• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.48 no.6
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• pp.1412-1422
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• 2016

Austenitic stainless steels (ASSs) are widely used for nuclear pipes as they exhibit a good combination of mechanical properties and corrosion resistance. However, high tensile residual stresses may occur in ASS welds because postweld heat treatment is not generally conducted in order to avoid sensitization, which causes a stress corrosion crack. In this study, round robin analyses on stress intensity factors (SIFs) were carried out to examine the appropriateness of structural integrity assessment methods for ASS pipe welds with two types of circumferential cracks. Typical stress profiles were generated from finite element analyses by considering residual stresses and normal operating conditions. Then, SIFs of cracked ASS pipes were determined by analytical equations represented in fitness-for-service assessment codes as well as reference finite element analyses. The discrepancies of estimated SIFs among round robin participants were confirmed due to different assessment procedures and relevant considerations, as well as the mistakes of participants. The effects of uncertainty factors on SIFs were deducted from sensitivity analyses and, based on the similarity and conservatism compared with detailed finite element analysis results, the R6 code, taking into account the applied internal pressure and combination of stress components, was recommended as the optimum procedure for SIF estimation.

• Proceedings of the KSME Conference
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• 2004.11a
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• pp.160-165
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• 2004

An effective integrity evaluation system is essential to manage the fitness for service issues on infra-structure because the evaluation processes usually take long times and are detrimental for productivity point of view. In this paper, the key structures and procedures of four integrity evaluation programs which have been developed based on currently available codes and standards are described. The proposed programs are not only flexible to adopt advances in fitness for purpose type assessment methodologies but also convenient for field engineers. The developed programs which will be unified as an integrity evaluation system are expected to play a prominent role for integrity evaluation of major infra-structure.

• Proceedings of the KSME Conference
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• 2004.11a
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• pp.166-171
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• 2004

Since early 1950's fracture mechanics has brought significant impact on structural integrity assessment in a wide range of industries such as power, transportation, civil and petrochemical industries, especially in nuclear power plant industries. For the last two decades, significant efforts have been devoted in developing defect assessment procedures, from which various fitness-for-purpose or fitness-for-service codes have been developed. From another aspect, recent advances in IT (Information Technologies) bring rapid changes in various engineering fields. IT enables people to share information through network and thus provides concurrent working environment without limitations of working places. For this reason, a network system based on internet or intranet bas been appeared in various fields of business. Evaluating the integrity of structures is one of the most critical issues in nuclear industry. In order to evaluate the integrity of structures, a complicated and collaborative procedure is required including regular in-service inspection, fracture mechanics analysis, etc. And thus, experts in different fields have to cooperate to resolve the integrity problem. In this paper, an internet-based cooperative system for integrity evaluation system which adapts IT into a structural integrity evaluation procedure for reactor pressure vessel is introduced. The proposed system uses Virtual Reality (VR) technique, Virtual Network Computing (VNC) and agent programs. This system is able to support 3-dimensional virtual reality environment and to provide experts to cooperate by accessing related data through internet.

• Journal of Ocean Engineering and Technology
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.100-110
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• 2015

To meet the increasing demand for energy around the world, offshore and subsea energy development is constantly being conducted. This trend is accompanied by an increasing demand for pipeline installation, which brings numerous problems, including those related to accessibility, high pressure, and corrosion. Among these, corrosion is a primary factor in pipeline fractures, and can cause severe environmental and industrial damage. Hence, accurate corrosion assessment for corroded pipelines is very important. For this reason, the present study investigated the mechanical behavior of an idealized corroded subsea pipeline with an internal/external pressure load using the commercial FEA code ABAQUS. Then, the analysis result was compared with corrosion assessment codes such as ASME B31G, DNV RP F101, ABS. Finally, a fitness-for-service assessment was conducted.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Pressure Vessels and Piping
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.30-40
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• 2016

The paper investigates the previous studies about welding residual stresses in nuclear components. First, various residual stress measurement methods are reviewed in applicability. Second a finite element welding residual stress analysis technique, which was developed from the viewpoint of FFS (Fitness-For-Service) assessment, is explained. Third, characteristics of the welding residual stresses on J-groove welds and butt welds were presented via investigating the previous studies. Last, engineering formulae for residual stresses in the FFS assessment codes such as R6 and API 579/ASME FFS-1 Code is summarized.

