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An Experimental Method for Environmental Assisted Fatigue of 304L Stainless Steel in Simulated LWR Water

Environmental assisted fatigue, also known as corrosion fatigue, is a well-known degradation phenomenon in structural materials that may develop as a consequence of long-time exposure of components to cyclic loads at the presence of an aggressive environment. This phenomenon constitutes an increased environmental risk for fatigue initiation in many industrial applications. One such application is the piping system in a nuclear power plant where the structural material is subjected to an aggressive water environment. Here, the cyclic loads arise from thermal fluctuations and mechanically induced vibrations.

Product Number: ED22-18335-SG
Author: Mustafa Subasic, Jean Smith, Pål Efsing, Martin Bjurman, Mattias Thuvander, Carl Dahlberg, Bo Alfredsson
Publication Date: 2022
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This paper presents the full procedure of a recently developed experimental method for environmental assisted fatigue (EAF) testing of 304L stainless steel in simulated light water reactor (LWR) environment. The EAF testing method has been used by several research institutes. It utilizes cylindrical hollow specimens assembled with fixtures on an electro-mechanic testing machine rather than the more commonly used method with autoclave equipment and solid specimens which is more time-consuming. Additional benefits of using the test method with the hollow specimen include more accurate and achievable load and displacement measurements and a simple servo-hydraulic or electro-mechanic testing machine instead of an expensive test facility with an autoclave. The fatigue life of hollow specimens in air has been verified against the fatigue life of the solid specimens in both room and elevated temperature to enable comparison and evaluate the EAF effect. In addition, the experimental setup is electrically isolated to allow the potential drop method to measure the number of cycles required for crack initiation and propagation to failure. The multiaxial stress effect of the internal pressure used in EAF testing of LWR water environment on crack initiation and propagation has also been determined.

This paper presents the full procedure of a recently developed experimental method for environmental assisted fatigue (EAF) testing of 304L stainless steel in simulated light water reactor (LWR) environment. The EAF testing method has been used by several research institutes. It utilizes cylindrical hollow specimens assembled with fixtures on an electro-mechanic testing machine rather than the more commonly used method with autoclave equipment and solid specimens which is more time-consuming. Additional benefits of using the test method with the hollow specimen include more accurate and achievable load and displacement measurements and a simple servo-hydraulic or electro-mechanic testing machine instead of an expensive test facility with an autoclave. The fatigue life of hollow specimens in air has been verified against the fatigue life of the solid specimens in both room and elevated temperature to enable comparison and evaluate the EAF effect. In addition, the experimental setup is electrically isolated to allow the potential drop method to measure the number of cycles required for crack initiation and propagation to failure. The multiaxial stress effect of the internal pressure used in EAF testing of LWR water environment on crack initiation and propagation has also been determined.