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- Fire (3)
- BLEVE (2)
- Experimental methods (2)
- Experimental modelling (2)
- GFRP (2)
- Gefahrguttransport (2)
- LNG (2)
- Lightweight design (2)
- Liquid cargo (2)
- Load transfer (2)
Organisationseinheit der BAM
Multilayer Insulation (MLI) is frequently used in vacuum conditions for the thermal insulation of cryogenic storage tanks. The severe consequences of the degradation of such materials in engulfing fire scenarios were recently evidenced by several large-scale experimental tests. In the present study, an innovative modelling approach was developed to assess the performance of heat transfer in polyester-based MLI materials for cryogenic applications under fire conditions. A specific layer-by-layer approach was integrated with an apparent kinetic thermal degradation model based on thermogravimetric analysis results. The modeling results provided a realistic simulation of the experimental data obtained by High-Temperature Thermal Vacuum Chamber tests reproducing fire exposure conditions. The model was then applied to assess the behavior of MLI systems for liquid hydrogen tanks in realistic fire scenarios. The results show that in intense fire scenarios degradation occurs rapidly, compromising the thermal insulation performances of the system within a few minutes.
The interest in hydrogen-based green energy is increasing worldwide, and the same is true for hydrogen-powered vehicles. Among the possible solutions to store hydrogen in such vehicles, cryogenic tanks equipped with multi-layer insulation (MLI) are the most promising to increase the amount of energy stored per unit volume. However, MLI is affected by severe deterioration when exposed to an external source of heat such as a fire following a car accident, leaving the tank unprotected and leading to failure in a relatively short time. In this work, a one-dimensional model to evaluate MLI thermal degradation when a liquid hydrogen tank is exposed to fire is presented. The relevance of taking MLI degradation into account when simulating the pressure increase due to external fire exposure is here demonstrated through the analysis of several case studies. The results show that MLI systems performance depletes within a few minutes of exposure to hydrocarbon poolfire.
The dynamic response of a vehicle during braking is influenced by the tangential forces developed at the wheel-rail’s contact surface. The friction coefficient affects the load transfer from the wheel’s tread to the vehicle. In this work, the vibrations of a scale-down railway vehicle are monitored during braking and their relationship with the friction coefficient between wheel and rail is found out. The vehicle is instrumented with encoders, accelerometers, and is controlled via Bluetooth.
The tests are carried out with clean and friction-modified rails. The tangential forces transmitted from the wheel to the railcar’s body are visualized in time and frequency using a proposed correlation algorithm based on the outputs of the ContinuousWavelet Transform (CWT). The results demonstrate
that tangential forces have a significant impact on railway vehicles under conditions of high friction coefficients and large creep values.
Hunting is a potentially dangerous phenomenon related to the lateral oscillation of the wheels that impacts the rails and causes the wear of the infrastructure’s components. Therefore, the analysis and timely detection of hunting can lead to the application of corrective maintenance tasks, reducing damages, and costs and even derailments as a result. In this work, the vibration response of a finite element model of a rail with hunting-induced loads by a single wheel is analyzed in three directions: longitudinal, lateral, and vertical. The contact patch forces are calculated by means of Simpack® using the Kalker linear theory and the contact Hertz theory. The system is solved by using the Newmark-_ approach. The results of the deflection and vibration analysis, following the proposed methodology, show how the different characteristics of the loads impact the rail.
A methodology is proposed for the experimental analysis of the liquid cargo effect under combined orthogonal accelerations. To simultaneously subject the vehicle-cargo system to longitudinal and lateral accelerations, the vehicle is set obliquely on a tilt table. The experimental outputs suggest that there is a significant effect of the liquid cargo on the lateral load transfer ratio (LTR), on the order of 20%, which is attributable to the resulting shifting of the liquid cargo’s centre of gravity. That is, the peak LTR values due exclusively to sloshing were not significant, in such a way that the liquid cargo would only pose a safety risk under a steady acceleration input.
Also, the inverse of the product of the magnitude of the acceleration times the free surface length, correlates with the liquid cargo effect. That is, the magnitude of the input acceleration is not fully determinant for greater load transfers.
This paper presents a method for processing acceleration data registered on a train and determining the health condition of a subway’s substructure. The acceleration data was converted into a dynamic deformation by applying a transfer function defined using the Empirical Mode Decomposition Method.
