• Transactions of the Korean Society of Pressure Vessels and Piping
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• v.8 no.3
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• pp.13-22
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• 2012

According to recent research on leak-rate estimates to assess rupture probabilities of nuclear piping which contains a circumferential surface/through-wall cracks due to PWSCC, i.e., xLPR (Extremely Low Probability of Rupture) program, it has been revealed that the use of crack shape with an idealized circumferential through-wall crack during actual crack growth can lead to overestimate of the leak-rate. Thus, for accurate estimation of the leak-rate during crack growth, the more realistic crack shape that can simulate the crack shape transition from surface crack to through-wall crack should be used. In this context, in the present study, the elastic crack opening displacement of slanted circumferential through-wall crack in thick-walled cylinder was proposed based on 3-dimensional elastic finite element fracture mechanics analyses. To propose the elastic crack opening displacement of slanted circumferential through-wall crack in thick-walled cylinder, the geometric variables affecting crack opening displacement, i.e., thickness of cylinder, reference inner crack length and slant crack ratio were systematically varied. In terms of loading conditions, axial tension, global bending moment and internal pressure were considered. The present results can be applied to calculate the leak-rate considering more realistic crack shape transition from surface crack to idealized through-wall crack, and can be expected to enhance current leak-rate estimation scheme, for instance, in xLPR program etc.

• Proceedings of the KSME Conference
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• 2007.05a
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• pp.1778-1782
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• 2007

Based on three-dimensional (3-D) FE limit analyses, this paper estimates effect of internal pressure on plastic limit loads for elbows with circumferential through-wall crack under in-plane bending incorporating large geometry change effects. Circumferential through-wall crack in extrados is considered. The FE limit analyses using the large geometry change option provide plastic collapse loads (using the twice-elastic-slope method). For the bending mode, closing bending is considered. Other relevant variables affecting plastic limit loads are systematically varied, related to pipe bend geometry (the mean radius, thickness and bend curvature) and defect geometry (the length of circumferential through-wall crack).

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.30 no.5 s.248
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• pp.568-575
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• 2006

The present paper provides plastic limit load solutions of axial and circumferential through-wall cracked pipes based on detailed three-dimensional (3-D) finite element (FE) limit analysis using elastic-perfectly-plastic behavior. As a loading condition, axial tension, global bending moment, internal pressure, combined tension and bending and combined internal pressure and bending are considered for circumferential through-wall cracked pipes, while only internal pressure is considered for axial through-wall cracked pipes. Especially, more emphasis is given for through-wall cracked pipes subject to combined loading. Comparisons with existing solutions show a large discrepancy in short through-wall crack (both axial and circumferential) for internal pressure. In the case of combined loading, the FE limit analyses results show thickness effect on limit load solutions. Furthermore, the plastic limit load solution for circumferential through-wall cracked pipes under bending is applied to derive plastic $\eta\;and\;{\gamma}$-factor of testing circumferential through-wall cracked pipes to estimate fracture toughness. Being based on detailed 3-D FE limit analysis, the present solutions are believed to be meaningful fur structural integrity assessment of through-wall cracked pipes.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Nondestructive Testing
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.138-146
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• 2013

The present paper provides the elastic stress intensity factors(SIFs) of thick-walled cylinder with non-idealized circumferential through-wall cracks. For estimating these elastic SIFs, the systematic three-dimensional(3D) elastic finite element(FE) analyses were performed. In order to consider practical shape of thick-walled cylinder and non-idealized circumferential through-wall crack, the values of thickness of cylinder, reference crack length and crack length ratio were systematically varied. As for loading conditions, axial tension, global bending and internal pressure were considered. In particular, in order to calculate the SIFs of thick-walled cylinder with non-idealized circumferential through-wall crack from those of thick-walled cylinder with idealized circumferential through-wall crack, the correction factor representing the effect of non-idealized crack on the SIFs were proposed in this paper. The present results can be applied to accurately evaluate the rupture probabilities of nuclear piping considering actual crack growth behaviors.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.39 no.1
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• pp.75-84
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• 2007

This paper presents a closed-form model for evaluating the restraint effect of pressure induced bending on the opening of a circumferential through-wall crack, which is considered plastic deformation behavior. Three-dimensional finite element analyses with different crack lengths, restraint conditions, pipe geometries, magnitudes of internal pressure, and tensile properties were used to investigate the influence of each parameter on the pressure-induced bending restraint on the crack opening displacement. From these investigations, an analytical model based on elastic-perfectly plastic material was developed in terms of the crack length, symmetric restraint length, mean radius to thickness ratio, axial stress corresponding to the internal pressure, and normalized crack opening displacement evaluated from a linear-elastic crack opening condition. Finite element analyses results demonstrate that the proposed analytical model reliably estimated the restraint effect of pressure-induced bending on the plastic crack opening of a circumferential through-wall crack and properly reflected the dependence on each parameter within the range over which the analytical expression was derived.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.30 no.9 s.252
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• pp.1134-1141
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• 2006

This paper presents the model for evaluating restraint effect of pressure induced bending (PIB) on the circumferential through-wall crack opening displacement (COD), which considers plastic behavior of crack. This study performed three-dimensional elastic-plastic finite element (FE) analyses for different crack angle, restraint length, pipe geometry, stress level, and material conditions, and evaluated the influence of each parameter on the PIB restraint effect on COD. Based on these evaluations and additional perfectly-plastic FE analyses, a closed-form model to evaluate the restraint effect of PIB on the plastic crack opening of circumferential through-wall crack, was proposed as functions of crack angle, restraint length, radius to thickness ratio, axial stress corresponding to an internal pressure, and normalized COD evaluated from linear-elastic crack opening condition.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.26 no.6
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• pp.1099-1106
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• 2002

This paper provides engineering J-integral and crack opening displacement (COD) estimation equations for circumferential through-wall cracked pipes under internal pressure and under combined internal pressure and bending. Based on selected 3-D finite element calculations for the circumferential through-wall cracked pipes under internal pressure using the idealized power law materials, the elastic and plastic influence functions for fully plastic J-integral and COD solutions are found as a function of the normalized crack length and the mean radius-to-thickness ratio. These developed GE/EPRI-type solutions are then re-formulated based on the enhanced reference stress method. Such re-formulation not only provides simpler equations for J-integral and COD estimations, but also can be easily extended to combined internal pressure and bending. The proposed equations are compared with elastic-plastic finite element results using actual stress-strain data, which shows overall excellent agreement.

• Proceedings of the KSME Conference
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• 2003.04a
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• pp.389-396
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• 2003

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.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.638-646
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• 2003

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.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.27 no.7
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• pp.1170-1178
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• 2003

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.