On the Assessment of Through-Wall Circumferential Cracks in Steam Generator Tubes With Tube Supports

2003 ◽  
Vol 125 (1) ◽  
pp. 85-90 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xin Wang ◽  
Wolf Reinhardt
Keyword(s):  
Stress Intensity Factor ◽  
Stress Intensity ◽  
Intensity Factor ◽  
Steam Generator ◽  
Limit Load ◽  
Life Extension ◽  
Steam Generators ◽  
Failure Assessment ◽  
Circumferential Defects ◽  
Steam Generator Tubes

The assessment of steam generator tubes with defects is of great importance for the life extension of steam generators. Circumferential through-wall cracks are the most severe of all tube circumferential defects, and usually require plugging of the affected tubes. The assessment of the tubes with through-wall circumferential cracks or cracks projected to become through-wall can be conducted using the failure assessment diagram (FAD) approach. This approach requires the calculation of the stress intensity factor and the limit load. The available stress intensity factor and limit load solutions for cracked tubes do not include the constraining effect of the tube supports. In the present paper, it is shown that this can be overly conservative. Solutions for stress intensity factors and limit loads are presented for tubes with circumferential through-wall cracks including the effect from the tube support plates. Different values of support spacing are considered. Based on these solutions, the assessment of a typical steam generator tube is demonstrated.

Comparison Between API 579-1/ASME FFS-1 and ASME VIII Division 3 Stress Intensity Factor Solutions Used for Fracture Mechanics and Fatigue Analysis of Thick Walled Cylinders

2008 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jan G. M. Keltjens
Keyword(s):  
Stress Intensity Factor ◽  
Fatigue Crack ◽  
Stress Intensity ◽  
Intensity Factor ◽  
Life Time ◽  
Time Study ◽  
Worked Example ◽  
Failure Assessment ◽  
Section Viii ◽  
Burst Analysis

The paper discusses the differences between API 579-1/ASME FFS-1-1/ASME FFS-1 [1] and ASME Section VIII Division 3 [2] stress intensity factor solutions. In addition to this, the use of the Failure Assessment Diagram (FAD) in leak before burst analysis is compared to the present Division 3 approach. The paper contains the background of both approaches and a worked example demonstrating the effect of both methods. Finally, a simplified fatigue crack growth based life time study is presented.

Crack Tip Stress Analysis of the Steam Generator Dissimilar Steel Welded Joint under Residual Stress Field

2019 ◽  
Vol 795 ◽  
pp. 451-457
Author(s):  
Bao Yin Zhu ◽  
Xian Xi Xia ◽  
He Zheng ◽  
Guo Dong Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Residual Stress ◽  
Stress Intensity Factor ◽  
Stress Intensity ◽  
Intensity Factor ◽  
Stress Field ◽  
Numerical Method ◽  
Steam Generator ◽  
Welded Joint ◽  
Crack Tip ◽  
Residual Stress Field

An typical mode of a structural integrity failure in dissimilar steel welded joints. This paper aims at studying crack tip stress of a steam generator dissimilar welded joint under residual stress field with the method of interaction integral and XFEM. Firstly, the corresponding weak form is obtained where the initial stress field is involved, which is the key step for the XFEM. Then, the interaction integral is applying to calculate the stress intensity factor. In addition, two simple benchmark problems are simulated in order to verify the precision of this numerical method. Finally, this numerical method is applying to calculate the crack tip SIF of the addressed problem. This study finds that the stress intensity factor increases firstly then decreases with the deepening of the crack. The main preponderance of this method concerns avoiding mesh update by take advantage of XFEM when simulating crack propagation, which could avoid double counting. In addition, our obtained results will contribute to the safe assessment of the nuclear power plant steam generator.

Effects of Local Wall Thinning With Crack on Stress Intensity Factor for Pipes Subject to Combined Pressure and Bending

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joy (Xiaoya) Tao ◽  
Lei Zhu
Keyword(s):  
Stress Intensity Factor ◽  
Finite Element ◽  
Stress Intensity ◽  
Intensity Factor ◽  
Nuclear Power ◽  
Power Plants ◽  
Limit Load ◽  
Minimum Thickness ◽  
Element Analysis ◽  
Accelerated Corrosion

