Thermal fatigue behavior of thin-walled cylindrical carbon steel specimens in simulated BWR environment

Thin-walled cylindrical carbon steel specimens were thermally fatigued in a pressurized autoclave. Since high and low temperature pure water were alternately supplied into the autoclave, the specimens were subjected to homogeneous thermal stress through the wall thickness. The thermal fatigue life was defined as the number of cycles to crack penetration to the inside of the cylindrical specimen. The thermal fatigue strength was compared with the mechanical fatigue strength performed in air and in high temperature water. Even if taking account of the Higuchi-Iida formula, which considers the effects of strain rate, dissolved oxygen concentration and water temperature on fatigue life, the thermal fatigue lives of carbon steel were found to be slightly shorter than the mechanical fatigue lives. (orig.)