Evaluation and Prediction of Critical Overhang Length Under Pipe Whip Accident

When the pipe length between break exit and restraint is long in the pipe whip accident, the pipe will undergo a plastic collapse as the moment increases. The length at which plastic collapse may occur is called the critical overhang length, (OH)_cr. The experimental results of (OH)_cr show good agreement with the prediction by a static simplified estimation method for (OH)_cr although the pipe whipping is a dynamic phenomenon. The diagrams of (OH)_cr are also described for a range of sizes of stainless steel pipe under the loss of coolant accident conditions of light water reactors.