Coke drums are massive pressure vessels used in the oil and gas industry, which are subjected to demanding cyclic thermomechanical loading. Such conditions generate severe plastic deformation that leads to bulging and cracking during service due to low-cycle fatigue. The cracks are often repaired in programed maintenance shutdowns, and the repair procedures can be significantly different depending on the organization and failure characteristics. In this work, two types of weld repairs are evaluated after six months of service: (1) a full-excavation crack weld repair, and (2) a partial-excavation crack weld overlay repair. The repair welds were executed on a 1.25Cr-0.5Mo steel coke drum after 20 years of service. This work evaluates the microstructure of the base material, the fabrication circumferential welds, and the weld repairs. The results show that, after prolonged exposure to elevated temperatures, the originally normalized and tempered heat-treated steel microstructure has undergone severe aging. Thermodynamic equilibrium and para-equilibrium calculations were used to determine the carbide formation sequence, and SEM analysis was used to characterize the carbides present on the as-fabricated and aged microstructures. Analysis of the repaired regions did not reveal new cracks.

Operation flexibility and the high efficiency of thermal cycle are the two hot research topics for the steam turbine unit. For the operation flexibility, it requires the turbine unit be able to start up quickly and frequently, and good thermal fatigue properties of the components are a must. On the other hand, the trend to higher temperature with ultra supercritical (USC) steam is the key drive of ongoing development for the validation of a method to improve the thermal cycle efficiency, but the application of the higher steam temperature will intensify the component’s thermal fatigue. In this paper, a high pressure inner casing for the new designed solar steam turbine was studied, and the Finite Element Method (FEM) combined with linear elastic material was applied to simulate the transient stress and temperature fields during the daily warm/hot startup process. On the basis of the stress spectrum in the critical zone, the standard DIN EN-12952-3 and the fatigue curve were used to evaluate the low cycle fatigue life consumption in the transient process.

Coke drums are thin-walled pressure vessels that experience low cycle fatigue due to thermal loadings. The delayed coking process is comprised by three major stages: heating, coking and cooling, which repeat at intervals between 20 and 48 hours. The cyclic changes of temperature increase the growth of bulges and cracks which with the passing of time, propagate and eventually cause failures due to the loss of containment. A better understanding of the phenomena of the thermal gradients and their influence on the generated stresses would reduce the effects of the damage mechanisms afflicting coke drums, for example; a continuous monitoring system could be implemented in order to control the cooling ramp to obtain a more homogeneous quenching around the cylinder of the coke drum and consequently increase its lifetime. It is been widely accepted that there is a relationship between high cooling rates in isolated zones and high axial stresses. However, this relationship has not been fully validated, since there are also been reported events of low cooling rates and high stresses. This study shows a predictable behavior (trend) that relates the spatial thermal gradients and the axial and circumferential stresses generated. A coke drum in an upgrader facility was instrumented with two arrays or grids, each of them having 24 thermocouples and 2 strain gauges in zones with distinct bulges. One arrangement was located at an inward bulge while the other was located at an outward bulge. Computational models were carried out to reproduce the behavior of the instrumented zones with their actual deformations obtained from laser scanning. Finite element models were developed using a sequentially coupled thermo-mechanical analysis to determine the transient temperature and stress distributions. The effect of the circumferential thermal gradients on the stress levels in the instrumented cylindrical sections were analyzed, considering two cases; the first of them a perfect cylinder (without deformation) and the second one considering the presence of bulges in the area of interest. The results indicate that there is a relationship between the circumferential thermal gradients [°C/m] or [°F/ft] and the axial stress levels, i.e., cold zones generate axial tensile stresses, and hot zones produce compressive axial stresses. This relationship is affected — exacerbated or counteracted — by the presence of the bulges. Additionally, the results obtained in this paper confirm those of previous investigations showing that outward bulges subject to pressure and thermal loading generate high stresses on its internal surface and low stresses on its external face whereas inward bulges produce the opposite effect.

