Global limit load solutions for thick-walled cylinders with circumferential cracks under combined internal pressure, axial force and bending moment – Part I: Theoretical solutions

•Global limit load solutions for thick-walled cylinders with circumferential surface/through-wall defects.•Considering combined loading for internal pressure, end-force and global bending.•Considering positive/negative end-force and global bending moment.

Global limit load solutions for thick-walled cylinders with circumferential internal/external surface and through-wall defects under combined positive/negative axial force, positive/negative global bending moment and internal pressure are derived based on the von Mises yield criterion and the net-section collapse principle. Solutions for cases both with/without considering crack face contact when all or part of the crack is located inside the compressive stress zone are obtained. For some limiting cases, the solutions are compared with available solutions and with some published finite element (FE) data, showing good agreement. Systematic validation of the solutions using a wide range of elastic–perfectly plastic 3-D FE data is described in part II.