This paper describes a fracture assessment method for a pipe having multiple circumferential flaws. According to Fitness-for-Service (FFS) codes for nuclear facilities published by the Japanese Society of Mechanical Engineers (JSME), the fracture strength of a high-ductility pipe having a circumferential flaw is evaluated using the limit load assessment method assuming the elastic–perfectly-plastic stress–strain relationship. In this assessment, flow stress is used as a proportional stress. However, previous experimental results [1, 2, 3] show that a crack penetrates before the entire flawed pipe section reaches the flow stress. Therefore, stress concentration at a flaw was evaluated on the basis of the Dugdale model [4], and the fracture strength of the crack-ligament was evaluated. This model can predict test results with high accuracy when the ligament fracture strength is assumed to be tensile strength. Based on this examination, a fracture assessment method for pipes having multiple flaws was developed considering the stress concentration in the crack-ligament by using the realistic stress–strain relationship (Ramberg–Osgood-type stress–strain curve). The fracture strength of a multiple-flawed pipe estimated by the developed method was compared with previous experimental results. When the stress concentration in the crack-ligament was taken into consideration, the fracture strength estimated using the Ramberg–Osgood-type stress–strain curve was in good agreement with experimental results, confirming the validity of the proposed method.
A new acute scaphoid fracture assessment method: a reliability study of the ‘long axis’ measurement