• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
• /
• v.28 no.11
• /
• pp.1741-1751
• /
• 2004

It is commonly requested that the steam generator tubes wall-thinned in excess of 40% should be plugged. However, the plugging criterion is known to be too conservative for some locations and types of defects and its application is limited to a single crack in spite of the fact that the occurrence of multiple through-wall cracks is more common in general. The objective of this research is to propose the optimum failure prediction models for two adjacent through-wall cracks in steam generator tubes. The conservatism of the present plugging criteria was reviewed using the existing failure prediction models for a single crack, and six new failure prediction models for multiple through-wall cracks have been introduced. Then, in order to determine the optimum ones among these new local or global failure prediction models, a series of plastic collapse tests and corresponding finite element analyses for two adjacent through-wall cracks in thin plate were carried out. Thereby, the reaction force model, plastic zone contact model and COD (Crack-Opening Displacement) base model were selected as the optimum ones for assessment of steam generator tubes with multiple through-wall cracks. The selected optimum failure prediction models, finally, were used to estimate the coalescence pressure of two adjacent through-wall cracks in steam generator tubes.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
• /
• v.51 no.2
• /
• pp.299-313
• /
• 2014

In the first part of this paper, the influences of some of crack parameters on natural frequencies of a cracked cantilever Functionally Graded Beam (FGB) are studied. A cantilever beam is modeled using Finite Element Method (FEM) and its natural frequencies are obtained for different conditions of cracks. Then effect of variation of depth and location of cracks on natural frequencies of FGB with single and multiple cracks are investigated. In the second part, two Multi-Layer Feed Forward (MLFF) Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs) are designed for prediction of FGB's Cracks' location and depth. Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) and Back-Error Propagation (BEP) algorithms are applied for training ANNs. The accuracy of two training methods' results are investigated.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
• /
• v.26 no.5
• /
• pp.557-568
• /
• 2007

The elastic T-stress is increasingly being recognized as an important second parameter to the stress intensity factor for fracture and fatigue assessments. In this paper, the mutual or M-contour integral approach is employed in conjunction with the Boundary Element Method (BEM) to determine the numerical T-stress solutions for cracks in plates with multiple holes. The problems investigated include plates of infinite width with multiple holes at which single or double, symmetric cracks have grown from. Comparisons of these results are also made with the corresponding solutions of finite plates with a single hole. For completeness, stress intensity factor solutions for the cracked geometries analyzed are presented as well. These results will be useful for failure assessments using the two-parameter linear elastic fracture mechanics approach.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.51 no.2
• /
• pp.579-587
• /
• 2019

This paper provides further validation of the burst pressure estimation equations for multiple axial surface cracked steam generator tubes, recently proposed by the authors based on analytical local collapse load approach against systematic FE damage analysis results of Alloy 690 tubes with twin axial surface cracks. Wide ranges of the relative crack depth and multiple crack configurations are considered. Comparison shows good agreements, giving sufficient confidence of the proposed equations.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
• /
• v.14 no.1
• /
• pp.10-18
• /
• 1999

An integral equation representation of cracks was presented, which differs from well-known "dislocation layer" representation. In this new representation, the integral equation representation of cracks was developed and coupled to the direct boundary-element method for treatment of cracks in finite plane bodies. The method was developed for in-plane(mode I and II) loadings only. In this paper, the method is formulated and applied to various crack problems involving multiple and branch cracks in finite region. The results are compared to exact solutions where available and the method is shown to be very accurate despite of its simplicity.implicity.

• KSTLE International Journal
• /
• v.2 no.1
• /
• pp.12-16
• /
• 2001

A finite element analysis of crack propagation in a half-space due to sliding contact was performed. The sliding contact was simulated by a rigid asperity moving across the surface of an elastic half-surface containing single and multiple cracks. Single, coplanar, and parallel cracks were modeled to investigate the interaction effects on the crack growth in contact fatigue. The analysis was based on linear elastic fracture mechanics and the stress intensity factor concept. The crack propagation direction was predicted based on the maximum range of the shear and tensile stress intensity factors.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
• /
• v.87 no.6
• /
• pp.529-540
• /
• 2023

