Abstract
As a consequence of the accident at the Cleuson–Dixence hydropower plant in December 2000, several investigations were started. In a material qualification programme for the steel S890, as applied in the Cleuson–Dixence plant, strength investigations and small scale fracture mechanic tests in weld metal, heat affected zone and base metal have been performed. Additionally, wide plate tests were performed to verify the results. With the obtained material properties, a fracture mechanics assessment of the critical crack size of the shaft in the area of the pipe rupture was performed using the R6 procedure. This procedure was verified for the given conditions, i.e. material strength and toughness including the welding quality, by the comparison of the calculational and experimental results of the tested wide plates with cracks in base metal and weld metal.