Comparative study on mechanical behavior of low temperature application materials for ships and offshore structures: Part I—Experimental investigations

Abstract

Austenitic stainless steels (ASSs), aluminum alloys, and nickel alloys are potential candidate materials for cryogenic applications owing to their superior mechanical properties under low temperatures. In the liquefied natural gas (LNG) industry, these materials are widely used in the construction of thermal barriers for the insulation systems of storage tanks and LNG equipment. Among the typical material nonlinearities of ASSs, phase transformation induced plasticity (TRIP)-related nonlinear hardening characteristics have been experimentally and numerically reported in a number of detailed studies [1,2]; however, to the best of our knowledge, quantitative studies on aluminum and nickel alloys are not available for reference. Moreover, although these materials are used under various temperatures and strain rates, their temperature- and strain rate-dependent properties have not been determined thus far. In this study, a series of tensile tests is carried out under various temperatures (110–293 K) and strain rate (0.00016–0.01 s −1) ranges as a preliminary step in the overall process for understanding the material characteristics of ASSs, aluminum alloys, and nickel alloys. On the basis of the experimental results, the essential mechanical properties are summarized in a quantitative manner in terms of the temperature and strain rate. The strain-hardening rate and strain sensitivity, which can be used to describe cryogenic temperature dependent material nonlinearities, are also proposed for the selected materials.