Geometry & boundaries
Drawings, CAD, sketches, support conditions, constraints and known simplifications.
Services
LNG / Cryogenic Thermal–Structural Simulation
Simulation of cryogenic spill, low-temperature exposure, transient heat transfer, thermal stress, and integrity-relevant response in LNG/LN₂ containment and support systems.
Buyer problem
LNG · LN₂ · thermal gradients · structural integrity
Cryogenic exposure is not simply a low-temperature value. The response depends on wetting, boiling regime, heat-flux history, exposure duration, affected area, local restraint, material grade, weld/detail sensitivity, and the transition between cooled and warmer regions.
Method
Axis uses sequential thermal-to-structural workflows, prescribed-temperature baselines, boiling-derived transient film-condition loading, mapped temperature fields, and structural response interpretation for tanks, shells, supports, flanges, concrete containment, and local details.
Deliverable
Deliverables can include temperature histories, thermal-stress contours, transition-zone stress interpretation, comparison of thermal boundary assumptions, critical-zone figures, and a report documenting exposure assumptions and limitations.
Value
This supports more realistic cryogenic structural-integrity decisions than temperature-only checks, especially where local gradients and restraint control stress rather than the minimum temperature alone.
Typical inputs
What we need to scope this service.
Materials & loading
Material grade, available test data, load history, temperature, pressure, blast/VCE or operating assumptions.
Decision objective
What the simulation must answer: local stress, damage indicator, comparison, screening, report or research evidence.
Technical depth
How Axis scopes cryogenic exposure, thermal gradients and structural-integrity interpretation.
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When this service is needed
Use this path when LNG, LN₂ or another cryogenic exposure can create rapid local cooling, thermal gradients, restrained contraction or transition-region stress concentration in tanks, shells, supports, piping, flanges, concrete containments or adjacent structural details.
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Modelling depth
The work can include prescribed-temperature screening, transient heat-transfer analysis, film-condition boundaries derived from boiling heat-transfer data, sequential thermal-to-structural mapping, thermal stress assessment and interpretation of vulnerable regions near supports, discontinuities and hot–cold transition zones.
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Verification controls
Axis checks thermal boundary assumptions, exposure region definition, temperature histories, spatial gradients, mapped-field consistency, material-temperature definitions, support restraint and stress-history response. Cryogenic interpretation is never based on minimum temperature alone.
04
Client value
This service helps teams understand whether the thermal loading formulation is physically reasonable, where stress concentrations develop, which details deserve further fracture or integrity review and what additional data are needed for a code-level or owner-level decision.
Typical inputs
- Tank or component geometry and wall/support details
- Cryogenic fluid, exposure region and duration assumptions
- Material grade and temperature-dependent properties where available
- Operating temperature, pressure, gravity/preload and support restraint
- Expected outputs: temperature history, thermal stress, deformation, vulnerable zones or report
Scoping note
The level of modelling is selected after reviewing the engineering question, available data, uncertainty and required decision. Axis does not recommend high-complexity simulation when a simpler verified check is more appropriate.
Related proof
Relevant case studies.
Cryogenic spill thermal loading in a 9% Ni steel LNG tank
Finite element comparison of prescribed-temperature and transient film-condition thermal loading for cryogenic spill-induced stress in a shell-based 9% Ni steel LNG tank.
XFEM leak-tightness assessment of LNG concrete containment
Sequential thermal–mechanical–fracture workflow for pre-cracked concrete outer containment under localized cryogenic spill thermal shock.
Scope an LNG / cryogenic thermal–structural simulation problem.
Send available files and the engineering question. Axis FEA will respond with a suitable analysis route and required inputs.