The transfer function was constructed using data produced on an experimental rig, and it was scaled to an existing subway system. The equivalent deformation improved the analysis of the dynamic loads that affect the substructure of the subway tracks because it is considered the primary load that acts on the track and substructure. The acceleration data and the estimated deformations were analyzed with the Continues Wavelet Transform. The equivalent deformation data facilitated the application of a health monitoring system and simplified the development of predictive maintenance programs for the subway or railroad operators. This method better identified cracks in the substructure than using the acceleration data.
The objective of this paper is to describe and to validate a simplified pendulum-analogy model to simulate the interaction of a liquid cargo with ist carrying vehicle. The resulting testing rig consists of a rectangular container, spring supported on a two wheelset-bogie having a scale down of 1/10 with respect to a full-size equipment. The testing rig is used to validate a simple pendulum-based, simplified three degree-of-freedom mathematical model of the response of a partially filled container to lateral accelerations. The length of the pendulum is set according to validated methodologies. The resulting mathematical scheme reveals a high correlation with the experimental output, on the order of 99%, while some other performance measures, related to the peak forces and the range of variation of the wheel-rail forces, also show good concordance with the experimental results.
An overview of test standards and regulations relevant to the fire testing of pressure vessels
(2021)
Fire exposure of storage and transportation vessels of hazardous materials (including pressure liquefied gases) can result in BLEVEs and other high-consequence incidents with large societal and economic impacts. To reduce risk most countries have numerous regulations, codes of practice and guidance notes covering the design, operation and maintenance of vessels and thermal protection systems. Yet despite such regulations there remains no internationally accepted fire test procedure for pressure vessel and accompanying thermal protection systems that is capable of meeting a range of regulatory requirements. This paper considers some of the regulations in place in the western world and considers the origin of these based on large and medium-scale testing conducted to date. It examines conditions found in these tests to propose a set of recommendations on which to base a standard method of test. These recommendations are proposed as being representative of a credible large pool fire scenario that may occur.
Wheel forces generate stresses in the rail as a function of several vehicle and infrastructure characteristics and operating conditions. The different components of the wheel forces develop strains in the rail which contain an elastic and hysteretic (irreversible) components. The irreversible deformations of the rail would be associated with locomotive energy losses. In this paper, a testing facility is proposed to indirectly characterize the level of stresses in the rail, in terms of the energy that is lost during tuming maneuvers. Different potentially influential factors are considered, including the friction at the Center plate, the wheelbase length, the distance between bogies and the radius of the curved track. The change
in the potential energy during a U-turn displacement is measured. In this respect, an experimental model under this operating principle, aimed at validating such a principle of Operation, reveals a significant effect of the friction at the center plate on the energy lost during turning maneuvers, and consequently, on the level of stresses in the rail.
In spite that transport activities do not represent the biggest contributor of pollutants emissions, their reduction has been a priority as some other externalities are associated to such emissions and to the transport itself. A crucial element to characterize the behavior of the vehicles against the environment are the losses that such vehicles exhibit in a passive way, that is, without any involvement of power conditions. The energy loses due to the rolling, the drag and to the friction in mechanical components, have been assessed so far in terms of the stopping acceleration when the vehicle idles on a ramp. However, such a testing procedure produces some uncertainties due to the dynamic conditions that are considered. To avoid such critical limitations, in this paper a testing procedure and facility are proposed, which are based on static conditions of the vehicle at the initiation and at the ending of the test, which are assumed to provide a better reliability to the testing. Some preliminary theoretical analysis should be made in order to validate the operational principles proposed herein for such testing facility.
Different approaches have been attempted so far to reduce fuel consumption and linked pollutants, including vehicle equipment and design, with rational driving style being recognized as a potential source of fuel savings. However, no specific methodology had been suggested so far to assess fuel economy of driving other than the fuel consumed itself. In this paper, the Standard deviation of driving acceleration has been found to be directly associated to fuel consumption, so that the less dispersion of the driving acceleration, produces the lower fuel consumptions and emissions. Such metric could be thus used to assess driving style.
Turning maneuvers originate higher forces exerted on the rail and the loss of locomotive energy, at a rate that is function of several parameters that influence the magnitude of the developed horizontal wheel-rail forces, including the friction at the centre plate and the bogie´s yaw stiffness. However, such a friction at the contact surfaces of the centre plate is needed to mitigate the Hunting phenomenon when the train moves on straight track segments. In this paper, a self-centering centre plate is proposed, consisting of a lubricated centre plate, equipped with a spring- and damper-based self-centering mechanism. Simulation results of the proposed mechanism suggest that the energy performance in turns of a train car equipped with such self-centering centre plate is comparatively better, as the peak friction forces linked to the dry friction at the contact surfaces of current centre plate designs, are avoided. The assessment of the hunting performance of the proposed device in straight track segments is proposed as the continuation of this work.
