Optimized J Evaluation Scheme for the Fracture Mechanics Assessment of Complex Piping Systems Subjected to Various Loading Sets

This paper describes an optimization scheme for the J parameter calculation of cracks postulated in complex geometrical configurations such as elbow entries/exits and/or thickness transitions. The principle of this scheme comes from the RSE-M/5.4 Appendix allowing the definition of a specific compendium for given configurations. After a detailed presentation of the numerical protocol, an illustration of the required effort and the potential benefits is proposed for an elbow configuration. It is then shown that: The effort is significant but can be anticipated and automated and The potential benefit in terms of applied J is significant (a ratio of three in the proposed application).