Incefa-plus project:Review of the test programme

The European Project INCEFA-PLUS (INcreasing Safety in NPPs by Covering gaps in Environmental Fatigue Assessment) characterizes environmentally assisted fatigue of stainless steels in light water reactor environments. The project includes a major test programme during which more than 200 fatigue tests have been carried out in different laboratories across Europe. The test campaign was structured in three successive phases with slightly different foci. All testing programmes were optimized by means of the Design of Experiment method. The majority of the tests were carried out on a single batch of 304L which were complemented by tests on different batches of 304L and on X6 CrNiTi 18 10, a Ti stabilized steel used in VVERs. The influences of mean strain, surface roughness and hold time on fatigue life in air and water environment at a given environmental fatigue correction factor Fen were investigated. Besides the main test campaign, additional activities on the effects of mean stress, testing at reduced Fen, and different applications of hold time as well as biaxial fatigue tests have been carried out. The paper is part of a special session for the dissemination of the project results. It summarizes the tests performed during the project and provides the basis for the project conclusions in a different paper in the same session.