A B S T R A C T Hindered by the distinctive toughness requirements of the current European standards, the high-strength low-alloy (HSLA) steels are rarely applied to the pressure vessels industry. The reason is that the design rules specified by the standards define local plastic deformation as limit state. This results in an over-conservative application of materials. To achieve an effective, economical and energy-efficient use of HSLA steels, a strain-based criterion, the damage curve, which considers crack initiation instead of the beginning of plastic deformation as limit state, is proposed in this study for the improved design rules. In the view of the interaction of microstructure and mechanical properties of materials, the new design rule is derived on the basis of the correlation of microstructural features of HSLA steels with the micromechanical damage models. The experimental verification of the result is furthermore investigated with sufficient agreement so that the general applicability of the procedure can be expected. However, further studies for a reliable parameter calibration are necessary.A 5 ¼ total elongation A g ¼ uniform elongation c 1 , c 2 ¼ fit parameters for damage curve EDX ¼ energy-dispersive X-ray f c ¼ critical void volume fraction in GTN model f f ¼ void volume fraction at macroscopic failure in GTN model f N ¼ fraction of void nucleating particles in GTN model f* ¼ effective void volume fraction in GTN modelstrain controlled void nucleation in GTN model T 27J ¼ Charpy transition temperature TEM ¼ transmission electron microscopy e f ¼ equivalent plastic strain to ductile fracture e i ¼ equivalent plastic strain for crack initiation e N ¼ characteristic strain of void nucleation ep ¼ equivalent plastic strain to provoke ductile crack initiation under hydrostatic pressure