VALIDATION OF WELD RESIDUAL STRESS FINITE ELEMENT PREDICTIONS FOR USE IN NUCLEAR REGULATORY APPLICATIONS

Weld residual stresses (WRS) are an important driver of primary-water stress corrosion cracking (PWSCC) in nuclear reactor piping, and thus can have an large influence on crack growth predictions. Consequently, it is important to be able to accurately predict WRS using finite element (FE) modeling. This study describes a proposed procedure for the validation of WRS predictions in nuclear primary piping systems using 2D axi-symmetric FE models.
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