Nuclear Engineering and Design 237 (2007) 335341

Failure behavior of carbon steel pipe with local wall thinning near orifice
Koji Takahashi a, , Kotoji Ando a , Masakazu Hisatsune b , Kunio Hasegawa b
a

Department of Energy and Safety Engineering, Yokohama National University, 79-5, Tokiwadai, Hodogaya, Yokohama 240-8501, Japan
b Nuclear Division, Hitachi, Ltd., 3-1-1, Saiwai-cho, Hitachi, Ibaraki 317-8511, Japan
Received 30 January 2006; received in revised form 4 April 2006; accepted 25 April 2006

Abstract
Monotonic four-point bending tests were conducted using pipe specimens having an orifice undergoing local wall thinning. The effects of local
wall thinning on the fracture behaviors of pipe were investigated. Local wall thinning was machined on the inside of pipes in order to simulate
erosion corrosion metal loss. The configurations of the eroded area were l = 100 mm in axial length, d/t = 0.5 and 0.8 in thickness ratio, and
2 = 180 in angle. The area undergoing local wall thinning was subjected to either tensile or compressive stress. Failure type could be classified
into ovalization, local buckling, and crack initiation, depending on thickness ratio, and stress at the eroded area. Three-dimensional elasto-plastic
analyses were also carried out using the finite element method, which is able to accurately simulate fracture behaviors. Failure analysis map was
constructed for pipes with or without orifice based on the results of finite element analyses in order to investigate the effect of orifice on the failure
behaviors.
2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
Carbon steel pipes are commonly used in the piping systems
of power plants. Erosion corrosion can cause a wall thinning due
to high temperature and high pressure water and steam flowing
at high velocities through these pipes.
Therefore, it is important to evaluate the strength of piping undergoing local wall thinning in order to maintain the
integrity of the piping systems. Several experimental and analytical studies have been performed with the aim of developing
a methodology for evaluating the integrity of piping undergoing
wall thinning (Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute, 1993;
Roy et al., 1997; Mathonet et al., 1995). Miyazaki et al. (1999,
2002) conducted full scale pipe tests and proposed models for
evaluating the integrity of wall-thinned piping systems. Numerical studies and experimental studies were carried out on elbows
and tee junctions which are prone to wall thinning due to erosion
corrosion (Ahn et al., 2002; Takahashi et al., 2006).
The wall thinning due to erosion corrosion is enhanced at
downstream region of orifice. On August 2004, fracture of feed
pipe line of Mihama Unit-3 occurred. The trouble was caused
by metal loss at downstream region of orifice. Although efforts

Corresponding author.
E-mail address: ktaka@ynu.ac.jp (K. Takahashi).

0029-5493/$ see front matter 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.nucengdes.2006.04.033

for developing an integrity evaluation method and acceptance

criteria of pipe undergoing wall thinning have been made, the
effects of wall thinning on the fracture behaviors of pipes having
orifice are not yet clear.
In this study, in order to investigate the failure behaviors
of straight pipes having an orifice, monotonic four-point bending tests were conducted using carbon steel pipes undergoing
local wall thinning near the orifice. The area undergoing local
wall thinning was subjected to either tensile or compressive
stress. Three-dimensional elasto-plastic analyses were also carried out using finite element method. The load-point displacements where crack initiation occurred were predicted using the
results of finite element analyses. Failure analysis map was constructed for pipes with or without an orifice based on the results
of finite element analyses. Then, the effect of an orifice on the
fracture behavior was discussed.
2. Experimental procedure
2.1. Material and pipe specimens
The material used in the experiments was carbon steel pipes
called carbon steel pipes for high temperature, STPT 410 in
JIS (Japanese Industrial Standards), which are used in class 2
piping of nuclear power plants in Japan. The mechanical prop-

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Table 1
Mechanical properties of test material
Material
Yield strength, y (MPa)
Tensile strength, u (MPa)
Elongation (%)

Table 3
Eroded ratio (d/t) and distance from center of eroded area to orifice (L)
STPT 410
360
509
37.2

