• Transactions of the Korean Society of Pressure Vessels and Piping
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.21-25
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• 2011

Although many defects in PZR heater sleeve have been reported continually from operating experiences in oversea nuclear power plant, utilities get into difficulties in finding appropriate methods for diagnostics of the components due to the limited access or high radiation problems. Recently, as an alternative, diagnostics using Guided Wave Testing(GWT) are proposed and the attention of the methods has been growing gradually because of their long range inspection capability. This study is to investigate the effectiveness of GWT to detect PWSCC in welding points of PZR heater sleeve. Moreover, mode sensitivity analysis of GWT and optimal frequency for the diagnostics of PWSCC are presented by testing the mock-ups specimens that contain artificial flaws.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.35 no.6
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• pp.635-642
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• 2011

It is well known that conventional welding techniques can result in welding defects due to the large groove angle of the weld. In this context, the narrow gap welding (NGW) technique is applied in the nuclear industry because of its inherent merits such as the reduction in welding time and the shrinkage of the weld, and the small deformation of the weld resulting from the small groove angle and welding bead width. In this paper, the distribution of welding residual stress and deformation behavior of the ER308L weld due to NGW are predicted through nonlinear two-dimensional finite element analysis, in which the actual NGW process is simulated in detail. In particular, the effects of the shape of weld, i.e., the width of the weld and the shape of the welding groove, on the residual stress are investigated. The present results can be used to assess the integrity of defective nuclear components and to improve the welding process.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Pressure Vessels and Piping
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.58-65
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• 2018

The purpose of this study is to develop a Half Nozzle Repair(HNR) process to prevent the leakage from welds on small bore piping in Reactor Coolant System. The Codes & Standards of tempered bead and design requirements of J-Groove welds are reviewed. Automatic machine GTAW welding and machining equipments are developed to perform HNR process. Single pass welding and overlay welding equipments are conducted in order to obtain the optimal temper bead welding process parameters with Alloy 52M filler wire. Coarse grain heat affected zone(CGHAZ) is formed by rapid cooling rate in heat affected zone after welding. Accordingly, a proper temper bead technique is required to reduce CGHAZ in 1-Layer of welds by 2- and 3-Layers. Mock-up tests show that the developed HNR process is possible to meet ASME Code & Standard requirements without any defect.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Pressure Vessels and Piping
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.53-60
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• 2015

This study was investigated to develop process technology of laser cladding with austenite stainless steel for Weld Inlay repair of dissimilar metal weld in reactor vessel in/outlet nozzles. Weld Inlay experiments were performed by laser cladding repair system consisting of common manipulator, laser apparatus and welding process scheduler, etc. Single pass welding experiments were conducted in order to obtain the optimum welding process parameters for filler wires of ER309L and Alloy 52M before multi-layer laser cladding. Based on the above obtained results, multi-layer laser cladding experiments were carried out, and welding qualities for weld specimens were estimated by PT, OM, SEM and EDS analysis. Consequently, it was revealed that multi-layer laser cladding on austenite stainless steel using filler wires of ER309L and Alloy 52M could be possible to meet ASME Code standard without any weld defect.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Pressure Vessels and Piping
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.8-18
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• 2012

In early constructed nuclear power plants, Ni-based Alloys 82/182 had been widely used for dissimilar metal welds (DMW) as a weld filler metal. However, Alloys 82/182 have been proven to be susceptible to primary water stress corrosion cracking (PWSCC) in the nuclear primary water environment. The formation of crack due to PWSCC is also influenced by weld residual stresses. Thus, the accurate estimation of weld residual stresses of DMW is crucial to investigate the possibility of PWSCC and instability behaviors of crack due to PWSCC. In this context, the present paper investigates weld residual stresses of nuclear reactor piping nozzles based on 2-D axi-symmetric finite element analyses based on layer-based approach using maximum molten bead temperature. In particular, the effect of analysis parameters, i.e., a thickness of weld layer, an initial molten bead temperature, convection heat transfer coefficient, and geometric constraints on predicted weld residual stresses was investigated.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Nondestructive Testing
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.147-153
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• 2013

Recently the primary water stress corrosion cracking(PWSCC) has occurred in the dissimilar metal weld region between pressurizer nozzle and safe-end in nuclear power plants(NPPs). As material of the pressurizer nozzle, SA508 Gr. 3 low alloy steel was used. F316L stainless steel and Alloy 82/182 were used as safe-end and weld metal, respectively. Although mechanical properties are needed for evaluation of the structural integrity against flaw in the material, material specification and standard don't supply those properties. Therefore, the present study conducted tensile and fracture toughness tests on SA508 Gr.3 and F316L stainless steel at ambient temperature and operating temperature of NPPs and reported the tested results.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.39 no.10
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• pp.979-984
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• 2015

In the present paper, we evaluate the effects of the safe-end length and thickness of the similar metal weld (SMW) of safety injection nozzles on stress distributions at the dissimilar metal weld (DMW). For this evaluation, we carry out detailed 2-D axisymmetric finite element analyses by considering four different values of the safe-end length and four different values of the thickness of SMW. Based on the results obtained, we found that the SMW thickness affects the axial stresses at the center of the DMW for the shorter safe-end length; on the other hand, it does not affect the hoop stresses. In terms of the safe-end length, the values of the axial and hoop stresses at the inner surface of the DMW center increase as the safe-end length increases. In particular, for the cases considered in the present study, the stress distributions at the DMW center can be categorized according to certain values of safe-end length.