Publication detail

Utilization of Non-Destructive Methods for Monitoring Fatigue Crack Growth in Power Plant Material

KOULA, V. VLAŠIC, F. DRÁB, M. SLUNEČKO, T. VOLÁK, J.

Czech title

Využití nedestruktivních metod pro monitorování růstu únavové trhliny v materiálu pro jaderné komponenty

English title

Utilization of Non-Destructive Methods for Monitoring Fatigue Crack Growth in Power Plant Material

Type

conference paper

Language

en

Original abstract

A methodology for non-destructive evaluation of the fatigue crack growth behaviour by acoustic emission and potential drop technique has been proposed. A nuclear Cr–Ni–Mo–V ferritic steel, known as GOST 15Ch(Kh)2NMFA, has been chosen for this study. This material is used for the production of a key component of a nuclear power plant – reactor pressure vessel type VVER-1000. The serviceability of pressure vessels and piping is determined by the mechanical properties of the steels being used and, in particular, by the cyclic crack resistance of the base metal and its welded joints. Therefore, the main goal of this work is to propose a suitable methodology to predict a fatigue crack growth behaviour and to simulate the material behaviour during pressure test using non-destructive techniques. The acoustic emission monitoring has been used, together with electric potential difference measurements for monitoring crack growth, to correlate the signal parameters (such as the acoustic emission counts, evolution of the frequency spectrum and the energy) and the waveform-based analysis with the defect formation mechanisms and to provide a quantified estimate of failure probability. It has been found that most of the acoustic emission hits at loading frequency of 10 Hz and stress ratio of 0,1 are generated during the decrease phase of the loading force (crack closure), especially in its lower half, and less hits are generated during the increase phase of the loading force (crack opening). The results showed that non-destructive techniques used in this work can be very useful to fatigue crack growth assessment in Cr-Ni-Mo-V steel.

Czech abstract

Byla navržena metodika pro nedestruktivní hodnocení růstu únavové trhliny pomocí akustické emise a potenciálové metody. Pro tuto studii byla vybrána reaktorová Cr-Ni-Mo-V feritická ocel, známá jako GOST 15Ch(Kh)2NMFA. Tento materiál se používá k výrobě klíčové komponenty jaderné elektrárny – tlakové nádoby reaktoru typu VVER-1000. Provozuschopnost tlakových nádob a potrubí je určena mechanickými vlastnostmi použité oceli, a zejména odolností proti vzniku trhlin základního materiálu a jeho svarových spojů. Proto hlavním cílem této práce je navrhnout vhodnou metodiku k predikci chování růstu únavové trhliny a simulaci při tlakové zkoušce za použití nedestruktivních metod. Monitorování signálu akustické emise společně s měřením rozdílů potenciálu bylo použito k monitorování růstu trhliny. Mezi sledované parametry akustické emise patřily zejména počty překmitů, amplituda, délka trvání události, energie nebo vývoj frekvenčního spektra v čase zkoušky. Pro detailní studium mikrostrukturních změn byl také analyzován tvar vlny (hitu akustické emise). Bylo zjištěno, že při zatěžovací frekvenci 10 Hz a napěťovém poměru 0,1 je většina hitů generována při poklesu síly (uzavírání trhliny), a to zejména v jeho spodní polovině. Výsledky ukázaly, že použité nedestruktivní metody mohou být užitečným nástrojem k posuzování vzniku a růstu únavových trhlin v Cr-Ni-Mo-V ocelích.

English abstract

A methodology for non-destructive evaluation of the fatigue crack growth behaviour by acoustic emission and potential drop technique has been proposed. A nuclear Cr–Ni–Mo–V ferritic steel, known as GOST 15Ch(Kh)2NMFA, has been chosen for this study. This material is used for the production of a key component of a nuclear power plant – reactor pressure vessel type VVER-1000. The serviceability of pressure vessels and piping is determined by the mechanical properties of the steels being used and, in particular, by the cyclic crack resistance of the base metal and its welded joints. Therefore, the main goal of this work is to propose a suitable methodology to predict a fatigue crack growth behaviour and to simulate the material behaviour during pressure test using non-destructive techniques. The acoustic emission monitoring has been used, together with electric potential difference measurements for monitoring crack growth, to correlate the signal parameters (such as the acoustic emission counts, evolution of the frequency spectrum and the energy) and the waveform-based analysis with the defect formation mechanisms and to provide a quantified estimate of failure probability. It has been found that most of the acoustic emission hits at loading frequency of 10 Hz and stress ratio of 0,1 are generated during the decrease phase of the loading force (crack closure), especially in its lower half, and less hits are generated during the increase phase of the loading force (crack opening). The results showed that non-destructive techniques used in this work can be very useful to fatigue crack growth assessment in Cr-Ni-Mo-V steel.

Keywords in Czech

akustická emise, potenciálová metoda, růst únavové trhliny, materiál pro jaderné komponenty

Keywords in English

acoustic emission, potential drop, fatigue crack growth, power plant material

RIV year

2014

Released

06.10.2014

Publisher

VUT v Brně

Location

Praha

ISBN

978-80-214-5018-9

Book

XIth European Conference on NDT - Conference proceedings

Pages from–to

AEI-1–AEI-11

Pages count

11

BIBTEX


@inproceedings{BUT109942,
  author="Václav {Koula} and František {Vlašic} and Martin {Dráb} and Tomáš {Slunečko} and Josef {Volák},
  title="Utilization of Non-Destructive Methods for Monitoring Fatigue Crack Growth in Power Plant Material",
  booktitle="XIth European Conference on NDT - Conference proceedings",
  year="2014",
  month="October",
  pages="AEI-1--AEI-11",
  publisher="VUT v Brně",
  address="Praha",
  isbn="978-80-214-5018-9"
}