The update of the ASME III design fatigue curve for stainless steel in conjunction with the F en model described in the NUREG/CR-6909 report has been criticized since publication. Data used to develop curves and models raises more questions than it answers. Material testing in a simulated light water reactor environment is difficult due to the temperature and pressure involved. The experimental challenge makes it tempting to take shortcuts where they should least be taken. Facing and overcoming the challenges, direct strain-controlled fatigue testing has been performed at VTT using a unique tailored-for-purpose EAF facility. The applicable ASTM standards E 606 and E1012 are followed to provide results that are directly compatible with ASME Code Section III. Several earlier PVP papers (PVP2016-63291, PVP2017-65374) report lower than calculated experimental F en factors for stabilized stainless steels. In this paper new results, in line with the previous years’ conclusions, are presented for nonstabilized AISI 304L tested with dual strain rate waveforms. To model environmental effects more accurately, an approach accounting for the damaging effect of plastic strain is proposed. A draft F en model, similar in structure to the NUREG model but with additional parameters, is shown to significantly improve the accuracy of F en prediction.

This paper describes an experimental validation of the enhanced reference stress method to calculate fatigue J-integral ranges, which are effective in predicting the fatigue crack propagation rate under low–cycle fatigue loadings. Although J-integral type fracture mechanics parameters can be calculated via elastic–plastic finite element analysis (FEA) of the crack geometry, performing such an analysis is costly and requires a high–end computer. A simplified method for estimating the elastic–plastic J-integral is therefore desired. Herein, several representative simplified methods for estimating the elastic–plastic J-integral were applied to crack propagation prediction and compared with each other. The experiments referred to was a previously performed cyclic bending tests using wide–plate specimens containing a semielliptical surface crack. Limit load correction factors to improve the accuracy of the reference stress method were estimated by performing an elastic–plastic FEA. The predicted crack propagation behaviors were compared against the test results.

As a further extension to the structural strain method first introduced by Dong et al [1], this paper presents an enhanced structural strain method which incorporates material nonlinearity and for two typical weld structures, i.e. weldment with plate sections (e.g. gusset weld or cruciform weld etc.) and weldment with beam sections. (e.g. pipe structures). A modified Ramberg-Osgood is introduced to capture nonlinear stress strain behavior of the material. A set of numerical algorithms is used to deal with complex stress state induced by structural effect such as beam section and plane strain condition. The proposed structural strain method is then applied to analysis of fatigue data of weldment made from different materials including steel, aluminum and titanium. It is shown that the enhanced structural strain method provides a unified way to correlate fatigue life of weldment in both high cycle and low cycle fatigue regime. The method is also used to study ratcheting problem raised up by Bree. A modified Bree diagram is given by considering material nonlinearity.

Effects of strain amplitude and loading path on cyclic deformation behavior and martensitic transformation of 304 stainless steel were experimentally investigated at room temperature. Series of symmetrical strain-control low cycle fatigue tests with strain amplitude ranging from 0.4% to 1.0% and various loading paths (uniaxial, torsional, proportional, rhombus, square and circular) with the same equivalent strain amplitude of 0.5% were carried out. Three-stage cyclic deformation behavior containing initial hardening, cyclic softening or saturation, and secondary hardening as well as near-linear relationship between α’-martensite content and number of cycles was observed during the whole life regime as for each test. Besides, a nearly linear relation between peak stress and α’-martensite content was found during secondary hardening stage. Furthermore, higher strain amplitude or non-proportionality of loading path resulted in higher cyclic stress response and α’-martensite content growth rate, defined by the slope of curves of α’-martensite content versus number of cycles.

