• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.39 no.1
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• pp.11-17
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• 2015

High-density polyethylene (HDPE) piping, which has recently been applied to safety class III piping in nuclear power plants, can be butt-joined through the thermal fusion process, which heats two fused surfaces and then subject to axial pressure. The thermal fusion process generates bead shapes on the butt fusion. The stress concentrations caused by the bead shapes may reduce the fatigue lifetime. Thus, investigating the effect of the thermal butt fusion beads on fatigue behavior is necessary. This study examined the fatigue behavior of thermal butt fusion via a tensile fatigue test under stress-controlled conditions using finite element elastic stress analysis. Based on the results, the presence of thermal butt fusion beads was confirmed to reduce the fatigue lifetime in the low-cycle fatigue region while having a negligible effect in the medium- and high-cycle fatigue regions.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers
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• v.19 no.6
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• pp.1439-1450
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• 1995

Bellows is a familiar component in piping systems as it provides a relatively simple means of absorbing thermal expansion and providing system flexibility. In routine piping flexibility analysis by finite element methods, bellows is usually considered to be straight pipe runs modified by an appropriate flexibility factor; maximum stresses are evaluated using a corresponding stress concentration factor. The aim of this study is to develop a bellows finite element, which similarly includes more complex shell type deformation patterns. This element also does not require flexibility or stress factors, but evaluates more detailed deformation and stress patterns. The proposed bellows element is a 3-D, 2-noded line element, with three degrees of freedom per node and no bending. It is formulated by including additional 'internal' degrees of freedom to account for the deformation of the bellows corrugation; specifically a quarter toroidal section of the bellows, loaded by axial force, is considered and the shell type deformation of this is include by way of an approximating trigonometric series. The stiffness of each half bellows section may be found by minimising the potential energy of the section for a chosen deformation shape function. An experiment on the flexibility is performed to verify the reliability for bellows finite element.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Pressure Vessels and Piping
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.101-108
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• 2021

To date, a number of stress intensity factor (SIF) solutions have been proposed for the cylindrical structure with circumferential through-wall cracks. However, each solution has a different format as well as applicable range. It is also known that there is a significant difference in predicted SIF values depending on the shape of the structure and the size of the crack. In this study, the applicability of various SIF solutions was analyzed by comparing the finite element analysis results for the case where a tensile load is applied to the cylindrical structure with circumferential through-wall crack. It is found that the calculated SIF gradually decreases and converges to a certain value with increasing length-to-radius ratio. Therefore, an appropriate length-to-radius ratio should be set in consideration of the dimensions of the actual cylindrical structure. For piping with sufficiently long cylinder, the ASME solution is found to be the most appropriate, and for a short cylinder, the API solution should be applied. On the other hand, the WEC solution requires careful attention to its application.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.38 no.7
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• pp.809-815
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• 2014

The induction heating bending process, which has been recently applied to nuclear piping, can generate residual stresses due to thermomechanical mechanism during the process. This residual stress is one of the crack driving forces that have important effects on crack initiation and propagation. However, previous studies have focused only on geometric shape variations such as the change in thickness and ovality. Moreover, very few studies are available on the effects of process variables on residual stresses. This study investigated the effects of process variables on the residual stress distributions of induction heating bended austenitic stainless steel (316 series) piping using parametric finite element analysis. The results indicated that the heat generation rate and feed velocity have significant effects on the residual stresses whereas the moment and bending angle have insignificant effects.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.40 no.3
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• pp.239-250
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• 2008

If there is a water flow with a range of temperature inside a pipe, the wanner water tends to float on top of the cooler water because it is lighter, resulting in the upper portion of the pipe being hotter than the lower portion. Under these conditions, such thermal stratification can play an important role in the aging of nuclear power plant piping because of the stress caused by the temperature difference and the cyclic temperature changes. This stress can limit the lifetime of the piping, even leading to penetrating cracks. Investigated in this study is the effect of thermal stratification on the structural integrity of the pressurizer surge line, which is reported to be one of the pipes most severely affected. Finite element models of the surge line are developed using several element types available in a general purpose structural analysis program and stress analyses are performed to determine the response characteristics for the various types of top-to-bottom temperature differentials due to thermal stratification. Fatigue analyses are also performed and an allowable environmental correction factor is suggested.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.37 no.5
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• pp.649-655
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• 2013

