Evaluation of ductile tearing in cracked pipes and elbows under bending Original Research Article

A major project was launched in France to develop leak-before-break methods applicable to the primary circuit of pressurized water reactors. An important aspect is to be able to calculate the resistance strength of piping components (tube or elbow) that contain a through-wall circumferential crack. This paper presents details of the development of an experimental method that can be used to define J-R curve, using experiments performed on cracked tubes and elbows at room temperature. Applications for components made from ferritic steel and austenitic steels are described. It is concluded that the procedure could be effective for characterizing the real behaviour of cracked pipes or elbows.