Statistical evaluation of post-yield fracture mechanics properties on the basis of the notched bar impact test

By means of the test results it could be shown that a correlation exists between the ductile fracture mechanics parameters for crack initiation J_i and J_Ic and the notch impact energy, in which initially only values from the upper shelf of the notch energy were taken into consideration. Owing to a statistical evaluation and with the aid of the relationships indicated, the user can chose the probability with which the value selected is to be situated within the range in question by which the width of the scatter is presupposed. By consideration of all the distributed values, specifically the J_i, J_Ic and J₅₀ impact energy values and the material characteristic values from the tensile test, it could be demonstrated on two vessels made of modified 22 NiMoCr 3 7 (60 J on the upper shelf of the notch impact energy) and 20 MnMoNi 5 5 (200 J on the upper shelf of the notch impact energy) respectively with axial external cracks that the experimental instability load can be assigned to the upper bound of the scatter band formed from the crack initiation values J_i (J_Ic).     

In situ crack growth observation and fracture toughness measurement of hydrogen charged Zircaloy-4

The effect of hydrogen on the fracture behaviour of a Zircaloy-4 alloy was analysed performing simultaneous fracture mechanics tests of small SE(B) specimens and in situ observation of crack initiation and propagation inside the chamber of a scanning electron microscope. Load and displacement were continuously measured and J_IC, J-R curves and CTOD determinations were obtained. Detailed images of the zone close to the crack tip were taken and the resistance to crack growth was correlated with hydrogen content and hydride morphology. The size and orientation of hydride precipitates showed an important influence on the fracture process. A good agreement with results obtained using standard CT specimens was met.     

Pressure vessel steel fracture toughness in the regime from room temperature to 400°C

The fracture toughness of steels that are susceptible to dynamic strain aging shows a minimum at temperatures higher than the upper shelf starting temperature. This phenomenon is caused simultaneously by strain aging and plastic deformation. The first aim of the present work is to analyze the effect of dynamic strain aging on the fracture toughness values of three pressure vessel steels in the temperature range between room temperature and 400°C. Fracture mechanics tests were carried out on A533 GB, A516 G70 and 304L steels to obtain the following parameters: J_IC, CTOD_m and the J-R curves. These values were compared against those available in the present references, and good agreement was found. Charpy V notch tests were also carried out on A516 G70 steel at the same test temperatures as for the fracture mechanics tests to analyze the effect of the strain rate. The critical wide stretch zones of the 304L steel specimens were also measured to verify another author's hypothesis about a toughness drop at the upper shelf temperature.     

Load-carrying capacity and crack resistance of a cladding by the Sigma-oscillating wire technique

If cracks are postulated in the ferritic base material beneath the austenitic cladding, their initiation and propagation under hypothetical loading cases is influenced by the load carrying capacity of the cladding. The toughness of the KKS-RPV cladding was assessed by means of elastic-plastic fracture mechanics methods. Sub-sized tensile and bend specimens were fabricated by reconstitution technique from broken halves of standard ISO-V Charpy specimens, representing crack extension in radial and circumferential direction. They were tested and evaluated and further analyzed with the Gurson model. For temperatures relevant to the loss of coolant and upset conditions analyzed, a sufficient toughness of the cladding in terms of J and CTOD resistance curves could be shown.     

Elastic-plastic fracture toughness behavior of heavy section steels for nuclear pressure vessels

Fracture toughness tests were performed in the transition region for ASTM A508 Class 3 steel using about 160 specimens. The K_J-values which are converted from J_c of the smaller specimens indicated a wide scatter ranging from below the K_Ic-value to much higher toughness. The fast brittle fracture behavior in the transition regime can be divided into two regions: (1) the region where fracture occurs on a blunting line (Region I) and (2) the region where fracture occurs on an R-curve (Region II). The scatter of the K_J-values in each region is caused by the amount of crack extension contained in the specimens. The methods to obtain the fracture toughness equivalent to the K_Ic from the K_J values were also presented.In the upper shelf region, the ductile fracture behavior of A508 Class 3 base metal and weldments was investigated. The 25% side grooved specimen was recommended for measuring the resistance against ductile crack growth. The weld heat affected zone (HAZ) has comparatively higher tearing modulus, whereas the weld metal shows the lowest one.     

