Do-Jun Shim

Failure Strength Assessment of Pipes With Local Wall Thinning Under Combined Loading Based on Finite Element Analyses

Failure assessment of a pipe with local wall thinning draws increasing attention in the nuclear power plant industry. Although many guidelines have been developed and are used for assessing the integrity of a wall-thinned pipeline, most of these guidelines consider only pressure loading and thus neglect bending loading. As most pipelines in nuclear power plants are subjected to internal pressure and bending moment, an assessment procedure for locally wall-thinned pipeline subjected to combined loading is urgently needed. In this paper, three-dimensional finite element (FE) analyses are carried out to simulate full-scale pipe tests conducted for various shapes of wall-thinned area under internal pressure and bending moment. Maximum moments based on ultimate tensile stress were obtained from FE results to predict the failure of the pipe. These results are compared with test results, showing good agreement. Additional finite element analyses are then performed to investigate the effect of key parameters, such as wall-thinned depth, wall-thinned angle and wall-thinned length, on maximum moment. Moreover, the effect of internal pressure on maximum moment was investigated. Change of internal pressure did not show significant effect on the maximum moment.

Estimates of Elastic Crack Opening Displacements of Slanted Through-Wall Cracks in Plate and Cylinder

This paper provides tractable solutions for elastic crack opening displacement (COD) of slanted through-wall cracks in plates and cylinders. The solutions were developed via detailed three dimensional elastic finite element analyses. The COD values were calculated along the thickness at the center of the crack. As for the loading conditions, only remote tension was considered for the plates, whereas remote tension, global bending moment, and internal pressure were considered for the cylinders. The finite element model employed in the present analysis was verified by using existing solutions for a cylinder with an idealized circumferential through-wall crack. The present results can be used to evaluate leak rates of slanted through-wall cracks, which can be used as a part of a detailed leak-before-break analysis considering more realistic crack shape development.

Plastic Limit Pressure Solutions for Cracked Pipes Using 3-D Finite Element Method

Based on detailed FE limit analyses, the present paper provides tractable approximations fer plastic limit pressure solutions fur axially through-wall-cracked pipe; axially (inner) surface-cracked pipe; circumferentially through-wall-cracked pipe; and circumferentially (inner) surface-cracked pipe. In particular, for surface crack problems, the effect of the crack shape, the semi-elliptical shape or the rectangular shape, on the limit pressure is quantified. Comparisons with existing analytical and empirical solutions show a large discrepancy in circumferential short through-wall cracks and in surface cracks (both axial and circumferential). Being based on detailed 3-D FE limit analysis, the present solutions are believed to be the most accurate, and thus to be valuable information not only for plastic collapse analysis of pressurised piping but also for estimating non-linear fracture mechanics parameters based on the reference stress approach.

Reference Stress Based Fracture Mechanics Analysis for Circumferential Through-Wall Cracked Pipes - Comparison with Pipe Test Data -

This paper presents experimental validation of the enhanced reference stress based J estimates for circumferential through-wall cracked pipes. recently proposed by authors. Using the pipe test data for circumferential through-wall cracked pipes, the predicted fracture initiation and maximum moments according to the proposed enhanced reference stress method are compared with experimental ones as well as predictions from the R6 method. The results show that both the R6 method and the proposed method give conservative estimates of initiation and maximum moments for circumferential through-wall cracked pipes, compared to experimental data. For longer cracks, the proposed method reduces conservatism embedded in estimated J according to the R6 method, and the resulting predictions are less conservative, compared to those from the R6 method. For shorter cracks, on the other hand, the proposed method reduces possible non-conservatism embedded in estimated J according to the R6 method, and the resulting predictions are slightly more conservative.

Plastic Limit Loads for Slanted Circumferential Through-Wall Cracked Pipes Using 3D Finite-Element Limit Analyses

On the basis of detailed 3D finite-element (FE) limit analyses, the plastic limit load solutions for pipes with slanted circumferential through-wall cracks (TWCs) subjected to axial tension, global bending, and internal pressure are reported. The FE model and analysis procedure employed in the present numerical study were validated by comparing the present FE results with existing solutions for plastic limit loads of pipes with idealized TWCs. For the quantification of the effect of slanted crack on plastic limit load, slant correction factors for calculating the plastic limit loads of pipes with slanted TWCs from pipes with idealized TWCs are newly proposed from extensive 3D FE calculations. These slant-correction factors are presented in tabulated form for practical ranges of geometry and for each set of loading conditions.

