Marine Engineering Steels – Properties Requirements and Evaluation

Abstract

With the implementation of China's maritime strategy, the demand for marine engineering steel is increasing sharply. Due to the harsh service conditions of marine engineering steel, there are strict requirements in corrosion resistance, structural toughness, welding property, high strength and cold tolerance. This paper introduces the corrosion resistance, structural toughness and welding property of marine engineering steel in detail. Marine corrosion could be divided into uniform corrosion, pitting, crevice corrosion, impact corrosion, cavitation corrosion, galvanic corrosion, corrosion fatigue, etc. The conventional means to improve the corrosion resistance of marine engineering steel are coating, cathodic protection and improving the corrosion resistance of the steel itself. Toughness is a comprehensive embodiment of strength and plasticity. When the toughness is too low, the safety and service life decrease, while cost increase when the toughness is too high. The actual structures toughness can be reflected from the CTOD test. Welding is the most important process of marine engineering steel. The excellent design of fracture mechanics of welded joints and the reliability design theory can greatly enhance the reliability of marine engineering steel.