First spinning cylinder test analysis using a local approach to fracture

In recent years, several experimental programmes on large-scale specimens have been organized to evaluate the capabilities of the fracture mechanics concepts employed in structural integrity assessment of pressurized water reactor pressure vessels. During the first spinning cylinder test, a geometry effect was revealed experimentally showing the difficulties of transferring toughness data from small-scale to large-scale specimens. An original analysis of this test, by means of a local approach to fracture, is presented in this paper. Both compact tension specimen and spinning cylinder fracture behaviour were computed using a continuum damage mechanics model developed at EDF. We confirmed by numerical analysis that the cylinder's resistance to ductile tearing was considerably larger than in small-scale fracture mechanics specimen tests, about 50%. The final crack growth predicted by the model was close to the experimental value. Discrepancies in J R curves seemed to be due to an effect of stress triaxiality and plastic zone evolution. The geometry effect inducing differences in resistance to ductile tearing of the material involved in the specimens can be investigated and explained using a local approach to fracture methodology.     

Stable crack growth of axial flaws in pressure vessels

The ductile crack growth of axial through and part-through cracks in a vessel under internal pressure has been studied experimentally to contribute to the fundamental problem whether or not and under which conditions resistance curves obtained from specimens can be transferred to large scale components. The experiments and numerical analyses are part of a research program on fracture mechanics failure concepts for the safety assessment of nuclear components.Whereas only an averaged crack extension is determined in specimen tests, the local propagation of cracks may be of main importance for surface cracks in vessels and pipes. In the present experiments, the surface cracks revealed the well known canoe shape, i.e. a larger crack extension has occurred in the axial direction than in the wall thickness direction. Two of these tests have been analysed by finite element calculations to obtain the variation of the J-integral along the crack front and the stress and strain state in the vicinity of the crack. The local crack resistance appeared to depend on the local stress state. To Predict ductile crack extension correctly, J_R-curves have to account for the varying triaxiality of the stress state along the crack front.     

Influence of loading rate on the crack resistance curve and the initiation temperature

This investigation is concerned with the influence of temperature and loading rate on elastic-plastic fracture in the range of ductile cleavage transition. Side-grooved three point bend specimens of a width of 200 mm and a thickness of 100 mm of two steels of the type 22 NiCrMo 37 of different toughness have been loaded with two deflection rates differing by a factor of 10⁵ in the range between initiation and upper shelf temperature. Due to dynamical loading the transition temperature of these steels has been increased by about 30 K. The slope of the crack resistance curve of the steel of lower toughness was increased considerable due to dynamical loading whereas the slope of the crack resistance curve of the steel of high toughness was increased only negligible. The results suggest that a conservative assessment of dynamically loaded components may be based on quasi-static crack resistance curves. However, in the case of dynamical loading stable crack growth can be supposed only at temperatures being considerable higher than for quasi-static loading.     

Effect of prior crack growth on cleavage fracture of low toughness precracked Charpy specimens

Cleavage fracture of reactor pressure vessel steels in the upper ductile to brittle transition region generally occurs with prior significant ductile crack growth. For low upper shelf materials and using PreCracked Charpy v-notch (PCCv) specimens that can be obtained from conventional surveillance programs, the effect of prior crack growth could be particularly important. In practice, the shape of the Master Curve and the failure distribution could be affected by ductile crack growth. To quantify the effect in practical applications, the effect of prior ductile on cleavage is evaluated on PCCv specimen.The methodology use finite element calculations to grow a ductile crack and infer the brittle failure probability using the local approach to fracture. It is found that for very low upper shelf toughness materials, ductile crack growth enhances the failure probability, induces a steeper failure distribution and affects the shape of the Master Curve. However, for low toughness materials, the enhanced failure probability due to crack growth is compensated by loss of constraint.     

