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Mahajan, Heramb Prakash

Publications and source records attributed to Mahajan, Heramb Prakash.

At least 19 records

Design, Fabrication and Testing of Surveillance Test Articles for MSR Materials Degradation Management

This report details the design, fabrication, and testing of surveillance test articles aimed at assessing material damage in reactor-relevant environments for effective degradation management. Two types of surveillance test articles with reduced sizes were developed based on design algorithms and finite element modeling: welded design and interlocking design. A furnace heating setup was adopted to apply multiple thermal cyclic loading profiles on the test articles with a temperature range of 500°C - 700°C, while the strain response was monitored using a digital image correlation technique. The testing results demonstrated the successful capturing of expected strain range for welded design while machining tolerance should be improved to engage strain coupling in the interlocking design. Mid-term (500 hours) and long-term (1500 hours) cyclic tests were conducted on welded test articles. A constant strain range of ~0.6% was observed at the specimen with testing under 500 hours, while a gradual decrease of strain at specimen was observed after 500 hours. Non-destructive evaluation through X-ray computed tomography confirmed the microcracks in the welds at specimen-driver joints after cyclic test that caused the strain change. Creep testing of the specimen after long-term cyclic test revealed a short creep life than expected. A multi-profile cyclic test was also conducted on a test article and demonstrated consistent strain response under different temperature ramp rates. The report also briefly discussed the challenges and future research efforts to advance test article development for material surveillance.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗

Interim Development of new Class B Code Case with Variable Design Lifetime and enhanced design rules to guard against cyclic structural failure mode

This report summarizes updates on the ongoing development of the new American Society of Mechanical Engineers Section III, Division 5, Class B rules to address the potential failure modes of Class B components. An initial design-by-analysis approach and supporting design rules are presented. The elastic-perfectly plastic (EPP) analysis approach has been adopted for primary stress limit and ratcheting check to prevent the component failure against the structural failure mode against primary load and strain accumulation due to cyclic loads. The creep-fatigue damage assessment uses explicitly defined elastic follow-up calculated from the stress concentration region of given component. Damage fraction calculation uses a novel coupled approach to capture the influence of the elastic follow-up and provide adequate conservatism for Class B components. The proposed Class B rules does not use the stress classification approach and uses the combined loads to assess component.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Complete the Planned FY24 Design Parameters Development at INL to Support the Drafting of the A709 Near-Term Code Case

This report presents the thermophysical properties measurements conducted in the Fiscal Year 2024 to extend the database up to 1000?. The new values are compared against properties of high Molybdenum steels in the ASME Section II Part D tables. This report also shows the comparison between new measurements against the previously measured values in literature and provides recommended thermophysical properties for A709 code case. These values will support the thermophysical property tables in near term code case of A709.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗

FY24 progress report on A709 mechanical properties data development and A709 thermal aging status

The report provides the status of the creep, fatigue, and creep-fatigue testing to date conducted at Idaho National Laboratory to generate the data package. This data package evaluates the material performance from three commercial heats to support the Alloy 709 qualification in American Society of Mechanical Engineers, Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code, Section III, Division 5. First procured heat was manufactured by G.O. Carlson with heat number 58776. Second and third heats were fabricated by ATI Specialty Rolled Products with heat numbers 529900 and 530843, respectively. A series of creep and cyclic specimens were fabricated from these three heats and tests were performed. A list of finished, ongoing, and planned test are presented for creep, fatigue, and creep-fatigue tests. Cyclic properties of three commercial heats are compared.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Design by analysis rules for ASME Section III, Division 5, Class B components

The current rules for elevated temperature ASME Section III, Division 5, Class B components, other than piping, were basically adapted from the Design-by-Rule approach for Section VIII, Division 1 vessels. A goal of the proposed new rules is to explicitly account for the design life and cyclic service while recognizing the less-rigorous requirements commensurate with lesser safety consideration. Further goals are to maximize the use of modern computational technology, for example finite element analysis in conjunction with reference stress concepts, and to avoid the need for stress classification. This paper summarizes the work done to address these issues. A summary of the design-by-analysis for primary loads, strain limit evaluation, and creep-fatigue damage assessment is presented. The proposed design-by-analysis creep-fatigue damage calculation approach uses a new elastic follow-up-based Isochronous Stress Strain Curve stress relaxation procedure. A set of sample problems are selected to validate the proposed design-by-analysis rules for creep-fatigue damage assessment. The proposed Class B rules are evaluated against the Class A elastic design rules and the experimental data obtained from a family of a simplified model test-based key-feature test results. The proposed Class B creep-fatigue damage assessment methodology yields conservative design cycles estimates compared to the experimental results.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

