Extension to Transferability of Small-Specimen Data to Large-Scale Component Fracture Assessment (TRANSFER-EXT)

核反应堆管道部件的完整性对于确保在整个反应堆寿命期间始终向堆芯供应冷却剂至关重要。证明完整性的输入之一是断裂力学评估，以证明缺陷容忍度。在现有的TRANSFER项目中，已经进行了简化的缺陷评估，以估计不同管径和不同缺陷尺寸的直管和弯头的延性裂纹起裂载荷。当使用现代应力强度因子和极限载荷解以及缺陷评估程序R6的失效评估图（FAD）方法时，发现这些估计值接近或保守地预测了实验测量的裂纹起裂载荷。在TRANSFER的扩展中，计划将实际缺陷评估方法的验证扩展到实际的大型管道部件上，以解决约束对裂纹起裂后发生的延性撕裂的影响。延期还将通过在2015年8月在曼彻斯特举行的第23届反应堆技术结构力学会议（SMiRT）上的演讲，最大限度地提高整个TRANSFER项目的影响。

The integrity of piping components of a nuclear reactor is vital to ensure the supply of coolant to the core at all times during the plant lifetime. One of the inputs to demonstrating integrity is a fracture mechanics assessment to demonstrate defect tolerance. Within the existing TRANSFER project, simplified defect assessments have been performed to estimate the loads for ductile crack initiation for both straight pipes and elbows of various pipe diameters and with various sizes of defect. The estimates have been found to be close to or conservatively predict experimentally measured loads to crack initiation, when using modern stress intensity factor and limit load solutions with the Failure Assessment Diagram (FAD) approach of the defect assessment procedure R6. Within the extension to TRANSFER, it is planned to extend this validation of practical defect assessment methods on real large-scale piping components to address the effects of constraint on the ductile tearing which occurs after crack initiation. The extension will also maximise the impact of the overall TRANSFER project through presentations at the 23rd conference on Structural Mechanics in Reactor Technology (SMiRT) to be held in Manchester in August 2015.