Observations on the effect of post-weld heat treatment on J-resistance curves of sa-106b seamless piping welds

Ontario Hydro has developed a leak-before-break (LBB) methodology for application to large diameter piping (21, 22 and 24 inch) Schedule 100 SA106B heat transport (HT) piping as a design alternative to pipe whip restraints and in recognition of the questionable benefits of providing such devices. Ontario Hydro's LBB approach uses elastic-plastic fracture mechanics (EPFM).In order to assess the stability of HT piping in the presence of hypothetical flaws, the value of the material J-integral associated with crack extension (J— R curve) must be known. In a material test program J-resistance curves were determined from various pipe heats and four different welding procedures that were developed by Ontario Hydro for nuclear Class 1 piping. The test program was designed to investigate and quantify the effect of various factors such as test temperature, crack plane orientation and welding effects which have an influence on fracture properties. An acceptable lower bound J-resistance curve for the piping steels and welds were obtained by machining maximum thickness specimens from the pipes and weldments and by testing side-grooved compact tension specimens. This paper addresses the effect of test temperature and post-weld heat treatment on the J-resistance curves from the welds.The fracture toughness of all the welds at 250°C was lower than that at 20°C. Welds that were post-weld heat treated showed high crack initiation toughness, J_lc, rising J-resistance curves and stable and ductible crack extension. Non post-weld heat treated welds, while remaining tough and ductile, showed comparatively lower J_Ic, and J-resistance curves at 250°C. This drop in toughness is possibly due to a dynamic strain aging mechanism evidenced by serrated load-displacement curves. The fracture toughness of non post-weld heat treated welds increased significantly after a comparable post-weld heat treatment.The test procedure was validated by comparing three test results against independent tests conducted by Materials Engineering Associates (MEA) of Lanham, Maryland. The J_Ic and J-resistance curves obtained by Ontario Hydro and MEA were comparable.     

Influence of microstructural inhomogeneities on the fracture toughness of modified 9Cr–1Mo steel at 298–823 K

Quasistatic fracture behaviour of two heats of modified 9Cr–1Mo steel for steam generator applications have been assessed at 298, 653 and 823 K. J–R curves were established and the elastic–plastic fracture toughness values at 0.2 mm crack extension (J_0.2) were determined. The fracture mechanisms were entirely different for the two steels at 298 K, with brittle fracture controlled by cleavage crack initiation in one and ductile fracture in the other by void nucleation and growth. At 653 and 823 K, fracture in both materials was by ductile crack growth. The difference in behaviour between the two steels at 298 K was attributed to the differences in microstructure, distribution and density of inclusions as well as phosphorous contents.     

Yielding- and fracture behaviour of ferritic steels in the transition region of quasistatic to dynamic loading

This paper presents results of investigations on the influence of loading rate on yielding and fracture behaviour of ferritic steels. The range of loading rates was below a certain level at which a special stress wave analysis is required. Concerning the yielding behaviour it was found, that the yield strength can be predicted by the model of thermally activated flow. The strain hardening dσ/dε appeared to be independent of strain rate, if adiabetic heating can be neglected. Concerning the fracture behaviour it is demonstrated that the K_lc-T-curves are shifted to higher temperatures with increasing loading rate. The temperature shift could be correlated with the strain rate sensitivity m = d lnσ/d lnε. The ductile/brittle transition temperature increases with incrasing loading rate. For the upper shelf region crack resistance curves as a function of loading rate are presented. It is shown that the crack length can be determined using the key-curve-method. A slightly increasing tendency of the evaluated J_R-curves was found.     

