Fatigue crack growth data sets, for pressure vessel and piping steels, in reactor-grade water environment have appeared in various reports and publications since about 1972. All of the results which have been published from 1972 through 1979 have been plotted and are presented in this report. Beginning with a discussion of the need for these data, and an explanation of the laboratory facilities which are required for this research, this report goes on to describe the overall trends which have evolved through consideration of the data sets and the conditions under which they were generated. A model for hydrogen assisted fatigue crack growth is described and applied to the pressurized water reactor type of environment. A complete listing of references is included in the report. (Author).

The fatigue crack growth behavior of A533B and A508 pressure vessel steel and AISI Types 304 and 316 steels used in reactor coolant piping have been studied in a pressurized water reactor environment at 288°C (550°F). The influence of stress ratio (P/sub min//P/sub max/), frequency, ramp times, specimen orientation and material microstructures were included in the study. While none of the materials showed evidence of static crack growth in the environment, the ferritic steels did show an enhanced fatigue crack growth rate at test frequencies of five cycles per minute and lower. Based on fractographic examinations the enhanced growth rate is not the result of environmentally induced intergranular or cleavage modes of crack propagation. Instead, striation spacing measurements were found to agree with the macroscopic crack growth rate, demonstrating a time dependent environmental interaction which introduces a frequency dependent enhancement of the mechanically developed striations. Crack growth experiments using hold times have confirmed the absence of any superimposed contribution of static crack growth components. Fatigue crack growth tests were conducted in an environment of Hydrogen Sulfide gas to establish the contribution of hydrogen embrittlement and will also be described.

Offshore oil and gas production was conducted throughout the entire 20th century, but the industry's modern importance and vibrancy did not start until the early 1970s, when the North Sea became a major producer. Since then, the expansion of the offshore oil industry has been continuous and rapid. Pipelines, and more generally long tubular structures, are major oil and gas industry tools used in exploration, drilling, production, and transmission. Installing and operating tubular structures in deep waters places unique demands on them. Technical challenges within the field have spawned significant research and development efforts in a broad range of areas.Volume I addresses problems of buckling and collapse of long inelastic cylinders under various loads encountered in the offshore arena. Several of the solutions are also directly applicable to land pipelines. The approach of Mechanics of Offshore Pipelines is problem oriented. The background of each problem and scenario are first outlined and each discussion finishes with design recommendations.* New and classical problems addressed - investigated through a combination of experiments and analysis* Each chapter deals with a specific mechanical problem that is analyzed independently* The fundamental nature of the problems makes them also applicable to other fields, including tubular components in nuclear reactors and power plants, aerospace structures, automotive and civil engineering structures, naval vehicles and structures