• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.36 no.12
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• pp.1521-1528
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• 2012

The present paper provides the elastic stress intensity factors (SIFs) and the crack opening displacements (CODs) of a thick-walled pipe with a slanted axial through-wall crack. For estimating these elastic fracture mechanics parameters, systematic three-dimensional elastic finite element (FE) analyses were performed by considering geometric variables, i.e., thickness of pipe, reference crack length, and crack length ratio, affecting the SIFs and CODs. As for loading condition, the internal pressure was considered. Based on the FE results, the SIFs and CODs of slanted axial through-wall cracks in a thickwalled pipe along the crack front and the wall thickness were calculated. In particular, to calculate the SIFs of a thick-walled pipe with a slanted axial through-wall crack from those of a thick-walled pipe with an idealized axial through-wall crack, a slant correction factor representing the effect of the slant crack on the SIFs was proposed.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.30 no.5 s.248
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• pp.568-575
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• 2006

The present paper provides plastic limit load solutions of axial and circumferential through-wall cracked pipes based on detailed three-dimensional (3-D) finite element (FE) limit analysis using elastic-perfectly-plastic behavior. As a loading condition, axial tension, global bending moment, internal pressure, combined tension and bending and combined internal pressure and bending are considered for circumferential through-wall cracked pipes, while only internal pressure is considered for axial through-wall cracked pipes. Especially, more emphasis is given for through-wall cracked pipes subject to combined loading. Comparisons with existing solutions show a large discrepancy in short through-wall crack (both axial and circumferential) for internal pressure. In the case of combined loading, the FE limit analyses results show thickness effect on limit load solutions. Furthermore, the plastic limit load solution for circumferential through-wall cracked pipes under bending is applied to derive plastic $\eta\;and\;{\gamma}$-factor of testing circumferential through-wall cracked pipes to estimate fracture toughness. Being based on detailed 3-D FE limit analysis, the present solutions are believed to be meaningful fur structural integrity assessment of through-wall cracked pipes.

• Proceedings of the KSME Conference
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• 2008.11a
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• pp.725-726
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• 2008

This paper proposes elastic stress intensity factors and crack opening displacements (CODs) for a slanted axial through-wall cracked cylinder under an internal pressure based on detailed 3-dimensional (3-D) elastic finite element (FE) analyses. Based on the elastic FE results, the stress intensity factors along the crack front and CODs through the thickness at the center of the crack were provided. These values were also tabulated for three selected points, i.e., the inner and outer surfaces and at the mid-thickness. The present results can be used to evaluate the crack growth rate and leak rate of a slanted axial through-wall crack due to stress corrosion cracking and fatigue. Moreover, the present results can be used to perform a detailed Leak-Before-Break analysis considering more realistic crack shape development.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.31 no.5
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• pp.562-569
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• 2007

This paper presents plastic limit loads and approximate J estimates for axial through-wall cracked pipe bends under internal pressure and in-plane bending. Geometric variables associated with a crack and pipe bend are systematically varied, and three possible crack locations (intrados, extrados and crown) in pipe bends are considered. Based on small strain finite element limit analyses using elastic-perfectly plastic materials, effect of bend and crack geometries on plastic limit loads for axial through-wall cracked pipe bends under internal pressure and in-plane bending are quantified, and closed-form limit solutions are given. Based on proposed limit load solutions, a J estimation scheme for axial through-wall cracked pipe bends under internal pressure and in-plane bending is proposed based on reference stress approach.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Pressure Vessels and Piping
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.1-24
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• 2016

The original fracture criteria developed by Maxey/Kiefner for axial through-wall and surface-cracked pipes have worked well for many industries for a large variety of relatively low strength and toughness materials. However, newer line pipe steels have some unusual characteristics that differ from these older materials. One example is a test data that has demonstrated that X80 line-pipe with an axial through-wall-crack can fail at pressures about 30 percent lower than predicted with commonly used analysis methods for older steels. Thus, it is essential to review the currently available models and investigate the applicability of these models to newer high-strength line pipe materials. In this paper, the available models for predicting the failure behavior of axial-cracked pipes (through-wall-cracked and external surface-cracked pipes) were reviewed. Furthermore, the applicability of these models to high-strength steel pipes was investigated by analyzing limited full-scale pipe fracture initiation test results. Based on the analyzed results, the shortcomings of the available models were identified. For both through-wall and surface cracks, the major shortcomings were related to the characterization of the material toughness, which generally leads to non-conservative predictions in the J-T analyses. The findings in this paper may be limited to the test data that were consider for this study. The requisite characteristics of a potential model were also identified in the present paper.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.30 no.10 s.253
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• pp.1255-1260
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• 2006