Energy transformation during dynamic crack initiation and arrest

This contribution deals with the experimental determination of fracture mechanics parameters concerning dynamic crack initiation, crack propagation and crack arrest demonstrated on reactor pressure vessel steels 20 MnMoNi 5 5 and 22 NiMoCr 3 7. Appropriate measuring methods are available to determine the impact fracture toughness K_Id for CT specimens and CCP specimens. However, for small scale specimens there are still experimental and theoretical problems to be met with when determining the fracture heat of a propagating crack and ascertaining the parameters of arrest.     

Large stable crack growth in fracture mechanics specimens

According to the J concept, information is reported about the crack resistance behaviour up to 8 mm crack growth of side-grooved CT-25 as well as CCT-25 specimens made from German standard steel StE 460. Numerical simulations controlled by J_R curves make the calculation of J from the stresses and strains of specimen models during large crack growth feasible. These data allow a comparison to standards and rules describing the evaluation of J from experiments. Using stress, strain and displacement fields from a plane-strain finite-element analysis, the extended J concept is discussed concerning larger ductile crack growth. Additionally, the distribution of other fracture mechanics parameters such as the crack tip opening displacement (CTOD) and the crack tip opening angle (CTOA) are presented for larger crack growth.     

The effect of irradiation on the toughness of pressurized water reactor vessel steels under different service conditions

The different toughness tests performed on two pressure vessel steels with very different upper shelves served to make a number of observations concerning the shifts in the transition temperature due to the effect of irradiation, as well as changes in toughness with temperature in the ductile region.With respect to shifts in the transition temperature, the following was observed: the shift obtained with precracked charpy test specimens was narrower than with the others; the shift obtained with charpy V impact tests was substantially equal to that obtained with CT test specimens — wider in the case of steel A, but slightly narrower in that of steel H.With respect to toughness values in the ductile region: the toughness values obtained using precracked charpy test specimens are significantly higher than those obtained with CT test specimens for static tests; 25and 12.5 mm thick CT test specimens display comparable variations in J_1C and dJ/da, but with wide scattering; the effect of irradiation, if any, is of the same order of magnitude as the scattering of the results — however, a test temperature effect is observed; the variation in toughness with temperature is determined more easily by considering a J value corresponding to a stable crack propagation of 1 mm, so that ; this variation of J_Δal with temperature is substantially the same for both steels, or about −30% at 70 or 80°C, and −50% at 290°C.     

New approaches to improve the RPV materials data base

The models for the local approach to cleavage fracture and to ductile tearing include the effects of specimen geometry and loading situation on the damage development. Thus, these concepts can be used to predict fracture toughness and tearing resistance curves for different sizes of specimens or structures, based on an analysis of tests with small, simple specimens. This advantage is especially valuable if only small pieces of material are available for testing which do not allow for standard fracture specimens. The paper outlines the basic ideas of the Beremin concept for the fracture process in brittle-to-ductile transition regime and of the modified Gurson model for ductile fracture in the upper shelf. A systematic study for the brittle-to-ductile transition regime showed that the Beremin model has to be modified to take into account the effect plastic strain has on the fracture process. For ductile fracture, it was demonstrated that by testing and modeling a smooth bar and a fracture mechanics specimen, one set of material parameters may be found which can be subsequently applied to other structures and, hence, used to extend the material data base.     

Use of J–R curves in assessing the fracture behavior of low upper shelf toughness materials

