EXPERIMENTAL AND ANALYTICAL STUDIES ON CREEP FAILURE OF REACTOR COOLANT PIPING

摘要

Thermal and structural responses of reactor coolant piping under and elevated internal pressure and temperature are being investigated in WIND project at JAERI. In a recent failure test in which a nuclear grade type 316 stainless steel pipe with an outer diameter of 114.3 mm and a wall thickness of 13.5 mm was used and an internal pressure was kept at approximately 15 MPa. A failure of the piping was observed when the temperature was sustained at 970 °C for one hour. In parallel with conducting the tests, post-test analyses were performed. The objective of the analyses is to assess analytical models for the creep deformation and failure of the piping at elevated internal pressure and temperature simulating thermal-hydraulic conditions during a severe accident. The major material properties needed for the analysis were measured at elevated temperatures. Coefficients of a creep constitutive equation including the tertiary stage were determined with the measured creep data and incorporated into ABAQUS code. The analysis reasonably reproduced the time history of the enlargement of the piping diameter, and the wall thickness and the diameter of the piping at the failure. It was also found that the piping failure timing obtained from the analysis agreed well with the test result.