Efficient refinery start-up and shutdown durations are vital in establishing prolonged productivity in refineries operating hydrotreating reactors. The benefits of efficient start up and shutdown cycles are extensive, and include considerable operational and cost reduction. Reduced start-up and shutdown cycles, however, require increased heating and cooling rates, which cause higher temperature gradients throughout the reactor vessel, consequently leading to higher thermal stresses, which may affect damage mechanisms and limit reactor’s life. The equipment’s OEM has defined guidelines for the reactor heating and cooling during start-up and shutdown cycles and any attempt to reduce the start-up and shutdown duration is usually limited by these guidelines. It is therefore necessary to carry out an engineering assessment to determine the effect of changing the start-up and shutdown procedures beyond the OEM guidelines on reactor’s life. Multiple thermo-mechanical Finite Element analyses for a series of different start-up/ shutdown procedures, including the current procedure, were carried out to determine the through-wall thermal gradient and stresses, and identify the most critical locations. In order to estimate convective heat transfer coefficients, Computational Fluid Dynamic (CFD) analysis was utilized to describe the complex fluid flow behavior of the feedstock in the presence of catalysts and internal geometry features. Low Cycle Fatigue (LCF) was adopted as a main damage mechanism to quantify the damage as a result of the changed operating conditions. It was determined that the LCF life calculated in the reactor vessel’s critical damage locations was found to be sufficiently long with respect to the frequency of start/shutdown cycles, even with operating conditions exceeding the OEM limit. Therefore, alternative guidelines were suggested to achieve the time reduction in startup/shutdown operation by increasing ramp rates without compromising structural integrity of the vessel.

A modified continuum damage mechanics (CDM) model was proposed to predict the creep behavior of P92 steel with prior low cycle fatigue (LCF) damage. In order to investigate the damage mechanisms of prior LCF, microstructural observations of P92 steel after various prior LCF and subsequent creep exposures were performed. Results show that the key creep degradation is associated with the martensite lath recovery. Based on the physics of microstructural evolutions, three state variable formulas which represent damage mechanisms related to martensite lath recovery were employed to account for the prior LCF damage. The three state variable formulas which describe the damage evolution with prior LCF cycles were coupled with Hayhurst CDM model. The main advantage of the modified CDM creep model lies in its ability to directly predict creep behavior with different levels of prior LCF damage. The only parameter needed to be known for the prediction is the martensite lath width after prior LCF. Comparison of the predicted and experimental results shows that the proposed model can give a reasonable prediction for creep behavior. Moreover, this model also shows good predictive ability at different strain amplitudes of prior LCF.

Alloy 800H is currently being considered as one of the near-term candidate materials for design and construction of some major high temperature components of a very high temperature reactor (VHTR). System start-ups and shut-downs as well as power transients will produce low-cycle fatigue loadings of components. The aim of this work is to study the low cycle fatigue behavior of Alloy 800H base metal and weldments at 700°C. The weldment specimens were machined from gas tungsten arc welding (GTAW) butt-welded plate such that the loading direction was oriented transverse to the welding direction. Fully reversed total-strain controlled low-cycle fatigue tests have been performed at total strain ranges of 0.6, 0.9, 1.2 and 1.5%. For all the low-cycle fatigue tests, triangular test waveforms with a constant strain rate of 10 −3 /s were applied. Low-cycle fatigue testing was conducted in accordance with ASTM Standard E606 on servo-hydraulic test machines. And also, creep-fatigue experiments were carried out at 700°C employing 0.6% total strain range and 10 −3 /s strain rate using trapezoidal waveform with tension hold time. The main focus is to characterize the low-cycle fatigue properties for Alloy 800H weldment specimens from the cyclic deformation behavior and fatigue fracture behavior. The cyclic deformation behavior was influenced by total strain range and material property. The fatigue life was decreased with increasing the total strain range for both base metal and weldment. However, the lives of weldment specimens have a longer life than that of base metal at lower total strain ranges. It was also observed that creep effects play a significant role in fatigue life reduction.

