Thermal shock experiments on cracked cladded plates

To investigate the effect of the cladding on the behaviour of postulated near surface cracks in the wall of a nuclear pressure vessel under thermal shock transients, two model experiments on cladded plates with artificially introduced cracks were performed. In numerical finite element analyses temperatures and stresses as well as crack driving force for different parts of the crack front were calculated for the applied loads. The results were used to verify analytical defect assessment methods and to analyse the crack behaviour. A comparison of observed crack initiation and arrest events for a subclad and for a surface crack experiment with results of analytical and FE analyses shows good agreement. © 1999 Published by Elsevier Science S.A. All rights reserved.