Chapter 16: Detection and Sizing of Stress-Corrosion Cracks in Boiling Water Reactor Environments[1]
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Published:2017
Abstract
This chapter describes how ultrasonic testing came to be a viable method for evaluating intergranular stress-corrosion cracking (SCC) in large-diameter stainless steel pipe welds in boiling water reactor service. Intergranular SCC can be difficult to detect using nondestructive evaluation (NDE) techniques because of its treelike branching pattern and its location in the heat-affected zone within the weld. As the chapter explains, by optimizing excitation and reflected waveforms, switching to dual-element sensing, properly orienting the scanning path, and using crack-tip diffraction and amplitude-drop techniques, the height, length, and location of intergranular cracks can be accurately determined anywhere along the walls of the pipe as well as in weld areas.
Detection and Sizing of Stress-Corrosion Cracks in Boiling Water Reactor Environments, Stress-Corrosion Cracking: Materials Performance and Evaluation, 2nd ed., Edited By Russell H. Jones, ASM International, 2017, p 359–365, https://doi.org/10.31399/asm.tb.sccmpe2.t55090359
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