During the recent years fatigue analysis procedures for nuclear components have been investigated. The most common method so far has been the American code ASME III. The basis for the current design procedures in ASME III is quite old and has now been evaluated against modern data leading to the proposal of modified design curves.
Also the effect of the environment has been the subject of intense study in USA, Japan and elsewhere. Several reports indicate a potentially large influence of the environment, leading to the proposal of entirely new calculation procedures.
The background for the new design curves and the environmental effect procedures are evaluated in this report.
The principal objective of the project is to use the latest research results regarding the design of fatigue to evaluate the technical basis for new proposal regarding an update of fatigue curves and the correction for environmental effects.