Development of failure mitigation technologies for improving resilience of nuclear structures, 1; Failure mitigation by passive safety structures without catastrophic failure

Kasahara, Naoto*; Yamano, Hidemasa; Nakamura, Izumi*; Demachi, Kazuyuki*; Sato, Takuya*; Ichimiya, Masakazu*

Transactions of the 27th International Conference on Structural Mechanics in Reactor Technology (SMiRT 27) (Internet), 8 Pages, 2024/03

In this study, we propose failure mitigation methods by application of passive safety structures. The idea of the passive safety structures was applied to next generation fast reactors under high temperature conditions and excessive earthquake conditions.

Corrosion fatigue crack growth behavior of a structurally gradient steel for high-speed railway axles

Ao, N.*; Zhang, H.*; Xu, H. H.*; Wu, S. C.*; Liu, D.*; Xu, P. G.; Su, Y. H.; Kang, Q. H.*; Kang, G. Z.*

Engineering Fracture Mechanics, 281, p.109166_1 - 109166_14, 2023/03

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.engfracmech.2023.109166

Hydrogen embrittlement resistance of pre-strained ultra-high-strength low alloy TRIP-aided steel

Hojo, Tomohiko*; Kumai, B.*; Koyama, Motomichi*; Akiyama, Eiji*; Waki, Hiroyuki*; Saito, Hiroyuki*; Shiro, Ayumi*; Yasuda, Ryo*; Shobu, Takahisa; Nagasawa, Akihiko*

International Journal of Fracture, 224(2), p.253 - 260, 2020/08

https://doi.org/10.1007/s10704-020-00451-5

In the study, the pre-strain effect on hydrogen embrittlement property of the ultra-high-strength transformation-induced plasticity -aided bainitic ferrite steel was investigated towards application for automobile frame parts. 3-10% tensile pre-strain suppressed hydrogen-induced mechanical degradation relative to total elongation while 12-15% pre-strained specimen did not exhibit elongation after hydrogen charging. The advantageous effect of the 3-10% pre-strain was attributed to the suppression of crack initiation related to retained austenite. The TRIP by pre-straining decreased the volume fraction of retained austenite before hydrogen charging, thereby reducing existing probabilities of preferential crack initiation sites and propagation paths. Conversely, high pre-strain such as 12-15% does not effectively work due to work hardening resulting in increases in hydrogen embrittlement susceptibility and a significant increase in hydrogen content due to the multiplication of dislocations.

Effect of welding on gigacycle fatigue strength of austenitic stainless steels

Naoe, Takashi; Wakui, Takashi; Kogawa, Hiroyuki; Wakai, Eiichi; Haga, Katsuhiro; Takada, Hiroshi

Advanced Experimental Mechanics, 3, p.123 - 128, 2018/08

A mercury target vessel, composed of SUS316L, is used for the pulsed neutron source and is assembled via TIG welding. While in operation, the target vessel suffers ca. 10 loading cycles with a high strain rate of ca. 50 s because of the proton-beam-induced pressure waves in mercury. The gigacycle fatigue strength for solution annealed SUS316L stainless steels and its welded specimens were investigated through ultrasonic fatigue tests. The experimental results showed that an obvious fatigue limit was not observed at fewer than 10 cycles for the base metal. In the case of no weld defects observed via penetration tests, the fatigue strength of the removed-weld-bead specimen, in which the weld lines were arranged at the center of the specimen, appeared to be slightly higher than that of the base metal. By contrast, as-welded specimens with the weld bead intact showed apparent degradation of the fatigue strength owing to the stress concentration around the weld toe.

Fatigue crack growth for ferritic steel under negative stress ratio

Yamaguchi, Yoshihito; Hasegawa, Kunio; Li, Y.

Proceedings of 2018 ASME Pressure Vessels and Piping Conference (PVP 2018), 6 Pages, 2018/07

Crack closure during fatigue crack growth is an important phenomenon for predicting fatigue crack growth amount. Much experimental data shows that fatigue cracks close at not only negative loads but also positive loads during a constant amplitude loading cycle. The Appendix A-4300 in the ASME Code Section XI provides two equations of fatigue crack growth rates expressed by stress intensity factor range for ferritic steels under negative stress ratio. One is the equation taking into account crack closure and the other does not consider the crack closure. The boundary of crack closure is classified by the magnitude of applied stress intensity factor range. The objective of this paper is to investigate the influence of the magnitude of stress intensity factor range on crack closure. Fatigue tests have been performed on ferritic steel in air environment at room and high temperatures. Crack closures were obtained as a parameter of stress ratio. It was found that crack closure occurs more small applied stress intensity factor range than the definition given by the Appendix A-4300.

