A failure analysis of fillet joint cracking in an oil storage tank

This paper has studied failure of an oil storage tank. During operation, several cracks were observed at the fillet weldment between reactor shell and annular plates in the bottom of oil storage tank. Extreme stresses in the structure during its operation were determined taking into account shape and geometry imperfections as well as corrosion influence. Both reactor shell and annular plates are made of carbon steel (SM53C). In this study, in order to identify the causes for the fillet weldment cracking, failure analysis such as fractography, tensile test, hardness test, corrosion test(SSRT), chemical analysis was performed. The failure of oil storage tank is the result of the combined and synergistic interaction of mechanical stress and corrosion reactions. Although cracks were initiated by corrosion, failure was generated by propagation of crack caused by stresses concentration. It was recommended that (1) the local stresses be reduced by improved weld toe geometry, and (2) the reinforcement be used in order to avoid failure by stresses concentration.