Outline of the fracture clauses of BS 7910:2013

Highlights: • How the fracture clauses of BS 7910:2013 have changed since the 2005 revision. • Origin of K-solutions, reference stress solutions and limit load solutions. • Validation of fracture clauses through large-scale testing. • Treatment of plastic collapse in cylinders containing axial flaws under internal pressure. This paper summarises the main features of the fracture clauses of BS 7910:2013, with particular emphasis on how and why the standard has changed relative to the earlier 2005 revision. The background to the current annexes addressing K-solutions (Annex M), limit load/reference stress solutions (Annex P) is also presented, along with details of how the fracture procedure has been validated, and some pointers to changes for the next revision.