• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.51 no.1
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• pp.228-237
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• 2019

The crack growth responses of as-received and as-welded Alloy 600/182 and Alloy 690/152 welds to constant loading were measured by a direct current potential drop method using compact tension specimens in primary water at $325^{\circ}C$ simulating the normal operating conditions of a nuclear power plant. The as-received Alloy 600 showed crack growth rates (CGRs) between $9.6{\times}10^{-9}mm/s$ and $3.8{\times}10^{-8}mm/s$, and the as-welded Alloy 182 had CGRs between $7.9{\times}10^{-8}mm/s$ and $7.5{\times}10^{-7}mm/s$ within the range of the applied loadings. These results indicate that Alloys 600 and 182 are susceptible to cracking. The average CGR of the as-welded Alloy 152 was found to be $2.8{\times}10^{-9}mm/s$. Therefore, Alloy 152 was proven to be highly resistant to cracking. The as-received Alloy 690 showed no crack growth even with an inhomogeneous banded microstructure. The cracking mode of Alloys 600 and 182 was an intergranular cracking; however, Alloy 152 was revealed to have a mixed (intergranular + transgranular) cracking mode. It appears that the Cr concentration and the microstructural features significantly affect the cracking resistance and the cracking behavior of Ni-base alloys in PWR primary water.

• Journal of Ocean Engineering and Technology
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.98-111
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• 1995

High temperature low cycle fatigue shows that cycle-dependent crack growth owing to cyclic plastic deformation occurred simultaneosly with time-dependent crack growth owing to intergranular deformation. Consequently, to estimate crack growth rate uniquely, many to investigators have proposed various kinds of parameters and theories but these could not produce satisfactory results. Therefore the goal of this study is focused on prediction of crack growth rate using predominant damage rule, linear cumulative damage rule and transitional parameter ${\Delta}J_c/{\Delta}J_f$. On the basis of these sinusoidal loading waveform at 600$^{\circ}C$ and 700$^{\circ}C$.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Precision Engineering Conference
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• 1997.04a
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• pp.521-527
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• 1997

Irregular shapes and growth behavior of surface micro-crack showed very complex and nonlinear propeties and many investigators have performed theoretical analysesand experiments on them to characterize fatigue strength. They had difficulties in estimating fatigue life due to random distribution, growth and coalescence of surface micro-cracks. The straightness of crack growth along intergranular and transgranular was prevented from irregular microstructure and precipitates. Euclid geometry can't quantify shape of surface micro-crack but ftractal geometry can. Therefore, it is suggested that average fractal dimension of surface micro-cracks is able to estimate fatigue life but fractal dimension of maximum surface micro-crack is not in Al 2024-T3 alloy.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.33 no.5
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• pp.526-538
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• 2001

Fatigue tests in air and in room temperature water were performed to obtain comparable data and stable crack measuring conditions. In air environment, fatigue crack growth rate was increased with increasing temperature due to an increase in crack tip oxidation rate. In room temperature water, the fatigue crack growth rate was faster than in air and crack path varied on loading conditions. In simulated light water reactor (LWR) conditions, there was little environmental effect on the fatigue crack growth rate (FCGR) at low dissolved oxygen or at high loading frequency conditions. While the FCGR was enhanced at high oxygen condition, and the enhancement of crack growth rate increased as loading frequency decreased to a critical value. In fractography, environmentally assisted cracks, such as semi-cleavage and secondary intergranular crack, were found near sulfide inclusions only at high dissolved oxygen and low loading frequency condition. The high crack growth rate was related to environmentally assisted crack. These results indicated that environmentally assisted crack could be formed by the Electrochemical effect in specific loading condition.

• Journal of the Microelectronics and Packaging Society
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.33-41
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• 2010

Crack propagation mechanisms of Sn-3.0Ag-0.5Cu solder were studied in strain controlled push-pull creepfatigue conditions using the fast-fast (pp) and the slow-fast (cp) strain waveforms at 313 K. Transgranular cracking was found in the pp strain waveform which led to the cycle-dominant crack propagation and intergranular cracking in the cp strain waveform that led to the time-dominant crack propagation. The time-dominant crack propagation rate was faster than the cycle-dominant crack propagation rate when compared with J-integral range which resulted from the creep damage at the crack tip in the cp strain waveform. Clear recrystallization around the crack was found in the pp and the cp strain waveforms, but the recrystallized grain size in the cp strain waveform was smaller than that in the pp strain waveform. The cycle-dominant crack propagated in the normal direction to the specimen axis macroscopically, but the time-dominant crack propagated in the shear direction which was discussed in relation with shear micro cracks formed at the crack tip.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Heat Treatment
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• v.3 no.2
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• pp.37-44
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• 1990

