The present work describes a fracture control plan that optimizes different design parameters in order to establish effi-cient and safe performance of ship hulls relative to cost considerations (including material, design, fabrication, operation, testing and maintenance) following fail-safe philosophy. For ship hull materials the toughness requirement necessary to ensure general elastic-plastic performance is:
(KId / σyd) ≥ 0.6 at - 18°C
and at the minimum service temperature of 0 °C, (KId / σyd)≈ 0.9. It is recommended to use 5/8 inch dynamic tear (DT) test specimens and use its results to predict the dynamic toughness values for ship hull steels and weldments.