The study for direct SCC fabrication in STS 304 pipe

Abstract

Stress corrosion cracking is one of the aging phenomena for the major structure components in nuclear power plant. During the operation of a power plant, stress corrosion cracks are initiated and grown especially in dissimilar weldment of primary loop components. Among the three factors (susceptible material, residual stress, and corrosive environment) which make the SCC, the residual stress becomes a critical factor for stress corrosion crack when it is difficult to improve the material of the components and their environment under operating conditions. In this study, stress corrosion cracks were artificially produced on STS (stainless steel) 304 pipe itself by control of welding residual stress. The instrumented indentation technique and 3D finite element method (FEM) analysis (using ANSYS 12) were used to evaluate the residual stress values in the GTAW area. As the result of both FEM analysis and experiment, the stress corrosion crack was quickly generated and could be reproduced, and controlled by welding residual stress. Also non-destructive evaluation signals by Acoustic Emission will be discussed for the initiation and growth of SCC. This paper is part of a supplementary issue from the 17th Asia-Pacific Corrosion Control Conference (APCCC-17).