• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.27 no.9
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• pp.1571-1578
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• 2003

This paper proposes a robust method for the Ramberg-Osgood(R-O)fit to accurately estimate elastic-plastic J from engineering fracture mechanics analysis based on deformation plasticity. The proposal is based on engineering stress-strain data to determine the R-O parameters, instead of true stress-strain data. Moreover, for practical applications, the method is given not only for the case when full stress-strain data are available but also for the case when only yield and tensile strengths are available. Reliability of the proposed method for the R-O fit is validated against detailed 3-D Finite Element (FE) analyses for circumferential through-wall cracked pipes under global bending using five different materials, three stainless steels and two ferritic steels. Taking the FE J results based on incremental plasticity using actual stress-strain data as reference, the FE J results based on deformation plasticity using various R-O fits are compared with reference J values. Comparisons show that the proposed R-O fit provides more accurate J values for all cases, compared to existing methods for the R-O fit. Advantages of the proposed R-O fit in practical applications are discussed, together with its accuracy.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.28 no.7
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• pp.1006-1013
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• 2004

Operating experience of steam generators shows that the tubes are degraded by stress corrosion cracking, fretting wear and so on. These defected tubes could stay in service if it is proved that the tubes have sufficient structural margin to preclude the risk of tube bursting. This paper provides detailed plastic limit pressure solutions for through-wall cracks in the steam generator tubes. These are developed based on three dimensional(3D) finite element analyses assuming elastic-perfectly plastic material behavior. Both axial and circumferential through-wall cracks in free span and in u-bend regions are considered. The resulting limit pressure solutions are given in a polynomial form, and thus can be simply used in practical integrity assessment of the steam generator tubes.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.28 no.10
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• pp.1612-1620
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• 2004

This study presents methods to estimate elastic-plastic crack opening displacement (COD) fur circumferential through-wall cracked pipes for the Leak-Before-Break (LBB) analysis of pressurized piping. Proposed methods are based not only on the GE/EPRI approach but also on the reference stress approach. For each approach, two different estimation schemes are given, one for the case when full stress-strain data are available and the other fur the case when only yield and ultimate tensile strengths are available. For the GE/EPRI approach a robust way of determining the Ramberg-Osgood (R-O) parameters is proposed, not only fur the case when detailed information on full stress-strain data is available but also for the case when only yield and ultimate tensile strengths are available. The COD estimates according to the GE/EPRI approach, using the R-O parameters determined from the proposed R-O fitting procedures, generally compare well with the published pipe test data. For the reference stress approach, the COD estimates according to the method based on both full stress-strain data and limited tensile properties are in good agreement with pipe test data. In conclusion, experimental validation given in the present study provides sufficient confidence in the use of the proposed method to practical LBB analyses even though when information on material's tensile properties is limited.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.37 no.11
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• pp.1379-1386
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• 2013

The present work reports the mismatch limit loads for a V-groove welded pipe for a circumferential crack using finite element (FE) analyses. To integrate the effect of groove angles on mismatch limit loads, one geometry-related slenderness parameter was modified by relevant geometric parameters including the groove angle, crack depth, and root opening based on plastic deformation patterns in the theory of plasticity. Circumferential through-wall cracks are located at the centre of the weldments with two different groove angles ($45^{\circ}$, $90^{\circ}$). With regard to the loading conditions, axial (longitudinal) tension and bending are applied for all cases. For the parent and weld metal, elastic-perfectly plastic materials are considered to simulate and analyze under- and over-matching conditions in plasticity. The overall results from the proposed solutions are found to be similar to the FE results.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.741-747
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• 2001

Three-dimensional, elastic-plastic finite element analyses for circumferential through-wall cracked pipes are performed using actual tensile data of stainless steels, for two purposes. The first one is to validate the recently-proposed enhanced reference stress (ERS) method to estimate the J-integral and COD for circumferential through-wall cracked pipes. The second one is to compare those results with the GE/EPRI estimations. It is found that the J-integral and COD estimations according to the GE/EPRI method can be very sensitive to how the stress-strain data are fitted using the Ramberg-Osgood relation. Moreover, no tendency can be found regarding the most appropriate fitting range for the Ramberg-Osgood fit. On the contrary, the J-integral and COD estimations based on the ERS method give more accurate results than the GE/EPRI estimation. The present results provide confidence in applying the proposed method to the Leak-Before-Break(LBB) analysis.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.51-58
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• 2000

