Effect of non-uniform reactor cooling on fracture and constraint of a reactor pressure vessel
In the lifetime prediction and extension of a nuclear power plant, a reactor pressure vessel (RPV) has to demonstrate the exclusion of brittle fracture. This paper aims to apply fracture mechanics to analyse the non‐uniform cooling effect in case of a loss‐of‐coolant accident on the RPV integrity....
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| Format: | Article |
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Wiley
2018
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| Online Access: | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/50846/ |
| _version_ | 1848798355008782336 |
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| author | Qian, Guian Niffenegger, Markus Sharabi, Medhat Lafferty, Nathan |
| author_facet | Qian, Guian Niffenegger, Markus Sharabi, Medhat Lafferty, Nathan |
| author_sort | Qian, Guian |
| building | Nottingham Research Data Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | In the lifetime prediction and extension of a nuclear power plant, a reactor pressure vessel (RPV) has to demonstrate the exclusion of brittle fracture. This paper aims to apply fracture mechanics to analyse the non‐uniform cooling effect in case of a loss‐of‐coolant accident on the RPV integrity.
A comprehensive framework coupling reactor system, fluid dynamics, fracture mechanics, and probabilistic analyses for the RPVs integrity analysis is proposed. The safety margin of the allowed RTNDT is increased by more than 16°C if a probabilistic method is applied. Considering the non‐uniform plume cooling effect increases KI more than 30%, increases the failure frequency by more than 1 order of magnitude, and increases the crack tip constraint due to the resulting higher stress. Thus, in order to be more realistic and not to be nonconservative, 3D computational fluid dynamics may be required to provide input for the fracture mechanics analysis of the RPV. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T20:18:27Z |
| format | Article |
| id | nottingham-50846 |
| institution | University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus |
| institution_category | Local University |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T20:18:27Z |
| publishDate | 2018 |
| publisher | Wiley |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | nottingham-508462020-05-04T19:47:47Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/50846/ Effect of non-uniform reactor cooling on fracture and constraint of a reactor pressure vessel Qian, Guian Niffenegger, Markus Sharabi, Medhat Lafferty, Nathan In the lifetime prediction and extension of a nuclear power plant, a reactor pressure vessel (RPV) has to demonstrate the exclusion of brittle fracture. This paper aims to apply fracture mechanics to analyse the non‐uniform cooling effect in case of a loss‐of‐coolant accident on the RPV integrity. A comprehensive framework coupling reactor system, fluid dynamics, fracture mechanics, and probabilistic analyses for the RPVs integrity analysis is proposed. The safety margin of the allowed RTNDT is increased by more than 16°C if a probabilistic method is applied. Considering the non‐uniform plume cooling effect increases KI more than 30%, increases the failure frequency by more than 1 order of magnitude, and increases the crack tip constraint due to the resulting higher stress. Thus, in order to be more realistic and not to be nonconservative, 3D computational fluid dynamics may be required to provide input for the fracture mechanics analysis of the RPV. Wiley 2018-07-31 Article PeerReviewed Qian, Guian, Niffenegger, Markus, Sharabi, Medhat and Lafferty, Nathan (2018) Effect of non-uniform reactor cooling on fracture and constraint of a reactor pressure vessel. Fatigue & Fracture of Engineering Materials & Structures, 41 (7). pp. 1559-1575. ISSN 1460-2695 Constraint effect; Crack propagation; Pressurized thermal shock; Probabilistic fracture mechanics; Reactor pressure vessel; Stress intensity factor https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/ffe.12796 doi:10.1111/ffe.12796 doi:10.1111/ffe.12796 |
| spellingShingle | Constraint effect; Crack propagation; Pressurized thermal shock; Probabilistic fracture mechanics; Reactor pressure vessel; Stress intensity factor Qian, Guian Niffenegger, Markus Sharabi, Medhat Lafferty, Nathan Effect of non-uniform reactor cooling on fracture and constraint of a reactor pressure vessel |
| title | Effect of non-uniform reactor cooling on fracture and constraint of a reactor pressure vessel |
| title_full | Effect of non-uniform reactor cooling on fracture and constraint of a reactor pressure vessel |
| title_fullStr | Effect of non-uniform reactor cooling on fracture and constraint of a reactor pressure vessel |
| title_full_unstemmed | Effect of non-uniform reactor cooling on fracture and constraint of a reactor pressure vessel |
| title_short | Effect of non-uniform reactor cooling on fracture and constraint of a reactor pressure vessel |
| title_sort | effect of non-uniform reactor cooling on fracture and constraint of a reactor pressure vessel |
| topic | Constraint effect; Crack propagation; Pressurized thermal shock; Probabilistic fracture mechanics; Reactor pressure vessel; Stress intensity factor |
| url | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/50846/ https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/50846/ https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/50846/ |