• Transactions of the Korean Society of Pressure Vessels and Piping
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.31-39
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• 2015

Pipe wall-thinning by flow-accelerated corrosion (FAC) and various types of erosion is a significant and costly damage phenomenon in secondary piping systems of nuclear power plants (NPPs). Most NPPs have management programs to ensure pipe integrity due to wall-thinning that includes periodic measurements for pipe wall thicknesses using ultrasonic tests (UTs). Nevertheless, thinning evaluations are not easy because the amount of thickness reduction being measured is often quite small compared to the accuracy of the inspection technique. U.S. Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) had proposed Total Point Method (TPM) as a thinning occurrence evaluation method, which is a very useful method for detecting locally thinned pipes or fittings. However, evaluation engineers have to discern manually the measurement data because there are no numerical algorithm for TPM. In this study, numerical algorithms were developed based on non-parametric and parametric statistical method.

• Proceedings of the KSME Conference
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• 2001.06a
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• pp.351-356
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• 2001

A potential loss of structural integrity due to aging of nuclear piping may have a significant effect on the safety of nuclear power plants. In particular, failures due to the erosion and corrosion defects are a major concern. As a result, there is a need to assess the remaining strength of pipe with erosion/corrosion defects. In this paper, a limit load solution for the eroded and corroded SA106 Grade B pipes subjected by internal pressure is developed. based in 3-D finite element analyses, considering a wide range of the shape of pipeline, flaw depth and axial flaw length parametrically.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.8-17
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• 2003

Fracture behaviors of pipes with local wall thinning are very important for the integrity of nuclear Power Plant. In Pipes of energy Plants, sometimes, the local wall thinning may result from severe erosion-corrosion (E/C) damage. However, the effects of local wall thinning on strength and fracture behaviors of piping system were not well studied. In this paper, the monotonic bending tests were performed of full-scale carbon steel pipes with local wall thinning. A monotonic bending load was applied to straight pipe specimens by four-point loading at ambient temperature without internal pressure. From the tests, fracture behaviors and fracture strength of locally thinned pipe were manifested systematically. The observed failure modes were divided into four types; ovalization. crack initiation/growth after ovalization, local buckling and crack initiation/growth after local buckling. Also, the strength and the allowable limit of piping system with local wall thinning were evaluated.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Gas
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• v.9 no.3 s.28
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• pp.1-8
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• 2005

We studied on the nondestructive evaluation of the elastic wave signals of locally wall thinned straight pipe. Wavelet transform was applied for the time-frequency analysis of waveforms obtained by fracture wave detector due to the dropping steel ball. The time-frequency analysis provides time variation of each frequency component involved in a waveform, which makes it possible to evaluate the shape of local wall thinning at each frequency. In this study, comparison by wavelet transform of the AE signals and monotonic bending tests without internal pressure are conducted on 1.91 inch diameter full-scale carbon steel pipe specimens. As the results of tests, fracture behaviors could be shown by the characteristic of mechanical strength of locally wall thinned pipes and the waveforms could be evaluated for the integrity insurance of the piping system according to the length and depth range of the deffeted shape pipes in the real field.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.34 no.9
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• pp.1293-1298
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• 2010

In most power plants, wall thinning in carbon-steel pipes due to flow-accelerated corrosion is one of the major aging phenomena, and it reduces the load-carrying capacity of the piping system. Various types of wall-thinning defects were manufactured in real-scale elbows, and monotonic in-plane bending tests were performed under internal pressure to evaluate the failure behavior of the elbows. In this paper, the behavior of elastic and plastic limit leads of locally thinned elbows in a real-scale failure test is presented. The loads determined on the basis of TES (twice elastic slope) were considered to be the limit loads of locally thinned elbows so that the integrity of the thinned elbows could be maintained, even when a small amount of plastic deformation might have occurred.

• Proceedings of the KSME Conference
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• 2001.11a
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• pp.61-66
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• 2001

Fracture behaviors of pipes with local wall thinning is very important for the integrity of nuclear power plant. In pipes of energy plants, sometimes, the local wall thinning may result from severe drosion-corrosion damage. However, effect of local wall thinning on strength and fracture behaviors of piping system were not well studied. In this paper, the monotonic bending tests were performed of full-scale carbon steel pipes with local wall thinning. A monotonic bending load was applied to straight pipe specimens by four-point loading at ambient temperature without internal pressure. From the tests, fracture behaviors and fracture strength of locally thinned pipe were manifested systematically. The observed failure modes were divided into four types; ovalization, ovalization+cracking, local buckling and local buckling+cracking. Also, maximum load was successfully evaluated.

• Journal of Ocean Engineering and Technology
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• v.16 no.5
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• pp.66-72
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• 2002

Fracture behaviors of pipes with local wall thinning are very important for the integrity of nuclear power plant. However, effects of local wall thinning on strength and fracture behaviors of piping system were not well studied. Acoustic emission(AE) has been widely used in various fields because of its extreme sensitivity, dynamic detection ability and location of growing defects. In this study, we investigated failure modes of locally wall thinned pipes and AE signals by bending test. From test results, we could be divided four types of failure modes of ovalization, crack initiation after ovalization, local buckling and crack initiation after local buckling. And fracture behaviors such as elastic region, yielding region, plastic deformation region and crack progress region could be evaluated by AE counts, accumulative counts and time-frequency analysis during bending test. The result of the frequency range is expected to be basic data that can inspect plants in real-time.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.34 no.11
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• pp.1675-1680
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• 2010

Flow Accelerated Corrosion (FAC) occurring during in-service conditions results in localized wall-thinning in the feeder pipes of CANDU. The wall-thinning of the feeder pipes is the main degradation mechanisms affecting the integrity of piping systems. In this paper, we assess the integrity of wall-thinned feeder pipes by limit load analysis. The limit loads for wall-thinning feeder pipes subjected to in-plane bending and internal pressure were determined on the basis of finte element limit analyses. The limit loads are determined from the results of limit analyses of elasticperfectly-plastic materials using the large geometry change. Closed-form approximations of limit load solutions for wall-thinning feeder pipes subjected to in-plane bending and pressure are proposed.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.28-34
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• 2003

In the present study, three-dimensional finite element analysis was performed to investigate the effects of internal wall thinning defect on the failure pressure of elbow in the piping system and to develop the failure pressure evaluation model. From the results of finite element analysis, the failure pressure was derived by employing local stress criteria, and the effects of thinning location, bend radius, and defect geometry on the failure pressure of internally wall thinned elbow were investigated. Also, based on these investigations and previous model developed to estimate the failure pressure of elbow with an external pitting defect, the failure pressure evaluation model to be applicable to the elbow containing an internal thinning defect was proposed and compared with the results of finite element analysis. The failure pressure calculated by the model agreed well with the results of finite element analysis.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.36 no.3
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• pp.313-318
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• 2012

In CANDU, feeder pipes supply heavy water to pressure tube and steam generator. Under service conditions, Flow-Accelerated Corrosion (FAC) produces local wall-thinning in the feeder pipes. The wall-thinning in these pipes affects the integrity of the piping system, as verified in previous research. This paper provides limit loads for wallthinned feeder pipes with $45^{\circ}$ and $60^{\circ}$ bend angles, and proposes an equation that predicts the limit loads for wallthinned feeder pipes with arbitrary bend angles. On the basis of finite element limit analyses, limit loads are obtained for wall-thinned feeder pipes under in-plane bending and internal pressure. There are two cases of in-plane bending: the in-plane closing direction and the in-plane opening direction. The material is considered the effect of the large deformation, so an elastic-perfectly-plastic material is assumed in the calculations.