High Temperature Materials

Overview of high temperature metals, including component construction rules for advanced reactor designs, assessment of filler metal for Alloy 800H weldments, high-temperature crack growth rate testing, work packages and contributors for FY24, creep-fatigue damage summation evaluation, GCR metal needs, and high temperature metals from other programs.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗

Evaluation of proposed Section III Division 5 Class B rules: Piping example problem

Evaluation of proposed Section III Division 5 Class B rules: Piping example problem to be presented include Z pipe geometry and model problem statement, Z pipe loads and design inputs problem statement, Primary Stress Limit overview, Primary stress limit pseudo yield stress calculation, Primary stress limited factored load procedure, Strain limit evaluation composite load cycle, Strain limit evaluation pseudo yield stress, Strain limit evaluation strain limit criteria and ratcheting check, Creep fatigue damage evaluation overview, Creep fatigue damage evaluation alternating stress calculations, Creep fatigue damage evaluation lower bound stress, Creep fatigue damage evaluation stress relaxation history, Creep fatigue damage evaluation damage fractions, and Recommendations to consider for Z-pipe problem.

42 ENGINEERING↗

Surveillance Test Articles Development

Overview of previous work at ANL: • Initial designs tested with A617 driver • 3 families of specimens: - Large: demonstrate failure during test - Small: demonstrate realistic-sized samples - Reference: to validate the strain-gauge thermal strain correction • Thermal cycling between 500 and 650, over a period of about 200 minutes • Demonstrated basic surveillance approach • Large specimens failed in gauge section • The bimetallic welds appeared intact at the end of testing (316H-A617) • Gradual decrease in strain range over time • Strain gauge reliability was an issue: at least one gauge failed • Failure mode (buckling) was not what we had expected

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

A summary of the mechanical properties data developed in FY 2023 by ANL, INL and ORNL to support the data package development for the A709 Code Case

This report provides the status of tensile, creep, fatigue, and creep-fatigue testing to date conducted at Argonne National Laboratory, Idaho National Laboratory, and Oak Ridge National Laboratory to generate the data package required to qualify Alloy 709 in American Society of Mechanical Engineers, Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code, Section III, Division 5. The Division 5 Class A Alloy 709 Code Case requires data generated from a minimum of three commercial heats. Extensive mechanical properties data have been generated on two commercial heats, and some initial test data have been generated from the third commercial heat. The room temperature tensile test results for the three commercial heats met the specification minimum of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code, Section II, Part A, SA-213/SA-213M for Grade TP310MoCbN (UNS S31025) seamless tubing. These three commercial heats of Alloy 709 are suitable for generating the code case data.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗

FY23 status report on the development of new ASME Section III, Division 5 Class B rules

This report summarizes the work done in Fiscal Year 2023 on the development of the new American Society of Mechanical Engineers Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code, Section III, Division 5, Class B rules to address the gaps identified for high temperature reactor designs. The summary of the design-by-analysis strain limit evaluation and creep-fatigue damage assessment is presented. The proposed design-by-analysis creep-fatigue damage calculation approach uses a new elastic follow-up-based Isochronous Stress Strain Curve stress relaxation procedure. This approach captures the elastic follow-up generated due to interactions of components with adjacent components, supports, and other connections in the power plant. A set of sample problems are selected to validate the proposed design-by-analysis rules for creep-fatigue damage assessment. The proposed Class B rules are evaluated against the Class A elastic design rules, and the experimental data obtained from a family of Simplified Model Test based key-feature test results. The proposed Class B creep-fatigue damage assessment methodology yields conservative design cycles estimates compared to the experimental results.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗

Development of Surveillance Test Articles with Reduced Dimensions and Material Volumes to Support MSR Materials Degradation Management

This report details the efforts toward developing new surveillance test article designs with reduced dimensions and material volumes to support materials surveillance technology development for advanced reactors. Two fabrication methods for the surveillance test articles are described. Welded test articles were fabricated with 316H and A617 materials, and interlocking test articles were fabricated using A709 and titanium-zirconium-molybdenum (TZM). The preliminary results demonstrate the successful design and testing of the flat surveillance test articles. The report also describes ongoing efforts to use an induction heating test setup to increase the heat up and cool down rates in testing the surveillance test articles. A brief description of the planned FY-24 work is provided.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗

