PRESSURE in Inflatable Material Objects

[recreated]

If you wanted to calculate the pressure on the shell of an airtight enclosed concentric or asymmetrical/symetrical object, do you simply need the surface area of the object and then divide it into the applied force?

1. So if you apply 50Newtons onto a grounded football for example,it would be... (Force)/(4.pie.radius)>>>>surface area of the football...? And what if the football had an inch thick shell, would I need the surface area on the inner or outer of the shell? Correct me, but I assume its all about surface area and that shape wouldn't make a difference...

...but does thickness make a difference...?
2. I am trying to figure out the pressure on the walls of a exhaust powered car jack, it's basically an inflatable cylinder(although when inflated it asymmetrical as it bulges). The one I am trying to design will have plates on top and bottom, so how would the variation in surface thicknesses affect the spread of pressure?

May help:


Pressure = Force/Area
surface area of cylinder = 2.pie.r(r + h)


Thanks,
James

Oh and have a look on google images for exhaust powered car jack if it will help.

 

[edgepflow]

You should look at the "hoop stress" as follows:

hoop stress = Internal Pressure X Cylinder Radius / wall thickness

The hoop stress is the pressure (technically stress) inside the walls of the cylinder.

For this formula to be accurate, it must be "thin walled."

wall thickness / diameter < 0.1.

 

[SteamKing]

If it is inflatable, then the gas laws will be part of determining the internal pressure.

 

[recreated]

Thanks edgepflow about the hoop stress. One of my teachers gave me a handout on it without me mentioning it i have started to use it even though i can't figure out why a bigger diameter = more stress, i thought the bigger the diameter the more the stress would be divided into it?? I am missing something, i know that at least.

SteamKing I bet if I was better in thermodynamics this would probably be quite an easy question, but I have too much to learn about that so i wanted to keep it as close to
P = F/A as possible I am afraid :( .

 

[recreated]

Oh and I used the analogy of a car tyre to help me. (Tyre Pressure = weight of car/ Tyre to ground contact point). still not sure how to divide that pressure i have found which is = 1.38 bar or 138.74Kpa or 20.12 PSI evenly amonst differing thickness of walls.