Investigation on the plasticity correction of stress intensity factor calculations for underclad cracks in reactor vessels

Lu, K. ; Katsuyama, Jinya  ; Li, Y. 

When conducting structural integrity assessments for reactor pressure vessels (RPVs) subjected to pressurized thermal shock (PTS) events, the stress intensity factor (SIF) is evaluated for a postulated surface crack in the inner surface of RPVs. It is known that the cladding made of a stainless steel is a ductile material which is overlay-welded on the inner surface, therefore, the plasticity of cladding should be considered in SIF calculations for a postulated underclad crack to ensure a conservation evaluation. Recently, the authors performed three-dimensional (3D) elastic and elastic-plastic FEAs for Japanese three-loop RPVs and proposed a rational evaluation method on SIFs of underclad cracks. In this paper, further studies were conducted to discuss the applicability of the proposed plasticity correction method. The effect of neutron irradiation was considered. In addition, different Japanese RPV geometries such as two-loop and four-loop RPVs were also investigated.