A facility is proposed in this paper to apply a selective carburizing process to the lateral faces of a railways´ head, aiming to increase its carbon content and to decrease the friction coefficient in case that the flange of the railway car wheel gets in contact with the rail during turning. Such a treatment would reduce the energy that is lost during the turning maneuvers performed by the vehicle, further improving the energy efficiency of the railway car. The facility consists of a furnace, which should be set next to the rails´ hot-rolling facility, in order to use the available enthalpy. The proposed furnace is equipped with what is necessary to avoid the decarbonization of the remaining rail material, based upon batteries of oxy-acetylene burners that are installed at the bottom of the furnace, on the opposite side to the carburizing surface. An experimental facility is necessary to validate the operational principles for the equipment proposed in this paper. On the other hand, a study should also be carried out to assess the effect of any rail welding process on the carburized surfaces.
This paper describes the testing methods used to determine the thermal properties of insulation materials and mechanical properties of materials used for the load-bearing structure for pressure tanks (up to 4 bar, relative) and cryogenic liquids (LNG, −166 °C to -157 °C at atmospheric pressure). Goal is to design a transportation tank that does not exceed 4 bars (relative) within 10 h, starting at atmospheric pressure. PUR-foam is a suitable material for the insulation. A 12,5 l small scale tank prototype reached 4 bar (relative) within 87 minutes, which is, regarding the influence of the size, a satisfying result. The mechanical properties change significantly at cryogenic temperatures. The bending modulus is similar at first, but decreases at a certain point by appr. 50 %. However, the maximum stress is much higher and could not be reached within this testing setup.
Vehicle’s components damage
(2020)
The failure of vehicle’s suspension components has contributed to road crashes, while their defective operation can deteriorate the fuel efficiency of the vehicles. In this context, and when compared with solid cargo transporters, the road tankers would tend to produce larger roll forces during turning, as the curved shape of the liquid cargo container, shifts upwards the centre of gravity of the cargo. With reference to a rectangular cargo container representing the solid cargo situation, the increase in the position due to elliptical and circular tank shapes, can attain a value of 17% (100% fill, circular tank). In this study, experimental results comparing the lateral load transfer due to solid and liquid cargoes, indicate that the average force increase on the vehicle’s load-receiver side due to a liquid cargo, is 4.3%. To analyse the fullscale situation of both situations, that is, the higher position of the centre of gravity and the shifting of the liquid cargo, a simplified model is developed. The outputs from such a model when subjected to realistic operating conditions (speed
and turning radius), suggest that the higher position of the centre of gravity due to using a non-rectangular cargo container generates an average force increase of 4.9% on the side receiving the load transfer. The incorporation of the effect of the liquid cargo, through the simple pendulum analogy, suggests that such an average increases to 6.76%, with a maximum of 8.35% in the case of the elliptical tank at 75% fill level. It is found that the average liquid cargo effect is 5.44%, which should be compared with the 4.3% of the experiments. Road tankers components would thus have a relatively shorter load cycle life than those of the solid cargo trucks.
To reduce the emission of carbondyoxide (CO2) of combustion engines, liquefied natural gas (LNG) is used as an alternative fuel. LNG is transported via truck, ship or railway for long distances. Double walled stainless steel tanks are used for transportation, which are heavy and expensive. The vacuum insulation between the two walled structure ensures that the LNG stays liquid over the transportation time (boiling point of LNG: -162 ◦C). This causes a high temperature difference between the transported good and the ambient air.
A simplified tank construction is used to reduce the weight and price of the tank. Instead of stainless steel, glass fiber reinforced plastic (GFRP) is used. The design is changed to a single walled construction with a solid insulation material outside on the GFRP structure.
Goal of this work is the characterization of a suitable insulation material and configuration as well as the analysis of the mechanical properties of GFRP under cryogenic conditions. Several experiments are carried out. Numerical models of these experiments can then be used for parameter studies.