Isothermal uniaxial low cycle fatigue tests have been performed at two different total strain ranges (1.5% and 2.5%) and at different temperatures (20, 200, 400 and 600°C) for Alloy 600 and Inconel 82 materials. The materials hardening behaviour has been fitted using the Lemaitre Chaboche formulations using different fitting strategies. Thermo mechanical tests have been performed using a Gleeble machine on both parent material and weld metal. In these tests thermal cycles were applied to a constrained specimen simulating the welding conditions in both the heat affected zone and a weld bead when subsequent beads are deposited alongside. The tests were modelled using two different FE codes, namely Code_Aster and Abaqus. This allowed the validation of the Lemaitre-Chaboche model parameters when the material is subjected to realistic thermo-mechanical cycles. Simulations were conducted using both annealing and/or viscous recovery features to examine their impact on the predicted response.

To perform low cycle fatigue analysis on nuclear structural materials under cyclic loading, cyclic hardening rules should be determined. In this study, the determination of linear and nonlinear kinematic hardening model parameters based on limited material test data is proposed. Chaboche model parameters are determined from hysteresis loops for the purpose of comparison. Simulation of cyclic C(T) test is performed using the hardening models. In cyclic C(T) test, SA508 Gr.1a low alloy steel and SA312 TP316L stainless steel were taken and incremental loading sequence was adopted. In the loading sequence, displacement control was used for loading steps and load control was applied for unloading steps to maintain constant load ratio. A constant displacement increment was applied after each cycle. The simulation results using A&F model and Chaboche model are compared to verify the applicability of A&F model.

An innovative principle of low-cycle fatigue (LCF) life assessment suggested for WWER nuclear power plants is presented. In the design stage the fatigue life assessment is based on fatigue design curves, which are introduced in graphical form for air environment. Alternatively and especially for operational stage the fatigue curves are constructed on the basis of mathematical formulas. Mathematical descriptions were validated by strain-controlled LCF laboratory tests. Due to such validated mathematical formulas the complex LCF damage analyses of nuclear power plant components and piping are enabled. In the frame of complex LCF assessment the influence of operating temperatures, stress asymmetry ratio, corrosion environment, neutron fluency and multiaxial loading can be taken into account not only for the base steel materials, but also for their welds. The aim of this paper is to summarise the whole methodology of complex LCF assessment and damage prediction including operational limits of fatigue damage defined in the Czech nuclear standard. The innovation process of original Russian LCF formulas has been running since 2010 based on three national R&D projects focused mainly on environmental aspects and multiaxial loading.

The load follow operation of thermal power plants in the context of the German “Energiewende” is a big challenge for those power plants. In this context TMF/SHM methods gain increasingly in importance. Most existing power plants do not actually work any more according to the load profile which was originally specified. Load monitoring with the potential of optimization of operational modes combined with highly qualified fatigue and creep-fatigue assessment modules is a central concern. A lot of new methods were developed for getting appropriate information about the structural health situation of loaded components and prevent premature damage. In this context, it is essential to process both design load data as well as information of the real operational load situation and combine this with a highly qualified assessment method based on the relevant design codes for conventional power plant components such as EN 12952-3 and EN 13445-3. In the case of thermal power plants both fatigue due to cyclic loading and creep due to high temperatures (and their combination) play an important role. Note that there is a change of dominating damage mechanisms and dominating damage locations (from creep towards low cycle fatigue) due to new (load follow) operating modes. This implies the qualified assessment of fatigue damage respectively combined creep-fatigue phenomena. Due to the detailed knowledge of stress histories, temperatures and the duration of hold times a best forecast can be given. A staged concept is envisaged consisting of a simplified estimation according to conventional design codes (EN 12952-3 / EN 13445-3) and a detailed solution based on the application of a non-linear material model.