Recently, the J/T analysis based on elastic-plastic finite element analysis is popularly used in the nuclear industry to assess the integrity of a cracked pipe. The objective of this paper is to evaluate the effect of stress-strain curve for weld metal, variation of crack incremental length(${\delta}a$), and crack face pressure on the J/T analysis result. For this purpose, a parametric analysis was performed and the results calculated from finite element analysis were compared with those from the piping experimental data(stainless steel weldment pipe with circumferential through-wall crack). The numerical result using base metal material property is in agreement with the experimental one and the maximum load is decreased as the ${\delta}a$ for J/T analysis is increased.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.31 no.2 s.257
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• pp.277-284
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• 2007

The steam generator in a nuclear power plant is a large heat exchanger that uses heat from a reactor to generate steam to drive the turbine generator. Rupture of a steam generator tube can result in release of fission products to environment outside. Therefore, an accurate integrity assessment of the steam generator tubes with cracks is of great importance for maintaining the safety of a nuclear power plant. The steam generator tubes are supported at regular intervals by support plates and rotations of the tubes are restrained. Although it has been reported that the limit load for a circumferential crack is significantly affected by boundary condition of the tube, existing limit load solutions do not consider the restraining effect of support plate correctly. In addition, there are no limit load solutions for circumferential cracks in U-bend region with the effect of the support plate. This paper provides detailed limit load solutions for circumferential cracks in top of tube sheet and the U-bend regions of the steam generator tube with the actual boundary conditions to simulate the restraining effect of the support plate. Such solutions are developed based on three dimensional finite element analyses. The resulting limit load solutions are given in a polynomial form, and thus can be simply used in practical integrity assessment of the steam generator tubes.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.36 no.4
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• pp.327-337
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• 2004

It is commonly required that tubes with defects exceeding $40\%$ of wall thickness in depth should be plugged; however, this criterion is too conservative for some locations and for some types of defects. Many studies have been done with the aim of developing an alternative plugging criteria, and these studies have shown that steam generator tubes with a certain range of axial through-wall cracks could remain in service without any safety or reliability problems. However, these studies have been limited, thus far, to consideration of single cracked tubes, necessitating a study on multiple cracks, which are commonly found. A crack coalescence model applicable to steam generator tubes with two collinear axial through-wall cracks was proposed in the previous study. In this paper, the investigation is extended to the parallel axial cracks spaced in a circumferential direction, because parallel axial cracks are more frequently detected during in-service inspections than collinear axial cracks. Interaction effects between two parallel cracks are evaluated by performing elastic and elastic-plastic finite element analyses.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.29 no.10 s.241
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• pp.1361-1368
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• 2005

The structural and leakage integrity of steam generator tubes should be sustained all postulated loads with appropriate margin even if a crack is present. During the past three decades, for effective integrity evaluation, several limit load solutions have been used world-widely. However, to predict accurately load carrying capacities of specific components under different conditions, the solutions have to be modified by using lots of experimental data. The purpose of this paper is to propose a new burst pressure estimation scheme based on fracture mechanics analyses for steam generator tube with an axial or circumferential through-wall crack. A series of three dimensional elastic-plastic finite element analyses were carried out and, then, closed-form estimation equations with respect to both J-integral and crack opening displacement were derived through reference stress method. The developed engineering equations were utilized for structural integrity evaluation and the resulting data were compared to the corresponding ones fiom experiments as well as limit load solutions. Thereafter, since the effectiveness was proven by promising results, it is believed that the proposed estimation scheme can be used as an efficient tool for integrity evaluation of cracked steam generator tubes.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.496-505
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• 2007

This paper proposes closed-form plastic limit load solutions for elbows under in-plane bending, via three-dimensional (3-D), small strain FE limit analyses using elastic-perfectly plastic materials. A wide range of elbow and thinning geometries are considered. For systematic analyses of the effect of the axial thinning length on limit loads, two limiting cases are considered; a sufficiently long wall thinning, and the circumferential part-through surface crack. Closed-form plastic limit load solutions for wall thinning with intermediate longitudinal extents are then obtained from these two limiting cases. The effect of the axial extent of wall thinning on plastic limit loads for elbows is highlighted by comparing that for straight pipes. Although the proposed solutions are developed for the case when wall thinning exists in the center of elbows, it is also shown that they can be applied to the case when wall thinning exists anywhere within the elbow.