• Corrosion Science and Technology
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• 제3권5호
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• pp.216-221
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• 2004

The operating experience showed that the fatigue is one of the major piping failure mechanisms in nuclear power plants (NPPs). The pressure and/or temperature loading transients, the vibration, and the mechanical cyclic loading during the plant operation may induce the fatigue failure in the nuclear piping. Recently, many fatigue piping failure occurred at the socket weld area have been widely reported. Many failure cases showed that the gap requirement between the pipe and fitting in the socket weld was not satisfied though the ASME Code Sec. III requires 1/16 inch gap in the socket weld. The ASME Code OM also limits the vibration level of the piping system, but some failure cases showed the limitation was not satisfied during the plant operation. In this paper, the fatigue behavior of the socket weld in the nuclear piping was estimated by using the three dimensional finite element method. The results are as follows. (1) The socket weld is susceptible to the vibration if the vibration levels exceed the requirement in the ASME Code OM. (2) The effect of the pressure or temperature transient load on the socket weld in NPPs is not significant because of the very low frequency of the transient during the plant lifetime operation. (3) 'No gap' is very risky to the socket weld integrity for the specific systems having the vibration condition to exceed the requirement in the ASME OM Code and/or the transient loading condition. (4) The reduction of the weld leg size from $1.09*t_1$ to $0.75*t_1$ can affect severely on the socket weld integrity.

• 대한기계학회:학술대회논문집
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• 대한기계학회 2003년도 추계학술대회
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• pp.1092-1097
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• 2003

S-N fatigue tests were conducted to investigate the fatigue strength of small diameter socket and butt welded joints made of carbon steels. Experimental parameters were pipe diameter, throat depth, shape of socket welds and welding procedure. Filler metals used in SMAW and GTAW procedure were E9016-G with diameter of 4.0 mm and ER70S-G with diameter of 2.4 mm. API 5L Gr.B pipes were adopted as a small diameter branch pipes. All socket fittings were machined from ASTM A105 carbon steel. Tensile strength was not affected by the welding procedure. Fatigue strength in socket weld joints increased with increasing pipe diameter, area of weld metal and weld leg length of pipe side.

• Journal of Welding and Joining
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• 제22권3호
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• pp.50-55
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• 2004

S-N fatigue tests were conducted to investigate the fatigue strength of small diameter socket and butt welded joints made of carbon steels. Experimental parameters were pipe diameter, throat depth, shape of socket welds and welding procedure. Filler metals used in SMAW and GTAW procedure were E9016-G with diameter of 4.0 m and ER70S-G with diameter of 2.4 m. API 5L Gr.B pipes were adopted as a small diameter branch pipes. All socket fittings were machined from ASTM A105 carbon steel. Tensile strength was not affected by the welding procedure. Fatigue strength in socket weld joints increased with increasing pipe diameter, area of weld metal and weld leg length of pipe side.

• 대한용접접합학회:학술대회논문집
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• 대한용접접합학회 2003년도 추계학술발표대회 개요집
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• pp.191-193
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• 2003

S-N fatigue tests were conducted to investigate the fatigue strength of the small diameter socket and butt welded joints of carbon steels. Experimental parameters were pipe diameter, throat depth, shape of socket welds and welding procedure. Filler metals used in SMAW and GTAW procedure were E9016-G with diameter of 4.0 mm and ER70S-G with diameter of 2.4 m. API 5L Gr.B pipes were adopted as a small diameter branch pipes. All socket fittings were machined from ASTM A105 carbon steel. Fatigue strength in socket weld joints increased with increasing pipe diameter, area of weld metal and weld leg length of pipe side.

• Corrosion Science and Technology
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• 제19권4호
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• pp.224-230
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• 2020

Stainless steel has excellent corrosion resistance. The drawback is that pitting occurs easily due to the concentration of chloride. In addition, corrosion of socket weld, which is structurally and chemically weaker than the other components of the pipe, occurs rapidly. Since these two phenomena overlap, pinhole leakage occurs frequently in the seawater pipe socket welds made of stainless steel at the power plants. To analyze this specific corrosion, a metallurgical analysis of the stainless steel socket welds, where the actual corrosion occurred during the power plant operation, was performed. The micro-structure and chemical composition of each socket weld were analyzed. In addition, selective corrosion of the specific micro-structure in a mixed dendrite structure comprising γ-austenite (gamma-phase iron) and δ-ferrite (iron at high temperature) was investigated based on the characteristic micro-morphology and chemical composition of the corroded area. Finally, the different corrosion stages and characteristics of socket weld corrosion are summarized.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제53권11호
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• pp.3837-3851
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• 2021

To investigate how the fabrication and repair of socket welded joints could be used to enhance fatigue resistance under vibration condition, experimental test data of installation conditions that potentially influence fatigue strength were analyzed with the S-N curve. It was found that the decreasing fatigue strength of stainless steel socket welded joints was attributed to the effect of high heat input of welding process. The effect of welding method, slip-on gap and radial-gap conditions on fatigue strength was insignificant. The test data of repair technique application, 2 × 1 leg length and of socket weld overlay, clearly showed higher fatigue strength but there was a limitation for higher stress region because of the weld toe crack.

• 대한기계학회:학술대회논문집
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• 대한기계학회 2003년도 춘계학술대회
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• pp.617-621
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• 2003

The purpose of this paper is to analyze piping failure trend of safety pipings In domestic nuclear power plants. First, database for the piping failure was constructed with 105 data fields. The database includes plant population data, event data, and service history data. 7 kinds of piping failures in domestic NPPs were investigated. Among the 7 cases, detailed root causes were investigated for 3 cases. The first one is pipe wall thinning in main feedwater pipings of Westinghouse 3 loop type plants. The root cause of the wall thinning was flow accelerated corrosion near welding area. The next one is leak event in chemical and volume control system(CVCS) due to vibration. Some cracks occurred in socket welding area. The events showed that the integrity or socket weld is very vulnerable to vibration. The last one is also a leak event in primary sampling line in Korean standard reactor due to thermal fatigue. Although the structural integrity was not maintained by the events, there was no effect on nuclear safety in the above 3 piping failure eases.

• 비파괴검사학회지
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• 제33권4호
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• pp.368-375
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• 2013

소구경 배관 용접부 손상은 원자력발전소에서 빈번하게 발생되고 있는 문제이며, 이러한 손상은 보수를 위한 불시정지를 야기하고 결과적으로 발전소에 경제적인 손실을 초래한다. 따라서 소켓용접부의 제작결함 검출과 초기 성장 결함의 검출은 매우 중요하다고 할 수 있다. 지금까지 해당부위에 대한 검사는 ASME Code Section XI 요건에 의하여 표면검사를 적용하여 왔으나 강화검사로 체적검사기법인 초음파검사를 병행하여 수행하고 있다. 그러나 가동중에 발생되는 피로균열을 검출하기 위하여 적용되고 있는 일반 수동 초음파검사는 소켓용접부의 접근성과 초음파 탐촉자의 접촉 문제 등으로 인하여 검사 결과의 신뢰성에 문제가 있어 왔다. 본 연구에서는 위상배열 초음파검사 기술을 적용하여 소구경 배관 소켓용접부의 검사 신뢰성과 속도를 향상하고자 하였다. 이를 위하여 소구경 배관 소켓용접부 검사를 위한 3.5 MHz 위상배열 초음파 탐촉자를 제작하고 탐촉자의 접촉 조건과 일정한 신호 품질을 유지하기 위하여 수동 엔코더 스캐너를 개발하였다. 또한 검사 시스템을 구성하고 현장 검사를 위한 절차서도 개발하였다.