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Introduction
Cracks have been found in the heat-affected zones around solutions include both through-thickness and surface cracks.
girth welds in the Type 304 stainless steel piping of many But, they are applicable only in the linear elastic fracture
Boiling Water Reactor (BWR) plants [1-3]. These cracks mechanics (LEFM) regime and for only uniform pressure
typically initiate at the inner surface of the pipe wall and, and/or axial loading. Circumferentially cracked pipes sub-
Under normal load and environmental operating conditions, jected to bending loads do not yet appear to have been
grow radially and circumferentially by combined stress analyzed. Bending loading is of great practical interest
corrosion and fatigue. While no serious incidents have yet because the loads that arise in accident conditions would
been triggered by the presence of these cracks, the possibility likely cause bending stresses due to the presence of supports
exists that a transient loading arising from an accident and turns in a piping system.
condition could cause pipe rupture. Hence a quantitative The focus of this paper is a simplified plastic fracture
determination of the stength of flawed pipes is an important mechanics approach based on a nonlinear structural com-
aspect of nuclear reactor integrity assessments. pliance definition of the ./-integral. This approach allows the
Tough and ductile materials are commonly employed in stability of crack growth to be assessed with a material
nuclear systems; e.g., Type 304 stainless steel. Extensive fracture property in the form of a /-resistance curve via the
plastic deformation and crack tip blunting will then occur tearing modulus approach [9,10]. Specifically, the /-integral
prior to the initiation of crack growth. Moreover, initiation is derived for a circumferential surface crack in a pipe sub-
can be followed by a significant amount of stable crack jected to bending for the condition that the cross section
growth prior to fracture instability. Although a simple net containing the crack has fully yielded. Thus the approach is
section collapse stress criterion can be effective for these readily applicable to highly ductile materials like the Type 304
conditions [4], as discussed in more detail later in this paper, stainless steel pipes used in BWR systems. The results are
such an approach has somewhat limited applicability. As a applied to determine the pipe deflection that would cause the
consequence, there is a need for plastic fracture mechanics breakthrough of a part-through-wall crack in a 4-in. diameter
solutions that can handle the extensive plastic deformation pipe.
and stable crack growth that would be experienced during the
fracturing of a nuclear pipe, particularly under nonload
controlled conditions.
Basis of the Approach
Some analytical solutions for circumferentially cracked
cylinders are available in the open literature [5-8]. These The /-integral proposed by Rice [11] is now used widely as a
parameter to characterize the fracture toughness of materials
Now with Fracture Proof Design Corporation, Saint Louis, Mo. 63108. in situations where crack associated plasticity in a specimen or
Contributed by the Materials Division for publication in the JOURNAL OF structure is such that the use of LEFM is invalid. The / -
ENGINEERING MATERIALS AND TECHNOLOGY. Manuscript received by the integral was originally defined for two-dimensional problems
Materials Division, j a n u a r y U , 1981. by a line integral given by
L( pipe
9 U
nn ,
J-- Wdy- 0)
)•
where Y denotes an arbitrary contour which encloses the crack
tip, ds is an increment of arc length along the contour, x and y J-Integral Analysis for a Surface Crack
are coordinates parallel and normal to the crack front, T is the Expression for Limit Load Conditions. Figure 1 shows a
traction vector exerted on the material within the contour, u is surface cracked pipe in a four-point-bend loading system. The
the displacement vector, and W is the strain energy density in crack is oriented circumferentially and is located sym-
the nonlinear elastic sense. It has been shown by Rice that the metrically with respect to the supports and load application
/-integral as defined in equation (1) is path independent, points. The cross section of the pipe containing the crack is
provided the material deforms in accord with the deformation shown in Fig. 2, where the depth a of the surface crack is
theory of plasticity [11]. taken to be uniform all along the radial front. 2 The length of
A three-dimensional generalization of equation (1) has also the surface crack is R<j> where <> / is the angle subtended by the
been developed [12]. But, in either a two-dimensional or crack at the centroid of the pipe and R is the mean radius of
three-dimensional problem, the contour integral computation the pipe.
of / v i a equation (1) requires a detailed knowledge of stresses To evaluate / from equation (4) or (5), a relation between
and strains. This requires either a closed form solution or a P, 8, and crack area is required. An exact relation between
finite element analysis. An alternate and equivalent definition these quantities cannot be obtained without a full elastic-
of / for two-dimensional (plane) problems that does not plastic analysis of the cracked pipe. But, approximations can
require the detailed information needed for a contour integral be made to obtain simple estimates that are still reasonably
evaluation is given by [13] accurate. Specifically, in what follows it will be assumed that
the cross section containing the crack (see Fig. 2) is fully
/=-( f — ) db (2) yielded. This assumption is justified for materials like Type
Jo \Bdah w 304 stainless steel where experimental observations on surface
cracked pipes in bending indicate that fully plastic conditions
dP (3) are achieved before the initiation of crack growth [16].
