Atomic Energy. Vol. 83, No 1.

1997

V I B R A T I O N AS A F A C T O R P R O M O T I N G C R A C K I N G O F C O L D

PGV-1000 COLLECTORS

V. G. Verezemskii UDC 621.039.524.44:539.43

In the present report, the results of generalizations and many investigations [1, 2] where it is acknowledged that the
appearance of damage in cold collectors is a complicated and multifactor phenomenon are used. It is asserted that the operating
temperature of cold collectors (280-290~ at which the effect of a corrosion medium is strongest, is important for explaining
the reasons for the damage. It turns out that the fact that, on the one hand, cracking was previously acknowledged to be a more
multifactor phenomenon and, on the other, the vibration, as a result of which cases of cracking of equipment metal are most
often observed, remains inadequately analyzed, has been neglected.
Each structural element possesses mass and elasticity and is potentially subjected to mechanical vibration, though under
design conditions of normal operation all elements of the reactor and the first-loop system are regarded as being stationary or
quasistationary (they can only move under temperature expansion).
Initial data on high-frequency loading in accordance with the standard [3] are obtained after vibrations are discovered
during operation and after analysis of the measurements performed on a corresponding element followed by the required
calculation. In other words, during operation it is necessary to discover the vibration, collect initial data for calculations,
perform the calculations, and then if necessary make a decision about continuing operations.
Evidently, pumps and the moving cooling are a source of vibrations [4]. There is no doubt that vibrations of equipment
and pipelines are initiated by the main circulation pump, turbulence, and standing waves of pressure in the coolant and steam
in the main steam lines, as well as by boiling in the steam generator. It should be noted that in the year before cracking
occurred in the cold PGV-1000 collectors -- in 1985, a substantial vibration of the main steam lines, which was acknowledged
to be caused by hydroacoustic pulsation of the pressure in the steam [5, 6], was discovered in the first power-generating unit
of the Zaporozh'e nuclear power plant.
Most likely, the situation preceding cracking of cold collectors can be represented as follows.
When the reactor plant operates in transient and stationary states, as a result of pressure pulsations on the circulating
and multifreqencies of the main circulation pump caused by formation of standing waves of pressure in the first loop and steam
lines, the first-loop equipment, the main circulation pipe lines, and main steam lines were subjected to vibrations of different
intensity. It appears that the cold collectors of steam generators in some power-generating units of nuclear power plants in
Russia and the Ukraine are the weakest point. In other units with VVt~R-1000 reactors, either the quality of fabrication was
higher or the assembly and unfastening of the equipment were better or both were present at the same time but vibration did
not result in cracking of the collectors in any steam generator in the Roven, Khmel'nitsk, or Kalinin nuclear power plants and
the nuclear plant "Kozlodui" in Bulgaria.
During the startup work in the main unit of the large series of VVI~R-1000 reactors -- the first power-generating unit
of the Zaporozh'e nuclear plant, it was pointed out that the main steam pipes were subjected to enhanced vibration in the
enclosure between the containment shell and the machine room. Spontaneous actuation of protective valves and unbalancing
of the mechanisms for actuating the PK and BRU-A systems was observed. A similar intense vibration of the steam lines was
noted in 1985-1986 in the second power-generating unit of the Zaporozh'e and the first unit of the Balakovsk nuclear power
plants. In the period 1985-1986 vibrations and steam pulsations in the steam lines with different intensity were measured in
the first power-generating unit of Zaporozh'e nuclear power plant [5].
In the period from October 1986 up to 1981, 97 PGV-1000 steam generators were in operation. Of these generators,
cracks in the metal of the connectors were observed in 24 cold collectors. In 1995 cracks were discovered in the PG-3 in the

All-Russia Scientific-Research Institute of Nuclear Power Plants. Translated from Atomnaya t~nergiya, Vol. 83, No.
I, pp. 66-69, July, 1997. Original article submitted April 10, 1997.

1063-4258/97/8301-0545518.00 9 Plenum Publishing Corporation 545

 TABLE 1. PGV-1000 Steam Generators with Cracks in Cold Collectors
Number ot steam generator
Plant unit
first second third fourth
Arrangement of the small-series main circulation collector
Novo-Voronezh nuclear power plant, fifth 4. § § §

