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U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Heavy-Section Steel Technology Program. Quarterly progress report, October--December 1977

Technical Report ·
OSTI ID:6858274

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 containment 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 seven 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, and foreign research. The stress--intensity factors measured photoelastically for nozzle corner cracks compare well with calculated values except for shallow flaws, in which case results may be sensitive to differences in crack shape. Fatigue testing of weld metal was completed, and ramp- and hold-time studies of forging material continue. Charpy specimens of irradiated weld metal with low ductile shelf toughness were tested, and other preparations for J-integral testing of larger specimens of this material were made. Procedures and equipment for flawing vessel V-8 were demonstrated to be satisfactory, and material properties of this vessel were studied. A facility for performing thermal shock experiments with liquid nitrogen was completed. Studies of enhanced heat transfer from coated cylinders continued.

Research Organization:
Oak Ridge National Lab., Tenn. (USA)
DOE Contract Number:
W-7405-ENG-26
OSTI ID:
6858274
Report Number(s):
ORNL/NUREG/TM-194
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English