Bursting Disc with Buckling Frustoconical Portion
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing bursting discs face challenges in reliably rupturing at low pressures, with forward acting discs being fragile and prone to stretching, and reverse acting discs experiencing reduced kinetic energy due to reversal, leading to potential failure in maintaining system pressure.
Innovation Solution
A bursting disc design featuring a central dished portion in tension and a frustoconical portion in compression, where the frustoconical portion buckles at the burst strength, ensuring reliable rupture and durability, with a curved connection and controlled lines of weakness for instantaneous failure, and a method of manufacture using pressurized fluid to form the disc shapes.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If forward acting discs are used, then they can provide pressure relief, but they are fragile and prone to stretching under pressure cycling
Solution Approach 1:
The patent inverts the conventional forward-acting disc design by creating a reverse-acting disc where the domed portion faces the low-pressure side instead of the high-pressure side. This inversion changes the stress state from tensile to compressive during pressure cycling, eliminating the stretching and fragility problems of forward-acting discs while maintaining reliable pressure relief function.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the geometric parameters of the disc structure, specifically creating a domed portion with specific curvature and a frustoconical transitional portion with controlled angles. These parameter changes enable the disc to operate in compression rather than tension, fundamentally altering its mechanical behavior and improving durability under pressure cycling.
2Reliability
If reverse acting discs are used, then they are more durable, but the reversal increases system volume and reduces pressure
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the disc into distinct functional zones: a domed portion for pressure sensing, a frustoconical transitional portion for controlled buckling, and a flange for mounting. This segmentation allows the domed portion to reverse while the frustoconical portion controls the buckling behavior to minimize volume change and maintain pressure, resolving the contradiction between durability and pressure maintenance.
3Ease of manufacture
If a score line is formed in the domed part, then bursting is facilitated, but accidental damage occurs reducing reliability
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the line of weakness from the domed portion and relocates it to the frustoconical transitional portion. This extraction eliminates the risk of accidental damage to the domed part during scoring while still facilitating controlled bursting at the intended location when the disc reaches its burst strength.
Solution Approach 2:
The frustoconical transitional portion serves as an intermediary zone between the domed portion and flange, providing a controlled location for the line of weakness. This intermediary structure facilitates bursting through the frustoconical portion rather than the domed portion, protecting the critical domed area from damage during manufacturing and handling.
4Stress or pressure
If a thin disc is used to achieve low burst strength, then low pressure rupture is possible, but the disc is fragile and difficult to handle
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by creating different structural characteristics in different zones of the disc. The domed portion can be made sufficiently thick for handling and manufacturing, while the frustoconical transitional portion is designed with specific geometric parameters to ensure it buckles at the desired low pressure. This local differentiation allows the disc to be both handleable and have low burst strength.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The disc achieves durable and reliable rupture at low pressures with minimal volume change in the system, maintaining pressure and improving performance, especially in low-pressure applications, while avoiding the use of thin, expensive, or malleable materials.
Implementation Method 1
the frustoconical portion buckles at the burst strength, ensuring reliable rupture
Implementation Method 2
forming the central portion into a dished shape, having a concave side facing in said first direction
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2(a)~2(b)
Figure 3(a)~3(d)
AI summary
A pressure relief bursting disc (1) has a flange portion (2), a sloping portion (3) interior of the flange portion (2) and a dished portion (4) interior of the sloping portion. The sloping portion (3) has its wider end joined to the flange portion (2) and slopes up from the flange portion (2) in a first direction and is joined at its narrower end directly to the dished portion (4). The dished portion (4) has its concave side facing in the first direction. In use pressure is applied to the concave side of the dished portion. The disc has a line of weakness, in the sloping portion (3). This shape achieves reliability of the burst strength, because the sloping portion buckles at the burst strength.