• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.32 no.5
• /
• pp.465-476
• /
• 2000

In a nuclear power plant, steam generator tubes cover a major portion of the primary pressure-retaining boundary. Thus very conservative approaches have been taken in the light of steam generator tube integrity According to the present criteria, tubes wall-thinned in excess of 40% should be plugged whatever causes are. However, many analytical and experimental results have shown that no safety problems exist even with thickness reductions greater than 40%. The present criterion was developed about twenty years ago when wear and pitting were dominant causes for steam generator tube degradation. And it is based on tubes with single cracks regardless of the fact that the appearance of multiple cracks is more common in general. The objective of this study is to review the conservatism of the present plugging criteria of steam generator tubes and to propose a new coalescence model for two adjacent through-wall cracks existing in steam generator tubes. Using the existing failure models and experimental results, we reviewed the conservatism of the present plugging criteria. In order to verify the usefulness of the proposed new coalescence model, we performed finite element analysis and some parametric studies. Then, we developed a coalescence evaluation diagram.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
• /
• v.30 no.10 s.253
• /
• pp.1255-1260
• /
• 2006

To maintain the structural integrity of steam generator tubes, 40% of wall thickness plugging criterion has been developed. The approach is for the steam generator tube with single crack, so that the interaction effect of multiple cracks can not be considered. Although, recently, several approaches have been proposed to assess the integrity of steam generator tube with two identical cracks whilst actual multiple cracks reveal more complex shape. In this paper, the coalescence pressure of steam generator tube containing multiple cracks of different length is evaluated based on the detailed 3-dimensional (3-D) elastic-plastic finite element (FE) analyses. In terms of the crack shape, two collinear axial through-wall cracks with different length were considered. Furthermore, the resulting FE coalescence pressures are compared with FE coalescence pressures and experimental results for two identical collinear axial through-wall cracks to quantify the effect of crack length ratio on failure behavior of steam generator tube with multiple cracks. Finally, based on 3-D FE results, the coalescence evaluation diagrams were proposed.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
• /
• v.28 no.11
• /
• pp.1813-1821
• /
• 2004

Until now, the 40% of wall thickness criterion, which is generally used for the plugging of steam generator tubes, has been applied only to a single cracked geometry. In the previous study by the authors, a total number of 9 local failure prediction models were introduced to estimate the coalescence load of two collinear through-wall cracks and, then, the reaction force model and plastic zone contact model were selected as the optimum ones. The objective of this study is to estimate the coalescence load of two collinear through-wall cracks in steam generator tube by using the optimum local failure prediction models. In order to investigate the applicability of the optimum local failure prediction models, a series of plastic collapse tests and corresponding finite element analyses for two collinear through-wall cracks in steam generator tube were carried out. Thereby, the applicability of the optimum local failure prediction models was verified and, finally, a coalescence evaluation diagram which can be used to determine whether the adjacent cracks detected by NDE coalesce or not has been developed.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.36 no.4
• /
• pp.316-326
• /
• 2004

The $40\%$ of wall criterion, which is generally used for the plugging of steam generator tubes, is applied only to a single crack. In a previous study, a total number of 9 failure models were proposed to estimate the local failure of the ligament between cracks, and the optimum coalescence model of multiple collinear cracks was determined among these models. It is, however known that parallel axial cracks are more frequently detected than collinear axial cracks during an in-service inspection. The objective of this study is to determine the plastic collapse model that can be applied to steam generator tubes containing two parallel axial through-wall cracks. Three previously proposed local failure models were selected as the candidates. Subsequently, the interaction effects between two adjacent cracks were evaluated to screen them. Plastic collapse tests for the plate with two parallel through-wall cracks and finite element analyses were performed to determine the optimum plastic collapse model. By comparing the test results with the prediction results obtained from the candidate models, a COD base model was selected as an optimum model.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.36 no.4
• /
• pp.327-337
• /
• 2004

It is commonly required that tubes with defects exceeding $40\%$ of wall thickness in depth should be plugged; however, this criterion is too conservative for some locations and for some types of defects. Many studies have been done with the aim of developing an alternative plugging criteria, and these studies have shown that steam generator tubes with a certain range of axial through-wall cracks could remain in service without any safety or reliability problems. However, these studies have been limited, thus far, to consideration of single cracked tubes, necessitating a study on multiple cracks, which are commonly found. A crack coalescence model applicable to steam generator tubes with two collinear axial through-wall cracks was proposed in the previous study. In this paper, the investigation is extended to the parallel axial cracks spaced in a circumferential direction, because parallel axial cracks are more frequently detected during in-service inspections than collinear axial cracks. Interaction effects between two parallel cracks are evaluated by performing elastic and elastic-plastic finite element analyses.

