Briefing: Predicting ‘post-failure' structural condition in pressure-retaining structures Available to Purchase

Highly accurate prediction of post-failure structural condition is increasingly essential for high-risk, pressure-retaining structures such as nuclear reactor and containment vessels, dams, tunnels and tanks. After a severe loading event occurs, determining exactly where, how large and how many leaks will result has become the holy grail of applied computational mechanics for this class of structures. This article concludes that as computational tools continue to improve, and the demand for quantitative leakage information increases, the use of finite-element-based fracture mechanics is on the rise for predicting the post-failure structural condition of such pressure-retaining structures.