GCR: Class B Code Case

This PowerPoint presentation is for Joint ART Materials/AMMT Program Review, Germantown, MD, on June-5-8, 2023. It will discuss development to revamp the ASME Section III Division 5 Class B design rules. There will be a plan in the FY24 to assess extrapolation methods for other Class A materials, alternative strain range evaluations for fatigue damage, evaluation of Class B intersection point in D-diagram relative to material-specific Class A intersection points, and evaluation of new Class B rules against Class A rules based on Elastic-Perfectly Plastic (EPP) methodology and full inelastic analysis method, using sample problems.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗

Materials Surveillance Development

This presentation is to update DOE at the Molten Salt Program review in May on the work at INL and Argonne National Laboratory on surveillance specimen development. This includes thermal-mechanical testing and test article designs.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Critical Evaluation of a Novel Analysis Technique for Assessment of Printed Circuit Heat Exchangers in High-Temperature Nuclear Service

Application of printed circuit heat exchangers (PCHEs) to very high-temperature reactors (VHTRs) requires mechanical performance assessment methodologies. The PCHE morphology consists of thousands of millimeter-scale channels, for enhanced thermal efficiency, enclosed in a meter-scale PCHE core. PCHE geometry under thermomechanical creep-fatigue transients results in multi-axial interactions between its different segments, such as channeled core, walls, and headers. These global-level interactions influence the local channel-level responses. Hence, developing a PCHE performance assessment methodology, following the ASME Code, Section III, Division 5 provisions, is a critical gap to be filled. There is no analysis or design methodology available in ASME Code to assess a PCHE for its global and local level performances under high temperature and pressure loadings. This paper critically evaluates a recently proposed two-step analysis technique to estimate global interactions and local channel-level responses of PCHEs. In this novel analysis technique, the channeled PCHE core is replaced with orthotropic solid blocks of representative stiffness properties for the global thermomechanical analysis. Here, subsequent channel scale submodel analysis with detailed channel geometry, loading, and elastic-perfectly plastic (EPP) material model estimates the local responses for PCHE performance assessment. This paper critically evaluates this novel technique for its effectiveness in PCHE performance assessment. Finite element (FE) models imitating various analysis issues are developed, and FE analysis results are scrutinized. An important outcome of this study is the validation of the novel two-step PCHE analysis technique for application to the performance assessment of PCHEs in VHTRs.

42 ENGINEERING↗

Phase II Development of the Surveillance Test Articles to Improve the Design, Fabrication, and Testing

Advanced reactors, such as the molten salt reactor (MSR), require materials that will withstand harsher environments than the materials used for lower temperature water reactors. Materials used in MSR construction need not only withstand elevated temperature, temperature cycling, and neutron radiation, but must be able to withstand the corrosive molten salt environment. Significant materials research has been driven by the materials needs of the MSR due to the harsh environment and the material data requirements to support licensing. Limited operation experience with MSRs has made this challenging work. Information is very limited on materials degradation due to irradiation, molten salt corrosion, elevated temperature, and the resulting fatigue, creep, and creep-fatigue loading during operation. While efforts are underway to better understand the effects of this harsh environment on construction materials, the Advanced Reactors Technologies (ART) Program has been working to develop materials surveillance test articles that could be used in a materials surveillance program and allow for the collection of information on the materials degradation during plant operation and could support timely licensing of these advanced reactors.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗

Initial Development of Variable Design Lifetimes and Creep-Fatigue Evaluations for ASME Section III, Division 5, Class B Code Rules

This report summarizes the initial development of new ASME Section III, Division 5, Class B rules to address the gaps identified for new high temperature reactor designs. The overall objective is to introduce the design-by-analysis approach, the variable design lifetimes for primary load design, and the strain limits and creep-fatigue damage evaluations for Class B components. It is also desired that the new evaluation procedures do not require stress classification and stress linearization. Further, the data requirements to support the development of design parameters for the new Class B rules would not be overly burdensome, and less extensive than those supporting Class A rules. We have identified the Elastic, Perfectly Plastic (EPP) method as the design by-analysis approach for primary load design, and developed allowable stress criteria for variable design lifetimes, up to 500,000 hours, that only require data typical for the allowable stresses in Section II, Part D, Tables 1A and 1B. We have also adapted the elastic analysis approach from HBB-T-1400 and Section III, Mandatory Appendix XIII, XIII-2400 and XIII-3520(e) for the new Class B creep-fatigue evaluation procedure. A new elastic follow-up-based Isochronous Stress Strain Curve (ISSC) stress relaxation procedure has been developed to provide adequate conservatism commensurate with Class B constructions. No stress classification and stress linearization are required in the new procedure. Future work needed to complete the development is also summarized.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