Force in an elastic "spoke" supporting a distensible ring subject to an internal pressure.

Andrew Sansome

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May 3, 2020
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Please excuse me but my maths only reached “O” level standard and that was over 40 years ago!

The problem:

Imagine a short (in relation to its radius) section of round tube.
The wall of the tube being infinitely distensible with a modulus of elasticity of zero.
The wall being subject to an internal pressure P (assume the external pressure is zero)
The wall of the tube is supported by a finite number of radial "spokes" acting through the centre of the circle.
The spokes are elastic and obey Hooke's law.
Starting pressure: P
Change in pressure: δP
Number of spokes: n
Starting radius: r0
Length of tube (constant): L

Then the force on a spoke must be given by: F=2Pπr0L/n

Increasing the pressure by δP must result in a force: F= 2(P+δP)πr0L/n But only if the length of the spoke remains constant, i.e its stiffness is infinite.

So increasing pressure by δP would increase the force supported by the spoke: δF=2(δP)πr0L/n.

But where the spoke is extensible (since for a spring F=kx, where k is spring constant and x is change in length)), δr0=δF/k.

So the radius of the tube (length of spoke) would increase by δr0=2(δP)πr0L/nk.

But this increase in radius will by increasing the circumference, further increase the force supported by the spoke and result in further extension.

Intuitively (?) if the spring constant K is less than 2π, then the extension will continue without restriction, if less than 2π, an equilibrium will be reached.

Is this correct and if so, what is the proof?
 
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