INCEFA-PLUS is a five year project supported by the European Commission HORIZON2020 program. The project commenced in mid-2015. 16 organizations from across Europe have combined forces to deliver new experimental data which will support the development of improved guidelines for assessment of environmental fatigue damage to ensure safe operation of nuclear power plants. Within INCEFA-PLUS, the effects of mean strain, hold time, strain amplitude and surface finish on fatigue endurance of austenitic stainless steels in light water reactor environments are being studied experimentally, these being issues of common interest to all participants. The data obtained are being collected and standardized in an online environmental fatigue database, implemented with the assistance of a CEN workshop led by members of the INCEFA-PLUS project. Later in the project it is planned that INCEFA-PLUS will develop and disseminate methods for including the new data into assessment approaches for environmental fatigue degradation.
This paper provides an update to the project introduction presented at PVP2016 (PVP2016-63149). In particular the paper presents the finalized matrix of test conditions for Phase 1 testing planned for 2017, including the agreed positions on testing for the effects of mean stress/strain and hold time. The materials being tested are summarized, together with available material characterization data. The specimen surface finishes used in the phase 1 testing are described, including measures taken to ensure uniformity of surface conditions throughout the consortium and characterization results for the two chosen surface finishes for each specimen geometry and material. The emerging plans for Phase 2 testing is also described, with a focus on steps being taken to enable more plant-relevant testing for the effects of mean stress and exploration of sensitivities to hold times within plant transients. The latest view on how the project results will be used to advance development of improved assessment guidelines is also discussed. An update is provided on the discussions at the CEN workshop on Standards-Compliant Formats for Fatigue Test Data (FATEDA) including progress towards agreeing test data formats and trials of XML data transfers from laboratory to database. Finally, a summary is provided of project dissemination activities.
