• Proceedings of the KWS Conference
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• 2003.05a
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• pp.216-218
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• 2003

A fracture mechanics analysis methodology for stress corrosion cracks (SCCs) existing in the Alloy 600 nozzle weld joint for control rod drive mechanisms (CRDMs) of pressurized water reactor is studied. Effects of weld residual stresses on the sub-critical crack behavior during the reactor operation are investigated by a fracture mechanics analysis, which is combined with the finite element alternating method. It is found that effects f the residual stresses on the stress intensity factor (SIF) and crack growth rate (CGR) are dominant and values of SIF and CGR of cracks in the region of weld joint are increased by a factor of three or more on an average.

• Journal of the Korean Magnetics Society
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• v.16 no.6
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• pp.305-308
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• 2006

Magnetic flux leakage (MFL) pigs are traditionally used for the detection of gross corrosion on steel pipelines used for the transmission of natural gas. Alternative nondestructive evaluation (NDE) modalities are required for the detection of stress corrosion cracking (SCC) which tends to exist in colonies oriented axially along the length of the pipeline. This paper describes the use of multiphase rotating magnetic fields in the remote region of the probe as a possible SCC detection mechanism. Details of a prototype pig and test rig are given and the challenges associated with the finite element modeling of the device are discussed. Initial experimental results show that this novel NDE modality is sensitive to axially oriented tight cracks.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.56 no.2
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• pp.688-706
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• 2024

Austenitic stainless steels (ASS) are extensively employed in various sectors such as nuclear, power, petrochemical, oil and gas because of their excellent structural strength and resistance to corrosion. SS304 and SS316 are the predominant choices for piping, pressure vessels, heat exchangers, nuclear reactor core components and support structures, but they are susceptible to stress corrosion cracking (SCC) in chloride-rich environments. Over the course of several decades, extensive research efforts have been directed towards evaluating SCC using diverse methodologies and models, albeit some uncertainties persist regarding the precise progression of cracks. This review paper focuses on the application of Acoustic Emission Technique (AET) for assessing SCC damage mechanism by monitoring the dynamic acoustic emissions or inelastic stress waves generated during the initiation and propagation of cracks. AET serves as a valuable non-destructive technique (NDT) for in-service evaluation of the structural integrity within operational conditions and early detection of critical flaws. By leveraging the time domain and time-frequency domain techniques, various Acoustic Emission (AE) parameters can be characterized and correlated with the multi-stage crack damage phenomena. Further theories of the SCC mechanisms are elucidated, with a focus on both the dissolution-based and cleavage-based damage models. Through the comprehensive insights provided here, this review stands to contribute to an enhanced understanding of SCC damage in stainless steels and the potential AET application in nuclear industry.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.103-111
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• 2002

The thermally insulated underground pipelines have been used for district heating system. The sensor wire embedded in the insulation was used for monitoring the insulating resistance between the sensor wire and the pipe. The resistance measurement system detects corrosion of steel pipe under insulation. The corrosion and stress corrosion cracking(SCC) characteristics of sensor wire in synthetic ground water were investigated using the electrochemical methods and constant load SCC tests. The polarization tests were used to study the electrochemical behavior of sensor wire. The sensor wire was passivated at temperatures ranging from 25 to $95^{\circ}C$. However, the applied sensing current larger than passive current resulted in breakdown of passive film. The constant load SCC tests were performed to investigate the effects of applied current and load on the fracture behavior. Stress-corrosion cracks initiated at pits that were produced by sensing current. The growth of the pit involves a tunnelling mechanism, which leads to ductile fracture.

• Corrosion Science and Technology
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.14-19
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• 2004

Crack growth rate and threshold stress intensity factor for stress corrosion cracking(SCC), $K_{ISCC}$ were measured for type 403 stainless steel in 3,5% NaCl solution at room temperature and SCC was monitored by electrochemical noise technique during $K_{ISCC}$ testing. In rising load test, pits were formed at the tip of pre-crack for the pre-cracked compact tension specimen unlike in smooth round specimen in which only unstable pits were observed and hence immune to SCC. Micro-cracks were found to initiate from the pits in the former specimen, and initiation of micro-crack as well as macro-crack was detected by electrochemical noise technique in rising load $K_{ISCC}$ tests. Crack growth rate increased with increasing either displacement rate or stress intensity factor at crack initiation and was higher in rising load $K_{ISCC}$ test compared to constant load $K_{ISCC}$ test at given stress intensities.

