Prediction of brittle fracture of RPV steels under complex loading on the basis of a local probabilistic approach

A new local criterion of brittle fracture used to produce a probabilistic model for the temperature dependence of fracture toughness has been modified for non-isothermal and non-monotonic loading. An approach is proposed which allows calculation of the brittle fracture probability for cracked components under complex loading typical, for example, of that in pressurised thermal shock of a reactor pressure vessel. The proposed approach has been verified by comparison of calculated and experimental results for various warm pre-stressing conditions in reactor pressure vessel steels. (C) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.