To maintain the structural integrity of steam generator tubes, 40% of wall thickness plugging criterion has been developed. The approach is for the steam generator tube with single crack, so that the interaction effect of multiple cracks can not be considered. Although, recently, several approaches have been proposed to assess the integrity of steam generator tube with two identical cracks whilst actual multiple cracks reveal more complex shape. In this paper, the coalescence pressure of steam generator tube containing multiple cracks of different length is evaluated based on the detailed 3-dimensional (3-D) elastic-plastic finite element (FE) analyses. In terms of the crack shape, two collinear axial through-wall cracks with different length were considered. Furthermore, the resulting FE coalescence pressures are compared with FE coalescence pressures and experimental results for two identical collinear axial through-wall cracks to quantify the effect of crack length ratio on failure behavior of steam generator tube with multiple cracks. Finally, based on 3-D FE results, the coalescence evaluation diagrams were proposed.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Pressure Vessels and Piping
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• v.8 no.3
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• pp.13-22
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• 2012

According to recent research on leak-rate estimates to assess rupture probabilities of nuclear piping which contains a circumferential surface/through-wall cracks due to PWSCC, i.e., xLPR (Extremely Low Probability of Rupture) program, it has been revealed that the use of crack shape with an idealized circumferential through-wall crack during actual crack growth can lead to overestimate of the leak-rate. Thus, for accurate estimation of the leak-rate during crack growth, the more realistic crack shape that can simulate the crack shape transition from surface crack to through-wall crack should be used. In this context, in the present study, the elastic crack opening displacement of slanted circumferential through-wall crack in thick-walled cylinder was proposed based on 3-dimensional elastic finite element fracture mechanics analyses. To propose the elastic crack opening displacement of slanted circumferential through-wall crack in thick-walled cylinder, the geometric variables affecting crack opening displacement, i.e., thickness of cylinder, reference inner crack length and slant crack ratio were systematically varied. In terms of loading conditions, axial tension, global bending moment and internal pressure were considered. The present results can be applied to calculate the leak-rate considering more realistic crack shape transition from surface crack to idealized through-wall crack, and can be expected to enhance current leak-rate estimation scheme, for instance, in xLPR program etc.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.39 no.1
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• pp.75-84
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• 2007

This paper presents a closed-form model for evaluating the restraint effect of pressure induced bending on the opening of a circumferential through-wall crack, which is considered plastic deformation behavior. Three-dimensional finite element analyses with different crack lengths, restraint conditions, pipe geometries, magnitudes of internal pressure, and tensile properties were used to investigate the influence of each parameter on the pressure-induced bending restraint on the crack opening displacement. From these investigations, an analytical model based on elastic-perfectly plastic material was developed in terms of the crack length, symmetric restraint length, mean radius to thickness ratio, axial stress corresponding to the internal pressure, and normalized crack opening displacement evaluated from a linear-elastic crack opening condition. Finite element analyses results demonstrate that the proposed analytical model reliably estimated the restraint effect of pressure-induced bending on the plastic crack opening of a circumferential through-wall crack and properly reflected the dependence on each parameter within the range over which the analytical expression was derived.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.30 no.9 s.252
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• pp.1134-1141
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• 2006

This paper presents the model for evaluating restraint effect of pressure induced bending (PIB) on the circumferential through-wall crack opening displacement (COD), which considers plastic behavior of crack. This study performed three-dimensional elastic-plastic finite element (FE) analyses for different crack angle, restraint length, pipe geometry, stress level, and material conditions, and evaluated the influence of each parameter on the PIB restraint effect on COD. Based on these evaluations and additional perfectly-plastic FE analyses, a closed-form model to evaluate the restraint effect of PIB on the plastic crack opening of circumferential through-wall crack, was proposed as functions of crack angle, restraint length, radius to thickness ratio, axial stress corresponding to an internal pressure, and normalized COD evaluated from linear-elastic crack opening condition.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.239-246
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• 2003

This paper proposes engineering estimation equations of elastic-plastic J and COD fur axial through-wall cracked pipes under internal pressure. Based on detailed 3-D FE results based on deformation plasticity, the plastic influence functions for fully plastic J and COD solutions are tabulated as a function of the mean radius-to-thickness ratio, the normalized crack length. and the strain hardening. Based on these results, the GE/EPRI-type J and COD estimation equations are proposed and validated against the 3-D FE results based on deformation plasticity. For more general application to general stress-strain laws or to complex loading, the developed GE/EPRI-type solutions are re-formulated based on the reference stress concept. Such a reformulation provides simpler equations for J and COD, which are then further extended to combined internal pressure and bending. The proposed reference stress based J and COD estimation equations are compared with elastic-plastic 3-D FE results using actual stress-strain data for Type 316 stainless steels. The FE results for both internal pressure cases and combined internal pressure and bending cases compare very well with the proposed J and COD estimations.