The Application of Numerical Ductile Fracture Simulation in the LBB Evaluation of Nuclear Pipes
The leak-before-break (LBB) concept is widely used in the design and estimation of piping systems of nuclear power plants, which requires considerable test work to obtain the fracture resistance (J-R) curves of nuclear pipes. The application of numerical ductile fracture simulation can effectively l...
Saved in:
| Main Authors: | , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2025-06-01
|
| Series: | Applied Sciences |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/15/13/7010 |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| Summary: | The leak-before-break (LBB) concept is widely used in the design and estimation of piping systems of nuclear power plants, which requires considerable test work to obtain the fracture resistance (J-R) curves of nuclear pipes. The application of numerical ductile fracture simulation can effectively limit the test work. In this study, an extended stress-modified critical strain (SMCS) model is applied to simulate the crack growth behaviors of full-scale nuclear pipes (SA312 TP304L stainless steel) with a circumferential through-wall crack under a four-point bending load. The LBB evaluation is performed based on the J-R curves of CT specimens and full-scale pipes obtained from fracture resistance tests and numerical simulations. It shows that due to the high crack-tip constraint effect, CT specimens may cause lots of conservatism in the LBB evaluation of nuclear pipes, while the application of numerical ductile fracture simulation can largely reduce the conservatism. |
|---|---|
| ISSN: | 2076-3417 |