French experimental studies of circumferentially through-wall cracked austenitic pipes under static bending

Abstract

This paper describes experimental studies performed on cracked pipes made of austenitic steel and subjected to a bending load. The studies concern the characterization of conditions for which an initial crack (fatigue precracked) initiates and then propagates along the circumference of the tube. The influences of different parameters were obtained: crack length, crack tip radius, tube geometry (radius, thickness), temperature and weldment. The predictive criteria checked in these studies are limit analysis (or net-section stress criterion) and J estimation.