Circumferential cracking in steam generator tubes repaired by mechanical sleeving
- Laborelec, Linkebeek (Belgium)
- Tractebel, Bruxelles (Belgium)
- Electrabel, Doel (Belgium)
After one service cycle, leaks were detected in Doel 4 steam generator (SG) tubes repaired by mechanical sleeving (hydraulically + roll expanded). Two tubes were pulled and examined, one of them showing a big leak and the second being, pulled randomly. They both revealed through wall circumferential primary water stress corrosion cracking (PWSCC) at the upper hydraulic transition so that it was concluded that the problem was generic. A thorough assessment of the root causes of failure was undertaken, including stress and strain direct measurement by X-ray diffraction and photoelasticity, local stresses and temperature evaluation by calculation and stress corrosion cracking tests. Stress corrosion tests were carried out in 10 % NAOH environment, on mock-ups manufactured from reserve tubing of the plant simulating not only the upper joint but also the complete assembly (two joints). An estimate of the expected life was performed by comparison with reference mock-ups representative of the roll transitions (including the kiss roll). The findings are that the hydraulic expansion may generate high residual stresses, in spite of the very low residual deformations. Concerning, the temperature however, there are some indications that it could be substantially lower at the level of the cracking than at the tube to tubesheet roll transitions, which makes the quantified evaluation somewhat inaccurate. It is concluded that repair by mechanical sleeving is influenced by many parameters, including details of the installation procedure. Lifetime may be very limited when applied to PWSCC sensitive tubes and must be evaluated by appropriate testing. In particular, corrosion mock-ups should represent the entire sleeve, with both joints.
- OSTI ID:
- 203798
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-950816--; ISBN 1-877914-95-9
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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