SEDL / STP / STP1244-EB / STP14641S

The Effect of Constraint Due to Out-of-Plane Stress Field on Fracture of Reactor Pressure Vessel Steel--An Experimental and Numerical Study

Rudland, DL
Researcher, research scientist, principal research scientist, research scientist, project manager, and research leader, Battelle Memorial Institute, Columbus, Ohio

Mohan, R
Researcher, research scientist, principal research scientist, research scientist, project manager, and research leader, Battelle Memorial Institute, Columbus, Ohio

Ghadiali, ND
Researcher, research scientist, principal research scientist, research scientist, project manager, and research leader, Battelle Memorial Institute, Columbus, Ohio

Detty, D
Researcher, research scientist, principal research scientist, research scientist, project manager, and research leader, Battelle Memorial Institute, Columbus, Ohio

Rosenfield, AR
Researcher, research scientist, principal research scientist, research scientist, project manager, and research leader, Battelle Memorial Institute, Columbus, Ohio

Wilkowski, GM
Researcher, research scientist, principal research scientist, research scientist, project manager, and research leader, Battelle Memorial Institute, Columbus, Ohio

Pages: 28    Published: Jan 1995

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Abstract

Recent research on crack-tip constraint on fracture, including the effect of in-plane biaxial stress fields, has led to a two-parameter elastic K-T and elasto-plastic J-Q approach to correlate fracture toughness. These approaches predict a significant influence of biaxial stress state on fracture toughness. In the case of reactor pressure vessels undergoing pressurized thermal shock (PTS), significant stresses induced parallel to the crack front (out-of-plane stresses) offer additional constraint at the crack-tip. In order to evaluate the effect of this out-of-plane stress field on fracture of reactor pressure vessel steels, a unique method for testing a cruciform-type double-edge notch, DEN(T), specimen loaded in biaxial tension was developed. Three-dimensional finite-element analyses were conducted to design the specimen configuration. Details of the experimental and analytical results and the significance of the crack-tip constraint, due to biaxial stress state involving out-of-plane stresses, on the fracture toughness in the transition region are presented.