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Details of Grant 

EPSRC Reference: EP/K007815/1
Title: Transferability of small-specimen data to large-scale component fracture assessment
Principal Investigator: Ainsworth, Professor B
Other Investigators:
Researcher Co-Investigators:
Project Partners:
Department: Mechanical Aerospace and Civil Eng
Organisation: University of Manchester, The
Scheme: Standard Research - NR1
Starts: 01 March 2013 Ends: 30 June 2015 Value (£): 524,396
EPSRC Research Topic Classifications:
Energy - Conventional Energy - Nuclear
EPSRC Industrial Sector Classifications:
Energy
Related Grants:
Panel History:  
Summary on Grant Application Form
The integrity of the piping components of a nuclear reactor is vital to ensure the supply of coolant to the core at all times during the plant life span. One of the inputs to demonstrating integrity is a fracture mechanics assessment to demonstrate defect tolerance. Within the UK, the R6 procedure is the nuclear industry standard for demonstrating such defect tolerance. R6 contains a hierarchy of assessment approaches. A difficulty in ensuring structural integrity using the higher level methods is the demonstration of transferability of fracture parameters determined from specimens to the application at component level. A large number of tests have been performed on reactor grade piping components of the Indian Pressurized Heavy Water Reactor (PHWR) to improve understanding of transferability. The tests consist of straight pipes and elbows, with a variety of cracks and loadings. This project will assess these tests using a range of defect assessment approaches to demonstrate transferability for practical piping components.
Key Findings
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Organisation Website: http://www.man.ac.uk