Mechanical Properties Evaluation and Crack Propagation Behavior in Dissimilar Metal Welded Joints of 304 L Austenitic Stainless Steel and SA508 Low-Alloy Steel

The material mechanical properties and crack propagation behavior of dissimilar metal welded joint (DMWJ) of pressurized water reactor (PWR) was investigated. In this research, the mechanical parameters of the cladding layer materials (304L-SA508) of the DMWJ in PWRs were obtained by the continuous indentation test. Simultaneously, the user-defined (USDFLD) subroutine in ABAQUS was used to establish the heterogeneous materials model of the welded joint. On this basis, the local crack propagation path of DMWJs has been discussed based on the extended finite element method (XFEM). The result indicated that the strength value at the fusion boundary line (FB line) is the largest, and the yield strength reaches 689 MPa. The yield stress values of the cladding metal (304 L) and base metal (SA508) are 371 MPa and 501 MPa, respectively. Affected by the material constraint effect of the DMWJ, the crack will propagate through the FB line when the initial crack is perpendicular to the FB line. And when the initial crack parallels the FB line, the crack will deviate from it. Meanwhile, the crack propagation length is smaller as the initial crack tip is closer to the FB line when the load condition is constant.

Comparison of Wormhole Profiles on Carbonate Rocks Using Emulsified and Single-Phase Retarded Acids

Acid retardation through emulsification is commonly used in reservoir stimulation operations, however, emulsified acid are viscous fluids, thus require additional equipment at field for preparation and pumping requirements. Mixture of HCl with organic acids and/or chemical retarders have been used developed to retard acid reaction with carbonate, however, lower dissolving power. Development of low viscosity and high dissolving retarded acid recipes (e.g., equivalent to 15-26 wt.% HCl) addresses the drawbacks of emulsified acids and HCl acid mixtures with weaker organic acids. The objective of this study is to compare wormhole profile generated as a result of injecting acids in Indian limestone cores using 28 wt.% emulsified acid and single-phase retarded acids at comparable dissolving power at 200 and 300°F. Coreflood analysis testing was conducted using Indiana limestone core plugs to assess the pore volume profile of retarded acid at temperatures of 200 and 300° F. This test is supported by Computed Tomography to evaluate the propagation behavior as a result of the fluid/rock reaction. Wider wormholes were observed with 28 wt.% emulsified acid at 200°F when compared to test results conducted at 300°F. The optimum injection rate was 1 cm3/min at 200 and 300°F based on wormhole profile and examined flow rates. Generally, face-dissolution and wider wormholes were observed with emulsified acids, especially at 200°F. Narrower wormholes were formed as a result of injecting retarded acids into Indiana limestone cores compared to 28 wt.% emulsified acid. Breakthrough was not achieved with retarded acid recipe at 300°F and flow rates of 1 and 3 cm3/min, suggesting higher flow rates (e.g., > 3 cm3/min) are required for the retarded acid to be more effective at 300°F.

Numerical Simulation of Crack Propagation of Architecture Glass Under Explosion and Impact Load

Crack initiation and propagation is a long-standing difficulty in solid mechanics, especially for elastic-brittle material. To explore the damage and crack propagation behavior of architectural glass under different type of loads, the element deletion (ED), discontinuous Galerkin peridynamics (DG-PD) and meshless peridynamics (M-PD) methods are studied. Taking the architecture glass as an example, the crack propagation behavior under the bullet impact and explosion load are studied. The JH-2 material model is used in the ED method, and the maximum principal stress and maximum principal strain failure criteria are applied at the same time. In the DG-PD method, it conducts a node separation operation and imposes the criterion of the critical energy release rate. The M-PD method adopts a self-programmed particle discretization method and imposes a criterion of critical elongation. Three methods can simulate the crack growth behavior of glass material, but the PD method has great advantages in detail, such as crack bifurcation and penetration. For low-velocity bullets, the failure behavior of glass all shows cross-shaped cracks in different methods. The splashing of elements or particles appears in the two PD methods, but the particle splashing of the M-PD method is more obvious, and the DG-PD method captures the crack bifurcation effect better. For the failure behavior of glass under explosive loading, the PD method is obviously better than the ED method in terms of modal appearance. However, in the mechanical behavior of specific elements, the two methods have a high degree of agreement.