Table 2
Chemical compositions of test material (wt.%)
Material
C
Si
Mn
P
S

STPT 410
0.2
0.17
0.73
0.021
0.004

erties and chemical compositions of STPT 410 are shown in

Tables 1 and 2, respectively.
Full-scale experiments were performed on straight-pipes of
76.3 mm in outer diameter wall thickness of 7.0 mm. The pipe
geometry and dimensions of local wall thinning are shown in
Fig. 1. The local wall thinning was machined on the inside of
the pipes. All of the local wall thinning was machined using a
grindstone to simulate erosion corrosion metal loss. In this paper,
the depth of metal loss in the thickness direction is called eroded
depth (d). The ratio of d to wall thickness (t = 7 mm) is defined
as thickness ratio (d/t). Eroded angle (2) is the circumferential
wall thinning angle and is fixed at 2 = 180 . Eroded length (l)
is the length of wall thinning in the axial direction and is fixed

No.

L (mm)

Eroded depth,
d (mm)

Thickness
ratio, d/t

Stress in the
eroded area

OP-1
OP-2
OP-3
OP-4
OP-5
OP-6

50
100
50
100
50
50

3.5
3.5
5.6
5.6
3.5
5.6

0.5
0.5
0.8
0.8
0.5
0.8

Tension
Tension
Tension
Tension
Compression
Compression

at l = 100 mm. The sizes of the eroded areas of the specimens

are shown in Table 3. Steel plate of STPT410 with thickness
of 20 mm was welded to simulate orifice. The distance between
center of pipe and position of orifice L is selected from L = 50
and 100 mm.
2.2. Load conditions
A monotonic bending load was applied to the specimens by
four-point loading without internal pressure. The outer and inner
spans of the four-point loading were 900 and 300 mm, respectively. Displacement speed at cross-head was 5 mm/min. The
experiments were conducted at ambient temperature.
Two types of bending tests were conducted: one in which
the locally eroded area was positioned at the tensile stress side
of bending moment, and another in which the eroded area was
positioned at the compressive stress side.
2.3. Finite element analysis
Elasticplastic finite element analyses considering large
deformation were conducted on the eroded pipes in the displacement control. ANSYS ver.6.1 was used for the finite element
analysis. The pipes were modeled by hexahedral 20-node elements (ANSYS element type solid 95) and tetrahedral 10-node
elements (ANSYS element type solid 92). Fig. 2 shows an example of the mesh pattern used for the finite element analyses. The
eroded pipe was modeled as a half part of the pipe considering
the symmetry of the eroded pipe. The eroded area was finely
meshed with four elements through the thickness at maximum
eroded area. The other parts were coarsely meshed to reduce the
total number of elements.
To model plasticity, the von Mises yield criterion and
isotropic hardening rule were used. The relationship between
true stress and true strain was assumed as the stressstrain curve
as shown in Fig. 3.
3. Results and discussions
3.1. Locally eroded area subjected to tensile stress

Fig. 1. Shape and geometries of pipe specimen having orifice undergoing local
wall thinning. (a) Loading system (eroded area is under tension) and (b) detail
of wall thinning part.

Fig. 4 shows the momentdisplacement curves for test pipes,

when the locally eroded area is subjected to tensile stress. In
the pipes with d/t = 0.5, OP-1 and OP-2, crack initiation and
extension were not detected up to displacement of = 170 and

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337

Fig. 2. Finite element model of pipe having orifice undergoing local wall thinning, OP-3: d/t = 0.8, L = 50 mm. (a) 1/2 model and (b) detail of wall thinning.

Fig. 4. Relationship between bending moment and load-point displacement for

pipes having orifice under tensile stress in eroded area. (a) Experimental results
and (b) FEM results.

Fig. 3. Stressstrain curve for FE analysis.

