User's manual and analysis methodology of probabilistic fracture mechanics analysis code PASCAL Ver.5 for reactor pressure vessels

Takamizawa, Hisashi ; Lu, K. ; Katsuyama, Jinya  ; Masaki, Koichi*; Miyamoto, Yuhei*; Li, Y. 

As a part of the structural integrity assessment research for aging light water reactor (LWR) components, a probabilistic fracture mechanics (PFM) analysis code PASCAL (PFM Analysis of Structural Components in Aging LWR) has been developed in Japan Atomic Energy Agency. The PASCAL code can evaluate failure probabilities and failure frequencies of core region in reactor pressure vessel (RPV) under transients by considering the uncertainties of influential parameters. The continuous development of the code aims to improve the reliability by introducing the analysis methodologies and functions base on the state-of-the-art knowledge in fracture mechanics and domestic data. In the first version of PASCAL, which was released in FY2000, the basic framework was developed for analyzing failure probabilities considering pressurized thermal shock events for RPVs in pressurized water reactors (PWRs). In PASCAL Ver. 2 released in FY 2006, analysis functions including the evaluation methods for embedded cracks and crack detection probability models for inspection were introduced. In PASCAL Ver. 3 released in FY 2010, functions considering weld-overlay cladding on the inner surface of RPV were introduced. In PASCAL Ver. 4 released in FY 2017, we improved several functions such as the stress intensity factor solutions, probabilistic fracture toughness evaluation models, and confidence level evaluation function by considering epistemic and aleatory uncertainties related to influential parameters. In addition, the probabilistic calculation method was also improved to speed up the failure probability calculations. To strengthen the practical applications of PFM methodology in Japan, PASCAL code has been improved since FY 2018 to enable PFM analyses of RPVs subjected to a broad range of transients corresponding to both PWRs and boiling water reactors, including pressurized thermal shock, low-temperature over pressure, and normal operational transients. In particular, the stress intensi