PVRC sponsored tasks on elastic analysis of nozzle corner cracks

Over the past decade, PVRC sponsored a number of projects on the analysis of nozzle corner cracks in pipes and vessels. These projects included elastic and elastic plastic analyses. The current paper is to discuss and report on four PVRC projects involving elastic analysis of nozzle corner cracks. A critical evaluation for corner cracks in radial nozzles was performed following a thorough review of all available analysis techniques and experimental results for pipes/vessels subjected to internal pressures. Recommendations for a simplified approach and future research were provided. Need of additional analysis/data for very shallow cracks was also identified. Analytical work using boundary integral equation method was performed for a radial nozzle subjected to internal pressure. The results generally agreed with the earlier assessments. Analysis of an oblique nozzle subjected to internal pressure was performed for a number of crack sizes in the acute crotch area of the nozzle corner by an influence coefficient type approach. Additional work was done to collect experimental data to validate the analytical results for nozzle corner cracks