Ultimate Compressive Strength of Steel Stiffened-Plate Structures Triggered by Brittle Fracture under Cryogenic Conditions

This chapter presents a practical method to investigate the effects of brittle fracture on the ultimate compressive strength of steel stiffened-plate structures under cryogenic conditions. Computational models are developed to analyse the ultimate compressive strength of steel stiffened-plate structures, triggered by brittle fracture, under cryogenic condition. A phenomenological form of the material model for the high-strength steel at cryogenic condition is proposed, that takes into account the Bauschinger effect, and implemented into a nonlinear finite element solver (LS-DYNA). Comparison between computational predictions and experimental measurements is made for the ultimate compressive strength response of a full-scale steel stiffened-plate structure, showing a good agreement between them.