Mechanical fracture predictions for sensitized stainless steel piping with circumferential cracks. [BWR]

Technical Report · Wed Sep 01 04:00:00 EDT 1976

OSTI ID:6266019

Kanninen, M F; Broek, D; Marschall, C W; Rybicki, E F; Sampath, S G; Simonen, F A; Wilkowski, G M

Circumferential intergranular stress corrosion cracks have been discovered in the heat-affected zones of girth welds in the Type 304 stainless steel recirculation bypass piping systems of several boiling water reactor (BWR) plants. These cracks initiate at the inner surface of the pipe wall and grow through the thickness by combined stress corrosion and fatigue. The work given in this report is based on the supposition that such a crack has been detected and that its size and shape are known. To determine the residual strength of the cracked pipe, an integrated program of small-scale laboratory experiments, full-scale pipe tests, finite-element computations, and a mechanical failure analysis was conducted. After investigating several candidates, the work has shown that a simple plastic collapse criterion can most effectively be used to predict failure in Type 304 stainless steel pipes with circumferential cracks.

• Research Organization: Battelle Columbus Labs., OH (USA)
• OSTI ID: 6266019
• Report Number(s): EPRI-NP-192; ON: DE82900115
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

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ALLOYS
BWR TYPE REACTORS
CHEMICAL REACTIONS
CHROMIUM ALLOYS
CHROMIUM STEELS
CHROMIUM-NICKEL STEELS
COOLING SYSTEMS
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IRON ALLOYS
IRON BASE ALLOYS
MATERIALS
MECHANICAL PROPERTIES
NICKEL ALLOYS
PIPES
PRIMARY COOLANT CIRCUITS
REACTOR COMPONENTS
REACTOR COOLING SYSTEMS
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STAINLESS STEEL-304
STAINLESS STEELS
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STRESS CORROSION
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