Defect assessment procedures for plants: a review and comparison

The direct industrial need for a validated defect assessment procedure stems from a requirement of safe plant operation with extended component life, and improved decision making processes in run/repair/replace situations. To this end, structural integrity assessment is carried out by the power generation and offshore engineering sectors and finds acceptance world wide. It is also addressed by other industrial sectors including chemical and process engineering. During the last decade, a number of fracture mechanics based low temperature assessment procedures have been developed within Europe and worldwide. Guidelines and methodologies for high temperature assessment also exist within several European countries. This means that there is a significant number of procedures available for use in plants. This report identifies the procedures, for both high and low temperatures, which are most commonly used by EU Thematic Network Project PLAN partners both in their projects and in their respective organisations. It is followed by a comparison of the available defect assessment procedures in the light of recent progress made in collaborative programmes of EC Projects. The present work identifies issues associated with defect assessment procedures, and thus forms a contribution to the assessment of service performance of engineering structures at both low and high temperatures, which is the aim of the PLAN Cluster Task ''Defect Assessment Procedures''. (author)