• Journal of Mechanical Science and Technology
• /
• v.15 no.10
• /
• pp.1349-1355
• /
• 2001

As most fractures of ductile materials in metal forming processes occurred due to the results of evolution of internal damage - void nucleation, growth and coalescence. In this paper, an approximate yield criterion for voided (porous) anisotropic ductile materials is developed. The proposed approximate yield function is based on Gurson's yield function in conjunction with the Hosford's non-quadratic anisotropic yield criterion in order to consider the characteristic of anisotropic properties of matrix material. The associated flow rules are presented and the laws governing void growth with strain are derided. Using the proposed model void growth of an anisotropic sheet under biaxial tensile loading and its effect on sheet metal formability are investigated. The yield surface of voided anisotropic sheet and void growth with strain are predicted and compared with the experimental results.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Manufacturing Technology Engineers
• /
• v.9 no.5
• /
• pp.47-57
• /
• 2000

In this study, a fundamental approach to make clear the mechanism of the mutual interference and coalescence of stress fields in the vicinity of two crack tips on the process of their slow growth, using boundary element method. Automatic generation of quadratic discontinuous elements along both of the crack boundaries which can be defined by an arbitrary piece-wise straight geometry. The direction of the crack-extension increment is predicted by the maximum principal stress criterion, corrected to account for the discreteness of the crack extension. Along the computed direction, the crack is extended one increment. Automatic incremental crack-extension analysis with no remeshing, computation of the stress intensity factors by J-integral. Numerical stress intensity factors for two growing cracks in plane-homogeneous regions were determined.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
• /
• v.29 no.8 s.239
• /
• pp.1139-1145
• /
• 2005

Most failures of ductile materials in metal forming processes occurred due to material damage evolution - void nucleation, growth and coalescence. In this paper, the modified yield function of Liao et al in conjunction with the Hosford's yield criterion is studied to clarify the plastic deformation characteristic of voided anisotropic sheet metals. The void growth of an anisotropic sheet under biaxial tensile loading and damage effect of void growth on forming limits of sheet metals are investigated. Also the characteristic length defining the neck geometry is introduced in M-K model to incorporate the effect of triaxial stress in necked region on forming limits. The forming limits theoretically predicted are compared with experimental data. Satisfactory agreement was obtained between the predictions and experimental data.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
• /
• v.53 no.3
• /
• pp.481-495
• /
• 2015

Many hydropower stations in southwest China are located in regions of brittle rock mass with high geo-stresses. Under these conditions deep fractured zones often occur in the sidewalls of the underground caverns of a power station. The theory and methods of fracture and damage mechanics are therefore adopted to study the phenomena. First a flexibility matrix is developed to describe initial geometric imperfections of a jointed rock mass. This model takes into account the area and orientation of the fractured surfaces of multiple joint sets, as well as spacing and density of joints. Using the assumption of the equivalent strain principle, a damage constitutive model is established based on the brittle fracture criterion. In addition the theory of fracture mechanics is applied to analyze the occurrence of secondary cracks during a cavern excavation. The failure criterion, for rock bridge coalescence and the damage evolution equation, has been derived and a new sub-program integrated into the FLAC-3D software. The model has then been applied to the stability analysis of an underground cavern group of a hydropower station in Sichuan province, China. The results of this method are compared with those obtained by using a conventional elasto-plastic model and splitting depth calculated by the splitting failure criterion proposed in a previous study. The results are also compared with the depth of the relaxation and fracture zone in the surrounding rock measured by field monitoring. The distribution of the splitting zone obtained both by the proposed model and by the field monitoring measurements are consistent to the validity of the theory developed herein.

• Proceedings of the KSME Conference
• /
• 2003.11a
• /
• pp.1186-1191
• /
• 2003

The 40% of wall criterion, which is generally used for the plugging of steam generator tubes, may be applied only to a single crack. In the previous study, a total of 9 failure models were introduced to estimate the local failure of the ligament between cracks and the optimum coalescence model of multiple collinear cracks was determined among these models. It is, however, known that parallel axial cracks are more frequently detected during an in-service inspection than collinear axial cracks. The objective of this study is to determine the plastic collapse model which can be applied to the steam generator tube containing two parallel axial through-wall cracks. Nine previously proposed local failure models were selected as the candidates. Subsequently interaction effects between two adjacent cracks were evaluated to screen them. Plastic collapse tests for the plate with two parallel through-wall cracks and finite element analyses were performed for the determination of the optimum plastic collapse model. By comparing the test results with the prediction results obtained from the candidate models, a plastic zone contact model was selected as an optimum model.