PVP2005-71060-Crack Propagation Analysis Procedure Using FEM Applied To The Three-Dimensional Stress Field
PVP2005-71060-Crack Propagation Analysis Procedure Using FEM Applied To The Three-Dimensional Stress Field
PVP2005-71060
PVP2005-71060
ABSTRACT INTRODUCTION
Recently, several cracks have been found on the weld In applying fracture mechanics to crack propagation in
joints of Boiling Water Reactor (BWR) core shrouds during actual structures, there are many difficulties because of
inspection. In order to ensure the continuous operation of complicated three-dimensional stress fields. One of the
nuclear power plants, it is necessary to assess the structural adequate ways of solving this problem is to analyze three-
integrity of core shrouds with cracks on the weld joints. dimensional stress fields by FEM successively, considering the
In general, a crack propagates in a complicated manner influence of stress re-distribution caused by crack propagation.
according to three-dimensional stress field and it is difficult to It is necessary for finite elements to be modified in accordance
predict crack propagation direction and crack shape change. with crack configuration change during crack propagation.
Usually, half ellipsoid crack shape is assumed and the In this study, an automatic modification procedure of finite
propagation of the crack is calculated in the constant direction elements with an arbitrary crack is developed considering the
for assessment. crack propagates in the direction according to the maximum J-
In this study, crack propagation analysis procedure using integral [1] [2] under three-dimensional stress fields, and the
the Finite Element Method (FEM) is developed for general procedure is verified by fatigue crack propagation tests under
shaped crack, and the procedure is verified by experiments. In cyclic tensile load.
this procedure, it is assumed that the crack propagates
according to the maximum J-integral under three-dimensional
stress fields and the re-mesh technique is used in the FEM NOMENCLATURE
analysis in order to calculate crack shape variation during a Crack size
propagation. B Specimen thickness
The fatigue crack propagation tests under cyclic tensile W Specimen width
load were performed to verify the analysis procedure. The E Young’s modulus
specimens are made of a plate from 316SS and designed to (modulus of longitudinal elasticity)
generate non-uniform stress distribution on the crack front in ν Poisson’s ratio
order to observe continuous crack propagation direction v Displacement
change. Pmax Maximum force
Pmin Minimum force
R Force ratio (= Pmin / Pmax)
Kmax Maximum stress intensity factor
Initial crack Fig. 3 The mesh division along the crack front
Re-mesh in an FEM model
FEM model
with an initial crack
FEM analysis
Part 2
Repeat
Prediction of the
direction and depth
Re-mesh
Normal plane
30±0.25
θ N
Local crack plane, N 12.5 12.5 10
q
Node 50±0.25
Node q2
q1 62.5±0.5
Crack front
J-integral
4 5゚
45
゚
q
0.2
Jmax 2 2
2
q2 qn
q1 2
4 5゚
45゚
Based on the test results, the relation between crack growth If the material response is linear, the J-integral can be
rate (da/dN) and stress intensity factor range (∆K) under R=0.1, related to the stress intensity factor. Therefore, the crack growth
0.4 and 0.7 are obtained as shown in Figures 7, 8 and 9 law of R=0.1 with J-integral is obtained as follows.
respectively.
da
= 1.32 ´ 10 -3 ´ΔJ 1.69 (9)
1E-5
dN
1E-6
EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS
The fatigue crack propagation tests with two specimens
da/dN m/cycle
1E-6
P
Load
da/dN m/cycle
1E-7
t
1E-8
1E-9
1 10 100
∆K MPa√m
160
Initial slit
25°
1E-5
10 20
100
1E-6
da/dN m/cycle
1E-7
15
1E-8
Material ; 316 SS
1E-9
1 10 100
∆K MPa√m
Fig. 10 Geometry and dimensions of the specimens
for the fatigue crack propagation tests
Fig. 9 Crack growth law (R=0.7)
da/dN m/cycle
surface is cut and observed as shown in Fig. 11. The fracture
surface shows that the crack propagates distortedly in the 1E-7
1E-9
1 10 100
∆K MPa√m
In Fig. 12, the results of the tests are different from those
of the CT specimen. It is supposed that the influence of
Distorted boundary condition can't be neglected because expression (10)
crack
considers the uniform tensile stress on both the ends, whereas
the test condition may be different from the uniform tensile
stress. If the rotation of the end on the specimen is fixed, the
results of the crack propagation tests will give smaller stress
intensity factors. The actual boundary condition of the test
Slit specimens may be a mixed condition between the uniform
tensile stress and the fixed rotation.
44130 N
σ
K I =σ πa・F (a / W )
3
æ πa ö
0.752 + 2.02(a / W ) + 0.37ç1 - sin ÷
2W πa è 2W ø
F (a / W ) = tan ・ (10)
πa 2W π a
cos
2W
From the result of the tests with the two specimens, the
relations of crack growth rate (da/dN) versus stress intensity
factor range (∆K) are plotted with the results of the CT
specimen under R=0.1 as shown in Fig. 12. Moreover, the
summaries of the fatigue crack propagation test results are
shown in Tables 3 and 4 for Specimens 1 and 2, respectively.
6
Specimen 1, Side-A
Specimen 1, Side-B
Analysis results, Side-A 4
Analysis results, Side-B
2
Y-distance (mm)
0
Side-A
-2
Side-B Y-dis.
X-dis.
-4
-6
40 35 30 25 20 15 10
X-distance (mm)