Abstract
Section III of the ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code specifies fatigue design curves for structural materials. These curves were based on tests of smooth polished specimens at room temperature in air. The effects of reactor coolant environments are not explicitly addressed by the Code design curves, but recent test data illustrate potentially significant effects of LWR coolant environments on the fatigue resistance of carbon and low-alloy steels. Under certain loading and environmental conditions, fatigue lives of test specimens may be a factor of {approx}70 shorter than in air. Results of fatigue tests that examine the influence of reactor environment on crack imitation and crack growth of carbon and low-alloy steels are presented. Crack lengths as a function of fatigue cycles were determined in air by a surface replication technique, and in water by block loading that leaves marks on the fracture surface. Decreases in fatigue life of low-alloy steels in high-dissolved-oxygen (DO) water are primarily caused by the effects of environment during early stages of fatigue damage, i.e., growth of short cracks 100 {micro}m, crack growth rates in high-DO water are higher than in air by one order of magnitude. The effects of LWR environments on growth of short cracks are discussed.
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