150 mm, respectively. On the other hand, in the pipes with

d/t = 0.8, OP-3 and OP-4, the bending moment decreases steeply
due to crack initiation and extension at = 20 mm. Fig. 5 shows
a crack having initiated at an eroded area.
Fig. 6 shows axial strains at outer surface of the maximum
eroded area obtained from experiments and FEM as a function
of load-point displacement. The strain was measured by postyield strain gages (YFLA-2, Tokyo Sokki Kenkyujo co. Ltd.).
The axial strains of pipes with d/t = 0.8 are much higher than
those of the pipes with d/t = 0.5. Thus, a crack initiated in pipes
with d/t = 0.8 in small displacement.
Comparing the experimental results of the OP-1 and OP-2,
the distance between center of pipe and orifice (L) had very
small effect on the momentdisplacement curve and strain, as
shown in Figs. 4 and 6. The OP-3 and OP-4 had also similar

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K. Takahashi et al. / Nuclear Engineering and Design 237 (2007) 335341

Fig. 5. Crack at eroded area of pipe having orifice. OP-3: d/t = 0.8, L = 50 mm.

momentdisplacement curves. Thus, it can be said the effects of

distance L on the failure and deformation behavior is quite small.
FEM results are similar to the experimental results as shown in
Figs. 4 and 6.

Fig. 7. Relationship between bending moment and load-point displacement for

pipes having orifice under compressive stress in eroded area.

3.2. Locally eroded area subjected to compressive stress

Fig. 7 shows the momentdisplacement curves for test pipes,
when the locally eroded area is subjected to compressive stress.
Fig. 8(a) and (b) show pipe specimens after bending tests for
OP-5 and OP-6, respectively. Local buckling having occurred in
OP-6 (d/t = 0.8) was severer than that in OP-5 (d/t = 0.5). Thus,
the collapse moment of the OP-6 (d/t = 0.8) was lower than that
of OP-5 (d/t = 0.5).
3.3. Prediction of crack initiation at the center of the
eroded area
Miyazaki et al. (2002) extended Weisss theory (1972) to
assess true fracture ductility under the multi-axial stress condi-

Fig. 6. Relationship between load-point displacement and axial strain at outer

surface of the eroded area for pipes having orifice under tensile stress in eroded
area.

Fig. 8. Local buckling at eroded area of pipe with orifice subjected to compressive stress. (a) OP-5: d/t = 0.5, L = 50 mm and (b) OP-6: d/t = 0.8, L = 50 mm.

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339

tions (mf ) expressed by the following equation:

(muf /0 ) + (muf /0 )n
uf ,
(uf /0 ) + (uf /0 )n

m = (1 + + )2 3( + + ),

mf =

1
,
1++

2
,
1

3
1

(1)

where 1 , 2 and 3 are principal stresses ( 1 > 2 > 3 ) The

yield stress, 0 , is 360 MPa. uf and uf are true fracture stress
and true fracture ductility under uniaxial conditions, respectively. The values of uf and uf are 1380 MPa and 1.6, respectively. and n are material constants defined below. In this
estimation, the relationship between true stress and true strain in
the wide true strain range up to true fracture ductility (uf ) was
approximated by Ramberg-Osgood equation (1943):




 
ms
ms n
ms
+
(2)
=
0 /E
0
0
where ms and 0 are equivalent stress and yield stress, and
Youngs modulus E is 206 GPa. The broken line in Fig. 3 shows
the relationship between true stress and true strain approximated
by the RamgergOsgood equation. The values of and n in
Eqs. (1) and (2) are 8.96 and 3.48, respectively. The degree of
multi-axial stress depends on deformation of the pipes. Thus,
the true fracture ductility (mf ) at the center of the eroded area
also depends on deformation. Moreover, equivalent strain (ms )
increases with deformation of the pipes. It is postulated that
crack initiates at the point where equivalent strain (ms ) exceeds
true fracture ductility (mf ).
Figs. 9 and 10 show the equivalent strain (ms ) and fracture
ductility (mf ) calculated by Eq. (1) as a function of load-point

Fig. 10. Estimation of crack initiation for straight pipe with orifice. A crack did
not initiate in the experiment, OP-1: d/t = 0.5, eroded area is under tensile stress.

