Axial crack resistance of cladding tubes for fast reactors

Structural integrity of the core components of the nuclear reactors is vital for steady economical operation and avoidance of unwanted disasters. Two new test methods have been developed for quantifying the resistance to axial cracking of thin-walled tubular specimens. The specimens are fabricated from cladding tubes made of austenitic stainless steel for Indian fast breeder reactors. The reproducibility of the fracture toughness test results using the developed setups yields promising insights about acceptability of the new methods over the earlier through critical discussion about their relative advantages and precision in predicting the crack resistance data within the range for similar alloys.