Abstract At ageing power plants, local thinning of pipework or vessel is unavoidable due to erosion/corrosion or other reasons such as flow accelerated corrosion (FAC) — one of the common degradation mechanisms in pipework of nuclear power plant. Local thinning reduces the structure strength, resulting in crack initiation from the corrosion pit or welding defect when subject to cyclic loading. General practice is to use the minimum thickness of the thinned area to calculate both limit load and stress intensity factor (SIF) in performing Engineering Critical Assessment (ECA) using Failure Assessment Diagram (FAD). Using the minimum thickness is normally overly conservative as it assumes that thinning occurs grossly instead of locally, leading to unnecessary early repair/replacement and cost. Performing cracked body finite element analysis (FEA) can provide accurate values of limit load and SIF, but it is time consuming and impractical for daily maintenance and emergent support. To minimise the conservatisms and provide a guidance for the assessment of locally thinned pipework or vessel using existing handbook solutions, a study was carried out by the authors on the effect of local thinning on limit loads. The study demonstrates that local thinning has significant effect on limit load if the thinning ratio of thinning depth to original thickness is larger than 25%. It concluded that the limit load solutions given in handbooks (such as R6 or the net section method) are overly conservative if using the minimum local thickness and non-conservative if using the nominal thickness. This paper discusses the effect of local thinning on SIFs of internal/external defects using cracked body finite element method (FEM). The results are compared with R6 weight function SIF solutions for a cylinder. A modified R6 SIF solution is proposed to count for the effect of local thinning profile. Along with the previous published paper on limit load it provides comprehensive understanding and guidance for fracture assessment of the local thinned pipework and vessel.

Plastic Limit Load Solutions for Surface Crack in the Steam Generator Tubes

2005 ◽  
Vol 297-300 ◽  
pp. 1704-1712
Author(s):  
Ouk Sub Lee ◽  
Hyun Su Kim ◽  
Jong Sung Kim ◽  
Tae Eun Jin ◽  
Hong Deok Kim ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Steam Generator ◽  
Safety Margin ◽  
Local Limit ◽  
Limit Load ◽  
Material Behavior ◽  
Surface Cracks ◽  
Steam Generators ◽  
Integrity Assessment ◽  
Global And Local ◽  
Steam Generator Tubes

Operating experience of steam generators has shown that cracks of various morphologies frequently occur in the steam generator tubes. These cracked tubes can stay in service if it is proved that the tubes have sufficient safety margin to preclude the risk of burst and leak. Therefore, integrity assessment using exact limit load solutions is very important for safe operation of the steam generators. This paper provides global and local limit load solutions for surface cracks in the steam generator tubes. Such solutions are developed based on three-dimensional (3-D) finite element analyses assuming elastic-perfectly plastic material behavior. For the crack location, both axial and circumferential surface cracks, and for each case, both external and internal cracks are considered. The resulting global and local limit load solutions are given in polynomial forms, and thus can be simply used in practical integrity assessment of the steam generator tubes, because the comparison between experimental data and FE solutions shows good agreement.

Technical Basis for ASME Code Section XI Nonmandatory Appendix C Update

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Consuelo E. Guzman-Leong ◽  
Anees Udyawar
Keyword(s):  
Stress Intensity Factor ◽  
Stress Intensity ◽  
Intensity Factor ◽  
Limit Load ◽  
Time Period ◽  
Evaluation Time ◽  
Asme Code ◽  
Flaw Location ◽  
Technical Basis ◽  
The Impact

The ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel (B&PV) Code Section XI Appendix C provides analytical procedures, criteria, and evaluation methodologies used to determine acceptability for continued service for a specified evaluation time period of flawed pipe. However, Appendix C applicability to subsurface flaws and flaws located on external pipe surfaces is unclear. Appendix C as currently written suggests surface flaws are (only) on the inner pipe diameter. It is recognized that flaw solutions specific to different combinations of the type of flaw, location on component, and failure mode may not be currently available. There are also inconsistencies in the equations for determining fracture toughness for ferritic piping between circumferential and axial-oriented flaws, and the allowable applied hoop stress definitions. Furthermore, there is recent work on several topics in Appendix C that necessitate updating Appendix C. Topics include stress intensity factor (SIF) solutions for circumferential and axial through-wall flaws in cylinders, and the method of combination of bending moments and torsion for elastic-plastic fracture mode and limit load analyses when the torsion stress does not exceed 0.2 times the flow stress. This paper summarizes the proposed ASME Code Section XI Appendix C revisions that will be incorporated in the 2017 edition of the Code. The impact of revising stress intensity factor solutions for circumferential and axial through-wall cracks in cylinders is also presented. In addition to technical changes, several errata are also suggested to be corrected.

