Experimental Study on the Cleavage Fracture Behavior of an ASTM A285 Grade C Pressure Vessel Steel

2014 ◽  
Vol 137 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Rafael G. Savioli ◽  
Claudio Ruggieri
Keyword(s):  
Fracture Toughness ◽  
Cleavage Fracture ◽  
Pressure Vessel ◽  
Fracture Behavior ◽  
Pressure Vessels ◽  
Experimental Results ◽  
Pressure Vessel Steel ◽  
Crack Tip Opening Displacement ◽  
Opening Displacement ◽  
Vessel Steel

This work addresses an experimental investigation on the cleavage fracture behavior of an ASTM A285 Grade C pressure vessel steel. One purpose of this study is to enlarge previously reported work on mechanical and fracture properties for this class of steel to provide a more definite database for use in structural and defect analyses of pressurized components, including pressure vessels and storage tanks. Another purpose is to determine the reference temperature, T0, derived from the Master curve methodology which defines the dependence of fracture toughness with temperature for the tested material. Fracture toughness testing conducted on single edge bend SE(B) specimens in three-point loading extracted from an A285 Grade C pressure vessel steel plate provides the cleavage fracture resistance data in terms of the J-integral and crack tip opening displacement (CTOD) at cleavage instability, Jc and δc. Additional tensile and conventional Charpy tests produce further experimental data which serve to characterize the mechanical behavior of the tested pressure vessel steel. The experimental results reveal a strong effect of specimen geometry on Jc and δc-values associated with large scatter in the measured values of cleavage fracture toughness. Overall, the present investigation, when taken together with previous studies, provides a fairly extensive body of experimental results which describe in detail the fracture behavior of an ASTM A285 Grade C pressure vessel steel.

Assessment of Pressure Vessel Steel Irradiation Embrittlement Up to 40 Years Using Local Approach to Fracture Modelling: Application to the French Surveillance Program

2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. Tanguy ◽  
A. Parrot ◽  
F. Cle´mendot ◽  
G. Chas
Keyword(s):  
Fracture Toughness ◽  
Pressure Vessel ◽  
Chemical Elements ◽  
Experimental Results ◽  
Physical Models ◽  
Surveillance Program ◽  
Pressure Vessel Steel ◽  
Irradiation Embrittlement ◽  
Vessel Steel ◽  
Different Levels

For western pressure vessel reactors, assessment of pressure vessel steels irradiation embrittlement due to neutron irradiation is based on a semi-empirical formulae which predicts the shift of a reference lower bound fracture toughness curve as a function of fluence and embrittlement-involved chemical elements. Periodically, in order to monitor the embrittlement of each RPV, the predictions of the formulae is confronted to experimental results obtained from Charpy specimens located in surveillance capsules irradiated with a higher fluence level than the pressure vessel itself. Historically only the shift of the temperature index defined for a given level of energy, e.g. 56J in the French surveillance program, is used. In support to the French surveillance program methodology, for some of the French RPVs, physical models of fracture (for both cleavage and ductile fracture) are used to analyse in details the whole experimental basis available at different levels of fluence. This study presents the methodology developed in order to analyse the experimental results of a RPV steel from the french surveillance program, including Charpy and fracture toughness tests at different levels of fluence i.e. of embrittlement. The methodology applied aims to use the numerous Charpy tests results available in order to assess, at the same fluence levels, the fracture toughness embrittlement. The results are then compared to available fracture toughness results for a given level of embrittlement.

scholarly journals A Local Approach to Assess Effects of Specimen Geometry on Cleavage Fracture Toughness in Reactor Pressure Vessel Steels

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Diego F. B. Sarzosa ◽  
Rafael Savioli ◽  
Claudio Ruggieri ◽  
Andrey Jivkov ◽  
Jack Beswick
Keyword(s):  
Fracture Toughness ◽  
Cleavage Fracture ◽  
Pressure Vessel ◽  
Crack Tip ◽  
Crack Size ◽  
Size Ratio ◽  
Additional Contribution ◽  
Pressure Vessel Steel ◽  
Vessel Steel ◽  
Shallow Crack