In recent years, there has been an increasing need for component specific testing in nuclear power plant (NPP) materials. This has arisen from changes in fatigue design criteria outlined within the ASME Boiler Pressure and Vessel and Pipe Code (BPVC). These are primarily derived from low-cycle fatigue (LCF) testing on idealized small-scale specimens. For the case of stainless steel (SS), testing is performed under membrane loading on traditional uniaxial round-bar specimens according to standards such as ASTM E606. Here, failure is defined as a 25% drop in load, that typically corresponds to a 3 mm deep crack. Real NPP components however, rarely experience such membrane loading due to their complex geometry and in-service loading (combined primary and secondary stresses). For the case of an internally-pressurized pipe subjected to thermal transients, due to temperature fluctuations in the coolant, an additional through-wall stress field gradient is present. This results in fatigue crack initiation and propagation occurring into a decreasing stress field, which may be expected to result in longer fatigue lives than within small specimen testing and, hence, a large degree of inherent over-conservatism may exist in the ASME design data. This paper describes the development of a novel test procedure able to incorporate the effect of a stress gradient within fatigue endurance testing. A bespoke eight-point bend (8PB) setup has been developed that is capable of performing load-, displacement- and strain-controlled LCF tests. A series of trials have been conducted in all three control modes with the material response validated against finite element analysis (FEA). It is anticipated that this testing procedure can provide a better representation of NPP components under fatigue loading conditions, providing results that would be used to remove over-conservatism within the current design criteria.

In order to perform design code (ASME III, RCC-M, JSME) compatible direct strain-controlled tests in simulated PWR water, a unique environmental fatigue testing facility was previously developed. Pneumatic bellows are used to generate strain in the stainless steel specimen mid-section, while eddy current based measurement is used as a feedback signal. The NUREG/CR-6909 report gathered a large database of test results and proposed environmental reduction factors (F en ) to account for a reduction in fatigue life in simulated LWR environment when comparing to a reference value in air. The database was composed of non-stabilized stainless steels tested using methods which are not directly comparable to those used in air to define the reference curves. Applicability of the stainless steel F en factors has already been challenged in previous PVP papers (PVP2013-97500, PVP2014-28465, PVP2016-63294). Results in this paper continue to show this trend of lower experimental F en factors compared to predictions made by the NUREG report. Dual strain rate tests were performed, specifically focusing on the effect of strain waveform shape on fatigue life. Similarly to last year’s results (PVP2016-63294) a distinct effect of strain waveform, presently inadequately accounted for in F en predictions, was observed.

Determination of mechanical properties with the use of sub-sized specimens is topic a high interest nowadays. The application of the sub-sized samples is quite wide for all cases where only limited amount of the experimental material is available such as evaluation of additively manufactured products properties, residual life of in-service components, properties determination of developed nano-structured materials, assessment of dilatometric samples used for thermal and thermo-mechanical treatment development, local properties of components, weld joints and so on. Concerning this large application field it would be very useful to prepare standard for small size samples especially for the most demanded material properties: tensile properties, notch impact transition temperature, fatigue properties, fracture toughness and creep. Current paper is going to deal with the low fatigue (LCF) properties assessment with the use of miniaturized specimens’. There were proposed specimen geometries with the use of FEM analysis and testing procedures for considered mini-specimens tests were developed. In the case of strain controlled LCF tests, contactless testing system had to be established for testing of small sized specimens, where it is not possible to apply standard mechanical extensometers for test control. Moreover, LCF procedure for high temperature tests was also successfully established here. The LCF results were subsequently used for Manson-Coffin parameters determination. Results of low cycle tests for several steels are confronted with the results of standard sized specimens with very good agreement for all considered conditions.

A case study for life prediction of Grade 91 heat recovery steam generator (HRSG) superheater outlet header of typical combined cycle power plants (CCPP) is presented in this paper. The effect of high cycling and fast startup along with elevated design temperature and pressure on the creep life is studied. A consistent material model based on MPC Omega is used to evaluate the creep damage of HRSG header components. In addition, a robust unified constitutive model (UCM) based on continuum damage mechanics (CDM) (see [1]) is used for creep-fatigue damage evaluation of the header components. The performance of the UCM is compared against creep and damage focused models in predicting the life of HRSG header components subjected to steady operation condition with low cycle fatigue scenario.

