I. Balachov et al., Prediction of materials damage history from stress corrosion cracking in boiling water reactors, J PRES VESS, 122(1), 2000, pp. 45-49
Citations number
24
Categorie Soggetti
Mechanical Engineering
Journal title
JOURNAL OF PRESSURE VESSEL TECHNOLOGY-TRANSACTIONS OF THE ASME
Over the past decade, we have developed deterministic models for predicting
materials damage due to stress corrosion cracking (SCC) in boiling water r
eactor (BWR) primary coolant circuits. These steady-state models have been
applied to fixed state points of reactor operation to yield electrochemical
corrosion potential (ECP) and crack growth rate (CGR) predictions. However
, damage is cumulative, so that prediction of the extent of damage at any g
iven time must integrate crack growth rate over the history of the plant. I
n this paper, we describe the use of the REMAIN code to predict the accumul
ated damage functions for major components in the coolant circuit of a typi
cal BWR that employs internal coolant pumps. As an example, the effect of r
elatively small amounts of hydrogen added to the feedwater (e.g., 0.5 ppm)
on the development of damage from a 0.197-in. (0.5-cm) intergranular crack
located at the exit of an internal pump was analyzed. It is predicted that
hydrogen additions to the feedwater will effectively suppress further growt
h at the crack. We also report the first predictions of the accumulation of
damage from SCC for a variable power operating cycle. We predict that the
benefits of hydrogen water chemistry (HWC), as indicated by the behavior of
a single crack under constant environmental conditions, are significantly
muted by changes in reactor power. [S0094-9930(00)01301-9].