Seismic, Structural and LBB Studies

14.4 DEMONSTRATION OF LEAK BEFORE BREAK

DESIGN CRITERIA FOR PIPES OF PHT SYSTEM
PHWR
Fail-safe design criteria such as Leak-Before-Break (LBB) based
on fracture mechanics concepts requires the demonstration of
integrity of the piping system by showing that unstable crack
growth will not occur before a crack penetrates the wall thickness,
nor will it occur for a through-wall leakage size flaw. LBB
evaluation is divided in three levels. In level-1, it is shown that in
view of the stringent specifications in material, design, fabrication,
inspection and testing, there will be no crack initiation, thus
avoiding the possibility of crack propagation. In level-2, it is
postulated that a crack of certain length and depth has escaped

Maximum crack depth Vs number of cycles for

different initial crack depth and R=0.5

detection. But, it can be shown that for the duration of plant

life this crack will not grow enough to penetrate the wall, let
alone cause catastrophic failure. In level-3, it is postulated that
the crack has penetrated the wall and showed that the resultant
through-wall crack is stable, produces leakage in sufficient
quantity to enable detection and corrective action can be taken
before it becomes critical.
Studies have been carried out on 28 carbon steel pipes and pipe
elbows to demonstrate the leak before break design criterion
and validate the analytical procedures. Summary of the typical
results for 200 NB pipes and elbows having part through notch
is given below.
In case of pipes, number of cycles to crack initiation can be
predicted well by evaluating local stress based on a fracture
mechanics approach. For the typical stress range expected in the

Test set-up

Crack shape at different intervals of cyclic loading

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Seismic, Structural and LBB Studies

piping of PHWR, the number of cycles to crack initiation is very

large compared to the expected number of cycles. Paris constants
obtained from the standard specimens can be used directly for
crack growth rate analysis of pipes. The use of the fatigue crack
growth curve given in ASME Section XI will produce a conservative
result. Even after crack initiation, the number of cycles required
for the crack to grow through-wall is enormously large thus
satisfying LBB level-2 criteria. The ratio of moment required to
cause instability to the moment expected during SSE is more
than 2, thus satisfying the LBB level-3 criterion.
In case of elbows, crack initiation has been observed from the
inside as well as outside surface of the crown region of the
elbow irrespective of the nature of stress (i.e. tensile or
compressive). Crack growth from the outer and inner
surface in thickness direction is shown in figure. The two cracks
join to produce through wall crack. There is no crack growth
under monotonic loading for the elbow having through wall
crack at the crown. Failure of the elbow has been observed by
net section collapse.

J.Chattopadhyay, <jchatt@barc.gov.in>
P. K.Singh, RSD, <pksingh@barc.gov.in>

Cracked Elbow

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