Abstract

There are two respects in which strength calculations for nuclear-power-plant components may differ from calculations made for conventional heat-power or process equipment. One is the greater importance of thermal stresses resulting from the generation of heat inside the material of the structure, and the other is the frequent use of unfamiliar materials. In this paper a method is proposed for combining the stresses produced by fluid pressure with those produced by thermal gradients in order to arrive at a practical estimate of the factor of safety in a structure such as a pressure vessel. Because of the relaxation of thermal stress it is possible to show that certain operating conditions are really safe even though a simple addition of pressure stress and thermal stress gives too high a value. A discussion is given of the relative importance in reactor design of such physical properties as ductility, creep, endurance limit, creep-rupture strength, impact strength, and notch sensitivity.

This content is only available via PDF.
You do not currently have access to this content.