RECOMMENDED FRACTURE TOUGHNESS FOR SHIP HULL STEEL AND WELD

Currently used toughness criteria for ship hull steel and weld were empirically derived in the 1950s. This paper suggests more quantitative guidelines based on dynamic fracture mechanics testing. A minimum toughness of 125 MPa m12 at a temperature of 0°C and a loading rate of 104 MPa m12/s is proposed. With some loss of precision this can be translated to a Charpy requirement of FATT below 0°C. Grade A plate often fails to meet this toughness level and is consequently considered by the authors to be unsuitable for use in ships' hulls.