During welding, the dissimilar metal butt welds of nuclear piping are typically subjected to repair welding in order to eliminate defects that are found during post-weld inspection. It has been found that the repair weld can significantly increase the tensile residual stress in the weldment, and therefore, accurate estimation of the weld residual stress due to repair weld, especially for dissimilar metal welds using Ni-based alloy 82/182 in nuclear components, is of great importance in order to assess susceptibility to primary water stress corrosion cracking. In the present study, the stress distributions of dissimilar metal butt welds in nuclear reactor piping subjected to repair weld were investigated based on detailed nonlinear finite element analyses. Particular emphasis was placed on the variation of the stress distribution in the dissimilar metal butt weld according to the finite element welding analysis sequence for the repair welding process.

• KEPCO Journal on Electric Power and Energy
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• v.2 no.4
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• pp.583-588
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• 2016

The high-temperature steam pipes of thermal power plants are subjected to severe conditions such as creep and fatigue due to the power plant frequently being started up and shut down. To prevent critical pipes from serious damage and possible failure, inspection methods such as computational analysis and online piping displacement monitoring have been developed. However, these methods are limited in that they cannot determine the life consumption rate of a critical pipe precisely. Therefore, we set out to develop a life assessment system, based on a three-dimensional piping displacement monitoring system, which is capable of evaluating the life consumption rate of a critical pipe. This system was installed at the "M" thermal power plant in Malaysia, and was shown to operate well in practice. The results of this study are expected to contribute to the increase safety of piping systems by minimizing stress and extending the actual life of critical piping.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.52 no.12
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• pp.2949-2957
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• 2020

Fatigue crack growth model has been developed for dissimilar metal weld joints of a piping component under cyclic loading, where in the crack is located at the center of the weld in the circumferential direction. The fracture parameter, Stress Intensity Factor (SIF) has been computed by using principle of superposition as K_H + K_M. K_H is evaluated by assuming that, the complete specimen is made of the material containing the notch location. In second stage, the stress field ahead of the crack tip, accounting for the strength mismatch, the applied load and geometry has been characterized to evaluate SIF (K_M). For each incremental crack depth, stress field ahead of the crack tip has been quantified by using J-integral (elastic), mismatch ratio, plastic interaction factor and stress parallel to the crack surface. The associated constants for evaluation of K_M have been computed by using the quantified stress field with respect to the distance from the crack tip. Net SIF (K_H + K_M) computed, has been used for the crack growth analysis and remaining life prediction by Paris crack growth model. To validate the model, SIF and remaining life has been predicted for a pipe made up of (i) SA312 Type 304LN austenitic stainless steel and SA508 Gr. 3 Cl. 1. Low alloy carbon steel (ii) welded SA312 Type 304LN austenitic stainless-steel pipe. From the studies, it is observed that the model could predict the remaining life of DMWJ piping components with a maximum difference of 15% compared to experimental observations.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Pressure Vessels and Piping
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.79-86
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• 2015

The purpose of this study is to evaluate structural integrity of a weldment which is partially screwed and then welded. Two finite element models are constructed and solved: operating temperature and internal pressure are considered in the first simple model, and welding process and normal operating condition including heat-up process are simulated in the second model. Structural integrity assessment criteria are satisfied with both finite element models, therefore the repair weldment finely sustains structural integrity of this assembly and prevents leakage. Stresses are dramatically increased when weld residual stress is considered, but it should be considered as a secondary stress.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.27 no.5
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• pp.724-733
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• 2003

Fatigue design rules for welds in the ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessels Code are based on the use of Fatigue Strength Reduction Factors(FSRF) against a code specified fatigue design curve generated from smooth base metal specimens without the presence of welds. Similarly, stress intensification factors that are used in the ASME B3l.1 Piping Code are based on component S-N curves with a reference fatigue strength based on straight pipe girth welds. But the determination of either the FSRF or stress intensification factor requires extensive fatigue testing to take into account the stress concentration effects associated with various types of component geometry, weld configuration and loading conditions. As the fatigue behavior of welded joints is being better understood, it has been generally accepted that the difference in fatigue lives from one type of weld to another is dominated by the difference in stress concentration. However, general finite element procedures are currently not available for effective determination of such stress concentration effects. In this paper, a mesh-insensitive structural stress method is used to re-evaluate the S-N test data, and then more effective method is proposed for pressure vessel and piping fatigue design.