This work presents recent improvements in the micromechanical failure criterion based on the Weibull stress (σw) concept for prediction of cleavage fracture in ferritic steels. The model is applied in SE(B) specimens extracted from an ASTM A533 pressure vessel steel having different levels of stress triaxiality at the crack tip. Nonlinear 3D finite element models with dimensions matching the tested specimens were built to provide the necessary crack tip stresses at the fracture process zone for calculation of the σw-J evolution from wich the variation of characteristic toughness values (J0) between different cracked geometries can be estimated. Application of this methodology for the material used at this study is able to predict J0 for SE(B) specimens with very shallow crack size ratio a/W = 0.05, short crack a/W = 0.2 and deep crack a/W = 0.4. The reported fracture toughness values for specimens having very shallow crack size ratio is an additional contribution of this study.

A Micromechanics Approach for Assessing the Applicability of Precracked Charpy Specimens to Determine the T0 Reference Temperature

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rafael G. Savioli ◽  
Claudio Ruggieri
Keyword(s):  
Fracture Toughness ◽  
Cleavage Fracture ◽  
Pressure Vessel ◽  
Reference Temperature ◽  
Pressure Vessel Steel ◽  
Vessel Steel ◽  
Toughness Testing ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Resistance Data ◽  
Weibull Stress

This work describes an application of a micromechanics model for cleavage fracture to determine the reference temperature for pressure vessel steels from precracked Charpy (PCVN) specimens. A central objective is evaluate the effectiveness of the Weibull stress (σw) model to correct effects of constraint loss in PCVN specimens which serve to determine the indexing temperature T0 based on the Master Curve methodology. Fracture toughness testing conducted on an A285 Grade C pressure vessel steel provides the cleavage fracture resistance data needed to estimate T0. Very detailed non-linear finite element analyses for 3-D models of plane-sided SE(B) and PCVN specimens provide the evolution of near-tip stress field with increased macroscopic load (in terms of the J-integral) to define the relationship between σw and J from which the variation of fracture toughness across different crack configurations is predicted. For the tested material, the Weibull stress methodology yields estimates for the reference temperature, T0, from small fracture specimens which are in good agreement with the corresponding estimates derived from testing of much larger crack configurations.

Prediction of Cleavage Fracture in the Ductile-to-Brittle Transition Region of Pressure Vessel Steels: A Probabilistic Model

2006 ◽  
Vol 324-325 ◽  
pp. 283-286
Author(s):  
Xiao Sheng Gao ◽  
Gui Hua Zhang ◽  
T.S. Srivatsan
Keyword(s):  
Fracture Toughness ◽  
Cleavage Fracture ◽  
Pressure Vessel ◽  
Stress Triaxiality ◽  
Weibull Model ◽  
Pressure Vessel Steel ◽  
Vessel Steel ◽  
Proposed Model ◽  
Modified Weibull ◽  
Weibull Stress

This paper presents a modified Weibull stress model, which accounts for the effects of plastic strain and stress triaxiality at the crack tip region. The proposed model is applied to predict cleavage fracture in a modified A508 pressure vessel steel. It is demonstrated that the Weibull modulus (m) remains constant in the temperature range considered, while the threshold Weibull stress (σw-min) decreases with an increase in temperature due to reduction of the yield stress and the scale parameter of the Weibull model (σu) increases with temperature reflecting the influences of temperature on both material flow properties and toughness. The proposed model accurately predicts the scatter of the measured fracture toughness data and the strong effects of constraint and temperature on cleavage fracture toughness.

