• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.25 no.5
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• pp.823-833
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• 2001

In recent years, the subject of remaining life assessment has drawn considerable attention in chemical plants, where various structural components typically operate at high temperature an pressure. Thus a life prediction methodology accounting for high temperature creep fracture is increasingly needed for the components. Critical defects in such structures are generally found in the form of semi-elliptical surface crack, and the analysis of which is consequently an important problem in engineering fracture mechanics. On this background, we first develop an auto mesh generation program for detailed 3-D finite element analyses of axial and circumferential semi-elliptical surface cracks in a piping system. A high temperature creep fracture parameter C-integral is obtained from the finite element analyses of generated 3-D models. Post crack growth module is further appended here to calculate the amount of crack growth. Finally the remaining lives of surface cracked pipes for various analytical parameters are assessed using the developed life assessment program.