u/Free-Man-HSMLFS-69

In several horizontal vessel designs I’ve reviewed, everything in PV Elite looked acceptable—longitudinal stress, circumferential stress, and saddle reactions all within limits—but the circumferential stress at the horn of the saddle was unexpectedly high. This usually isn’t a software error; it’s a limitation of methods like WRC 297 in capturing local stress concentrations caused by shell distortion and load transfer near supports. Many engineers overlook this because global stresses pass, but the local failure risk remains. In practice, adjusting saddle spacing, increasing saddle width, or validating with EN 13445 or FEA can significantly improve the design. Curious how others approach this in real projects.