• Transactions of the Korean Society of Pressure Vessels and Piping
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• v.6 no.2
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• pp.28-33
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• 2010

As a part of license renewal for the continued operation of Wolsong unit 1, the periodic safety review report was submitted near the end of design lifetime, 2012, and now is under reviewing. Major components of primary system such as pressure tubes, feeder pipes and so on are being replaced and many components of secondary system are also being repaired. So the license renewal of Wolsong unit 1 is expected to be acquired without significant issues. But on the other hand, steam generators of Wolsong unit 1 had the good performance and therefore the replacement and repair for the steam generator are not needed. Recently it is reported that some cracks were detected in a few of european steam generator with Alloy 800 tubes and the cause of cracks was the outer diameter stress corrosion cracking(ODSCC) due to the concentration of chemical impurities on the outer surface of tube. Accordingly the overall review on this issue was performed. The long-term operation is likely to results to form the concentration mechanism for the tube corrosion as the sludge build-up in the secondary side of steam generator and the crack in the crevice between tube and tube-sheet and expansion transitions is apt to be occurred. In this paper, the history of steam generator inspection and operation of Wolsong unit 1 are reviewed and the reliability of steam generator tube is evaluated and the steam generator aging management program for Wolsong unit 1 is introduced.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.374-379
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• 2002

Corrosion fatigue tests were carried out to clarify the influence of acid fog as environmental factor on the fatigue strength of SM55C using rotary bending fatigue tester. The fatigue strength of acid fog specimen extremely decreased about 80% compared to that of distilled water specimen. In acid fog environment, a number of cracks commenced at corrosion pit and coalesced with the adjacent cracks during they propagate, and they formed a single non-propagating circumferential crack under the endurance stress of N=5$\times$10$\^$7/ cycles. Also, the depth of the crack is smaller than that of normal fatigue crack, so the crack has a veil small aspect ratio. The reason of this peculiar crack growth characteristics is that the crack opening-closure behaviors are hindered by corrosion products on the surface crack faces, and hence it is thinkable that the strong corrosion action like anodic dissolution for crack growth in depth direction is weaker compared with surface, resulting from faint pumping action of crack during loading-shedding processes.

• Corrosion Science and Technology
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.112-119
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• 2014

In this work, it is aimed to develop the fabrication method of axial stress corrosion cracking (SCC) defects having various sizes, on the outer diameter surface of the steam generator (SG) tubings. To control the length of the artificial SCC defect, the specific area of the SG tubing samples was exposed to an acidic solution after a sensitization heat treatment. During the exposure to an acidic solution, a direct current potential drop (DCPD) method was adopted to monitor the crack depth. The size of the SCC defect was first evaluated by an eddy current test (ECT), and then confirmed by a destructive examination. From the comparison, it was found that the actual crack length was well controlled to be similar to the length of the surface exposed to an acidic solution (5, 10, 20 or 30 mm in this work) with small standard deviation. From in-situ monitoring of the crack depth using the DCPD method, it was possible to distinguish a non-through wall crack from a through wall crack, even though the depth of the non-through wall crack was not able to be precisely controlled. The fabrication method established in this work was useful to simulate the SCC defect having similar size and ECT signals as compared to the field cracks in the SG tubings of the operating Korean PWRs.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.56 no.6
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• pp.2131-2140
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• 2024

The chloride-induced stress corrosion cracking (CISCC) is one of the major integrity concerns in dry storage canisters made of austenitic stainless steels (ASSs). In this study, an advanced duplex stainless steel (DSS) with a composition of Fe-19Cr-4Ni-2.5Mo-4.5Mn (ADCS) was developed and its performance was compared with that of commercial ASS and DSS alloys. The chemical composition of ADCS was determined to obtain greater pitting and CISCC resistance as well as a proper combination of strength and ductility. Then, the thermomechanical processing (TMP) condition was applied, which resulted in higher strength than ASSs (304L SS and 316L SS) and better ductility than DSSs (2101 LDSS and 2205 DSS). The potentiodynamic polarization and electrochemical impedance spectra (EIS) results represented the better pitting corrosion resistance of ADCS compared to 304L SS and 316L SS by forming a better passive layer. The CISCC tests using four-point loaded specimens showed that cracks were initiated at 24 h for 304L SS and 144 h for 316L SS, while crack was not found until 1008 h for ADCS. Overall, the developed alloy, ADCS, showed better combination of CISCC resistance and mechanical properties as dry storage canister materials than commercial alloys.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.25 no.5
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• pp.772-778
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• 2001

