Heavy-Section Steel Technology Program. Quarterly progress report for January--March 1977

Technical Report · Fri Aug 05 04:00:00 EDT 1977

OSTI ID:5244882

Whitman, G D

The Heavy-Section Steel Technology (HSST) Program is an engineering research activity conducted by the Oak Ridge National Laboratory for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. It comprises studies related to all areas of the technology of the materials fabricated into thick-section primary-coolant systems of light-water-cooled nuclear power reactors. The principal area of investigation is the behavior and structural integrity of steel pressure vessels containing cracklike flaws. Current work is organized into eight tasks: program administration and procurement, fracture mechanics analyses and investigations, effect of high-temperature primary reactor water on subcritical crack growth, investigations of irradiated materials, pressure vessel investigations, thermal shock investigations, foreign research, and prestressed concrete reactor vessel (PCRV) tendon corrosion studies. Stress-intensity factors measured on photoelastic models of BWR vessels with nozzles are consistent with values from vessel burst tests. Subcritical crack growth specimens are being subjected to low-frequency cyclic loading and ramp and hold cycles in a PWR environment. Intermediate test vessels V-7B and V-8 were repaired by the half-bead welding technique prescribed in Section XI of the ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code in preparation for testing with flaws in the repair zones, and the first two crack arrest model vessels were tested. The fourth thermal shock experiment indicated that linear elastic fracture mechanics analysis is applicable to a loss-of-coolant type of thermal shock to a reactor pressure vessel. Fractographic examination of fracture surfaces of earlier experiments confirmed the character of the fractures.

• Research Organization: Oak Ridge National Lab., Tenn. (USA)
• DOE Contract Number: W-7405-ENG-26
• OSTI ID: 5244882
• Report Number(s): ORNL/NUREG/TM-120
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
360103* -- Metals & Alloys-- Mechanical Properties
ALLOYS
CONTAINERS
CRACKS
FABRICATION
FRACTURE PROPERTIES
IRON ALLOYS
IRON BASE ALLOYS
JOINING
JOINTS
MECHANICAL PROPERTIES
PRESSURE VESSELS
RESEARCH PROGRAMS
STEELS
STRESSES
THERMAL STRESSES
WELDED JOINTS
WELDING