A Weibull Stress Approach Incorporating the Coupling Effect of Constraint and Plastic Strain in Cleavage Fracture Toughness Predictions

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Claudio Ruggieri ◽  
Robert H. Dodds
Keyword(s):  
Fracture Toughness ◽  
Plastic Strain ◽  
Cleavage Fracture ◽  
Coupling Effect ◽  
Crack Size ◽  
Parameter Analysis ◽  
Pressure Vessel Steel ◽  
Fracture Parameter ◽  
Vessel Steel ◽  
Weibull Stress

This work describes a micromechanics methodology based upon a local failure criterion incorporating the strong effects of plastic strain on cleavage fracture coupled with statistics of microcracks. A central objective is to gain some understanding on the role of plastic strain on cleavage fracture by means of a probabilistic fracture parameter and how it contributes to the cleavage failure probability. A parameter analysis is conducted to assess the general effects of plastic strain on fracture toughness correlations for conventional SE(B) specimens with varying crack size over specimen width ratios. Another objetive is to evaluate the effectiveness of the modified Weibull stress (σ̃w) model to correct effects of constraint loss in PCVN specimens which serve to determine the indexing temperature, T0, based on the Master Curve methodology. Fracture toughness testing conducted on an A285 Grade C pressure vessel steel provides the cleavage fracture resistance (Jc) data needed to estimate T0. Very detailed non-linear finite element analyses for 3-D models of plane-sided SE(B) and PCVN specimens provide the evolution of near-tip stress field with increased macroscopic load (in terms of the J-integral) to define the relationship between σ̃w and J. For the tested material, the Weibull stress methodology yields estimates for the reference temperature, T0, from small fracture specimens which are in good agreement with the corresponding estimates derived from testing of much larger crack configurations.

Measurements of Stress During Thermal Shock in Clad Reactor Pressure Vessel Material Using Time-Resolved In-Situ Synchrotron X-Ray Diffraction

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sam Oliver ◽  
Chris Simpson ◽  
Andrew James ◽  
Christina Reinhard ◽  
David Collins ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Thermal Shock ◽  
Pressure Vessel ◽  
Pressure Vessels ◽  
Reactor Pressure Vessel ◽  
Pressure Vessel Steel ◽  
X Ray Diffraction ◽  
Time Resolved ◽  
Vessel Steel ◽  
X Ray ◽  
Reactor Pressure

Nuclear reactor pressure vessels must be able to withstand thermal shock due to emergency cooling during a loss of coolant accident. Demonstrating structural integrity during thermal shock is difficult due to the complex interaction between thermal stress, residual stress, and stress caused by internal pressure. Finite element and analytic approaches exist to calculate the combined stress, but validation is limited. This study describes an experiment which aims to measure stress in a slice of clad reactor pressure vessel during thermal shock using time-resolved synchrotron X-ray diffraction. A test rig was designed to subject specimens to thermal shock, whilst simultaneously enabling synchrotron X-ray diffraction measurements of strain. The specimens were extracted from a block of SA508 Grade 4N reactor pressure vessel steel clad with Alloy 82 nickel-base alloy. Surface cracks were machined in the cladding. Electric heaters heat the specimens to 350°C and then the surface of the cladding is quenched in a bath of cold water, representing thermal shock. Six specimens were subjected to thermal shock on beamline I12 at Diamond Light Source, the UK’s national synchrotron X-ray facility. Time-resolved strain was measured during thermal shock at a single point close to the crack tip at a sample rate of 30 Hz. Hence, stress intensity factor vs time was calculated assuming K-controlled near-tip stress fields. This work describes the experimental method and presents some key results from a preliminary analysis of the data.

Effects of microstructure on cleavage fracture in pressure vessel steel

1986 ◽  
Vol 34 (6) ◽  
pp. 1121-1131 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. Bowen ◽  
S.G. Druce ◽  
J.F. Knott
Keyword(s):  
Cleavage Fracture ◽  
Pressure Vessel ◽  
Pressure Vessel Steel ◽  
Vessel Steel
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