Influence of the Strain Rate on the Low Cycle Fatigue Life of an Austenitic Stainless Steel with a Ground Surface Finish in Different Environments

2014 ◽  
Vol 891-892 ◽  
pp. 1320-1326 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thibault Poulain ◽  
José Mendez ◽  
Gilbert Hénaff ◽  
Laurent de Baglion
Keyword(s):  
Stainless Steel ◽  
Fatigue Life ◽  
Austenitic Stainless Steel ◽  
Strain Rate ◽  
Surface Finish ◽  
Power Plants ◽  
Low Cycle Fatigue ◽  
Total Strain Amplitude ◽  
Cycle Fatigue ◽  
Pressurized Water

This paper focuses on the influence of strain rate in Low Cycle Fatigue (LCF) of a 304L austenitic stainless steel at 300 °C in different environments (secondary vacuum, air and Pressurized Water Reactor (PWR) water environment). Moreover test samples are ground to obtain a surface finish rougher than all that could be found in nuclear power plants. Different strain rates (4x10-3, 1x10-4and 1x10-5s-1) are studied, with a triangular waveform at a total strain amplitude of ±0.6%. The influence of strain rate on cyclic stress-strain behavior and fatigue life is firstly analyzed in secondary vacuum, considered as a non-active environment. Then, interactions between stain rate and environmental effects in Air and in PWR environment are presented. In all environments, a decrease in strain rate leads to a negative strain rate dependence of the stress response and a reduction in fatigue life. Finally, SEM observations of fatigue striations in PWR environment indicate a crack propagation rate enhancement when the strain rate is decreased.

Effect of Surface Finish and Loading Conditions on the Low Cycle Fatigue Life of Stainless Steel Welded Piping in PWR Environment

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuichi Fukuta ◽  
Yuichiro Nomura ◽  
Seiji Asada
Keyword(s):  
Stainless Steel ◽  
Fatigue Life ◽  
Austenitic Stainless Steel ◽  
Surface Finish ◽  
Loading Condition ◽  
Low Cycle Fatigue ◽  
Complex Loading ◽  
Fatigue Tests ◽  
Cycle Fatigue ◽  
Effect Of Surface

NUREG/CR-6909 of USA and JSME of Japan proposed new rules for evaluating environmental effects in fatigue analyses of reactors components. These rules were established from a lot of fatigue data with polished specimens under simple loading condition. The effects of surface finish or complex loading condition were reported in some papers, but these data were obtained with the simple shaped specimens. In order to evaluate the effects of surface finish and loading condition and to confirm the applicability of the proposed rules to actual components, Low Cycle Fatigue tests are performed in PWR environment with the specimens cut from 316 austenitic stainless steel welded piping. The pipes are machined to have three levels of surface finish condition and the load pattern simulating the thermal stress is applied to specimens. In this study, the effect of surface finish on fatigue life is included to be small for 316 austenitic stainless steel welded piping. Considering the insensitive region in the current evaluation rule, predicted accuracy is increased and possibility of improving the current rule is indicated.

scholarly journals Parameters influencing the low-cycle fatigue life of materials in pressure water reactor nuclear power plants / Parametry ovlivòující únavové chování materiálù pro tlakovodní jaderné reaktory v režimu nízkocyklové únavy

2015 ◽  
Vol 59 (3) ◽  
pp. 91-98
Author(s):  
V. Šefl
Keyword(s):  
Stainless Steel ◽  
Fatigue Life ◽  
Carbon Steel ◽  
Austenitic Stainless Steel ◽  
Literature Review ◽  
Nuclear Power ◽  
Power Plants ◽  
Nuclear Power Plants ◽  
Low Cycle Fatigue ◽  
Cycle Fatigue

Abstract In this literature review we identify and quantify the parameters influencing the low-cycle fatigue life of materials commonly used in nuclear power plants. The parameters are divided into several groups and individually described. The main groups are material properties, mode of cycling and environment parameters. The groups are further divided by the material type - some parameters influence only certain kind of material, e.g. sulfur content may decreases fatigue life of carbon steel, but is not relevant for austenitic stainless steel; austenitic stainless steel is more sensitive to concentration of dissolved oxygen in the environment compared to the carbon steel. The combination of parameters i.e. conjoint action of several detrimental parameters is discussed. It is also noted that for certain parameters to decrease fatigue life, it is necessary for other parameter to reach certain threshold value. Two different approaches have been suggested in literature to describe this complex problem - the Fen factor and development of new design fatigue curves. The threshold values and examples of commonly used relationships for calculation of fatigue lives are included. This work is valuable because it provides the reader with long-term literature review with focus on real effect of environmental parameters on fatigue life of nuclear power plant materials.

