Stress corrosion crack growth evaluation in primary loop of nuclear power plant

The most important mode of subcritical crack growth is primary water stress corrosion crack, which was the reported mechanism from the root cause analysis of the crack in the bimetallic welds. Stress corrosion crack growth evaluations was carried out for several flaw shapes of both axial and circumferential flaws, using the steady-state stresses including residual stresses. This evaluation considered the possibility of additional flaws in the primary loops of nuclear power plant, even though no such flaws have been identified by ultrasonic test. Consequently, results show that the predicted flaw sizes will determine acceptability for continued service and maintenance