Analysis on the Suporting Integrity of the PWR Fuel Rod

경수로 핵연료봉 노내지지 건전성 해석

The fuel rod for PWR is supported by the spring of the sapcer grid to maintain its axial location and lateral space between fuel rods to get proper functions during the residence in the reactor. The long exposure duration makes the spring to be relax and loss the spring force that results in a fuel rod rattling which may cause fuel rod failure. Here considering the spring behaviour as a function of burnup the reaction forces of the springs are calculated by the finite element program developed herein to evaluate the integrity of the fuel rod from fretting. The results are compared with previous data and ANSYS for the validation of the program and procedures.