Case Study: BAY-LOGI achieves safer long-term reactor nozzle weld assessment with Hexagon Marc

Marc Simulates Welding of Nuclear Pressure Vessel Reactor Nozzles

The customer, Bay Zoltan Institute for Logistics and Production Engineering (BAY-LOGI), faced the challenge of assessing the long-term performance of welds on a nuclear reactor pressure vessel. It was impractical and prohibitively expensive to perform measurements on the actual reactor or build a duplicate for testing. BAY-LOGI partnered with vendor Hexagon, using its MSC Software Marc Nonlinear FEA product, to accurately simulate the multi-pass welding process and its complex thermo-mechanical effects to understand the residual stress and strain distributions.

Hexagon's solution involved using the Marc software to create a sophisticated 3D model of the heterogeneous welding process, which consisted of 98 weld runs. The simulation provided a realistic assessment of the weld's residual stresses and properties, offering deep insight into the joint's nature and safety margins. This approach saved millions of dollars by eliminating the need for costly physical testing and provided the necessary information to ensure the long-term safe operation of the nuclear power plant.

BAY-LOGI