displacement () for OP-4 and OP-1, respectively. The broken

line and the solid line in Figs. 9 and 10 show fracture ductility
and equivalent strain, respectively. In Fig. 9, the fracture ductility and equivalent strain cross at c = 21 mm. In the experiment,
the crack initiated at c = 20 mm. Thus, the load-point displacement where crack initiated could be successfully estimated. In
Fig. 10, the fracture ductility and the equivalent strain do not
cross, indicating no crack initiation in OP-1. In the experiment
of OP-1, no crack initiated. Thus, the result of estimation was
consistent with that of the experiment. When the load-point displacement was less than 10 mm in Fig. 10, the true strain ductility
estimated by Eq. (1) changed rapidly. When the load-point displacement was small, plastic deformation occurred at inside of
maximum eroded area. This plastic deformation occurred quite
locally. Thus, the maximum eroded area is underwent multiaxial stress state due to constraint effects. Thus, the true strain
ductility estimated by Eq. (1) decreased steeply in the beginning. As the load-point displacement increased, the multiaxiality
of stress decreased. Then, the true strain ductility increased
again.
3.4. Effects of orice on the failure behavior

Fig. 9. Estimation of crack initiation for straight pipe with orifice. A crack
initiated at = 20 mm in the experiment, OP-4: d/t = 0.8, eroded area is under
tensile stress.

In order to investigate on the effects of orifice on the fracture

behavior, parametric finite element analyses were carried out for
pipes with or without an orifice changing the thickness ratio (d/t)
and eroded angle (2). Fig. 11 shows the results of the parametric
finite element analysis for pipes with orifice. The relationship
between thickness ratio and eroded angle are shown. We call
this kind of figure as failure analysis map. The failure analysis map can be used as a screening criterion to judge a defect
detected in pipes acceptable or unacceptable. The maximum
load-point displacement in the analysis was 160 mm. The solid
triangles indicate that crack initiation occurred at maximum
eroded area in the analysis. The superscript indicates the load-

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K. Takahashi et al. / Nuclear Engineering and Design 237 (2007) 335341

On the other hand, the open square indicates that crack initiation did not occur in the experiment. The failure behaviors and
crack initiation points could be successfully predicted by the
failure analysis map although the experimental data is limited.
Fig. 12 shows the results of the parametric finite element analysis for pipes without an orifice. The load-point displacements
when crack initiation occurred for the pipes with an orifice are
larger than those for the pipes without an orifice. Accordingly,
the allowable line for pipes with orifice was slightly higher than
that of pipe without orifice because the orifice prevented ovalization of pipe section.
4. Conclusions
Monotonic four-point bending tests were conducted using
pipe specimens having an orifice and undergoing local wall
thinning. The effects of local wall thinning on the fracture
behaviors of pipe were investigated. The area of the pipe
having local wall thinning was subjected to either tensile or
compressive stress. The main conclusions obtained were as
follows:
Fig. 11. Failure analysis map for pipes with orifice. Open symbols indicate
the experimental results. The superscript indicates the load-point displacement
when the crack initiation occurred.

point displacement (mm) when the crack initiation occurred.

The solid squares indicate that no crack initiation occurred in
the analysis. In the latter case, the results of finite element analysis showed ovalization of pipe section. The solid line in Fig. 11
indicates the allowable line for crack initiation up to load-point
displacement of 160 mm. The open triangle indicates that crack
initiation occurred at maximum eroded area in the experiment.

(1) When the eroded area was subjected to tensile stress, a

crack initiated at the maximum eroded area and bending moment decreased steeply due to crack growth in the
pipe with d/t = 0.8. No crack initiated in the pipes with
d/t = 0.5. The distance between center of pipe and orifice
(L) had small effect on the momentdisplacement curve and
strain.
(2) When the eroded area was subjected to compressive stress,
local buckling occurred at the eroded area in pipes with
d/t = 0.5 and 0.8. Local buckling occurred in pipe with
d/t = 0.8 was severer than that in d/t = 0.5. Thus, the collapse moment of the pipe with d/t = 0.8 was lower than that
of pipes with d/t = 0.5.
(3) The load-point displacement () when crack initiates could
be successfully predicted by the criterion proposed by
Miyazaki et al. Failure analysis map for pipes with or without orifice were constructed based on the analysis. The
analytical results indicated that allowable defect size for
a crack initiation for pipes with orifice was slightly higher
than that without orifice.
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Fig. 12. Failure analysis map for pipes without orifice. The superscript indicates
the load-point displacement when the crack initiation occurred.

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