the axial stress is a function only of the second and higher harmonics, and the bowing is a function only of the first harmonic.