Prediction of J–R curves of thin-walled fuel pin specimens in a PLT setup

Recently, a Pin-Loading-Tension setup has evolved for evaluation of fracture behavior of thin-walled tubular specimens which are machined from nuclear reactor fuel pins. In this work, the geometric functions required for estimation of plastic component of J-integral from experimental load–load-line displacement data has been derived by carrying out a detailed 3D finite element analysis of the Pin-Loading-Tension test setup using the concept of limit load. The fracture resistance behavior (in terms of J–R curve) of the fuel pin specimens have been derived using: (a) multiple-specimen and (b) single specimen load-normalization technique.