Abstract:

There are construction discontinuities such as nozzle, float inlet, valve connection holes, man inlet etc. on a truck-mounted waste disposal tank called a vacuum system. These discontinuities cause stress concentrations and adversely affect the structural performance of the tank. Companies that produce on-board storage and control equipment and carry out these works for the dangerous goods transport sector have to verify whether the first solid model of the system, which has emerged with some geometric limitations, complies with certain standards. For this, companies related to the vacuum system use calculation tables in accordance with the standards and then apply to the tests of the manufactured system under real working conditions. If the tests fail, the prototype in hand is scrapped and the resulting design phase is too costly. Therefore, a new design strategy was developed in this research study. This strategy aims to reduce design costs and to have mechanical design capabilities by taking into account the additional welded parts, fittings and valves required to be coupled to the storage systems of the latest versions of the ADR standard, also called the text of the European Agreement on the International Carriage of Dangerous Goods by Road. In order to demonstrate the implementation of the strategy in question, a system with geometric discontinuities has been designed to meet the requirements of the relevant standard to operate in the -1 Bar vacuum and +4 Bar pressure range. Thus, the proportional effects of geometric discontinuities on the strength of the vacuum truck system have been demonstrated.

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