Study on grain refinement for suppression of surface cracks in stainless steel used for nuclear reactor core (Thesis)

Hirota, Noriaki

JAEA-Review 2025-054, 132 Pages, 2026/03

JAEA-Review-2025-054.pdf:14.65MB

In recent years, extending the operational lifetimes of nuclear power plants and constructing new facilities have been conducted worldwide to achieve carbon neutrality. In Japan, following the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station accident on March 11, 2011, only light water reactors (LWRs) that meet newly established safety standards have been permitted to restart, with most restarted plants being pressurized water reactors (PWRs), which differ from the boiling water reactors (BWRs) that were utilized at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station. Stress corrosion cracking (SCC) poses a serious safety concern in nuclear power plants. In particular, stainless steels such as SUS304 and SUS316 are susceptible to crack initiation due to oxide films and residual stresses. Countermeasures such as alloy composition modification and laser peening, which imparts compressive residual stresses, have been attempted; however, it remains uncertain whether compressive residual stresses can be retained for long periods under high-temperature conditions. Therefore, this study focuses on grain refinement processing as a novel approach for SCC mitigation and establishes a fabrication process for grain-refined stainless steels. The influence of grain refinement on SCC crack initiation was systematically analyzed under simulated reactor environments, and the mechanisms of SCC suppression were investigated. Furthermore, a surface-localized grain refinement technique was proposed and its effectiveness in suppressing SCC was evaluated. These results indicate that this technology can significantly contribute to SCC mitigation during long-term operation of nuclear power plants and is expected to play an important role in extending the service life of structural components such as shrouds.

Analytical study on stress behavior of core graphite components using simplified viscoelastic evaluation model

Saijo, Tomoaki; Shimazaki, Yosuke; Ishihara, Masahiro

JAEA-Technology 2025-010, 126 Pages, 2025/12

JAEA-Technology-2025-010.pdf:12.52MB

During the operation of the High Temperature Engineering Test Reactor (HTTR), thermal stress is generated in the graphite components. In addition, graphite exhibits dimensional shrinkage and creep deformation under neutron irradiation. As a result, residual stress remains in the graphite components during reactor shutdown. Therefore, in the design of the HTTR core graphite structures, stress analyses of the graphite components have previously been performed using the finite element analysis code VIENUS. In the HTTR, the graphite components are exposed to a wide range of temperature, from approximately 400C to 1200C, depending on their location. Consequently, irradiation-induced behaviors such as material property changes and irradiation shrinkage vary among the graphite components. On the other hand, since VIENUS code evaluates stress based on thermal fluid and heat conduction analysis results, it is not suitable for parametric studies. In this study, the influence of irradiation behavior on the stress behavior of graphite components in the wide temperature range (400C to 1200C) was analyzed using simplified viscoelastic evaluation model, consisting of two beam elements, to conduct efficient parametric studies. Operational stress exhibits two distinct patterns depending on whether the irradiation temperature is below or above 800C, due to irradiation shrinkage. Residual stress approaches the thermal stress, preventing excessive increase even when irradiation shrinkage is large. Moreover good agreement in stress behavior trends was observed between the stress analysis results by the simplified viscoelastic evaluation model and VIENUS code. These results indicate that the simplified viscoelastic evaluation model is beneficial in simulating stress behavior.

Residual stresses of small-bore butt-welded piping measured by quantum beam hybrid method

Suzuki, Kenji*; Miura, Yasufumi*; Toyokawa, Hidenori*; Shiro, Ayumi*; Shobu, Takahisa; Morooka, Satoshi; Shibayama, Yuki

Quantum Beam Science (Internet), 9(2), p.15_1 - 15_15, 2025/06

https://doi.org/10.3390/qubs9020015

Modeling of hardness and welding residual stress in Type 316 stainless steel components for the assessment of stress corrosion cracking

Li, S.; Yamaguchi, Yoshihito; Katsuyama, Jinya; Li, Y.; Deng, D.*

Proceedings of the ASME 2023 Pressure Vessels and Piping Conference (PVP 2023) (Internet), 7 Pages, 2023/07

https://doi.org/10.1115/PVP2023-103449

Analysis of residual stress in steel bar processed by cold drawing and straightening

Nishida, Satoru*; Nishino, Soichiro*; Sekine, Masahiko*; Oka, Yuki*; Harjo, S.; Kawasaki, Takuro; Suzuki, Hiroshi; Morii, Yukio*; Ishii, Yoshinobu*

Materials Transactions, 62(5), p.667 - 674, 2021/05

https://doi.org/10.2320/matertrans.P-M2021808

Synchrotron radiation X-ray diffraction method

Hayashi, Makoto*; Shobu, Takahisa

Residual Stress, p.100 - 132, 2021/00

Structural materials may undergo fatigue fracture or stress corrosion cracking during use. One of the causes is the residual stress generated by heat treatment and processing in the manufacturing process of structural materials. There are various methods for measuring the residual stress. This book introduces measurement techniques using ultrasonic and magnetic methods, starting with laboratory X-rays, synchrotron radiation X-rays, and neutrons. In addition, we will outline examples of measurement of residual stress due to processing and welding of various materials, measurement examples of actual machines, change behavior of residual stress due to static and repeated loads, and evaluation methods of fatigue remaining life based on the change behavior.

Neutron diffraction study on full-shape Japanese sword

Harjo, S.; Kawasaki, Takuro; Grazzi, F.*; Shinohara, Takenao; Tanaka, Manako*

Materialia, 7, p.100377_1 - 100377_9, 2019/09

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mtla.2019.100377

Study on shot peened residual stress distribution under cyclic loading by numerical analysis

Ikushima, Kazuki*; Kitani, Yuji*; Shibahara, Masakazu*; Nishikawa, Satoru*; Furukawa, Takashi*; Akita, Koichi; Suzuki, Hiroshi; Morooka, Satoshi

Yosetsu Gakkai Rombunshu (Internet), 35(2), p.75s - 79s, 2017/06

http://www.jweld.jp/quarterly/v35/visual/35_75s.pdf

Residual stress measurement technique using X-ray and neutron diffraction methods

Suzuki, Hiroshi

Netsu Shori, 46(1), p.11 - 18, 2006/02

http://ci.nii.ac.jp/naid/10017314187

no abstracts in English

Residual stress evaluation of butt weld sample of high tensile strength steel using neutron diffraction

Suzuki, Hiroshi; Holden, T. M.*; Moriai, Atsushi; Minakawa, Nobuaki*; Morii, Yukio

Zairyo, 54(7), p.685 - 691, 2005/07

https://doi.org/10.2472/jsms.54.685

no abstracts in English