MICRO-MACRO DAMAGE SIMULATION OF LOW-ALLOY STEEL WELDS SUBJECT TO TYPE IV CREEP FAILURE

A simulation method for microscopic creep damage at grain boundaries in the fine-grain heat-affected zone of low-alloy steel welds involving high energy piping was proposed on the basis of the combination of elastic-creep FEM (finite element method) analysis and random fracture resistance modeling of the materials. The procedure to determine the initiation and growth-driving forces of small defects were briefly described. Then, a simulation procedure combining the stress distribution from elastic-creep FEM and the random fracture resistance model was proposed, and Ms procedure was applied to the simulation of the microscopic damage progress in a welded joint model test and in actual power piping. The results in terms of the simulated number density of small defects throughout the wall thickness were in good agreement with the observed results.