Characterization of austenitic stainless steels with regard to environmentally assisted fatigue in simulated light water reactor conditions
Year of publication
2021
Authors
Bruchhausen, Matthias; Dundulis, Gintautas; McLennan, Alec; Arrieta, Sergio; Austin, Tim; Cicero, Romá N.; Chitty, Walter John; Doremus, Luc; Ernestova, Miroslava; Grybenas, Albertas; Huotilainen, Caitlin; Mann, Jonathan; Mottershead, Kevin; Novotny, Radek; Perosanz, Francisco Javier; Platts, Norman; Roux, Jean Christophe Le; Spätig, Philippe; Celeizábal, Claudia Torre; Twite, Marius; Vankeerberghen, Marc
Show moreAbstract
A substantial amount of research effort has been applied to the field of environmentally assisted fatigue (EAF) due to the requirement to account for the EAF behaviour of metals for existing and new build nuclear power plants. We present the results of the European project INcreasing Safety in NPPs by Covering Gaps in Environmental Fatigue Assessment (INCEFA-PLUS), during which the sensitivities of strain range, environment, surface roughness, mean strain and hold times, as well as their interactions on the fatigue life of austenitic steels has been characterized. The project included a test campaign, during which more than 250 fatigue tests were performed. The tests did not reveal a significant effect of mean strain or hold time on fatigue life. An empirical model describing the fatigue life as a function of strain rate, environment and surface roughness is developed. There is evidence for statistically significant interaction effects between surface roughness and the environment, as well as between surface roughness and strain range. However, their impact on fatigue life is so small that they are not practically relevant and can in most cases be neglected. Reducing the environmental impact on fatigue life by modifying the temperature or strain rate leads to an increase of the fatigue life in agreement with predictions based on NUREG/CR-6909. A limited sub-programme on the sensitivity of hold times at elevated temperature at zero force conditions and at elevated temperature did not show the beneficial effect on fatigue life found in another study.
Show moreOrganizations and authors
Publication type
Publication format
Article
Parent publication type
Journal
Article type
Original article
Audience
ScientificPeer-reviewed
Peer-ReviewedMINEDU's publication type classification code
A1 Journal article (refereed), original researchPublication channel information
Open access
Open access in the publisher’s service
Yes
Open access of publication channel
Fully open publication channel
License of the publisher’s version
CC BY
Self-archived
No
Other information
Fields of science
Mechanical engineering; Materials engineering
Keywords
[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object]
Language
English
International co-publication
Yes
Co-publication with a company
Yes
DOI
10.3390/met11020307
The publication is included in the Ministry of Education and Culture’s Publication data collection
Yes