Probabilistic fracture mechanics of nuclear structural components: consideration of transition from embedded crack to surface crack Original Research Article

This paper describes a probabilistic fracture mechanics (PFM) analysis of aged nuclear reactor pressure vessel (RPV) material. New interpolation formulas of three-dimensional stress intensity factors are presented for both embedded elliptical surface cracks and semi-elliptical surface cracks. To investigate effects of transition from embedded crack to surface crack in PFM analyses, one of the PFM round-robin problems set by JSME-RC111 committee (i.e. aged RPV under normal and upset operating conditions) is solved, employing the interpolation formulas.