Metallurgical failure analysis of a BWR recirculation pump shaft

This paper presents the metallurgical analysis of a Recirculation Pump from a Nuclear Power Plant. The damaged component was the austenitic stainless steel shaft. As a result of a preliminary visual examination, some axial cracks were found in the threaded area of the shaft in the thermal barrier area. The analyses performed include liquid penetrant testing, metallography and deposits analysis. Based on the obtained results, it was concluded that the origin of the axial cracks was thermal fatigue caused by mixing of cold seal injection water and hot reactor coolant in the thermal barrier area. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.