The effect of the microstructural change on the near threshold fatigue crack growth rate in SM40C steel has been studied using the ${\Delta}K$ decreasing method. Below the total strain amplitude of 0.56%, cyclic softening occured, whereas above this value cyclic hardening occurred in the pearlitic lamellar structure. However, in the spherodized structure the cyclic hardening solely occurred. The crack growth rate in the near-threshold region was decreased with increasing prior austenite grain size and this was due to surface roughness. The crack growth rate of the spherodized structure was lower than that of the pearlite lamellar structure and the ${\Delta}K_{th}$ of the former was higher than that of the latter. It was understood that the crack propagates preferentially through the ferrite phase. The intergranular facets in the near-threshold region appeared in the spherodized structure.

• Proceedings of the Korean Nuclear Society Conference
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• 2005.05a
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• pp.345-346
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• 2005

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.27 no.8
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• pp.431-437
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• 2017

This study investigated the surface pit corrosion of SS420J2 stainless steel accompanied by intergranular crack. To reveal the causes of surface pits and cracks, OM, SEM, and TEM analyses of the microstructures of the utilized SS420J2 were performed, as was simulated heat treatment. The intergranular cracks were found to have been induced by a grain boundary carbide of $(Cr,Fe)_{23}C_6$, which was identified by SEM/EDS and TEM diffraction analyses. The mechanism of grain boundary sensitization occurred at the position of the carbide, followed by its occurrence at the Cr depleted zone. The grain boundary carbide of $(Cr,Fe)_{23}C_6$ type precipitated during air cooling condition after a $1038^{\circ}C$ solid solution treatment. The carbide precipitate formation also accelerated at the band structure formed by cold working. Therefore, using manufacturing processes of cooling and cold working, it is difficult to protect SS420J2 stainless steel against surface pit corrosion. Several counter plans to fight pit corrosion by sensitization were suggested, involving alloying and manufacturing processes.

• Journal of Ocean Engineering and Technology
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• v.1 no.2
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• pp.123-129
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• 1987

Corrosion fatigue fracture of dual phase steel(SS41) and raw material steel(SS41) were investigated in 3.5% NaCl aqueous solution at PH 4,6,9 and 11. The fatigue limit of dual phase steel is increased approximately 1.8 times larger than that of raw material in air. The corrosion fatigue life of dual phase steel is about 5-10 times larger than that of raw material in 3.5% NaCl aqueous solution. The reduction of fatigue life is larger for the acidsalt solution than for the alkali salt solution. The reduction of stress level on the reduction ratio of corrosion fatigue life is large as pH 6-11. The reduction ratio of corrosion fatigue life of dual phase steel and raw material is nearly coincided at pH 2. While at pH4-2 the reduction ratio of corrosion fatigue life only depends on the corrosion effect. It has been found that the corrosion resistance effect of dual phase steel is smaller than that of raw material in corrosion fatigue crack propagation rate. As pH below 6 is changed, it can be clearly observed from raw material that the brittle intergranular fracture is characterized, and from the above result, the influence of corrosion of dual phase steel is small.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.54 no.12
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• pp.4481-4490
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• 2022

In this study, a new rupture disk corrosion test (RDCT) method was developed for real-time detection of stress corrosion cracking (SCC) initiation of Alloy 600 in a primary water environment of pressurized water reactors. In the RDCT method, one side of a disk specimen was exposed to a simulated primary water at high temperature and pressure while the other side was maintained at ambient pressure, inducing a dome-shaped deformation and tensile stress on the specimen. When SCC occurs in the primary water environment, it leads to the specimen rupture or water leakage through the specimen, which can be detected in real-time using a pressure gauge. The tensile stress applied to the disk specimen was calculated using a finite element analysis. The tensile stress was calculated to increase as the specimen thickness decreased. The SCC initiation time of the specimen was evaluated by the RDCT method, from which result it was found that the crack initiation time decreased with the decrease of specimen thickness owing to the increase of applied stress. After the SCC initiation test, many cracks were observed on the specimen surface in an intergranular fracture mode, which is a typical characteristic of SCC in the primary water environment.