Fatigue crack growth characteristics of austenitic stainless steel for cold‐stretched pressure vessels at cryogenic temperatures

Abstract

Cold-stretched pressure vessels made from austenitic stainless steel are widely used for storage and transportation of liquefied gases. Compared with conventional pressure vessels, cold-stretched vessels have lots of advantages such as having thin walls, light weight, and low energy consumption. However, pressure vessels can be subjected to alternating loads at cryogenic temperatures, so it is important to investigate the fatigue characteristics of austenitic stainless steel for cold-stretched vessels. This study presents the static and fatigue behavior of austenitic stainless steel 304 sampled from cold-stretched pressure vessels in accordance with the American Society of Mechanical Engineers code. To compare the mechanical properties and fatigue behavior of austenitic stainless steel 304 in as-received and coldstretched conditions (9 % strain level), tensile and fatigue crack growth tests were performed at room and cryogenic temperatures respectively. Fractography of the fractured specimens was carried out using a scanning electron microscope.

Fatigue crack propagation behavior in AISI 304 steel welded joints for cold‐stretched liquefied natural gas (LNG) storage tank at cryogenic temperatures

“…s ys > 250 MPa s uts ¼ 520 MPa $ 720 MPa (5) Therefore, when these materials should be applied for the actual liquefied natural gas tank at À162 8C, the design strength satisfies Equation (5).…”

“…These defects generate and propagate cracks and affect structural damage. Moreover, fatigue crack propagation and lifetime of a welded structure at cryogenic temperatures are very important for safe design and to prevent fatigue damage due to cyclic loading in welded structures [1,[5][6][7]. Research on fatigue crack propagation in cold-stretched, weld structure at cryogenic temperature is currently lacking.…”