Finite element evaluation of erosion/corrosion affected reducing elbow

Erosion/corrosion is a primary source for wall thinning or degradation of carbon steel piping systems in service. A number of piping failures in the power industry have been attributed to erosion/corrosion. Piping elbow is one of such susceptible components for erosion/corrosion because of increased flow turbulence due to its geometry. In this paper, the acceptability of a 12 in. x 8 in. reducing elbow in RHR service water pump discharge piping, which experienced significant degradation due to wall thinning in localized areas, was evaluated using finite element analysis methodology. Since the simplified methods showed very small margin and recommended replacement of the elbow, a detailed 3-D finite element model was built using shell elements and analyzed for internal pressure and moment loadings. The finite element analysis incorporated the U.T. measured wall thickness data at various spots that experienced wall thinning. The results showed that the elbow is acceptable as-is until the next fuel cycle. FEA, though cumbersome, and time consuming is a valuable analytical tool in making critical decisions with regard to component replacement of border line situation cases, eliminating some conservatism while not compromising the safety