Jo \Bda/i When the elastic component of the load-point displacement
where a is the crack length, B is the thickness of the body at due to the crack is negligibly small compared to its plastic
the crack tip, P is the applied load, and 8 is the load-point component,
displacement. Equations (2) and (3) can be derived from 8 = 8p, + 8,'pt ~ upi (6)
nonlinear compliance considerations and are equivalent to the
contour integral definition under deformation plasticity where 8 is the total displacement due to the crack, while 8e(
conditions [14]. These definitions have been used widely for and 8p[ are the elastic and plastic components, respectively. It
analyzing experimental data obtained from standard fracture follows that equation (4) can be written as
toughness specimens; e.g., compact tension specimens, bend
bars, and center-cracked panels.
When applying equation (2) or (3) for two-dimensional
Mr ' in, T dP
dd,
L d(crack area) J spt p"
When fully plastic conditions are achieved, the load reaches
models of fracture specimens, B is a constant and can be
taken out of the integral. But, a further generalization is the limit load, PL. In the nonwork-hardening limit, PL would
possible for three dimensional crack configurations by simply remain constant and would not be dependent upon the
replacing the term Bdd by d(crack area). That is displacement. Assuming that this is true, equation (7) reduces
to the simple form
H: dp
L d(crack area).
dd (4) /=_
dP,
d(crack area)
•>pi (8)
a/t=0.9y
1.0
w/^* \m Q8^_-
'0.8
1 "
1 * 0.6
2 0.6
0.4
0.2
i i i 1 1 1 1
$, degrees
Fig. 4 The variation of /3f with <j> for various values of a/f
and x=a/t is the ratio of the crack depth to wall thickness. Evaluation of / for Circumferential Crack Growth. For a
Figure 3 shows the variation of Msc with <t> for various values virtual crack extension at each tip in the circumferential
of alt. direction with no extension of the radial crack front, equation
Equation (11) is valid only for a crack whose length is such (13) gives
that its circumferential tips lie below the neutral axis of the rf(crack area) = Rad<f> (19)
cracked section; i.e., the line NA in Fig. 2. For longer cracks,
Equation (19) and equation (8) through (11), when combined,
the portion of the cracked surface above the neutral axis will
give
be able to carry the compressive load. Then Msc requires
modification to prevent interpenetration of the crack sur- J^PiPrS,Lupt> (20)
faces. However, although this can be readily accomplished, it where the subscript <> / denotes the crack front associated with
is not necessary for the work reported in this paper. the circumferential ends of the surface crack. The fucntion / ^
Evaluation of J for Radial Crack Growth. It can be seen is given by
from Fig. 2 that, for a thin walled pipe where a < t < < R P,=J,/4RtMsi (21)
2t-
crackarea = i?0a V-—V R<j>a (12)
with
7^ = [sin(x0/4) + cos(4>/2)] (22)
L
But, before this can be utilized 2Requation
in J (8), it must be which is similar to the function Jr of equation (18).
recognized that there are two crack fronts associated with a Equations (16) and (20) give values of J at crack fronts
circumferential crack; radial and circumferential. Hence, the associated with crack growth in the depth and circumferential
change in crack area is directions, respectively. Because the crack front in either
d(crack area) = Rd(4>a). (13) direction is assumed to maintain its shape, these equations
give an average value of / along the respective crack front.
For simplicity, it will be assumed that a virtual crack ex-
tension occurs only in the radial direction with no cir- The Directionality of Surface Crack Growth. The relative
cumferential extension. Then, using x=a/t, equation (13) magnitudes of Jr and J^, can be determined by dividing
becomes equation (20) by (16). This gives
— Jf/f^-t o&s^
ffj
^ - (>8__
v^X>> -
,\
v \
\ 1 1 l 1 1 1 1
\
\ £ , degrees
J L J L
Fig. 6 The variation of yr with <A for various values of alt
if>, degrees
250 O
s
o
\\
\ DI0S
D3S
(E
l-l
a 30 \ — -^Mr* „ 200 1
a: —
«20
•n
Jjmi^
WS>^
* VQ
1,12
=70 ksi 150
•o
\ Material crack growth'
resistance
7
/
100
\
•• 10 -y Material
ysis) — A6S
50
Open symbols: Unstable
0 1 i i I 0 Closed symbol: Stable
CI 10 20 30 40 50
JCRRDIRL),1000LB/IN i i 1
2
Fig. 7 Determination of fracture instability for 4-in. diameter type 304 J, MN/m
stainless steel pipes in bending (<j = 90 deg)
Fig. 9 Comparison of analysis prediction for stability of radial crack
growth in 4-in. diameter type 304 stainless steel pipes in bending
25 _
S>
_ 3
15
_ 2
10 _
0 .2 .4 .G .8 1
Surface Crack D o p t h / T h 1 cknoss, X