The effect of a superimposed compressive load on the failure of a stainless steel pipe containing a through-wall circumferential crack: Part II: Bending deformation is displacement-controlled

Abstract

In the context of the integrity of nuclear reactor piping systems, this paper examines the effect of an axial compressive load on the instability of growth of a through-wall circumferential crack in a stainless steel pipe that is subjected to displacement-controlled bending deformation. The analytical procedure is based on the deformed pipe configuration, and with the aid of the tearing modulus methodology, the instability criterion is expressed in terms of the magnitude of the compressive load, pipe geometry parameters, and the material's fracture and flow characteristics. The results show that a compressive load can have an adverse effect on crack stability when the axial load is only a small fraction of the pipe's Euler critical load. This conclusion is in general accord with the conclusion for the case where a pipe is subject to load-controlled bending deformation.