• International Journal of Ocean Engineering and Technology Speciallssue:Selected Papers
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.69-74
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• 2003

Recent deepwater offshore structures in the Gulf of Mexico utilize butt welded tubular joints. Application of a welded tubular joint includes tendons, production risers, and steel catenary risers. Fatigue life assessment of these joints becomes more critical, as the structures to which they are attached are allowed to undergo cyclic and sometimes large displacements around an anchored position. Estimation of the fatigue behavior of these tubular members in the design stage is generally conducted by using S-N curves, as specified in the codes and standards. Applying the stress concentration factor of the welded structure to the S-N approach often results in a very conservative assessment, because the stress field acting on the tubular has a non-uniform distribution through the thickness. Fatigue life analysis using fracture mechanics has been applied in the design of the catenary risers. This technology enables the engineer to establish proper requirements on weld quality and inspection acceptance criteria to assure satisfactory structural integrity during its design life. It also provides guidance on proper design curves and a methodology for accounting for the effects of non-uniform stress distribution through the wall thickness. Still, there is inconsistency when designing tubular joints using a conventional S-N approach and when specifying weld flaw acceptance criteria using fracture mechanics approach. This study developed fatigue curves that are consistent with both the S-N approach and the fracture mechanics approach. Accounting for non-uniform stress distribution and threshold stress intensity factor were key parameters in relating both approaches. A series of S-N curves, generated from the fracture mechanics approach, were compared to the existing S-N curves. For flat plate butt joint, the S-N curve generated from fracture mechanics matches with the IIW class 100 curve when initial crack depth was 0.5 mm (0.02). The new curves for tubular joint agree very well with the experimental results. The comparison also indicated the degree of conservatism built into the API X design curve.

• Proceedings of the KWS Conference
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• 2002.10a
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• pp.127-132
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• 2002

Recent deepwater offshore structures in Gulf of Mexico utilize butt welded tubular joints. Application of welded tubular joint includes tendons, production risers, and steel catenary risers. Fatigue life assessment of these joints becomes more critical because the structures to which they are attached are allowed to undergo cyclic and sometimes large displacements around an anchored position. Estimating the fatigue behavior of these tubular members in the design stage is generally conducted by using S-N curves specified in the codes and standards. Applying the stress concentration factor of the welded structure to S-N approach often results in very conservative assessment because the stress field acting on the tubular has a non-uniform distribution through the thickness. Fracture mechanics and fitness for service (FFS) technology have been applied in the design of the catenary risers. This technology enables the engineer to establish proper requirements on weld quality and inspection acceptance criteria to assure satisfactory structural integrity during its design life. It also provides guidance on proper design curves to be used and a methodology for accounting for the effects of non-uniform stress distribution through the wall thickness. An attempt was made to develop set of S-N curves based on fracture mechanics approach by considering non-uniform stress distribution and a threshold stress intensity factor. Series of S-N curves generated from this approach were compared to the existing S-N curves. For flat plate butt joint, the S-N curve generated from fracture mechanics matches with the IIW class 100 curve when initial crack depth was 0.5 mm (0.02"). Similar comparison with API X′ was made for tubular joint.. These initial crack depths are larger than the limits of inspection by current Non-destructive examination (NDE) means, such as Automatic Ultrasonic Inspection (AUT). Thus a safe approach can be taken by specifying acceptance criteria that are close to limits of sizing capability of the selected NDE method. The comparison illustrates conservatism built into the S-N design curve.