Numerical Simulation of Hydraulically Expanded Tube-to-Tube Sheet Joints in Steam Generator

For the tube sheet material and the tube material of the steam generator, according to the room temperature mechanical performance test,, the true stress-strain curve was obtained. On this basis, the numerical simulation of the hydraulically expanded tube-to-tube sheet joints in the steam generator is conducted, and the effect of the expansion pressure and length on the residual contact pressure and residual stress were studied in this paper. The results show that, the residual contact pressure increases with the increasing of the expansion pressure and has nothing to do with the expansion length. Stress corrosion is likely to occur on the inner wall of the tube transition zone.