Prediction of fracture parameters of circumferential through-wall cracks in the interface between an elbow and a pipe under internal pressure

This paper provides plastic influence functions of GE/EPRI method for calculating J and Crack opening displacement (COD) of pipes with a circumferential Through-wall crack (TWC) in the interface between an elbow and a straight pipe by using 3-dimensional (3-D) elastic-plastic finite element analyses for Ramberg-Osgood (R-O) materials, in which internal pressure was considered as a loading condition. The proposed plastic influence functions are tabulated as a function of the pipe geometries, crack length and strain hardening exponent. In order to provide sufficient confidence for the proposed plastic influence functions, the estimation scheme using the proposed plastic influence functions for J and COD of cracked elbows was validated against FE results using R-O parameters for the SA312 TP316 stainless steel. Moreover, the predicted J and COD for elbows with a TWC in the interface between an elbow and a pipe by the proposed scheme were compared with those for cracked straight pipes to investigate the effect of the elbow geometries on crack behavior of elbows. One important point is that crack behaviors in the interface between an elbow and a straight pipe can be significantly different with those in straight pipes according to pipe thickness, crack length and bend radius of elbows. Thus, the proposed plastic influence functions can be useful to predict accurate J and COD for cracked elbows.