Ships operated at sea for a long time are subjected to various kinds of loads, which may cause various types of damage. Such damages will eventually reduce the strength of hull structures. Therefore, it is necessary to estimate and evaluate the residual strength and remaining fatigue life of aging ships in order to secure structural safety, establish a reasonable maintenance plan, and make a judgment of life extension. For this purpose, the corrosion damage and local denting damage should be measured, fatigue damage estimation should be performed, and material properties of aged steel should be identified. For this study, in order to investigate the mechanical properties of aged steel, steel plates were obtained from a naval ship that reached the end of her life span. The specimens were manufactured from the obtained steel plates, and static and dynamic tensile tests, fatigue tests, and metallographic tests were performed. The mechanical properties obtained from the aged steel plates were compared with those of new steel plates to quantify the aging effect on the mechanical properties of marine steel materials.
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