Department of Mechanical Engineering

Course Outline

Modern engineering structures operate within the limits of our current knowledge of materials performance in service. This knowledge has been accumulated over many years through experience and through theoretical and experimental research in the mechanics of materials and structures. This has led to guidelines for design and assessment of components and structures, covering mechanical analysis, fabrication technologies, requirements for proof testing of components and structures, and inspection requirements prior to commissioning and during service.

There are many different ways in which a metallic structure can fail. Each failure mechanism has its own characteristics and requires its own assessment with the appropriate material properties. This course addresses in particular the key mechanistic aspects of damage processes associated with fracture, fatigue, creep and corrosion from fundamental aspects to structural integrity assessment. Attendees will learn to:

identify key materials properties used in design and damage tolerance assessments and be aware of testing procedures used to obtain these properties;

apply engineering critical assessment according to procedures such as BS7910, API579/ASME FFS, R6, R5 to evaluate limiting defect sizes and margins of safety of engineering structures;

apply procedures such as R5 to assess the time-dependent deformation and failure of components operating in the creep regime;

identify the different forms of corrosion and their mechanisms that lead to structural failure;

understand key arguments that can be used to improve/reduce conservatism in assessments.

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