An additional stress, called edge stress, may be generated in the joint between a thin walled centrifuge bowl and a top annular plate or a bowl bottom. It is a kind of dull, monotonous or time-consuming work to calculate it in a traditional method. And for the bowl with a complicated shape it is extremely difficult to complete the calculation. The equivalent stress at the joint was quantitatively analyzed under dimensionless theory in the finite element analysis method (FEM). Two dimensionless quantities were defined. One is the edge stress coefficient βwhich is equal to the ratio of the equivalent stress at the joint to the circumferential membrane stress of bowl wall. The other is the edge connection thickness coefficient α which is the ratio of thickness of the bowl wall to the thickness of the top annular plate or bowl bottom. The effects on the equivalent stresses at the joint of α value, fillet radius, centrifugal pressure of suspension, rotational speed, and height-to- diameter ratio on β value were investigated. The results showed that β value reduces when a value increases. The influence of fillet radius is obvious. When fillet radius reduces, β value increases. β value increases with the increasing of the centrifugal pressure of suspension. The rotational speed and height-to-diameter ratio have little influence to βvalue. Under the conditions of the numerical simulation,the maximum edge stress coefficient at the joint of top bowl rim is 3.20 and that of bowl bottom edge is 2.91. Finally, the data for calculating the equivalent stresses at the joint of a given centrifuge bowl were contributed, which would provide valuable information for designing the centrifuge bowl in engineering practice.
