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As prestressed concrete ship hulls are becoming more widely applied and proposed, especially for service with hazardous cargoes and cryogenics, concern has arisen of the fatigue performance. Tabulation of the probable stress history of a concrete ship in normal full ocean service shows that the cumulative stress ranges lie well below the endurance capacities of prestressed concrete and its components. Fatigue becomes a serious concern only when the cracks in the concrete are repeatedly reopened under a large number of cycles. This is particularly serious for submerged concrete and for concrete exposed to salt spray; i.e., the typical deck and bottom of a vessel.
Hence, cracking must and can be limited by adherence to present design practices and rules.