The effect of microstructure on the fatigue and fracture properties of vintage power rotor steels

MIT's Alcator C-Mod fusion experiment makes use of a large spinning mass coupled to a generator as its power source. A significant fraction of this mass consists of a 225 MVA generator rotor that was retired from power plant service. As part of normal maintenance, a periodic inspection by non-destructive evaluation (NDE) is performed to determine if flaws have developed, or progressed from pre-existing conditions, that exceed safe limits for operation. In 2008, after over fifty years of service at a power plant and at Alcator, the organization that performed the most recent inspection recommended that the rotor should not be returned to service. The basis for the rejection of the rotor was not clear, since the inspection did not reveal any change in the distribution of indications by NDE. Moreover, an independent fitness-for-service evaluation concluded that the rotor was safe to operate.

Name thesis:degree_name

Master

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Materials Science and Engineering

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2010

Author dc:creator

• Short, Michael Philip.

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Ronald G. Ballinger.

• Materials Science and Engineering.

Statement dc:rights

• MIT theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed, downloaded, or printed from this source but further reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/122863

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/122863