A more realistic thermal shock analysis of a radially multicracked thick-walled cylinder

Presently available analyses of multicracking of thick-walled cylinders due to an internal thermal shock, model the shock by a temperature step-change at the cylinder bore, yielding a considerably overestimated temperature field through the cylinder's wall. In the present work a more realistic thermal shock model is employed assuming convection boundary conditions at both the inner and the outer cylinder surfaces. Transient mode I stress intensity factors (SIF), resulting from the thermal shock during the firing process in a typical gun barrel, are evaluated for large arrays of radial cracks emanating from the bore surface of the cylinder. The transient thermal analysis as well as the computation of the SIFs is performed via the finite element method. Once the thermal problem is solved, SIFs at various time steps are calculated for numerous crack arrays (2-1024) and for a wide range of relevant crack lengths. The present analysis emphasizes the importance of using the proper thermal shock model by showing that the previously available results are nonconservative, and exemplifies the favorable effect of the above thermal shock on the effective SIF prevailing at the tips of these cracks.