In this study, corrosion fatigue characteristics of 12Cr alloy steel were investigated in 3.5wt.% NaCl solution of 150$^{\circ}C$ and 4.5bar. Behavior of corrosion fatigue cracks was measured by the indirect compliance method and compared with the results in distilled water and in air. 1) 12Cr alloy steel was susceptible to temperature. Its susceptibility was increased as the temperature was increased. 2) The crack growth characteristics of 12Cr alloy steel in distilled water were similar to 3.5wt.% NaCl solution. 3) The temperature of solution affects to the crack growth characteristics of 12Cr alloy steel. In corrosion solutions of 4.5bar, 150$^{\circ}C$, fracture surfaces of corrosion fatigue crack growth at a/W=0.3 was showed the trans-granular fracture suface. As the crack grew up, it was changed to inter-granular type. In condition of high temperature, The crack growth behaviors of 12Cr alloy steel were remarkable.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.193-199
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• 1985

Iodine-induced stress corrosion cracking tests of Zircaloy-4 cladding were undertaken using the modified infernal pressurization method. The effects of iodine concentration and applied stress were studied. The critical iodine concentration for SCC was found to be about 0.2 mg/$\textrm{cm}^2$ at 603$^{\circ}$K. The threshold stress was dependent on the test temperature and the mechanical properties of the specimen. The fracture surface showed that the crack propagated stepwise iron one grain to others until the material was unstable and then ruptured mechanically. The initial region showed the transgranular feature and the wedge-shaped cracks. As the crack proceeded, the transgranular and ductile-tearing mired feature appeared in the middle region.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.25 no.7
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• pp.1139-1146
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• 2001

The reactor pressure vessel(RPV) is usually cladded with stainless steel to prevent corrosion and radiation embrittlement, and a number of subclad cracks have been found during an in-service-inspection. These subclad cracks should be assured for a safe operation under normal conditions and faulted conditions such as pressurized thermal shock(PTS). Currently available integrity assessment procedure for an RPV, ASME Code Sec. XI, are built on the basis of linear fracture mechanics (LEFM). In PTS condition, however, thermal stress and mechanical stress give rise to high tensile stress at the cladding and elastic-plastic behavior is expected in this area. Therfore, ASME Code Sec. XI is overly conservative in assessing the structural integrity under PTS condition. In this paper, the fracture parameter (stress intensity factor, K, and RT(sub)NDT) from elastic analysis using ASME Sec. XI and finite element method were validated against 3-D elastic-plastic finite element analyses. The difference between elastic and elastic-plastic analysis became significant with increasing crack depth. Therfore, it is recommended to perform elastic-plastic analysis for the accurate assessment of subclad cracks under TPS which causes plastic deformation at the cladding.

• Journal of Mechanical Science and Technology
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.207-214
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• 2000

Fracture phenomenon has been reported on blades, rotors, connections and rotor discs of LP turbines of nuclear power plants, which is caused by fatigue, stress corrosion and erosion. In this study, as a tool of reliability evaluation, a number of stress and fracture analyses were performed on the defected area under various operating conditions using the finite element method. Possible defects on key-way and rotor disc were assumed to be two-dimensional cracks and centrifugal force, temperature distribution and shrink-fit effect were included as external loads. From stress analysis results, stress intensity factors were obtained and these values can be utilized to evaluate reliability and predict remaining lifetime of the turbine discs.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.31 no.12
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• pp.1188-1193
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• 2007

This study focuses on the corrosion problems of STS316(stainless steel 316) tube for the cooling system of PEMFC (Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell) operation. Deionized water which is highly corrosive is used especially for cooling agent of PEMFC to eliminate electrical conductivity, The tensile stress analysis was performed to check the change of mechanical strength of cooling line and pH of the water was monitored for the observation of extent of corrosion at simulated PEMFC operating condition. When STS316 tube was exposed to deionized water for 500 hours, substantial cracks were found on the surface and the pH of water was decreased from 6.8 to 5.8. For prevention of corrosion problems, the STS316 was coated by three kinds of fluororesin such as PTFE, FEP and ETFE. Among the coating materials, PTFE was the most protective in corrosive environment and was maintained the mechanical strength. To lower the cost, the same experimental analyses were carried out for iron tubes and the result will be discussed in detail.

• Proceedings of the Korea Concrete Institute Conference
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• 2008.04a
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• pp.61-64
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• 2008

Reinforced Concrete structures are constructed under the basic assumption of perfect bonding between steel and concrete. The corrosion of steel in the reinforced concrete columns results in the excessive cracks and gradual deterioration of concrete between steel and concrete. The cyclic loading test was conducted with the three corrosion rates in the laboratory. Throughout this test, it is investigated a bond behavior of reinforced concrete columns under a steel corrosion. Main variables of the test are a corrosion of steel reinforcement and a level of stress.