Methodology for formulating predictions of stress corrosion cracking life

This paper presents a methodology for formulating predictions to evaluate the stress corrosion cracking (SCC) potential of each light-water reactor component, where an index is introduced as a life index or F index. The index denotes the SCC time ratio of a given SCC system to be evaluated against a reference SCC system. The life index is expressed by the products of several subdivided life indexes, which correspond to each SCC influencing factor. Each subdivided life index is constructed as a function containing the influencing factor variable, obtained by analyzing experimental SCC life data. The methodology was termed the subdivided factor method. Application of the life index to SCC life data and field data showed that it was effective for evaluating the SCC potential, i.e. the SCC life. Accordingly, the proposed methodology can potentially describe a phenomenon expressed by a function which consists of the variables of several influencing factors whether there are formulae which unite as a physical model or not. ((orig.))