• Transactions of the Korean Society of Pressure Vessels and Piping
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.42-48
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• 2020

The effect of improving the tensile and J-R fracture toughness properties of SA508 Gr.1a on the LBB margin for the main steam pipe is investigated. The material properties and microstructure images of the existing main steam piping material SA106 Gr.C used in domestic nuclear power plants and the newly selected material SA508 Gr.1a were compared. For each material, LBB margins were calculated and compared through finite element analysis and crack instability evaluation. The LBB margin of the improved SA508 Gr.1a is found to be greatly improved compared to that of the existing SA106 Gr.C and SA508 Gr.1a. This is because of the increased material's strength and J-R fracture toughness compared to the previous materials. In order to analyze the effect of physical property change on the LBB margin, the sensitivity of each LBB margin according to the variation of tensile strength and J-R fracture toughness was analyzed. The effect of the change in tensile strength was found to be greater than that of the change in fracture toughness. Therefore, an increase in strength significantly influenced the improvement of the LBB margin of the improved SA508 Gr.1a.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.20 no.6
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• pp.1862-1871
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• 1996

The puopose of this paper is sto modify the current LBB criteria. The validity of current LBB criteria and current standard LBB analysis mehtod are evaluated using linear elastic fracture mechanics and elastic-plastic fracture mechanics. The results of evaluation demonstrate that the current LBB driteria are very conservative and some level of margins already exist in the standard LBB analysis method. Thus, the margin on load .root. and margin on crack size 2 can be eliminated to extend LBB application for the samller diameter pipe.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.35 no.6
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• pp.651-659
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• 2011

With the increase in the thermal power output of recently developed nuclear power plants, the applied forces and moments are increased in some piping systems, so that the leak-before-break (LBB) application criteria would not be satisfied in those pipes. In this paper, we present a method for obtaining the additive LBB margin in the pipes by considering the nonlinearity of the crack and material properties. Finite element analysis and the moment-rotation equation of beam theory were used to calculate the nonlinearity of the crack and material properties. Moreover crack stability analysis was performed using the method proposed in this study. The LBB margin was increased effectively through consideration of the nonlinearity of the crack and material properties in the pipe.

• Proceedings of the KSME Conference
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• 2001.11a
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• pp.67-72
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• 2001

The LBB behavior and the crack opening displacement after a crack penetrated wall thickness of statically indeterminate piping system were investigated in this study, compared with statically determinate piping system. The reduction of ultimate strength caused by a crack was relatively small in the statically indeterminate piping system. The statically indeterminate piping system has more safety margin for LBB behavior than the statically determinate piping system. The crack opening displacement could be evaluated by using the plastic rotation angle proposed to evaluate the crack opening displacement after crack penetration in pipe with a non-penetrating crack.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Pressure Vessels and Piping
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.19-25
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• 2022

Nuclear Power Plants (NPP) should be designed to have sufficient safety margins and to ensure seismic safety against earthquake that may occur during the plant life time. After the 9.12 Gyeongju earthquake accident, the structural integrity of nuclear power plants due to the beyond design basis earthquake is one of key safety issues. Accordingly, it is necessary to conduct structural integrity evaluations for domestic NPPs under beyond design basis earthquake. In this study, the Level 3 LBB (Leak Before Break) evaluation was performed by considering the beyond design basis earthquake for the surge line of a OPR1000 plant of which design basis earthquake was set to be 0.2g. The beyond design basis earthquake corresponding to peak ground acceleration 0.4g at the maximum stress point of the surge line was considered. It was confirmed that the moment behaviors of the hot leg and pressurized surge nozzle were lower than the maximum allowable loading in moment-rotation curve. It was also confirmed that the LBB margin could be secured by comparing the LBB margin through the Level 2 method. It was judged that the margin was secured by reducing the load generated through the compliance of the pipe.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.27 no.5
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• pp.775-783
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• 1995

This study is to assess the effects of increasing wall thickness on the safety margin of pressure tube in operating and of lowering initial hydrogen concentration on the DHC growth in respect to the improvement of the reliability of pressure tube in CANDU reactors. The pressure tube with thicker wall of 5.2 mm shows much higher safety margin for flaw tolerance by 25％ than the current 4.2mmm tube. The thicker pressure tubes have a great benefit in LBB assessment including the initial crack depth at which DHC occurs, the crack length at onset of leaking and the available time for action. The resistance for the pressure tube ballooning at LOCA accident is also increased with the thicker tube. The calculations for Heq concentration after 20 years of operation as a function of wall thickness and initial hydrogen concentration show that the 5.2 mm nil thickness tube with 5 ppm initial hydrogen concentration is the most resistant to DHC. with the lower initial hydrogen concentration, TSS temperature for the precipitation or hydride decreases and the crack growth during cooldown reduces.

• Proceedings of the KSME Conference
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• 2008.11a
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• pp.287-292
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• 2008

The applicability of stainless steel type 316N to the PZR surge-lines of OPR1000 and APR1400 is investigated. So far, strainless steel type 347 has been used for the OPR1000 surge-lines. The degree of improvement in the leak-before-break(LBB) and component design margin is evaluated when stainless steel type 347 is substituted by type 316N. For the study, the tensile and J-R tests on type 316N and type 347 stainless steels were performed at 316 and the microstructure of both types was examined. Stainless steel type 316N shows the higher values on the stress-strain curves, J-R curves and stress intensity, Sm, compared to those of type 347. Therefore, stainless steel type 316N ensures the higher LBB and component design margins. As a result, this study shows that stainless steel type 316N could substitute type 347 for the surge-lines of OPR1000 and APR1400.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.34 no.6
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• pp.725-730
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• 2010

The leak-before-break behavior and the crack opening displacement were investigated of statically indeterminate piping system and statically determinate piping system after a crack penetration. The reduction in the ultimate strength caused by a crack was relatively small in the statically indeterminate piping system. The leak-before-break in the statically indeterminate piping system had a larger safety margin than that in the statically determinate piping system. The crack opening displacement after crack penetration in a pipe with a nonpenetrating crack was evaluated by using a plastic rotation angle.