Die BAM – Bundesanstalt für Materialforschung und -prüfung führt schon seit vielen Jahren auf zwei Brand- prüfständen Brandprüfungen z.B. an Transport- und Lagerbehältern für radioaktive Stoffe oder zur Prüfung von Brandschutzbeschichtungen durch. Als Brandmedium wird auf diesen Prüfständen Flüssiggas (Propan- Butan-Gemisch C) eingesetzt, mit dem die Prüfobjekte simulierten Unfallfeuern ausgesetzt werden. Mit dem neuen Jetfire – Prüfstand der BAM können seit Anfang 2018 diverse Belastungsszenarien nach den Anforde- rungen der ISO22899-1:2007 [1] simuliert werden.
This paper describes a theoretical model to simulate the effects of a sloshing cargo on the safety performance of a vehicle that performs a braking-in-a-turn maneuver when travels at a partial fill level. The fundamental assumption of the model consists of the superposition of the effects of two simplified mechanical-analogy models that represent a liquid cargo on a vehicle, including one for the roll motion and another one for the pitch motion. The distinctive characteristics of the mechanical models, however, is that they are based upon a validated formulation to establish the properties of the pendulum (length).
The results suggest a small effect of the sloshing cargo on the braking efficiency of the cargo, while the load transfer is moderately affected. However, such results should be put into a perspective, according to which such small variations can represent the avoidance of a rear-end crash or a rollover. In this respect, a specialized ABS system could be considered to improve the performance of such kind of vehicles when performing such maneuvers.
Validation of the proposed methodology should be performed as a continuation of this research effort.
To save weight and resources lightweight tanks with complex geometries made of glass-fibre reinforced plastics (GFRP) are a promising innovation for the transportation of dangerous goods. To realise the use of polymer tanks for such applications, their fire safety must be guaranteed. This paper presents solutions to protect fibre-reinforced plastic tanks from fire. The fire resistance of six GFRP tanks with different fire protection systems was tested in an outdoor full-scale fire test facility according to the regulation stipulated in the ADR (European agreement concerning the national carriage of dangerous goods by road). All tanks feature a complex geometry and a holding capacity of 1100 litres. The fire protection systems are composed of specialised resins as well as two intumescent coatings. All systems had a protective impact. The best results were achieved by the epoxy based intumescent coating, which was able to prolong the time needed to reach 150 °C inside the tank by 20 min. The emergence of a temperature holding point inside the tank due to condensation effects was observed at temperatures around 100 °C.
Seit zehn Jahren führt die Bundesanstalt für Materialforschung und -prüfung (kurz: BAM) auf zwei Prüfständen Brandprüfungen z. B. an Transport-und Lagerbehältern für radioaktive Stoffe oder zur Prüfung von Brandschutzbeschichtungen durch. Als Brandmedium wird Flüssiggas (Propan-Butan-Gemisch C) eingesetzt, mit dem die Prüfobjekte simulierten Unfallfeuern ausgesetzt werden. Seit Anfang 2018 verfügt die BAM darüber hinaus auch über einen Jetfire-Prüfstand, der die Anforderungen der ISO 22899-1:2007 1) erfüllt.
A filling process of the pressure bottle used for the air storage was investigated by numerical simulations. During the filling process, the temperature was rising up to maximal value and after that started to decline. The good match was found between experimental and numerical results. In order to reproduce the experimental conditions, the process of the filling bottle was controlled by the pressure which varied in time. This filling strategy influenced furthermore the mass flow rate and the air flow velocity. Because of the geometrical symmetry, the simulation was calculated as an axisymmetric problem.
Die Vorhersage der Beanspruchung bei plastischem Versagen von zylindrischen Druckbehältern wird häufig mittels Finite Elemente Berechnungen durchgeführt. Die Berechnung der zulässigen Beanspruchung erfordert ein elastisch-plastisches Werkstoffmodell und die Berücksichtigung von nichtlinearen geometrischen Effekten. Das plastische Versagen verursacht eine gesamte Strukturinstabilität und kann nicht direkt aus der Finite Elemente Analyse bestimmt werden. In dem vorliegenden Beitrag wird die Beanspruchung für plastisches Versagen eines zylindrischen Druckbehälters mittels eines analytischen Verfahrens basierend auf einem linear elastischen ideal-plastischen Materialmodell bestimmt. Wenn Plastizität auftritt, wird zum einen der Werkstoff als inkompressibel und zum anderen der Tensor der plastischen Dehnungen als parallel zum Spannungsabweichungstensor angenommen. In diesem Fall kann die Spannungs-Dehnungs-Beziehung von Henkel angewendet werden, um den Druck zu berechnen, bei dem plastisches Fließen und Versagen eintritt. Die analytischen Ergebnisse werden von den Finite Elemente Berechnungen vollkommen bestätigt.
