4 Ultimate Limit States
Clasification Society 2024 - Version 9.40
Statutory Documents - IMO Publications and Documents - Resolutions - Maritime Safety Committee - Resolution MSC.370(93) – Amendments to The International Code for The Construction and Equipment of Ships Carrying Liquefied Gases In Bulk (IGC Code) – (Adopted on 22 May 2014) - Annex - Amendments to The International Code for The Construction and Equipment of Ships Carrying Liquefied Gases In Bulk (IGC Code) - Appendix 5 – Standard for the Use of Limit State Methodologies in the Design of Cargo Containment Systems of Novel Configuration - 4 Ultimate Limit States

4 Ultimate Limit States

  4.1 Structural resistance may be established by testing or by complete analysis taking account of both elastic and plastic material properties. Safety margins for ultimate strength shall be introduced by partial factors of safety taking account of the contribution of stochastic nature of loads and resistance (dynamic loads, pressure loads, gravity loads, material strength, and buckling capacities).

  4.2 Appropriate combinations of permanent loads, functional loads and environmental loads including sloshing loads shall be considered in the analysis. At least two load combinations with partial load factors as given in table 2 shall be used for the assessment of the ultimate limit states.

Table 2 Partial load factors

Load combination Permanent loads Functional loads Environmental loads
'a' 1.1 1.1 0.7
'b' 1.0 1.0 1.3

 The load factors for permanent and functional loads in load combination 'a' are relevant for the normally well-controlled and/or specified loads applicable to cargo containment systems such as vapour pressure, cargo weight, system self-weight, etc. Higher load factors may be relevant for permanent and functional loads where the inherent variability and/or uncertainties in the prediction models are higher.

  4.3 For sloshing loads, depending on the reliability of the estimation method, a larger load factor may be required by the Administration or recognized organization acting on its behalf.

  4.4 In cases where structural failure of the cargo containment system are considered to imply high potential for human injury and significant release of cargo, the consequence class factor shall be taken as γC = 1.2. This value may be reduced if it is justified through risk analysis and subject to the approval by the Administration or recognized organization acting on its behalf. The risk analysis shall take account of factors including, but not limited to, provision of full or partial secondary barrier to protect hull structure from the leakage and less hazards associated with intended cargo. Conversely, higher values may be fixed by the Administration or recognized organization acting on its behalf, for example, for ships carrying more hazardous or higher pressure cargo. The consequence class factor shall in any case not be less than 1.0.

  4.5 The load factors and the resistance factors used shall be such that the level of safety is equivalent to that of the cargo containment systems as described in sections 4.21 to 4.26 of this Code. This may be carried out by calibrating the factors against known successful designs.

  4.6 The material factor γm shall in general reflect the statistical distribution of the mechanical properties of the material, and needs to be interpreted in combination with the specified characteristic mechanical properties. For the materials defined in chapter 6 of this Code, the material factor γm may be taken as:

  • 1.1 when the characteristic mechanical properties specified by the recognized organization typically represents the lower 2.5% quantile in the statistical distribution of the mechanical properties; or

  • 1.0 when the characteristic mechanical properties specified by the recognized organization represents a sufficiently small quantile such that the probability of lower mechanical properties than specified is extremely low and can be neglected.

  4.7 The partial resistance factors γsi shall in general be established based on the uncertainties in the capacity of the structure considering construction tolerances, quality of construction, the accuracy of the analysis method applied, etc.

  4.7.1 For design against excessive plastic deformation using the limit state criteria given in paragraph 4.8 of this standard, the partial resistance factors γsi shall be taken as follows:

 Factors A, B, C and D are defined in section 4.22.3.1 of this Code. Rm and Re are defined in section 4.18.1.3 of this Code.

 The partial resistance factors given above are the results of calibration to conventional type B independent tanks.

  4.8 Design against excessive plastic deformation

  4.8.1 Stress acceptance criteria given below refer to elastic stress analyses.

  4.8.2 Parts of cargo containment systems where loads are primarily carried by membrane response in the structure shall satisfy the following limit state criteria:

  σm f

  σL ≤ 1.5f

  σb ≤ 1.5F

  σL + σb ≤ 1.5F

  σm + σb ≤ 1.5F

  σm + σb + σg ≤ 3.0F

  σL + σb + σg ≤ 3.0F

 where:

σm = equivalent primary general membrane stress
σL = equivalent primary local membrane stress
σb = equivalent primary bending stress
σg = equivalent secondary stress
f =
F =

 With regard to the stresses σm , σL , σb and σg , see also the definition of stress categories in section 4.28.3 of this Code.

  • Guidance Note:

    The stress summation described above shall be carried out by summing up each stress component (σx , σy , τxy ), and subsequently the equivalent stress shall be calculated based on the resulting stress components as shown in the example below.

  4.8.3 Parts of cargo containment systems where loads are primarily carried by bending of girders, stiffeners and plates, shall satisfy the following limit state criteria:

  σms + σbp ≤ 1.25F footnote footnote

  σms + σbp + σbs ≤ 1.25F footnote

  σms + σbp + σbs + σbt + σg ≤ 3.0F

 where:

σms = equivalent section membrane stress in primary structure
σbp = equivalent membrane stress in primary structure and stress in secondary and tertiary structure caused by bending of primary structure
σbs = section bending stress in secondary structure and stress in tertiary structure caused by bending of secondary structure
σbt = section bending stress in tertiary structure
σg = equivalent secondary stress
f =
F =

 The stresses σms , σbp , σbs , and σbt are defined in 4.8.4. For a definition of σg , see section 4.28.3 of this Code.

  • Guidance Note:

    The stress summation described above shall be carried out by summing up each stress component (σx , σy , τxy ), and subsequently the equivalent stress shall be calculated based on the resulting stress components.

 Skin plates shall be designed in accordance with the requirements of the Administration or recognized organization acting on its behalf. When membrane stress is significant, the effect of the membrane stress on the plate bending capacity shall be appropriately considered in addition.

  4.8.4 Section stress categories

 Normal stress is the component of stress normal to the plane of reference.

 Equivalent section membrane stress is the component of the normal stress that is uniformly distributed and equal to the average value of the stress across the cross section of the structure under consideration. If this is a simple shell section, the section membrane stress is identical to the membrane stress defined in paragraph 4.8.2 of this standard.

 Section bending stress is the component of the normal stress that is linearly distributed over a structural section exposed to bending action, as illustrated in figure 1.

  4.9 The same factors γC , γm , γsi shall be used for design against buckling unless otherwise stated in the applied recognized buckling standard. In any case the overall level of safety shall not be less than given by these factors.


Copyright 2022 Clasifications Register Group Limited, International Maritime Organization, International Labour Organization or Maritime and Coastguard Agency. All rights reserved. Clasifications Register Group Limited, its affiliates and subsidiaries and their respective officers, employees or agents are, individually and collectively, referred to in this clause as 'Clasifications Register'. Clasifications Register assumes no responsibility and shall not be liable to any person for any loss, damage or expense caused by reliance on the information or advice in this document or howsoever provided, unless that person has signed a contract with the relevant Clasifications Register entity for the provision of this information or advice and in that case any responsibility or liability is exclusively on the terms and conditions set out in that contract.