Cold Stretching of Cryogenic Pressure Vessels From Austenitic Stainless Steels

Austenitic stainless steel (ASS) exhibits considerable work-hardening upon deformation while retaining the characteristics of the material. The high rate of austenite deformation hardening was utilized by cold stretching (CS) of cryogenic pressure vessels. A few percent deformation will give the vessel a considerable and homogeneous yield strength improvement, and the wall thickness may be greatly reduced. The authors have conducted extensive experimental and numerical studies on CS of cryogenic pressure vessels from ASS. A summary of our work as well as a brief introduction of the history, standards, safety, and advantages of CS are given in this paper. What should be further investigated, such as fatigue properties of cold stretched ASS especially under cryogenic temperature, design of cold stretched transportable cryogenic vessels based on life, are also presented.