A novel laminated-hybrid-composite-beam (LHCB) of glass-epoxy infused with flyash and graphene is constructed for this study. The conventional mixture-rule and constitutive-relationship are modified to incorporate filler and lamina orientation. Eringen's non-local-theory is used to include the filler effect. Hamilton's principle based on fifth-order-layer-wise-shear-deformation-theory is applied to formulate the equation of motion. The analogous shear-spring-models for LHCB with multiple-cracks are employed in finite-element-analysis (FEA). Modal-experimentations are conducted (B&K-analyser) and the findings are compared with theoretical and FEA results. In terms of dimensionless relative-natural-frequencies (RNF), the dynamic-response in cantilevered support is investigated for various relative-crack-severities (RCSs) and relative-crack-positions (RCPs). The increase of RCS increases local-flexibility in LHCB thus reductions in RNFs are observed. RCP is found to play an important role, cracks present near the end-support cause an abrupt drop in RNFs. Further, multiple cracks are observed to enhance the nonlinearity of LHCB strength. Introduction of the first to third crack in an intact LHCB results drop of RNFs by 8%, 10%, and 11.5% correspondingly. Also, it is demonstrated that the RNF varies because of the lamina-orientation, and filler addition. For 0° lamina-orientation the RNF is maximum. Similarly, it is studied that the addition of graphene reduces weight and increases the stiffness of LHCB in contrast to the addition of flyash. Additionally, the response of LHCB to moving mass is accessed by appropriately modifying the numerical programs, and it is noted that the successive introduction of the first to ninth crack results in an approximately 40% to 120% increase in the dynamic-amplitude-ratio.

• Proceedings of the KSME Conference
• /
• 2004.04a
• /
• pp.120-125
• /
• 2004

Fatigue life of welded joints are governed by the propagation of multiple collinear surface cracks distributed randomly along weld bead. These cracks propagate in mutual interaction and coalescence of them. To estimate the fatigue life, the influences of above two mechanisms on the fatigue life should be taken into account. These two mechanisms appear through the stress intensity factors disturbed mutually. However, it is difficult to calculate the stress intensity factors of multiple surface cracks located in vicinity of weld toe. The stress intensity factors are calculated normally by using the Mk-factors, but such Mk-factors are very rare in literature. In this study, the Mk-factors were obtained from a parametric study on crack length and depth, in which a finite element method is used. A fatigue test for a cruciform welded joint was conducted. The fatigue life of the tested specimen was estimated through present method with the informations obtained from the test, e.g. the number, size and locations of the cracks. The estimated and measured fatigue life showed a good agreement.

• Smart Structures and Systems
• /
• v.22 no.6
• /
• pp.675-687
• /
• 2018

In the previous studies on the porous rock strength the effect of pore number and its diameter is not explicitly defined. In this paper crack initiation, propagation and coalescence in Brazilian model disc containing a single cylindrical hole and or multiple holes have been studied numerically using PFC3D. In model with internal hole, the ratio of hole diameter to model diameter was varied between 0.03, 0.17, 0.25, 0.33, and 0.42. In model with multiple hole number of holes was different in various model, i.e., one hole, two holes, three holes, four holes, five holes, six holes, seven holes, eight holes and nine holes. Diameter of these holes was 5 mm, 10 mm and 12 mm. The pre-holed Brazilian discs are numerically tested under Brazilian test. The breakage load in the ring type disc specimens containing an internal hole with varying diameters is measured. The mechanism of cracks propagation in the wall of the ring type specimens is also studied. In the case of multi-hole Brazilian disc, the cracks propagation and b cracks coalescence are also investigated. The results shows that breaking of the pre-holed disc specimens is due to the propagation of radially induced tensile cracks initiated from the surface of the central hole and propagating toward the direction of diametrical loading. In the case of disc specimens with multiple holes, the cracks propagation and cracks coalescence may occur simultaneously in the breaking process of model under diametrical compressive loading. Finally the results shows that the failure stress and crack initiation stress decreases by increasing the hole diameter. Also, the failure stress decreases by increasing the number of hole which mobilized in failure. The results of these simulations were comprised with other experimental and numerical test results. It has been shown that the numerical and experimental results are in good agreement with each other.

• 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.