Structural Integrity Evaluation Based on an Innovative Field Indentation Microprobe (ORNL)

This early ORNL conference paper presented the FIM concept at the premiere international Pressure Vessel and Piping conference. It reports ABI® validation results on A212 pressure vessel steel under reactor conditions and is the earliest broadly-cited ABI® conference paper.

The Joint ASME/JSME PVP Conference audience included pressure vessel engineers, nuclear regulators, and materials researchers from both the United States and Japan — the two countries with the largest nuclear power programs at the time. This early exposure to both the American and Japanese nuclear communities helped establish ABI®'s international profile from the outset.

The paper established the technology's profile in the nuclear pressure vessel community and represents the beginning of ABI®'s three-decade journey from laboratory development through independent validation to use in regulated programs.