Abstract: Austenitic stainless steel (ASS) has been widely used for cryogenic pressure vessels. Its high strain hardening characteristic allows cold-stretching. In the cold-stretching process, the load-holding time is a critical operating parameter which affects the final deformation of the material. In this paper, a load-holding time prediction method for the cold-stretching process of S30408 cryogenic pressure vessels is proposed, based on room-temperature creep strain relaxation. The proposed correlation has only one variable, the maximum circumferential stress applied to the cylindrical shell, which can be easily obtained by finite element analysis. Consequently, the strain rate measurement during the cold-stretching process is significantly simplified. The prediction method and the strain rate measurement were verified by experimental measurements conducted on two vessels manufactured via the cold-stretching process. The measured strain relaxation times accurately matched the calculated values and the load-holding time for the process was well predicted.

Key words: Cold-stretching; Room-temperature creep (RTC); Austenitic stainless steel (ASS); Cryogenic vessels

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