Brittle Fracture Avoidance Technology in Large Structures with Thick Steel Plates

The 460-MPa-class steel was developed by thermomechanical control process for shipbuilding, and the maximum plate thickness was 100 mm, which has the fine grain size as 5–20 µm. The surfaces were studied in terms of micro and nano structures, surface roughness, and surface energy to evaluate the effect of fracture toughness in large steel structure. The thick steel plate has possibility to occur unstable fracture because the fracture toughness will be decrease with increase of thickness. The increase in the temperature in thermomechanical control process accelerated the surface energy and created both micro and nano structures on the surfaces more effectively. It was effective to avoid brittle fracture in the base metal when the brittle crack was deviated into base metal. The developed 460-MPa-class steel plate improves the brittle fracture safety despite being a thick steel plate through the fine grain size. They had to be designed in such a manner as to avoid crack initiation, especially in welded joints. In this study, brittle crack arrest designs were developed for large weld construction using arrest design concept and micro and nano structures in high strength steel plate.

Improvement of the Turbine Blade Surface Phase Structure Recovered by Plasma Spraying

This paper presents the results of research on the construction, technological parameters and criteria that control the process of formation of optimal phase structure of austenitic- and martensitic-class material for steam turbine blades. The hypothesis that the established correlation could increase the quality of blade recovery and its resistance against dynamic and vibrational loads was proved. The efficiency of the developed implantation method for the recovery of steam turbine blades was demonstrated. The optimal technological parameters of the process of laser plasma recovery were established empirically, allowing the development of the system for the fine tuning of the phase composition of austenitic- and martensitic-class steel.

Collision Tests on Steel-Plated Structures in Low Temperature

The aim of the study reported herein was to investigate the effects of low temperatures on the crashworthiness of steel-plated structures. A series of material tensile tests were performed to examine the material behaviors at low temperatures. Then, unstiffened steel-plated structure and stiffened steel-plated structure were collided with a cone-shaped drop object to estimate the crashworthiness of steel-plated structures. The material tensile test specimens and test structures were made of Polar class steel for ships and offshore structures which is a sufficient condition of the IACS requirements concerning Polar Class and Strength of Ships. The tests considered room and low temperatures relevant to an Arctic environment and a cryogenic condition. LS-DYNA nonlinear finite element simulations applying a practical approach of modeling techniques were performed to investigate the structural crashworthiness of the steel-plated structures numerically with results of material tensile tests.