A Study on design methods for overpack welds; Acquisition of basic data to quantify welding quality

not registered; not registered; not registered; not registered; Sago, Hiromi*; not registered; not registered

In this study basic data on welds of overpack structures for HLW were acquired and a predictive destruction analysis was performed usig the data acquired, in order to examine the viability of weld design methods. The results are summarized as follows: (1)Investigation of Design and Welding Condition for Welded Joint Models. Three welding methods--EBW, TIG and MAG--were selected, and welding conditions were determined so that the welding quality almost equivalent to that of an actual over-pack was ensured. (2)Fabrication of Welded Joint Models. Three welded joint models, one for each of EBW, TIG and MAG, were fabricated. It was confirmed that these models satisfied the quality requirements for Class I specified in JIS Z3104. (3)Sampling and Machining of Strength Test Specimens. Test specimens were taken from each welded joint model, and models for corrosion tests were delivered to the Japan Nuclear Cycle Development Institute (JNC). (4)Strength Test and Micro/macro Structure observation. Tensile tests were conducted at room temperature and at 150C, and fracture toughness tests at 0C and 150C, in order to obtain stress-strain curves, J-R curves and Vickers hardness. In addition, an observation of micro and macro structures was performed. (5)Evaluation. Using the data on the welds obtained from the tests, a fracture prediction analysis and an evaluation of unstable fracture due to weld flaws were performed on the over-pack design described in the second progress report. The following conclusions were obtained: (a)For the overpack design examined, the effects of welds (material property and residual stress) and fabrication tolerance on fracture loading are negligible. (b)In addition, it was decided that even in a design with reduced wall thickness, welds have an insignificant effect on fracture loading because fracture initiates in the center of the shell of the overpack. (c)The size of flaws leading to unstable fracture is on ...