ASM Failure Analysis Case Histories: Oil and Gas Production Equipment
Failure of a Large Oil Storage Tank
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Published:2019
Abstract
A four-million gallon capacity (15,142 cu m) oil storage tank ruptured upon filling after re-erection near West Elizabeth, PA on 2 Jan 1988. The tank shell split vertically with failure originating at a flaw existing prior to the reconstruction. Brittle fracture occurred both up and down from the defect when the stress induced by filling reached a critical value for the steel, which had poor toughness properties. This steel had been used in the original construction of a tank in Ohio more than 40 years previously. The defect at which brittle fracture originated in the tank shell showed evidence...
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Member Sign InI. Le May, C. Bagnall, Failure of a Large Oil Storage Tank, ASM Failure Analysis Case Histories: Oil and Gas Production Equipment, ASM International, 2019, https://doi.org/10.31399/asm.fach.petrol.c9001693
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