Design of ships against fracture requires, at the simplest level, that the minimum service temperature of the ship conincide with the upper shelf of the structural ductile to brittle transition curve for the ship coincide with the upper shelf of the structural ductile to brittle transition curve for the steel and weldments. Material specifications in shipping standards often have no requirement for notch toughness and when they do specify toughness the specimen is of insufficient size and notch acuity to reflect the structural transition behaviour and to guarantee that the structure will be ductile at the lowest service temperatures. COnsequently minimum standards should be adopted and specimen size and notch acuity requirements should be sufficient to predict ductile behaviour.
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