Development of Assessment Methodology for Locally Wall-Thinned Pipe Under Combined Loading

Recently authors have proposed a new method to estimate failure strength of a pipe with local wall thinning subject to either internal pressure or global bending. The proposed method was based on the equivalent stress averaged over the minimum ligament in the locally wall thinned region, and the simple scheme to estimate the equivalent stress in the minimum ligament was proposed, based on the reference stress concept. This paper extends the new method to combined internal pressure and global bending. The proposed method is validated against FE results for various geometries of local wall thinning under combined loading. The effect of internal pressure is also investigated in the present study. Comparison of maximum moments, predicted according to the proposed method, with published full-scale pipe test data fur locally wall-thinned pipes under combined internal pressure and global bending, shows good agreement.

Plastic η Eactors for J-Integral Testing of Double-Edge Cracked Tension(DE(T)) Plates

Detailed two-dimensional and three-dimensional finite element (FE) analyses of double-edge cracked tension (DE(T)) specimens are carried out to investigate the effect of the relative crack length and the thickness on experimental J testing schemes. Finite element analyses involve systematic variations of relevant parameters, such as the relative crack depth and plate width-to-thickness ratio. Furthermore, the strain hardening index of material is systematically varied, including perfectly plastic (non-hardening) cases. Based on FE results, a robust experimental J estimation scheme is proposed.

Elastic-Plastic J Estimations for Pipes with Off-Centred Circumferential Through-Wall Cracks

This paper provides approximate J estimates for off-centred, circumferential through-wall cracks in cylinders under bending and under combined tension and bending. The proposed method is based on the reference stress approach, where the dependence of elastic and plastic influence functions of J on the cylinder/crack geometry, the off-centred angle and strain hardening is minimised through the use of a proper normalising load. Based on published limited FE results for off-centred, circumferential through-wall cracks under bending, such normalising load is found, based on which the reference stress based J estimates are proposed for more general cases, such as for a different cylinder geometry and for combined loading. Comparison of the estimated J with extensive FE J results shows overall good agreements for different crack/cylinder geometries and for combined tension and bending, which provides sufficient confidence in the use of the proposed method to fracture mechanics analyses of off-centred circumferential cracks. Furthermore, the proposed method is simple to use, giving significant merits in practice.

Effect of Wall Thinned Shape and Pressure on Failure of Wall Thinned Nuclear Piping Under Combined Pressure and Bending Moment

Failure of a pipeline due to local wall thinning is getting more attention in the nuclear power plant industry. Although guidelines such as ANSI/ASME B31G and ASME Code Case N597 are still useful fer assessing the integrity of a wall thinned pipeline, there are some limitations in these guidelines. For instance, these guidelines consider only pressure loading and thus neglect bending loading. However, most Pipelines in nuclear power plants are subjected to internal pressure and bending moment due to dead-weight loads and seismic loads. Therefore, an assessment procedure for locally wall thinned pipeline subjected to combined loading is needed. In this paper, three-dimensional finite element(FE) analyses were performed to simulate full-scale pipe tests conducted for various shapes of wall thinned area under internal pressure and bending moment. Maximum moments based on true ultimate stress(u,t/) were obtained from FE results to predict the failure of the pipe. These results were compared with test results, which showed good agreement. Additional finite element analyses were performed to investigate the effect of key parameters, such as wall thinned depth, wall thinned angle and wall thinned length, on maximum moment. Also, the effect of internal pressure on maximum moment was investigated. Change of internal pressure did not show significant effect on the maximum moment.

Engineering Elastic-Plastic Fracture Analysis for Semi-Elliptical Surface Cracked Plates Under Combined Bending and Tension

The present paper provides an engineering J estimation equation for surface cracked plates under combined bending and tension. The proposed equation is based on the reference stress approach, and the most relevant normalising loads to define the reference stress for accurate J estimations are given for surface cracked plates under combined bending and tension. Comparisons with J results from extensive 3-D FE analyses, covering a wide range of crack geometry, plate geometry and loading combination, show overall good agreement not only at the deepest point but also at arbitrary points along the crack front. for pure tension, agreement between the estimated J and the FE results is excellent, even at the surface point. On the other hand, for pure bending and combined bending and tension, the estimated J values become less accurate for locations close to the surface point. Thus the results in this paper will be useful to assess short-term fracture or low cycle fatigue of surface defects in plates under combined bending and tension.