Inelastic analysis of SNR-300 piping

This paper investigates plasticity, creep, and elastic follow-up effects on a full size hot primary piping system of the German fast breeder reactor prototype, the SNR-300. A large model (327 elements, 419 nodes) of straight pipe, special elbow and hanger elements of the general purpose finite element program, MARC-CDC, is used to predict piping behavior for a heat-up, sodium loading-unloading-reloading cycle and other significant operating conditions. Included in this work are many time-dependent solution increments for a 5,000 hour creep period. Creep strains and relaxed stress results, after 5,000 hours, for the complete model are used with uniaxial and biaxial models and results to extrapolate conclusions for a 100,000 hour operating life. (author)