Numerical Investigation on Plastic Strain Correction Factor in Simplified Elastic-Plastic Fatigue Analysis

Abstract

A plastic strain correction factor is used in a simplified elastic-plastic fatigue analysis of nuclear power plant components. Numerical investigation on the plastic strain correction factor is presented for the case of the primary and secondary stress range exceeding three times the design stress intensity value under thermal-mechanical loadings. The plastic strain correction factor was computed separately by following the RCC-M code and applying the elastic-plastic finite element analysis. The influence of loading ratio, loading controlled mode and ambient temperature on the plastic strain correction factor was discussed. It was shown that the plastic strain correction factor computed from the RCC-M code is not as conservative as that from the complete elastic-plastic finite element analysis when the primary plus secondary stress range is close to three times the design stress intensity value. However, it is too conservative when the primary plus secondary stress range is more than three times the design stress intensity value multiplying parameter m (use in RCC-M code). Additionally, a new formula of plastic strain correction factor was proposed to provide a complete envelope curve to the entire primary plus secondary stress range.