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Title: Leak before break behaviour of austenitic and ferritic pipes containing circumferential defects

Conference ·
OSTI ID:489331

Several research projects carried out at MPA Stuttgart to investigate the Leak-before-Break (LBB) behavior of safety relevant pressure bearing components are summarized. Results presented relate to pipes containing circumferential defects subjected to internal pressure and external bending loading. An overview of the experimentally determined results for ferritic components is presented. For components containing postulated or actual defects, the dependence of the critical loading limit on the defect size is shown in the form of LBB curves. These are determined experimentally and/or by calculation for through-wall slits, and represent the boundary curve between leakage and massive fracture. For surface defects and a given bending moment and internal pressure, no fracture will occur if the length at leakage remains smaller than the critical defect length given by the LBB curve for through-wall defects. The predictive capability of engineering calculational methods are presented by way of example. The investigation programs currently underway, testing techniques, and initial results are outlined.

Research Organization:
US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), Washington, DC (United States). Div. of Engineering Technology; Electricite de France (EDF), 69 - Villeurbanne (France); Battelle Memorial Inst., Columbus, OH (United States)
OSTI ID:
489331
Report Number(s):
NUREG/CP-0155; CONF-9510432-; ON: TI97004806; TRN: 97:011471
Resource Relation:
Conference: Seminar on leak before break in reactor piping and vessels, Lyon (France), 9-11 Oct 1995; Other Information: PBD: Apr 1997; Related Information: Is Part Of Proceedings of the seminar on leak before break in reactor piping and vessels; Faidy, C. [ed.] [Electricite de France, Villeurbanne (France)]; Gilles, P. [ed.] [Framatome, Paris (France)]; PB: 773 p.
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English