Understanding and Predicting Weldment Fatigue in Structural Nuclear Supports

A critical and detailed review of current knowledge in the field of weldment fatigue has been performed; this review covers the assessment procedures and also the foundations upon which those procedures are based. This review is part of a body of research to support the design of nuclear pressure vessel mounting; the output of which will be a weldment fatigue assessment procedure for application to structural steelwork. The engineering background upon which established codes, such as BS7608, are based will be presented. Historical thinking in this field will be covered, inclusive of the results of recent work. Areas considered during the review include; material properties, post weld treatment, loading regime, variable amplitude loading and assessment procedures. Rolls-Royce is also currently performing testing of samples to tackle issues identified within this review, which will be discussed. Alongside the testing programme, Rolls-Royce is undertaking a numerical assessment of weldment fatigue life prediction tools, both global and local. These tools are being assessed for their consistency, robustness and accuracy. A proportion of the results from this work will also be presented.