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Abstract:
When cracks are detected in structural components of nuclear power plants, the integrity of cracked components should be assessed by comparing the material strength with the crack driving force (e.g., stress intensity factor KI). To support the structural integrity assessment of nuclear components with cracks, several fitness-for-service (FFS) codes have been established in which KI solutions are provided for various components and cracks. For nozzle corner cracks in reactor pressure vessels (RPVs), the existing KI solutions are found to have limitations in applications because of the complexity of nozzle geometrical configurations and stress concentrations. In particular, only KI solutions at the deepest point of the nozzle corner crack are provided in the FFS codes and the applicable range of those KI solutions is not clear. Thus, in this study, three-dimensional finite element analyses (FEAs) were performed to develop normalized KI solutions for a wide range of nozzle corner cracks, with the objective of supporting the structural integrity assessment of RPV nozzles. The RPV inner radius to thickness ratio Rv/tv from 5 to 20, nozzle inner radius to thickness ratio Rn/tn from 1 to 5, and the nozzle inner radius to RPV inner radius ratio Rn/Rv from 0.025 to 0.25, were considered in the FEAs. The KI solutions along the crack front of nozzle corner cracks with the normalized crack depth a/te from 0.1 to 0.6 (herein, te = 2·max(tv, tn)) were analyzed with a fourth-order polynomial stress distribution applied on the crack face. By using the developed KI solutions for nozzle corner cracks, several application examples considering internal pressure and thermal transient are also presented in this paper. The results demonstrate that the developed KI solutions are highly useful for the integrity assessment of cracked RPV nozzles under diverse loading conditions. © 2025 Elsevier Ltd
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International Journal of Pressure Vessels and Piping
ISSN: 0308-0161
Year: 2025
Volume: 218
3 . 0 0 0
JCR@2023
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ESI Highly Cited Papers on the List: 0 Unfold All
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30 Days PV: 2
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