Failure prediction of full-size reactor components from tensile specimen data on NBG-18 nuclear graphite

•Predicts failure on a full scale reactor component and compare it to experiments.•Shows the effect of volume on NBG-18 nuclear graphite failure prediction.•Provide independent verification of a previously published methodology.•Describe the influence of multiple locations of high stress on failure prediction.

This paper concerns itself with predicting the failure of a full-size NBG-18 nuclear graphite reactor component based only on test data obtained from standard tensile test specimens. A full-size specimen structural test was developed to simulate the same failure conditions expected during a normal operation of the reactor in order to validate the failure prediction. The full-size specimen designed for this test is almost a hundred times larger than the tensile test specimen, has a completely different geometry and experiences a different loading condition to the standard tensile test specimen. Failure of the full-size component is predicted realistically, but conservatively.