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- Ageing effects (1)
- Analytical solution (1)
- Axial cracks (1)
- Component integrity (1)
- Crack detection (1)
- Crack opening area (1)
- Critical crack sizes (1)
- Eddy current (1)
- FEM (1)
- Fracture mechanics (1)
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.
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.
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.
Nondestructive Testing (NDT) and fracture mechanics are two different disciplines in applied engineering science. Both areas are very important for the evaluation of the component integrity. Unfortunately the technical understanding in both disciplines is not identically, what lead to misunderstandings. In the present paper, the basic ideas about fracture mechanics and the input parameters coming from the NDT side are explained, concerning the integrity evaluation of the components. The widely used NDT methods are magnetic particle, dye penetrant, electrical eddy currents, radiography and ultrasonics. But not all of these common NDT methods can deliver parameters satisfy the fracture mechanics requirements. The first two can detect only surface-breaking or immediately sub-surface defects. Eddy current can also find defects in deeper sub-surface layers, while radiography and ultrasonics can also find embedded, remote defects. These three methods have furthermore a high potential for defect sizing and are therefore predestined to provide fracture mechanics input parameters. At the example of steam generator tube inspection the interplay of eddy current and fracture mechanics as related to tube integrity will be explained.