Fatigue Strength of AH36 Thermal Cut Steel Edges at Sub-Zero Temperatures

Abstract

Cruise ships or yachts that operate in areas with seasonal freezing temperatures have large openings in the outer shell. Those are thermal cut edges, and they are exposed to very low temperatures. From fatigue crack growth testing of base materials, it is known that low temperatures can accelerate the crack growth, which may reduce the fatigue life of a structure. However, the current guidelines and rules of classification societies do not provide design curves for the fatigue assessment of thermal cut steel edges at sub-zero temperatures. Therefore, fatigue tests of thermal cut edges are conducted at −20 ∘C and −50 ∘C as well as at room temperatures for reference. The specimens are plasma-cut and tested in a temperature chamber under uniaxial loading with a resonant testing machine. The test results are statistically evaluated using linear regression and the maximum likelihood method. The results show that the fatigue strength at sub-zero temperatures is significantly higher compared to room temperature. The test results of this study indicate that sub-zero temperatures down to −50 ∘C do not seem to cause a reduced fatigue life of thermal cut steel edges.

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