As a further extension to the structural stress based master S-N curve method adopted by ASME Div 2 since 2007, this paper presents an analytical-based structural strain method for girth-welded piping components. Here, structural strain is defined as outer and inner fiber strains calculated corresponding to a deformation condition in which a pipe section plane before deformation remains as a plane after deformation. The analytical formation takes into account all possible plastic deformation conditions a pipe section subjected to a combined remote cyclic bending and axial tension. A simple numerical procedure is used for solving both outer fiber and inner fiber strains, as well as the corresponding elastic core size. For fatigue evaluation purpose, the outer fiber strain can be used to calculate the corresponding pseudo elastic structural stress range so that the structural stress based master S-N curve can be directly used. Under linear elastic deformation conditions, the structural strain definition becomes exactly the same as that calculated by the structural stress method which is the basis on the ASME Div 2 master S-N was developed. A set of a recent full scale girth-welded pipe component test data in low-cycle regime was analyzed using the structural strain method. The results showed that all these new test data fall well within the ASME Div 2 master S-N curve scatter band defined by mean+-standard deviations. In addition to its demonstrated effectiveness, the key advantage of this structural strain method is its simplicity for dealing with girth-welded pipe sections, since finite element stress analysis is no longer needed.

The effect of high-temperature water environment on the fatigue life of steels used for pressure retaining components has been discussed controversially for the last 20 to 30 years. Fatigue testing of laboratory specimens for typical steels showed significant drops in fatigue life when tested in high temperature water environment compared to air environment. Based on these findings the applicability of fatigue design curves such as those enclosed to ASME code Section III NB are questionable concerning their degree of conservatism. Nevertheless, experience from components experiencing power plant operation does not match up with laboratory fatigue testing of small uniaxial specimens. Fatigue life estimations based on models representing laboratory tests do highly overestimate the fatigue life reduction resulting from high temperature water environments compared to the analyses of components having reached their postulated fatigue life. To overcome this disagreement component testing under defined laboratory conditions is highly desired to achieve “gap closure”. At MPA University of Stuttgart a test facility was set up where environmental fatigue testing on component level can be realized within a hot water test loop. Within the framework of a research project sponsored by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) piping modules containing a dissimilar metal weld are exposed to water environments with alternating temperature conditions. At specific locations water at about room temperature is injected to a hot pipe segment which results in thermal induced loading situations. Consequently thermal stratification and shocks cause localized stresses and strains in the tested modules. Within this paper an overview of the testing procedure, the tested materials and results from both experimental measurements and fractographic analyses are presented and discussed. In addition to experimental investigations the results drawn from a coupled computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and structural mechanics finite-element-analysis (FEA) including a fatigue life assessment are shown. Finally, this work states on the applicability of common fatigue assessment procedures including the fatigue life reducing factors based on the results from realistic fatigue testing on component level. Within low cycle fatigue tests a nickel-base weld material was characterized regarding its fatigue life in air and high temperature water environment in comparison. It was found that the effect of environmentally assisted fatigue is in good agreement with what is known from literature for smooth specimens made from austenitic steels. Results from tests using notched specimens showed a significant change in the environmental effect compared to tests using smooth specimens. During component testing within a hot water loop modules which contain a dissimilar metal weld were exposed to alternating water temperature conditions between 20 °C and 65 °C. At the end of the component test cracks were found in the regions where the highest temperature changes were measured and calculated. The numerical analysis of the fluid-structure-interaction pointed out that the transition region between the austenitic steel and the nickel base weld material is the highest loaded section within the module. Finally the fatigue assessment of the pipe sections containing cracks showed that based on common fatigue hypothesis the loading state is regarded to be subcritical.