Abstract
One of the methods that are used to compare and verify the supporting performance of the spacer grids developed is the vibration characteristic test. A modal test in this paper is performed for a dummy rod 3,847 mm tall supported by eight New Doublet (ND) spacer grids. For the vibration test in air, nine accelerometers, one displacement sensor and one shaker are used for acquiring signals, and an I-DEAS TDAS software Is employed for analyzing the signals. Also, a finite element (FE) analysis is performed by a beam-spring simple model and a contact model simulating the contact phenomenon between the rod and the ND spring. And then, the results of the modal testing are compared with those of the FE analysis. The natural frequencies as well as the mode shapes obtained by the experiment have a greater similarity to the results by the contact model than the previous beam-spring model. In audition, for grasping whether or not the modal parameters are influenced by where shaking spot is, two kinds of tests are performed : one is for the shaker attached at the fourth span (center), the other is for the shaker at the fifth span that is one span nearer to the bottom of the rod. The latter shows higher MAC than the former Finally, the vibration displacements are measured in the range of 0.l12∼0.214 mm for the excitation force of 0.25∼0.75 N.
