Fracture Analysis of the Heat-Affected Zone in the NESC-1 Spinning Cylinder Experiment

Abstract

This paper presents updated analyses of the cylinder specimen being used in the international Network for Evaluating Steel Components (NESC) large-scale spinning-cylinder project (NESC-1). The NESC was organized as an international forum to exchange information on procedures for structural integrity assessment, to collaborate on specific projects, and to promote the harmonization of international standards. The objective of the NESC-1 project is to focus on a complete procedure for assessing the structural integrity of aged reactor pressure vessels. A clad cylinder containing through-clad and subclad cracks will be tested under pressurized-thermal shock conditions at AEA Technology, Risley, U.K. Three-dimensional finite-element analyses were carried out to determine the effects of including the cladding heat-affected zone (HAZ) in the models. The cylinder was modeled with inner-surface through-clad cracks having a depth of 74 mm and aspect ratios of 2:1 and 6:1. The cylinder specimen was subjected to centrifugal loading followed by a thermal shock and analyzed with a thermoelastic-plastic material model. The peak KI values occurred at the clad/HAZ interface for the 6:1 crack and at the HAZ/base interface for the 2:1 crack. The analytical results indicate that cleavage initiation is likely to be achieved for the 6:1 crack, but questionable for the 2:1 crack.