The objective of this investigation was to evaluate the use of small specimen J–R curves in assessing the fracture resistance behavior of reactor vessels containing low upper shelf (LUS) toughness weldments. As required by the U.S. Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR, Part 50), reactor vessel beltline materials must maintain an upper shelf Charpy V-Notch (CVN) energy of at least 50 ft-lbs (68 J) throughout vessel life. If CVN values from surveillance specimens fall below this value, the utility must demonstrate to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) that the lower values will provide “margins of safety against fracture equivalent to those required by Appendix G of the ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code”. This paper will present recommendations regarding the material fracture resistance aspects of this problem and outline an analysis procedure for demonstrating adequate fracture safety based on CVN values.It is recommended that the deformation formulation of the J-integral be used in the analysis described above. For cases where J-integral fracture toughness testing will be required, the ASTM E1152-87 procedure should be followed, however, data should be taken to 50% to 60% of the specimen remaining ligament. Extension of the crack growth validity limits for J–R curve testing, as described in E1152-87, can be justified on the basis of a “J-controlled crack growth zone” analysis which shows an engineering basis for J-control to 25% to 40% of the specimen remaining ligament. If J-R curve extrapolations are required for the analysis, a simple power law fit to data in the extended validity region should be used. The example analysis performed for low upper shelf weld material, showed required CVN values for a reactor vessel with a 7.8 inch (198 mm) thick wall ranging from 32 ft-lbs (43 J) to 48 ft-lbs (65 J), depending on the magnitude of the thermal stress component.     

Tests on large scale LMFR piping Part I: crack resistance properties of through-cracked straight 700 mm nominal diameter pipes tested under bending at ambient temperature and 550°C

Knowing the crack resistance properties of a structure is essential for fracture mechanics safety analyses. Considerable attention has to be given in many cases to the through-wall case, since this is generally believed to be the controlling case with regard to complete pipe failure. Within a cooperative fracture mechanics programme of Electricite de France (EdF), Novatome and Siemens/KWU, bending tests with monotonously increasing load on circumferentially cracked straight pipes of typical liquid metal fast reactor (LMFR) main piping dimensions were performed. In this paper a summary report is given on crack resistance curves based on the crack tip parameters S, J and JM. The data are compared with those of C(T) specimens. The experiments have demonstrated an enormous potential for stable crack extension under global bending which is a typical loading for LMFR piping structures. The results of checking the transferability of laboratory specimen crack growth characteristics to the cracked pipes on the austenitic stainless steel 316 L demonstrate that the fracture mechanics concept for a reliable transfer of crack resistance data from small specimen geometries to large structures needs further qualification for high toughness materials.     

Influence of hydrogen content on impact toughness of Zr-2.5Nb pressure tube alloy

Influence of hydrogen content on the impact toughness of Zr-2.5% Nb alloy was examined by carrying out instrumented drop weight tests in the temperature range of 25-250 °C using curved Charpy specimens fabricated from unirradiated pressure tubes of Indian Pressurized Heavy Water Reactor (IPHWR). Hydrogen content of the samples was between 10 and 170 ppm by weight (wppm). Sharp ductile-to-brittle-transition behaviour was demonstrated by hydrided materials. The temperature for the onset of transition increased with the increase in the hydrogen content of the specimens. The fracture surfaces of unhydrided specimen exhibited ductile fracture caused by micro void coalescence and tear ridges at lower temperatures and by fibrous fracture at intermediate and at higher temperatures. Except for the samples tested at the upper shelf energy levels, the fracture surfaces of all hydrided samples were suggestive of hydride assisted failure. In most cases the transverse cracks observed in the fracture path matched well with the hydride precipitate distribution and orientation.     

Coupled phenomenological and fracture mechanics approach to assess the fracture behaviour of TWC piping component

The present study demonstrates the numerical prediction of experimental specimen J-R curve using Gurson-Tvergaard-Needleman phenomenologically based material model. The predicted specimen J-R curve is used to determine the geometric independent initiation fracture toughness (J_SZWc) value that compares well with experimental result. Using the experimentally determined and numerically predicted J_SZWc values and specimen J-R curves, the accuracy of predicting the fracture behaviour of the cracked component is judged. Thus the present study proposed a coupled phenomenological and fracture mechanics approach to predict the crack initiation and instability stages in cracked piping components using numerically predicted specimen J-R curve obtained from tensile specimens testing data.