고온고압조건하에서의 핵연료 피복관 지지스프링의 하중-변위 특성 분석

Analysis of Grid Spring Characteristic of Fuel Assembly in High Temperature and High Pressure Environment

To evaluate the variation of spring stiffness in nuclear plant operating condition, load-displacement tests ($P-{\delta}$ test) were performed using two kinds of space grid springs in high temperature and high pressure water. With increasing temperature, stiffness of each spring gradually decreased except $100{\sim}150^{\circ}C$. It is apparently showed that spring with convex shape had a relatively high stability of spring stiffness at high temperature compared with I-shaped spring. It is suggested that the variation of spring stiffness with temperature and spring shape should be considered as an important variable in the design and analysis of the fuel assembly.