Abstract
The past two decades have witnessed the development of commercial nuclear power into a mature industry. Because of the potential for release of radioactive materials there has been a parallel growth in procedures for the prevention of fracture in nuclear pressure vessles and associated components. A catalyst to this development has been the discovery of radiation embrittlement in the ferritic steels used in pressure vessel construction. This chapter reviews current fracture analysis methodology for nuclear vessels from the viewpoint of linear elastic fracture mechanics and code procedures which are applied to assure structural integrity.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Pellini, W.S. and Puzak, P.O., “Fracture Analysis Diagram Procedures for the Fracture-Safe Engineering Design of Steel Structures”, Welding Res. Council Bull. No. 88, 1963.
Pellini, W.S., Principles of Structural Integrity Technology, Office of Naval Research, Arlington, VA, 1976.
ASTM, “Conducting Drop Weight Test to Determine Nil-ductility Transition Temperature of Ferritic Steels”, ASTM Designation E208–69, Part 10, 1976, pp. 330–49.
ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code, Section III, Nuclear Power Plant Components, Sub-Section N, Appendix G, Amer. Soc. Mech. Eng., New York, NY, July 1, 1974, p. 487.
Fracture Toughness and Surveillance Program Requirements, Appendices G and H, Title 10, Code of Federal Regulations, Part 50 (10 CFR Part 50), U. S. Atomic Energy Commission, Federal Register, 38, July 17, 1973, p. 136, 19012.
Steele, L.E., Neutron Irradiation Embrittlement of Reactor Pressure Vessel Steels, Atomic Energy Rev. 7, 1969, p. 1
ASTM, Plane Strain Fracture Toughness of Metallic Materials, ASTM Designation: E399–72, Part 31, July 1973, p. 960.
ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code, Section XI, July 1974, with addenda, Winter 1976, ASME, New York, NY.
Hawthorne, J.R., Koziol, J.J. and Groeschel, R.D., “Evaluation of Commercial Production A533-B Plates and Weld Deposits Tailored for Improved Radiation Embrittlement Resistance”, ASTM STP 570, Amer. Soc. for Test. and Matls., Philadelphia, PA, 1975, pp. 83–102.
USNRC, “Effects of Residual Elements on Predicted Radiation Damage to Reactor Vessel Materials”, Regulatory Guide 1.99, Revision 1, Office of Standards Development, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, April 1977.
Rolfe, S.T. and Noval, S.R., “Slow-bend ICI, Testing of Medium Strength-High Toughness Steels”, ASTM STP 463, Amer. Soc. for Test. and Matls., Philadelphia, PA, 1970.
Hawthorne, J.R., Watson, H.E. and Loss, F.J., “Exploratory Investigation of Cyclic Irradiation and Annealing Effects on Notch Ductility of A533B Weld Deposits”, in Irradiation Effects on the Microstructure and Properties of Metals, ASTM STP (pending publication), Amer. Soc. for Test. and Matls., Philadelphia, PA, 1978.
Loss, J.F. (ed.), “Structural Integrity of Water Reactor Pressure Boundary Components, Progress Report Ending 31 May 1976”, NRL Memorandum Report 3353, Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, DC, Sept. 1976.
Rice, J.R., Fracture–An advanced Treatise, Vol. II, Mathematical Fundamentals, Academic Press, New York, NY, 1968, pp 191–311.
Paris, P.C. and Sih, G.C., in Fracture Toughness Testing and Its Applications, ASTM STP 381, Amer. Soc. for Test. and Matls., Philadelphia, PA, 1965, pp 30–83.
Begley, J.A. and Landes, J.D., in Fracture Toughness, Part II, ASTM STP 514, Amer. Soc. for Test. and Matls., Philadelphia, PA, 1972, pp 1–20.
Landes, J.D. and Begley, J.A., “Recent Developments in JIc Testing”, ASTM STP 632, Amer. Soc. for Test. and Matls., Philadelphia, PA, 1977, pp 57–81.
Rice, J.R., Paris, P.C. and Merkle, J.G., in Progress in Flaw Growth and Fracture Toughness Testing, ASTM STP 536, Amer. Soc. for Test. and Matls., Philadelphia, PA, 1973, pp. 231–45.
Clarke, G.A., Andrews, W.R., Paris, P.C. and Schmidt, D.W., “Single Specimen Tests for Jlc Determination”, ASTM STP 590, Amer. Soc. for Test. and Matls., Philadelphia, PA, 1974, pp 27–42.
Loss, F.J. (ed.), “Structual Integrity of Water Reactor Pressure Boundary Components, Progress Report Ending 30 Nov 1977”, NRL Memorandum Report 3782, Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, DC, May 1978.
Paris, P.C., Tada, H., Zahoor, A. and Ernst, H., “A Treatment of the Subject of Tearing Instability”, NUREG Report 0311, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC, August 1977.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1980 Plenum Press, New York
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Loss, F.J. (1980). Ductile Fracture Analysis and Safety of Nuclear Pressure Vessels. In: Burke, J.J., Weiss, V. (eds) Risk and Failure Analysis for Improved Performance and Reliability. Sagamore Army Materials Research Conference Proceedings, vol 24. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4684-7811-2_5
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4684-7811-2_5
Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA
Print ISBN: 978-1-4684-7813-6
Online ISBN: 978-1-4684-7811-2
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive