Analysis of the Catastrophic Rupture of a …（分析的灾难性破裂u2026）.pdf

Analysis of the Catastrophic Rupture of a Pressure Vessel On July 23, 1984, an explosion followed by a fire occurred at a petroleum refinery in Chicago, killing 17 people and causing extensive property damage [1]. NBS was requested by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to conduct an investiga- tion into the failure of the pressure vessel that eye- witnesses identified as the initial source of the explo- sion and fire. This vessel was an amine absorber tower used to strip hydrogen sulfide from a process stream of propane and butane. The vessel was 18.8 m tall, 2.6 m in diameter, and constructed from 25 mm thick plates of type ASTM A516 Grade 70 steel. The investigation was complicated by the damage caused by the explosion and fire. The explosive force had been sufficient to propel the upper 14 m of the vessel a distance of 1 km from its original location, while the base remained at the center of the subsequent fire. Sections of the vessel were shipped to NBS in August 1985, where a multi-disciplinary team sought the cause of the failure. The team was led by Harry McHenry, who was the Deputy Chief of the Fracture and Deformation Division and a leading expert in fracture mechanics. The study eventually involved 23 staff members from three different Divisions from both the Boulder and Gaithersburg laboratories of NBS. The investigation that followed was a diagnostic masterpiece pursued with textbook elegance and deliberation. After documenting the history of the vessel prior to its rupture, testing of the vessel segments began with nondestructive evaluation techniques. Magnetic particle inspection was applied to reveal hundreds of cracks confined mainly to the inner sur