Effects of LWR coolant environments on fatigue S-N curves for carbon and low-alloy steels

The ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code provides rules for the construction of nuclear power plant components. Figure I-90 of Appendix I to Section III of the Code specifies fatigue design curves for structural materials. However, the effects of light water reactor (LWR) coolant environments are not explicitly addressed by the Code design curves. Recent test data indicate significant decreases in fatigue lives of carbon and low-alloy steels in LWR environments when five conditions are satisfied simultaneously: applied strain range, temperature, dissolved oxygen in the water, and S content of the steel are above minimum threshold levels, and loading strain rate is below a threshold value. Only moderate decrease in fatigue life is observed when any one of these conditions is not satisfied. This paper presents several methods that have been proposed for evaluating the effects of LWR coolant environments on fatigue S-N curves for carbon and low-alloy steels. Estimations of fatigue lives under actual loading histories are discussed