Thermal analysis of marine structural steel EH36 subject to non-spreading cryogenic spills: Part III: structural response assessment

Abstract

An experimental study that allows for thermal-structural analysis of steel structures subject to non-spreading cryogenic spills is described. A local, non-spreading cryogenic spill was replicated by building a liquid nitrogen pool in the middle of six EH36 steel plates with a central crack of different length. The results of the temperature measurement and the thermal analysis are reported in the first and second part of this three-part companion paper. The computational study reported herein comprises stress analysis based on temperature-dependent von Mises plasticity combined with the SED failure criterion. Comparison of experimental and numerical results for stresses, fracture initiation and crack path shows satisfactory agreement. The numerical study indicates that the SED failure criterion is a useful concept for practical design of ship and offshore structures subjected to sub-zero temperatures and thus exposed to the risk of brittle failure when exposed to cryogenic spills .