A First-Order Perturbation Analysis of Crack Trapping by Arrays of Obstacles

1989 ◽  
Vol 56 (4) ◽  
pp. 828-836 ◽  
Author(s):  
Huajian Gao ◽  
James R. Rice
Keyword(s):  
Stress Intensity Factor ◽  
Stress Intensity ◽  
Intensity Factor ◽  
Perturbation Analysis ◽  
Crack Front ◽  
Limit Load ◽  
Linear Perturbation ◽  
First Order ◽  
Crack Trapping ◽  
First Order Perturbation

A first-order perturbation analysis is presented for the configuration of an initially straight crack front which is trapped against forward advance by contact with an array of obstacles (i.e., regions of higher fracture toughness than their surroundings). The problem is important to the micromechanics of crack advance in brittle, locally heterogeneous solids. The formulation is based on a linear perturbation result for the stress intensity factor distribution along the front of a half-plane crack when the location of that front differs moderately from a straight line. The trapping solutions for a periodic array of blocking rectangular obstacles are given using an analogy to the plane stress Dugdale/BCS elastic-plastic crack model. For a periodic array of obstacles with a given spacing and size in the direction parallel to the crack front, the obstacle shape may affect the limit load at which the crack breaks through the array. When such effects are examined within the range of validity of the linear perturbation theory, it is found that obstacles whose cross-sections fully envelop a critical reference area give the maximum limit load while others are broken through at lower load levels. We also formulate a numerical procedure using the FFT technique and adopting a “viscoplastic” crack growth model which, in an appropriate limit, simulates crack growth at a critical stress intensity factor. This is applied to show how a crack front begins to surround and penetrate into various arrays of round obstacles (with a toughness ratio of 2) as the applied load is gradually increased. The limitations of the first-order analysis restrict its validity to obstacles only slightly tougher than the surrounding elastic medium. Recently, Fares (1988) analyzed the crack trapping problem by a Boundary Element Method (BEM) with results indicating that the first-order linear analysis is acceptable when the fracture of toughness of the obstacles differs by a moderate amount from that of their surroundings (e.g., the toughness ratio can be as large as 2 for circular obstacles spaced by 2 diameters). However, the first-order theory is not only quantitatively inaccurate, but can make qualitatively wrong predictions when applied to very tough obstacles.

scholarly journals Admissibility of External Cracks in a Pipeline API X60 Using the SINTAP Procedure

2017 ◽  
Vol 61 (4) ◽  
pp. 261
Author(s):  
Kaddour Bahram ◽  
Benattou Bouchouicha ◽  
Mohamed Benguediab ◽  
Abdelkader Slimane
Keyword(s):  
Stress Intensity Factor ◽  
Stress Intensity ◽  
Intensity Factor ◽  
Modeling And Simulation ◽  
Safety Factors ◽  
Diagram Method ◽  
Failure Assessment Diagram ◽  
Failure Assessment ◽  
Abaqus Software

In this paper we tried to apply the failure assessment diagram method on an API X60 pipeline under two pressures 70 and 90 bar, this work will be divided into two parts; the first part will be devoted to modeling and simulation of a pipeline under pressure 70/90 bar. With abaqus software to determine the stress intensity factor of several ratios, The second part will focus on the exploitation of these results in order to draw the diagram of evaluation of the failure (FAD), once finished, We can pronounce on the vulnerability of the cracks which can cause the ruin of the pipeline to study, on mode of ruin and proposed safety factors.

Calculation of KJ Under Secondary Loads in Isolation for R6

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter James
Keyword(s):  
Stress Intensity Factor ◽  
Finite Element ◽  
Stress Intensity ◽  
Intensity Factor ◽  
Intensity Factors ◽  
Secondary Stress ◽  
Secondary Load ◽  
Failure Assessment ◽  
Different Levels

A range of methods are currently available within R6 to calculate the inelastic secondary stress intensity factor under secondary loads in isolation, KJS. Each of these methods has different levels of associated conservatism depending on assumptions made, the complexity of the approach and the ability to account for different levels of elastic follow-up. Approaches that include an elastic follow-up factor, Z, for treating the interaction of combined primary and secondary stresses have recently been investigated by Ainsworth and James. However, the maturity of this recent work under combined primary and secondary loading means that one of the most significant aspect of the conservatisms in calculating the combined elastic-plastic stress intensity factor, KJ, is now in the calculation of KJS. This work considers existing approaches in R6 to calculate KJS and proposes a further approach allowing the value of Z to be altered. For comparison this work considers finite element analyses of a circumferentially cracked cylinder with four thermal distributions and two shallow cracks. These conditions were controlled to manipulate the level of Z. The magnitude of the temperature difference in these profiles has been increased over the analysis time to provide a relationship between the elastic and inelastic secondary stress intensity factors, KIS and KJS, with increasing secondary load to demonstrate any enhancement and subsequent redistribution of the secondary stress. These finite element estimates have been compared to existing methods in R6 to calculate KJS/KIS which reinforce the available advice in R6 for each case. The proposed approach also compares favourably with the finite element results through modification of Z. The proposed approach is also seen to be compatible with the other approaches within R6 as it has been shown to reproduce the Option 2 failure assessment curve for cases where the elastic follow-up is significant (i.e. Z ≫ 5) and conforms to the displacement controlled estimate of KJS in Section III.14.5 of R6.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document