Thermal Aging Effect on Environmental Fatigue Life of CF8M Cast Stainless Steel at Strain Rate 0.04%/s Under PWR Operating Condition

2010 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ill-Seok Jeong ◽  
Wan-Jae Kim ◽  
Hyun-Ik Jeon
Keyword(s):  
Stainless Steel ◽  
Fatigue Life ◽  
Strain Rate ◽  
Thermal Aging ◽  
Power Plants ◽  
Low Cycle Fatigue ◽  
Operating Conditions ◽  
Pressurized Water ◽  
Operating Condition ◽  
Term Operation

In order to see the effect of thermal aging on environmental fatigue life of CF8M cast austenitic stainless steel (CASS), low-cycle environmental fatigue tests of thermally aged CF8M CASS at the condition of fatigue strain rate 0.04%/s were conducted at the operating condition, 15MPa, 315°C of pressurized water reactor (PWR) environment. Test results of low cycle fatigue life tests for thermally aged specimens simulating 60 operating years were compared with ones of un-aged CF8M CASS in room temperature air and PWR operating conditions to see the effect of the thermal aging on environmental fatigue life. This kind of experiment would be useful to verify the fatigue integrity of long-lived components and to predict plant safety of long term operation beyond design life because current approach of evaluating environmental fatigue is so conservative to apply it to the long-lived components in pressure boundary of nuclear power plants.

scholarly journals Influence of Strain Rate and Waveshape on Environmentally-Assisted Cracking during Low-Cycle Fatigue of a 304L Austenitic Stainless Steel in a PWR Water Environment

Metals ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 197 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thibault Poulain ◽  
Laurent de Baglion ◽  
Jose Mendez ◽  
Gilbert Hénaff
Keyword(s):  
Stainless Steel ◽  
Austenitic Stainless Steel ◽  
Strain Rate ◽  
Crack Growth ◽  
Growth Rates ◽  
Low Cycle Fatigue ◽  
Water Environment ◽  
Cycle Fatigue ◽  
Pressurized Water ◽  
Environmentally Assisted Cracking

In this paper, the low cycle fatigue resistance of a 304L austenitic stainless steel in a simulated pressurized water reactor (PWR) primary water environment has been investigated by paying a special attention to the interplay between environmentally-assisted cracking mechanisms, strain rate, and loading waveshape. More precisely, one of the prime interests of this research work is related to the consideration of complex waveshape signals that are more representative of solicitations encountered by real components. A detailed analysis of stress-strain relation, surface damage, and crack growth provides a preliminary ranking of the severity of complex, variable strain rate signals with respect to triangular, constant strain-rate signals associated with environmental effects in air or in PWR water. Furthermore, as the fatigue lives in PWR water environment are mainly controlled by crack propagation, the crack growth rates derived from striation spacing measurement and estimated from interrupted tests have been carefully examined and analyzed using the strain intensity factor range ΔKε. It is confirmed that the most severe signal with regards to fatigue life also induces the highest crack growth enhancement. Additionally two characteristic parameters, namely a threshold strain εth* and a time T*, corresponding to the duration of the effective exposure of the open cracks to PWR environment have been introduced. It is shown that the T* parameter properly accounts for the differences in environmentally-assisted growth rates as a function of waveshape.

Effects of Surface Finish and Loading Conditions on the Low Cycle Fatigue Behavior of Austenitic Stainless Steel in PWR Environment for Various Strain Amplitude Levels

2009 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jean Alain Le Duff ◽  
Andre´ Lefranc¸ois ◽  
Jean Philippe Vernot
Keyword(s):  
Stainless Steel ◽  
Austenitic Stainless Steel ◽  
Strain Amplitude ◽  
Surface Finish ◽  
Low Cycle Fatigue ◽  
Fatigue Behavior ◽  
Complex Loading ◽  
Loading Conditions ◽  
Test Results ◽  
Cycle Fatigue

In February/March 2007, The NRC issued Regulatory Guide “RG1.207” and Argonne National Laboratory issued NUREG/CR-6909 that is now applicable in the US for evaluations of PWR environmental effects in fatigue analyses of new reactor components. In order to assess the conservativeness of the application of this NUREG report, Low Cycle Fatigue (LCF) tests were performed by AREVA NP on austenitic stainless steel specimens in a PWR environment. The selected material exhibits in air environment a fatigue behavior consistent with the ANL reference “air” mean curve, as published in NUREG/CR-6909. LCF tests in a PWR environment were performed at various strain amplitude levels (± 0.6% or ± 0.3%) for two loading conditions corresponding to a simple or to a complex strain rate history. The simple loading condition is a fully reverse triangle signal (for comparison purposes with tests performed by other laboratories with the same loading conditions) and the complex signal simulates the strain variation for an actual typical PWR thermal transient. In addition, two various surface finish conditions were tested: polished and ground. This paper presents the comparisons of penalty factors, as observed experimentally, with penalty factors evaluated using ANL formulations (considering the strain integral method for complex loading), and on the other, the comparison of the actual fatigue life of the specimen with the fatigue life predicted through the NUREG report application. For the two strain amplitudes of ± 0.6% and ± 0.3%, LCF tests results obtained on austenitic stainless steel specimens in PWR environment with triangle waveforms at constant low strain rates give “Fen” penalty factors close to those estimated using the ANL formulation (NUREG/6909). However, for the lower strain amplitude level and a triangle loading signal, the ANL formulation is pessimistic compared to the AREVA NP test results obtained for polished specimens. Finally, it was observed that constant amplitude LCF test results obtained on ground specimens under complex loading simulating an actual sequence of a cold and hot thermal shock exhibits lower combined environmental and surface finish effects when compared to the penalty factors estimated on the basis of the ANL formulations. It appears that the application of the NUREG/CR-6909 in conjunction with the Fen model proposed by ANL for austenitic stainless steel provides excessive margins, whereas the current ASME approach seems sufficient to cover significant environmental effects for representative loadings and surface finish conditions of reactor components.

