Key results from the NRC`s short cracks in piping and piping welds research program

The overall objective of the Short Cracks in Piping and Piping Welds Program is to verify and improve engineering analyses to predict the fracture behavior of circumferentially cracked pipe under quasi-static loading with particular attention to crack lengths typically used in LBB or flaw evaluation criteria. The USNCRC program at Battelle was initiated in March 1990 and is scheduled to be completed in December 1994. This paper discusses key results from the overall program with particular emphasis on the efforts since the last WRSIM meeting. The program consists of eight technical tasks as listed below: task 1 short through-wall-cracked (TWC) pipe evaluations; task 2 short surface-cracked (SC) pipe evaluations; task 3 bi-metallic weld crack evaluations; task 4 dynamic strain aging and crack instabilities; task 5 fracture evaluations of anisotropic pipe; task 6 crack-opening-area evaluations; task 7 NRCPIPE code improvements; task 8 additional efforts. Task 8 is a collection of new efforts initiated during the coarse of the program. A list of the full-scale pipe experiments in this program is given in Table 1. All of the experiments have been completed. The most recent accomplishments in each of the tasks listed above are discussed below. The details of all the resultsmore » in the eight tasks are published in the semiannual reports as well as topical reports from the program.« less