Vergleich von Risiken
(2013)
Vielen Entscheidungsprozessen geht ein Vergleich voraus. Bei einem Produktvergleich werden dazu Kriterien festgelegt, etwa der Kaufpreis, die Güte, Haltbarkeit, Handhabung usw. Der Testsieger ist meist derjenige, der die am höchsten bewerteten Kriterien erfüllt. Voraussetzung für derartige Vergleiche ist also die Gleichartigkeit der Vergleichsobjekte. Risiken untereinander zu vergleichen ist komplizierter. Die Notwendigkeit von Risikovergleichen ergibt sich, wenn nur unklare Vorstellungen, z. B. über die Risiken einer neuen Transporttechnologie, existieren und keine Erfahrungswerte zur Verfügung stehen. Aus bekannten und akzeptierten Risiken soll mittels eines Vergleichs die Tolerierbarkeit eines (noch) unbekannten Risikos abgeleitet werden. Der Beitrag setzt sich mit der Problematik von Risikovergleichen auseinander.
Rückendeckung
(2013)
Im Gefahrgutrecht, insbesondere im Bereich der Gefahrguttanks für den Landverkehr, hat der Bezug zur technischen Norm aufgrund der Rechtsfortentwicklung eine fundamentale Bedeutung erlangt. Damit die Interessen der deutschen Tankhersteller genügend Berücksichtigung finden können, ist die kontinuierliche Mitarbeit der betroffenen Wirtschaftskreise in den nationalen und internationalen Normungsgremien erforderlich. Dieser Zusammenhang, der für den einzelnen Hersteller mit erhöhtem Aufwand verbunden ist, wird von den betroffenen Kreisen nicht flächendeckend wahrgenommen. Der Beitrag analysiert Gründe hierfür und macht Vorschläge zu leichten Korrekturen in der inhaltlichen Ausrichtung der Normung.
Neben herkömmlichen Stahlflaschen, die seit Jahrzehnten in fast unveränderter Bauform für Flüssiggase (Propan-Butan-Gemische) eingesetzt werden, etablieren sich immer mehr Flaschen aus Faserverbundwerkstoffen (GFK) mit einer geringeren Masse. Die Bundesanstalt für Materialforschung und -prüfung (BAM) wurde beauftragt, das Verhalten dieser Gasflaschen unter den extremen Bedingungen eines Unfallfeuers zu untersuchen. In einem Brandprüfstand der BAM auf dem Testgelände Technische Sicherheit (TTS) in Horstwalde wurden deshalb beide Typen von Propangasflaschen einem simulierten Unfallfeuer ausgesetzt.
How can the risk of a BLEVE be reduced? That is the main question based on different research projects. In various large scale fire tests fire protection coating systems were used of different manufacturers. The degree of the coating as well as the layer thickness and the processing were varied. These experimental configurations were partly tested with and without pressure relief valve. The pressure relief valves were not protected again the thermal Load from the test fire. The ambition is to find a minimum of the thickness from the fire protection coating witch delay a BLEVE up to 90 minutes. Here are given the most interested configurations of tanks in fire and a description of the test-rigs.
Steam generator (SG) tubes are part of the primary circuit of pressurised water reactors and therefore also part of the pressure retaining boundary components. Furthermore, steam generator tubes are the components which guarantee the separation between the primary and secondary circuits. Therefore the knowledge of the loss of tube integrity as soon as possible is an essential. Optimised nondestructive testing methods based on the eddy current array technique are used to find material degradation, especially intergranular stress corrosion cracks during the periodical in-service inspection. These methods are supported by the measurement of the leakage rate during operation based on radioactivity and Tritium measurement regarding a high crack grows. Shutdown criteria depending on leakage rates which are described in the operation procedures but there are no specifications about the conditions for the measured leakage. Is the leakage coming from a single crack or are there multiple cracks or is this the leakage of a critical crack. With the help of FE calculations answer about the uncertainties of leakage rate versus critical crack grows were found. Shutdown criteria must guarantee to avoid critical crack sizes, i.e. between the measured tritium activity and the critical crack size must be a safety gap.