Southern-Ukraine
First in the first unit § §

First in the second unit §

Second in the first unit § § 4- ; §

Arrangement of the main circulation collector in the large series

Zaporozh'e nuclear power plant:
First
Second
Third
Balakovsk nuclear power plant
First
Second

second power-generatingunit of the Balakovsk nuclear power plant. In all cases cracks were observed on the side of the second
loop in the region above the nonperforated wedge. Cracking occurred in 16 PGV-1000 cold collectors directly at the apex of
the wedge and in the first few rows along its lateral sides; in 6 cases cracks were discovered at the center of the collectors
above the wedge, and in three cases cracking was discovered both directly near a wedge and in the center above the wedge.
It should be noted that cracking did not occur in all VVI~R-1000 units in operating nuclear power plants and in all
steam generators. Table 1 gives the steam generators where cold collectors in the large and small series cracked. It is interesting
that the cracking occurred in the cold collectors with formation of cracks in PG-2 in all units in the large series and also PG-3
in the small series. The water chemistry in all steam generators of the power-generating units where cracks formed was
identical. The water chemistry likewise is approximately the same in nuclear power plants with power-generating units
containing cracks in cold collectors of steam generators and units without such generators. Thus, it is difficult to explain the
selectivity of the corrosive effect of the water chemistry on the metal, associated either with a definite steam generator or with
the power-generating unit in the nuclear power plant, if vibration is neglected.
The construction of the fh'st VVI~R-1000 reactor as well as the serially-produced units depended on quasistatic operation
of the main thick-walled equipment and absence of any effect of vibration on the lifetime of the metal in the pipes, steam
generators, steam pipes, and other large units and elements in the first loop. The hot segment of the main circulation pipe
consists of a short and straight section which passes, by means of an elbow, into a vertical hot collector. The cold section has
a more complicated configuration and includes a U-shaped section of the main circulation pipe from the main circulation pump
to the steam generator. The vertical cavity in this section of the main circulation pipe makes a right angle with the longitudinal
axis of the steam generators in the arrangements of both the small and large series (see Fig. 1). The arrangements determine
the good compensational possibilities of cold sections of the loops and the mobility of the steam generators with respect to
rotation around a vertical axis, passing through the axis of the hot collector; this was noted in the results of investigations
performed for the first VVI~R-1000 power-generating unit at the Novo-Voronezh nuclear power plant [7, 8].
Since a steam generator is approximately four times more massive than the main circulation pump, which in turn is
almost ten times more massive than the U-shaped section of the main circulation pipe, and the collector is a continuation of
the main circulation pipe and its mass is several times smaller than that of this section of the main circulation pipe, the location
where the collector is connected to the main circulation pipe can evidently be a s~at of the oscillations. Accordingly, a very
weak vibration of the seat of the oscillation can give rise to a much stronger vibration of the collector itself in a direction
transverse to the longitudinal axis of the steam generator. In addition, this direction lies in the plane of both the U-shaped
section of the main circulation pipe and the plane of minimum stiffness of the structure consisting of the collectors and the
manifold of the steam generator. Only stiff, nonpertorated collector wedges can present an obstacle to vibrations in this
direction.
The heat-transfer loops and therefore also the steam generators of VVI~R-1000 reactors are located below the
containment shell nonsymmetrically. This is the reason why the main pipes have an individual layout. The main pipes inside

546
 a

b
Fig. 1. Arrangement of the heat-transfer loops and
main steam lines in the VVI~R-1000 small (a) and large
(b) series: 1) main circulation pumps; 2-5) steam
generators Nos. I-4; 6) main circulation pipes; 7) main
steam lines; 8) containment shell.

the containment shell do not have stiff stationary bearings. At one end the pipes are connected through sockets and a modular
steam collector rigidly to the steam generator and at the other ends the pipes are rigidly fastened in the passage through the
containment shell. The longest pipes in the containment shell in the case of the small series are the PG-3 steam pipes. The
length and arrangement of the steam lines in the large-series VVI~R-1000 reactors are also substantially different in the
containment shell.
The collectors of the steam generators consist of thick-walled, partially perforated, blunt pipes with variable cross
section. There are no perforations at the bottom of the collectors on the side of the housing of the steam generator (axis III).
The difference in the flexural stiffness of the wedge and the perforated part of the collector can be characterized by a volume
continuity coefficient, which equals 0.58. On account of the difference in the stiffnesses at the boundary of the wedge in the
process of flexing of the collector in the directions of the I-III-axes, a concentrated deformation of the metal of the connec-
tions and cracking will occur.
PGV-440 collectors are often regarded as the most crack-resistant collectors, in contrast to PGV-1000 collectors,
because stainless steel is used in the PGV-440 series. This neglects the fact that the PGV-440 collectors differ substantially
from PGV-1000 collectors by the presence of structural couplers. The couplers consist of a 295-mm long strip of nonper-
forated metal in the thickened part of the collectors along the I- and III-axes in the PGV-440 collectors. The coupler along the
Ill-axis consists of a strip, arranged in a continuation of the vertex of the nonperforated wedge, and the coupler in the form
of a strip along the I-axis is located on the opposite side of the collector. During vibrations of the collector in the plane of the
axes I-III (transverse to the longitudinal axis of the steam generator) both couplers determine the higher flexural stiffness of
the collector and prevent the formation of a sharp stress and deformation concentrator at the vertex of the nonperforated
wedge in the PGV-440 collector. In the case of the PGV-1000 collectors, the couplers are only 14.5-mm long (one vertical
row of openings is passed through).
Thus, in the case of collector oscillations across the longitudinal axis of a steam generator, in the PGV-440 collectors,
approximately 300-mm wide nonperforated vertical strips of metal are located in the zones of the highest tensile and
compressive stresses in the metal. There are no such strips in the PGV-1000 collectors (the coupler is 14.5-mm wide).
In the investigation of the reasons why cracking cccurs in the PGV-1000 celd collectors, the effect of the vibration
on the stress level in collectors was not excluded from among the factors which promote cracking [2]. To determine the degree
of this influence, full-scale investigations and measurements of the vibrational characteristics of the elements of the loop and
collectors were performed.

