Cyclic and transient thermal loading of the HDR reactor pressure vessel with respect to crack initiation and crack propagation

Abstract

Abstract In a series of thermal loading tests at the HDR reactor pressure vessel – thermal stratification, cyclic thermal shock and pressurized thermal shock – the methods applied in safety analysis had to become qualified by a continuous intercomparison of calculated results and experimental data. Above all the complex boundary conditions of the HDR-tests offer a close approximation to the original components, so that they provide a real assessment of the transferability. The results of the thermal mixing tests indicated that during cold water inflow into the RPV longitudinal strains build up in the cylindrical wall which dominate over that in circumferential direction. During the cyclic thermal fatigue tests incipient crack formation in the cladding as well as the behaviour of crack propagation in the cladding and in the base material was analyzed. In the pressurized thermal shock tests, the nozzle region and the cylinder wall in the incipient crack condition were loaded by long cooling streaks. Even in the aggravated loading condition as the result of a routed cold water streak no remarkable indications of crack growth were noticed. In both cases, cyclic and pressurized thermal shock loading, the expected crack propagation was overpredicted by the fracture mechanical methods used. The non-destructive examination methods used were able to locate all of the cracks but they mostly overpredicted the actual crack depth.