In der Vergangenheit führte die Bundesanstalt für Materialforschung und -prüfung (BAM) zahlreiche Tankbrandversuche mit und ohne Sicherheitseinrichtungen durch. Dabei stellte sich heraus, dass Gastanks mit nicht ausreichend dimensionierten Sicherheitseinrichtungen bei einer äußeren thermischen Belastung innerhalb von 6 bis 10 min in Form eines BLEVE (Boiling Liquid Expanding Vapour Explosion) versagen können. Um die Feuerwiderstandsdauer eines Tanks zu erhöhen, besteht die Möglichkeit, den Tank u. a. mit einer sog. reaktiven Brandschutzbeschichtung zu versehen. Bei einer Temperatureinwirkung ab ca. 200 °C (produktabhängig) beginnt die Schicht aufgrund einer thermochemischen Reaktion aufzuschäumen. Die Tankwand wird dabei temporär vor einer weiteren schnellen Erwärmung geschützt.
Daten über Schadensursachen und die tatsächliche Nutzungsdauer der Tanks zum Transport von Gefahrgütern liegen nur in begrenztem Maße vor. Auf der Basis der Daten von Tankbaufirmen, Speditionen und Eisenbahnkesselwagen-Vermietgesellschaften wurde die durchschnittliche Lebensdauer von Tankcontainern, Tankfahrzeugen und Kesselwagen zur Beförderung von Gefahrgütern in der Praxis ermittelt und die Hauptschadensursachen analysiert. Korrosion, Risse an Schweißnähten, Gestaltungs- und Dimensionierungsfehler sowie fertigungs- und betriebsbedingte Fehler zählen zu den Hauptschadensursachen. Viele Tanks werden vor Ablauf ihrer Nutzungsdauer nicht mehr für den Transport von Gefahrgütern eingesetzt, da sie nicht mehr den geänderten gesetzlichen Anforderungen in den Gefahrgutvorschriften entsprechen. Die Voraussagen durch Literaturangaben und Ergebnisse von Korrosionsversuchen in der BAM-Liste – Anforderungen an Tanks zur Beförderung gefährlicher Güter – spiegeln sich in der Nutzungsdauer/Lebensdauer der Tanks wider.
Für die Bewertung der Integrität von Tanks ist die detaillierte Kenntnis der belastungsrelevanten Parameter unabdingbar. Die Wärmeübergangszahl a ist eine derartige Größe. Die Wärmeübergangszahl bestimmt direkt die Größe der vorhandenen Beanspruchungen im Tank. Insofern sollte die Wärmeübergangszahl bekannt sein. Aus diesem Grund wurden experimentelle Untersuchungen durchgeführt. Für einen sich im Feuer befindlichen Tank ergibt sich die Wärmeübergangszahl zu 50 W/m2K. Auf dieser Basis konnten die bereits durchgeführten experimentellen Untersuchungen mithilfe der Methode der finiten Elemente nachgerechnet werden. Die dabei erzielten Ergebnisse sind infolge der getroffenen modelltechnischen sowie thermodynamischen Vereinfachungen als zufriedenstellend zu bezeichnen. In einem nächsten Schritt wird an einer verbesserten Modellierung sowie thermodynamischen Beschreibung der Verhältnisse im Tank gearbeitet.
In einem von der BAM Bundesanstalt für Materialforschung und -prüfung durchgeführten Forschungsvorhaben wurde untersucht, inwieweit bei Gefahrguttanks im Brandfall ein 'BLEVE', d. h. ein Versagen der Umschließung mit anschließender Freisetzung der Flüssigkeit bzw. des verflüssigten Gases, verzögert bzw. verhindert werden kann.
Degradation of material properties significant for lifetime extension of nuclear power plants
(2010)
The discussion about the right energy sources or alternative energy generation goes around the world, mostly in connection with green-house gas reduction. Therefore, some countries have started to consider extending operation of nuclear power plants. This demands an extensive plant life management as well as the knowledge of the degradation in material properties. The Basis Safety Concept (BSC) in Germany observed this circumstance. Still, lifetime extension is not an issue in Germany due to phase out of nuclear energy. Part of the BSC is the application of non-destructive examination (NDE) methods from the beginning, i.e. from component manufacture, to the end of life. The application of a NDE method to detect and size defects in components in nuclear power plants is presented. Some material properties and their degradation during increase of operation time are also in the focus of this paper.