• Journal of Energy Engineering
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.362-372
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• 2012

The steam generator tubes of nuclear power plants are pressure boundaries, and if tubes are leaked, the coolant with the radioactive materials was flowed out from the primary system to the secondary system and polluted the plant and the air. Recently most crack defects of tubes are stress corrosion cracks and these defects are located in expansion transition area, sludge pile-up region, and U-bend area. The most effective one of crack initiation factors in expansion transition area and U-bend area is the residual stress. According to the experiences of Korea standard nuclear plants(Optimized Power Reactor-1000), they had the stress corrosion cracks at the tube expansion transition area in early operating stage and especially lots of circumferential cracks were occurred. Therefore in this study, the distributions and conditions of residual stresses by tube expansion methods were compared and the dominant reason of a specific direction was examined.

• Journal of the Korea institute for structural maintenance and inspection
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.23-30
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• 2012

For cracked concrete, it is obvious that cracks should be preferential channel for the penetration of aggressive substances such as chloride ions according to the previous researches. In order to extend the lifetime of cracked concrete, critical issues in the performance of the concrete is the risk of chloride-induced corrosion. Even though crack width can be reduced due to the high reinforcement ratio, the question is to which extend these cracks may jeopardize the durability of cracked concrete. If the size of crack is small, surface treatment system can be considered as one of the best options to extend the service life of concrete structures exposed to marine environment simply in terms of cost effectiveness versus durability performance. Thus, it should be decided to undertake an experimental study on the effect of surface coating system, which can be able to seal the concrete and the cracks to aggressive substances-induced corrosion in particular. In this study, it is excuted to examine the effect of surfaced treated systems on chloride penetration and carbonation through compressive stress induced cracks. Experimental results have showed conclusively that critical stress linked with deterioration, should be existed in compressive stress ratio 50 ~ 70% for chloride penetration and 70 ~ 80% for carbonation, respectively. When the critical stress is exceeded in concrete, a comparatively large deterioration was measured where the critical stress in concrete, the increase in the mass transportation is marginal in spite of the large increase in micro-cracks. As for the effect of surface coating system on crack-sealing, it can be seen conclusively that cracks can be healed.

• Journal of Ocean Engineering and Technology
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• v.2 no.2
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• pp.78-86
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• 1988

In order to investigate the corrosion pit occurrence and growth characteristic of M.E.F.(martensite encapsulated islands of ferrite) dual phase steel was made with a suitable heat treatment of raw material(SS41), a corrosion fatigue test was performed under rotary bending in the salt solution having a concentration from 0.01 wt percent to 3.5 wt percent. The fatigue strength of dual phase steel was remarkably decreased with an increase in concentration of salt solution; approximately from 63% to 80% in case of dual phase steel and from 40% to 71% in case of raw material. Corrosion pit occurred in the martensite phase and fatigue cracks from corrosion pits were selectively propagated in martensite phases. In the observation of corrosion pits at the origin of fatigue cracks, it had been found that corrosion pits were grown into hemispherical pits and a/c(the surface diameter, 2c and the depth, a of corrosion pit)was about 1.0-1.5regardless of the variation of salt solution concentration. The difference of corrosion pit depth growth rate was increased with an increase in concentration of salt solution according to an increase in stress level.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Nondestructive Testing
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• v.21 no.5
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• pp.493-500
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• 2001

The detection of axial cracks using conventional MFL pig is a significant challenge in the gas pipeline inspection. In this study, a technique using interaction of circumferentially induced torrents with axial stress corrosion crack is presented. The feasibility of this technique is investigated using finite element modeling. Finite element analysis of such interaction is a difficult problem in terms of both computation time and memory requirements. The challenges arise due to the nonlinearity of material properties, the small sire of tight cracks relative to that of the magnetizer, and also time stepping involved in modeling velocity effects. This paper presents an approach based on perturbation methods. The overall analysis procedure is divided into 4 simple steps that can be performed sequentially. Modeling results show that this technique can effectively detect colonies of SCC as well as single SCC.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.50 no.7
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• pp.1131-1137
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• 2018

The effect of a serrated grain boundary on stress corrosion cracking (SCC) of Alloy 600 was investigated in terms of improvement of SCC resistance. Serrated grain boundaries and straight grain boundaries were obtained by controlled heat treatment. SCC cracks preferentially initiated and grew at grain boundaries normal to the tensile loading axis. Resolved tensile stress normal to the grain boundary was lower in serrated grain boundaries compared to straight grain boundaries. The specimen with serrated grain boundaries showed higher SCC resistance than that with straight grain boundaries due to a lower resolved tensile stress normal to the grain boundary.