Short Cylindrical Vacuum Chamber

[rolltide16]

I seek to build a vacuum chamber for shipping radon contamination sensitive samples. The cylinder will have a height of approximately 2 inches, and needs an inner diameter of 10 inches. The plan is to weld stainless steel pipe to a plate on the bottom, and to have a lid bolt on to the pipe with a copper seal. I need to determine what thickness the top and bottom plates need to be to withstand vacuum. What sort of calculations would I need to do to figure this? I figure I need to find the displacement in the center and make sure it is less than some percentage of the thickness?

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

Thanks for the post! Sorry you aren't generating responses at the moment. Do you have any further information, come to any new conclusions or is it possible to reword the post?

 

[Danger]

Welcome, Rolltide.
Because I don't don't know anything about you, I seriously recommend that you don't even think about trying to do this on your own. If you're messing about with radon without knowing what you're doing, you and possibly many others could be seriously injured.
I'm going to alert a Mentor to query you as to your level of experience.

 

[rolltide16]

I appreciate your concern Danger, but we're you to read my post rather than searching it for keywords, you would see I want to STOP exposure of things to radon, I'm am not "messing about". I included such information to explain why I seek to use a vacuum chamber since the most frequent question asked of people seeking information about vacuum chambers is why they need one in the first place.

 

[Dale]

It looks like this page may be the place to start

http://www.roymech.co.uk/Useful_Tables/Mechanics/Plates.html

 

[Danger]

I appreciate your concern Danger, but we're you to read my post rather than searching it for keywords,

Sorry. I did actually read it, but didn't know the level at which you are dealing with it. It seems to be a clinical environment, and you're conversant enough to show that you know your objective. It's just that I had no way to know whether you're a scientist or a janitor or an intern or whatever. I meant no insult. Some of us who grew up during the Cold War and aren't experts in radiation are a bit timid about it. (I still have no idea as to whether or not the radium-painted hands on my dad's glow-in-the-dark watch are what gave him bone cancer. :()

 

[Q_Goest]

I seek to build a vacuum chamber for shipping radon contamination sensitive samples. The cylinder will have a height of approximately 2 inches, and needs an inner diameter of 10 inches. The plan is to weld stainless steel pipe to a plate on the bottom, and to have a lid bolt on to the pipe with a copper seal. I need to determine what thickness the top and bottom plates need to be to withstand vacuum. What sort of calculations would I need to do to figure this? I figure I need to find the displacement in the center and make sure it is less than some percentage of the thickness?

Hi rolltide. For a shipping container, it will almost certainly need to comply with some industry standard depending on what country it's being used in and what mode of transportation (ship, truck, aircraft) it's carried by. In the US, it would most likely need to meet ASME code, but I'm not absolutely certain. There are also DOT codes for pressure vessels. ASME Section VIII, Division 1 of the code covers something like this. Check paragraph UG-34 for unstayed flat heads & covers.

I'd suggest trying to find out what codes it needs to comply with before you design it and who or how it needs to be certified.