547
 According to signals from strain gauges, placed identically on the connecting pipes of the cold and hot collectors, the
vibrational stresses, just as the average amplitude of the vibrational displacements of the flanges of the cold and hot collectors,
differ by a factor of 3.5-4. The parameters of the vibrations and pressure pulsations were measured at the Kalinin, Khmel'nitsk,
and "Kozlodui" nuclear power plants, where the collectors did not crack, as well as in the units where cracks formed earlier
and the steam generators were replaced. The results are not fundamentally different, since the measurements were performed
in the normal operating regime of the main circulation pump in the first loop; no attention was paid to the operating regime
of the turbine and there is no such information. At the same time, as far back as 1985, vibrations of the PK-1, -2, BRU-A,
and BZOK valves were measured in the first power-generating unit of the Zaporozh'e nuclear power plant with different power
levels and it was found that the vibrations of the steam pipes grow with increasing turbine power._A vibration was measured
on the housings of the corresponding valves, i.e., PK-1, -2, BRU-A, located in the top parts of their "rolls" from the feed
pipes. The BZOK valves are not an integral part of the steam pipes and rest on sliding bearings. For this reason only their
vibration corresponds to the vibration of the pipe lines themselves. Horizontal vibrational displacements of the steam pipes
(BZOK) indicate that the greatest vibration (reaching 200-300 ~m) is observed on the steam pipes of the first and fourth steam
generators.
Comparing these data with the numbers of the steam generators in the first power-generating unit of the Zaporozh'e
nuclear plant, where cracks formed, shows a correspondence between the numbers of the steam pipes with a vibration exceeding
200/zm and steam generators with cracked collectors (see Table 1). In addition, cracks were observed first in the cold PG-2
collector (vibration amplitude 250-270 ~m); several months later cracks were also observed in the PG-4 cold collector
(amplitude 130-205/~m).
The spectra of the pressure pulsations, tensile stresses, and vibrational displacements of the flanges of the cold
collectors contain significant components at the rotation frequency of the main circulation pump 16.5 Hz and at the harmonic
33 Hz. The cold collectors actually operated for 7-60 thousand hours before cracks appeared, so that the number of cycles
before formation of the cracks can be computed approximately. For 7000 hours and 33 Hz the number of cycles equals 8.3.108
and for 60000 hours it equals 7.109. The factor of 9 difference in the operating time of steam generators with cracks is small
for fatigue strength, since the cyclic lifetime follows a logarithmic scale in time or the number of cycles and not a linear scale.
The variance in the data on the service life for the damaged collectors on the logarithmic scale does not exceed 10%. These
results show that under normal operating conditions of a VVI~R-1000 reactor a high probability of cracking in colcl collectors
remains in all steam generators in operation. The operation of power-generating units at a decreased power can reduce vibration
and increase the service life. It is likely that power restrictions, established for other reasons, and operation of nuclear power
plants at a lower power increase the lifetime of cold collectors, which explains the absence of cracking in 1992, 1993, and 1994
and the appearance of a new crack only in 1995.
Analysis of the construction documentation together with the results of investigations carried out in 1986 as well as
generalization of the results have revealed, in our opinion, that dynamic loads (vibrations) play a leading role in the exhaustion
of the cyclic strength of the metal in cold collectors and in cracking of the metal. Therefore, measures for increasing the
longevity of cold collectors should be directed toward decreasing the amplitude of the vibrations and decreasing the cyclic
stresses near the vertex of the nonperforated wedge, irrespective of the PGV-1000 in operation, or in the new, improved
collectors, for example, PGV-1000U. For currently operating steam generators, comprehensive computational and experimental
investigations must be performed on operating units for the purpose of determining the admissible parameters of the vibrations.
It is also necessary to develop a system of special vibrational control, which will make it possible to normalize the vibrational
characteristics and control the service life of cold collectors during operation. In developing new, improved steam generators
it is desirable to make changes in the construction of the collectors and to increase the flexural stiffness of the collectors in the
direction of the I-III axes, for example, by means of couplers, similar to the PGV-440 collectors.

REFERENCES

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2. V. F. Titov, "Reasons for damage to "cold" collectors of horizontal PGV-1000 steam generators and measures for
increasing their operational reliability and lifetime," Teplo6nergetika, No. 12. 53-60 (1993).

548
 . Computational Standards for Strength of Equipment and Pipelines in Nuclear Power Plants PNAI~G-7002-86 [in
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