The stability of growth of a through-wall circumferential crack in a cylindrical pipe subjected to bending deformation

Tada, Paris and Gamble have used the tearing modulus approach to examine the stability of growth of a through-wall circumferential crack in a 304 stainless steel circular cylindrical pipe subject to bending deformation. They showed that crack growth is stable, in the sense that growth requires the rotation imposed at the pipe-ends to be increased, provided the pipe length is less than a critical length Lsub(c), which is given by their analysis. The Tada-Paris-Gamble analysis focuses on the question of the stability, or otherwise, of crack growth at the onset of crack extension. The analysis does not consider the possibilities that (a) instability might occur after some stable crack growth, and (b) arrest might occur after some unstable growth. A study of these aspects of the circumferential crack growth problem using the tearing modulus approach is precluded by the geometry dependence of the J-crack growth resistance curve. Consequently the present paper uses a crack tip opening angle criterion to describe crack growth, and thereby demonstrates that possibilities (a) and (b) should both occur, depending on the initial crack length and pipe length. In terms of relevance to the technologically important problem of cracking in Boiling Water Reactor piping, the important conclusion stemming from the paper's analysis is that stability of crack growth after the onset of crack extension is assured if the pipe length is less than a critical length L'sub(c). L'sub(c) is less than Lsub(c), the critical length relevant to the onset of crack extension, but it is still appreciably greater than the pipe run lengths in actual reactor piping systems, and safety against guillotine failure of a pipe is therefore generally assured. (author)