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Fracture mechanical evaluation of an in-vessel melt retention scenario

Abendroth, M.; Willschütz, H. G.; Altstadt, E.

This paper presents methods to compute j-integral values for cracks in two- and three-dimensional thermo-mechanical loaded structures using the finite element code ANSYS. The developed methods are used to evaluate the behavior of a crack on the outside of an emergency cooled reactor pressure vessel (RPV) during a severe core melt down accident. It will be shown, that water cooling of the outer surface of a RPV during a core melt down accident can prevent vessel failure due to creep and ductile rupture. Further on, we present j-integral values for an assumed crack at the outside of the lower plenum of the RPV, at its most stressed location for an emergency cooling (thermal shock) scenario.

Keywords: in-vessel retention; thermal shock; j-integral

Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-10175
Publ.-Id: 10175