Detection of fatigue damage in stainless steel by EBSD analysis; Applicability of EBSD pattern quality

Kuroda, Masatoshi*; Kamaya, Masayuki*; Yamada, Teruaki*; Akita, Koichi

Nihon Kikai Gakkai Rombunshu (Internet), 83(852), p.17-00072_1 - 17-00072_7, 2017/07

https://doi.org/10.1299/transjsme.17-00072

In order to assess the fatigue damage of austenitic stainless steels by electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) method more simply and easily, it should be more preferable to use a commercially available general-purpose EBSD analysis software rather than to employ an in-house developed EBSD analysis programme. In the present study, EBSD measurement was performed for Type 316 austenitic stainless steels subjected to cyclic loading, and the applicability of the EBSD parameter relevant to the pattern quality, which could be obtained by the commercial software, to the fatigue damage assessment was discussed by comparing the other EBSD parameter of the averaged local misorientation (Mave), which could be calculated by the in-house developed programme. As a result, the EBSD parameter relevant to the pattern quality, which signified the full width at half maximum (FWHM) of the histogram distribution of the image quality (IQ), was saturated at the beginning stage of the fatigue cycles, while Mave was increased monotonically with the cycles. This suggested that the FWHM of IQ could be useful to detect the initial stage of the fatigue damage, while Mave was suitable for the quantitative evaluation of the fatigue damage. XRD measurement was also carried out for the same samples employed in the EBSD measurement, and the XRD data was compared with the EBSD data to discuss the crystallographic mechanism of the change in the FWHM of IQ. As a result, it was found that the FWHM of the (111) XRD peak correlated well with the FWHM of IQ. Because the (111) plane in fcc metal such as austenitic stainless steel was most preferable for slip system, this implied that the change in the distribution of the pattern quality generated by the fatigue loading could be due to the slip deformation.

Establishment of numerical estimation method for high cycle thermal fatigue in sodium-cooled fast reactor, 2; Benchmark analysis using planar triple parallel jet sodium test for fundamental validation

Tanaka, Masaaki; Kobayashi, Jun; Nagasawa, Kazuyoshi*

Dai-22-Kai Doryoku, Enerugi Gijutsu Shimpojiumu Koen Rombunshu (USB Flash Drive), 4 Pages, 2017/06

In JAEA, a numerical simulation code named MUGTHES which can deal with conjugate heat transfer between the fluid and the structure parts has been developed for estimation of the thermal fatigue issue. In fundamental validation, the benchmark analysis was considered using the experiment of planar triple parallel jet sodium test (PLAJEST). Three specific experimental conditions at Vr=1, 1.56, and 5.56 were employed for the benchmark analyses according to the knowledge in the literatures. Through the benchmarks, applicability of the large eddy simulation (LES) approach with the standard Smagorinsky model in MUGTHES to simulate thermal striping phenomena was potentially confirmed and issues to be modified in the future works were indicated.

Development of V2UP (V&V plus uncertainty quantification and prediction) procedure for high cycle thermal fatigue in fast reactor; Framework for V&V and numerical prediction

Tanaka, Masaaki; Ohno, Shuji; Ohshima, Hiroyuki

Nuclear Engineering and Design, 299, p.174 - 183, 2016/04

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nucengdes.2015.07.010

A procedure called as V2UP (Verification and Validation plus Uncertainty quantification and Prediction) was made by referring to the existing guidelines on V&V and the methodologies of the safety assessment (CSAU, ISTIR, EMDAP). The V2UP consisted of five components as follows: (1) phenomena analysis with the Phenomena Identification and Ranking Table (PIRT) method, (2) implementation of the V&V, (3) design and rearrangement of experiments for the V&V, (4) uncertainty quantification in each problem and integration of uncertainties and (5) numerical prediction (estimation) for the target issue. Although the complete application of the procedure has not been performed at this moment, a flow chart of the V2UP procedure was described in this paper with recent results of the examinations.

Development of numerical estimation method for high cycle thermal fatigue by coupling of fluid-structure thermal interaction simulation and thermal stress analysis

Tanaka, Masaaki; Miyake, Yasuhiro*

Nihon Kikai Gakkai M&M 2015 Zairyo Rikigaku Kanfarensu Koen Rombunshu (Internet), 3 Pages, 2015/11

http://ci.nii.ac.jp/naid/110010053490

A prototype coupling method consisting of the fluid-structure thermal interaction simulation code MUGTHES and the structural thermal stress analysis code FINAS with interface program MUFIN has been developed in order to estimate the thermal fatigue in the SFRs. As a fundamental validation of the coupled method, it was applied to the water experiment for thermal mixing phenomena in a T-junction piping system. In the experiment, thermal interaction between the fluid and the structure made of aluminum installed to the branch pipe side wall was considered. Through the numerical simulations, applicability of the coupled method was confirmed.

Establishment of numerical estimation method for high cycle thermal fatigue estimation in sodium-cooled fast reactor, 1; Conceptual model development for numerical estimation by using PIRT method

Tanaka, Masaaki

Dai-20-Kai Doryoku, Enerugi Gijutsu Shimpojiumu Koen Rombunshu, p.55 - 58, 2015/06

Numerical estimation method for high cycle thermal fatigue on a structure has been developed in JAEA. In development of numerical simulation codes and application of the codes to plant design, implementation of verification and validation (V&V) is indispensable. A procedure called as V2UP (Verification and Validation plus Uncertainty quantification and Prediction) has been made by referring to the existing guidelines on V&V. The PIRT (Phenomena Identification and Ranking Table) method based on the nine-step process used by the USNRC for the next generation nuclear plant development was employed at the first step of the V2UP. Through the first step of the V2UP with PIRT method, the conceptual model for the numerical estimation of high cycle thermal fatigue was successfully constructed.