Effects of Surface Finish and Loading Conditions on the Low Cycle Fatigue Behavior of Austenitic Stainless Steel in PWR Environment: Comparison of LCF Test Results With NUREG/CR-6909 Life Estimations

2008 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jean Alain Le Duff ◽  
Andre´ Lefranc¸ois ◽  
Jean Philippe Vernot
Keyword(s):  
Stainless Steel ◽  
Fatigue Life ◽  
Austenitic Stainless Steel ◽  
Environmental Effects ◽  
Low Cycle Fatigue ◽  
Fatigue Behavior ◽  
Complex Signal ◽  
Loading Conditions ◽  
Test Results ◽  
Cycle Fatigue

During mid 2006, ANL issued a NUREG/CR-6909 [2] report that is now applicable in The US for evaluations of PWR environmental effects in the fatigue analysis of new reactor components. In order to assess the conservativeness of the application of this NUREG report, low cycle fatigue (LCF) tests were performed by AREVA NP on austenitic stainless steel specimens in a PWR environment. The selected material exhibits in an air environment a fatigue behavior consistent with the ANL reference “air” mean curve. Tests were performed for two various loading conditions: for fully reverse triangular signal (for comparison purpose with tests performed by other laboratories with same loading conditions) and complex signal, simulating strain variation for actual typical PWR thermal transients. Two surface finish conditions were tested: polished and ground. The paper presents on one side the comparison of environmental penalty factors (Fen = Nair,RT/Nwater) as observed experimentally with the ANL formulation (considering the strain integral method for complex loading), and, on the other hand, the actual fatigue life of the specimen with the fatigue life predicted through the NUREG/CR-6909 application. Low Cycle Fatigue test results obtained on austenitic stainless steel specimens in PWR environment with triangle waveforms at constant low strain rates gives Fen penalty factors close to those estimated using the ANL formulation (NUREG report 6909). On the contrary, it was observed that constant amplitude LCF test results obtained under complex signal reproducing an actual sequence of a cold and hot thermal shock exhibits significantly lower environmental effects when compared to the Fen penalty factor estimated on the basis of the ANL formulations. It appears that the application of the NUREG/CR-6909 [2] in conjunction with the Fen model proposed by ANL for austenitic stainless steel provides excessive margins whereas the current ASME approach seems sufficient to cover significant environmental effect for components.

Direct Strain-Controlled Variable Strain Rate Low Cycle Fatigue Testing in Simulated PWR Water

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tommi Seppänen ◽  
Jouni Alhainen ◽  
Esko Arilahti ◽  
Jussi Solin
Keyword(s):  
Stainless Steel ◽  
Fatigue Life ◽  
Strain Rate ◽  
Fatigue Testing ◽  
Low Cycle Fatigue ◽  
Reference Value ◽  
Hot Water ◽  
Feedback Signal ◽  
Cycle Fatigue ◽  
Experimental Values

A tailored-for-purpose environmental fatigue testing facility was previously developed to perform direct strain-controlled tests on stainless steel in simulated PWR water. Strain in specimen mid-section is generated by the use of pneumatic bellows, and eddy current measurement is used as a feedback signal. The procedure conforms with the ASTM E 606 practice for low cycle fatigue, giving results which are directly compatible with the major NPP design codes. Past studies were compiled in the NUREG/CR-6909 report and environmental reduction factors Fen were proposed to account for fatigue life reduction in hot water as compared to a reference value in air. This database exclusively contained non-stabilized stainless steels, mainly tested under stroke control. The applicability of the stainless steel Fen factor for stabilized alloys was already challenged in past papers (PVP2013-97500, PVP2014-28465). The results presented in this paper follow the same overall trend of lower experimental values (4.12–11.46) compared to those expected according to the NUREG report (9.49–10.37). In this paper results of a dual strain rate test programme on niobium stabilized AISI 347 type stainless steel are presented and discussed in the context of the NUREG/CR-6909 Fen methodology. Special attention is paid to the effect of strain signal on fatigue life, which according to current prediction methods does not affect the value of Fen.

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