Within the framework of the FP7 European project STYLE, a large scale experiment was performed at EDF R&D on a cladded ferritic pipe (Mock-Up 3). The objective of this experiment was to investigate the transferability of material properties from small specimens to large scale components.
The large scale experiment involved applying 4-point bending under displacement control at room temperature to a clad ferritic steel pipe with an inner surface crack. The goal of the experiment was to initiate ductile crack growth and track the resulting stable crack growth until the surface flaw breaks through the wall.
The pipe was representative of a surge line, consisting of a clad ferritic pipe with an outer diameter of 424 mm, and base metal wall thickness of 31 mm, with an austenitic stainless steel cladding layer 5 mm thick on the inner surface. The base metal is a low alloy 20 MnMoNi 5 5 steel (corresponding to the specifications of an SA 508 Grade 3, Class 1 steel).
The pipe test was conducted in 2012 in the EDF R&D 4-point bending frame. Following the experiment, various specimens were taken from the mock-up to identify the material behavior and provide data to investigate the transferability of the material fracture properties.
This paper recalls briefly the large scale experiment results and presents the main experimental results from the specimens. Then the results of the local approach finite element computations with the Rousselier model are presented and compared with the experimental results.
