CASS Fracture Tests Using Flat Plate Specimens With a Surface Flaw

JSME rules for fitness for service have flaw acceptance rules for cast austenitic stainless steel (CASS) pipes. They allow applying two-parameter and elastic-plastic fracture mechanics methods using Z-factor. However they do not clearly describe whether limit load method is applicable for the case of no or low thermal aging condition. The authors performed tensile fracture tests using flat plate specimens with a surface flaw and confirmed that limit load method is applicable in the conditions of no thermal aging and even fully saturated thermal aging with high ferrite number. Also the plate with a shallow flaw ruptured at the critical stress defined by nominal stress at rupture-flaw depth curve in the code case which was determined by the similar flat plate tests of stainless steel or nickel alloy specimens. These results will be reflected to the revision of the code.