Development of a crack opening displacement assessment procedure considering change of compliance at a crack part in thin wall pipes made of modified 9Cr-1Mo steel

き裂による剛性変化を考慮した改良9Cr-1Mo鋼製薄肉大口径配管のき裂開口変位評価法の開発

若井 隆純 ; 町田 秀夫*; 荒川 学*; 柳原 星児*; 鈴木 良祐*; 松原 雅昭*

Wakai, Takashi; Machida, Hideo*; Arakawa, Manabu*; Yanagihara, Seiji*; Suzuki, Ryosuke*; Matsubara, Masaaki*

本研究は、高速炉(SFR)配管のLBB評価に使用されるき裂開口変位(COD)評価法を確立するために実施した。SFR配管については、LBB成立を前提に定期検査における体積試験を連続漏えい監視に代えることが想定されている。SFR配管は改良9Cr-1Mo鋼製で、内圧が低く、薄肉大口径である。改良9Cr-1Mo鋼は、従来のオーステナイト系ステンレス鋼と比較して高強度低延性である。LBB評価では、これらを考慮して貫通き裂からの冷却材漏えい率を適切に推定しなければならない。漏えい率はCODと強く関係するので、適切なCOD評価法を確立する必要があるが、薄肉大口径の高強度低延性材料製SFR配管に適用可能なCOD評価法は未だ提案されていない。そこで本研究では、改良9Cr-1Mo鋼の薄肉大口径管に適用可能なCOD評価法を提案した。すなわち、パラメトリックな有限要素解析(FEA)で計算したCODを弾性、小規模降伏と大規模降伏の各成分に分解し、それぞれ多項式近似して与えた。さらに、周方向貫通き裂を有する改良9Cr-1Mo鋼管を用いた4点曲げ試験の結果との比較により、その適用性について検討した。その結果、CODを過大評価する場合があることが分かった。LBB評価では小さめの漏えい率を想定する方が安全側であるため、ここではLBB評価にはCODの弾性成分のみを考慮することを推奨した。

This paper studies crack opening displacement (COD) evaluation methods used in Leak-Before-Break (LBB) assessment of Sodium cooled Fast Reactor (SFR) pipe. For SFR pipe, the continuous leak monitoring will be adopted as an alternative to a volumetric test of the weld joints under conditions that satisfy LBB. The sodium pipes are made of ASME Gr.91 (modified 9Cr-1Mo steel). Thickness of the pipes is small, because the internal pressure is very small. Modified 9Cr-1Mo steel has a relatively large yield stress and small work hardening coefficient comparing to the austenitic stainless steels which are currently used in the conventional plants. In order to assess the LBB behavior of the sodium pipes made of modified 9Cr-1Mo steel, the coolant leak rate from a through wall crack must be estimated properly. Since the leak rate is strongly related to the crack opening displacement (COD), an appropriate COD assessment method must be established to perform LBB assessment. However, COD assessment method applicable for SFR pipes - having thin wall thickness and made of small work hardening material - has not been proposed yet. Thus, a COD assessment method applicable to such a pipe was proposed in this study. In this method, COD was calculated by classifying the components of COD; elastic, local plastic and fully plastic. In addition, the verification of this method was performed by comparing with the results of a series of four-point bending tests using modified 9Cr-1Mo steel pipe having a circumferential through wall notch. As a result, in some cases, COD were over-estimated especially for large cracks. Although the elastic component of COD is still over-estimated for large cracks, leak evaluation from small cracks is much more important in LBB assessment. Therefore, this study recommends that only the elastic component of COD should be adopted in LBB assessment of SFR pipes.