Experimental and Numerical Analysis of Groove Depth Effect and Estimation of Burst Pressure in Rupture Discs

Rupture discs are used as high speed valves in gas guns and shock tunnels. In this article, grooved rupture discs are studied numerically as well as experimentally in order to design an aluminum diaphragm to be used in a gas gun. Instability and rupture of discs are the main concern of this paper. ANSYS and LSDYNA have been used in order to simulate deformation and rupture phenomena. Several diaphragms were constructed and tested in order to empirically determine rupture pressure. Several diaphragms with 0.3-1.7mm defect depth were made and their rupture pressures were obtained experimentally and then animpirical relation was developed. Finally, a semi-empirical relation was developed for grooved diaphragm, which was delivered from approximate burst pressure versus ultimate stress, diaphragm diameter, and groove thickness.