Development of an advanced PFM code for the integrity evaluation of nuclear piping system under combined aging mechanisms

Abstract

A nuclear piping system is composed of several straight pipes and elbows joined by welding. These weld sections are usually the most susceptible failure parts susceptible to various degradation mechanisms. Whereas a specific location of a reactor piping system might fail by a combination of different aging mechanisms, e.g. fatigue and/or stress corrosion cracking, the majority of the piping probabilistic fracture mechanics (PFM) codes can only consider a single aging mechanism at a time. So, a probabilistic fracture mechanics computer code capable of considering multiple aging mechanisms was developed for an accurate failure analysis of each specific component of a nuclear piping section. The newly proposed crack morphology based probabilistic leak flow rate module is introduced in this code to separately treat fatigue and SCC type cracks. Improved models e.g. stressors models, elbow failure model, SIFs model, local seismic occurrence probability model, performance based crack detection models, etc., are also included in this code. Recent probabilistic fatigue ($\it{S-N}$) and SCC crack initiation ($\it{S-T}$) and subsequent crack growth rate models are coded. An integrated probabilistic risk assessment and probabilistic fracture mechanics methodology is proposed. A complete flow chart regarding the combined aging mechanism model is presented. The combined aging mechanism based module can significantly reduce simulation efforts and time. Two NUREG benchmark problems, e.g. reactor pressure vessel outlet nozzle section and a surge line elbow located just below the pressurizer are reinvestigated by this code. The results showed that, contribution of pre-existing cracks in addition to initiating cracks, can significantly increase the overall failure probability. Inconel weld location of reactor pressure vessel outlet nozzle section showed the weakest point in terms of relative through-wall leak failure probability in the order of about $10^{-2}$ at the 40-year plan...