Background to requirements for the prevention of brittle fracture in the European standards for unfired pressure vessels (prEN 13445) and metallic industrial piping (prEN 13480)

Following a brief historical introduction to brittle fracture prevention fo r pressure vessel applications in various countries, the derivation of the toughness requirements of the European pressure vessel code are described. The background to the specification with respect to yield strength range an d the treatment of sub-size Charpy is presented. It is concluded that whils t the European requirements do represent a compromise of various national c odes, their correct application will lead to fracture safe pressure vessels . (C) 2001 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd.