Incorrect. The first Liberty ships had a major problem with just this type of issue - they broke because they did not flex (being welded instead of riveted, and being the first mass produced ships to be done in this fashion and being sent to the Russian Convoys didn't help). A number of ships were lost before they worked out the solution.
Incorrect. The problem was that welding was done without changing ship design. This example is familiar in the field of fracture mechanics, where it it is used to show the importance of both fracture resistance of the steel, and of proper design.
Anthony Thompson Dept. of Materials Science & Engineering University of California, Berkeley thompson@...
