• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.63 no.5
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• pp.575-583
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• 2017

The study covers the behavior of reinforced concrete deep beams loaded under 4-point bending, failed by shear and repaired using bonding glass fiber reinforced plastics fabrics (GFRP) patches. Two rehabilitation methods have been used to highlight the influence of the composite on the ultimate strength of the beams and their failure modes. In the first series of trials the work has been focused on the reinforcement/rehabilitation of the beam by following the continuous configuration of the FRP fabric. The patch with a U-shape did not provide satisfactory results because this reinforcement strategy does not allow to increase the ultimate strength or to avoid the abrupt shear failure mode. A second methodology of rehabilitation/reinforcement has been developed in the form of SCR (Strips of Critical Region), in which the composite materials reinforcements are positioned to band the inclined cracks (shear) caused by the shear force. The results obtained by using this method lead a superior out come in terms of ultimate strength and change of the failure mode from abrupt shearing to ductile bending.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.54 no.2
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• pp.532-545
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• 2022

In-depth convergence analyses for neutronics/thermal-hydraulics (T/H) coupled calculations are performed to investigate the performance of nonlinear methods based on the Fixed-Point Iteration (FPI). A simplified neutronics-T/H coupled system consisting of a single fuel pin is derived to provide a testbed. The xenon equilibrium model is considered to investigate its impact during the nonlinear iteration. A problem set is organized to have a thousand different fuel temperature coefficients (FTC) and moderator temperature coefficients (MTC). The problem set is solved by the Jacobi and Gauss-Seidel (G-S) type FPI. The relaxation scheme and the Anderson acceleration are applied to improve the convergence rate of FPI. The performances of solution schemes are evaluated by comparing the number of iterations and the error reduction behavior. From those numerical investigations, it is demonstrated that the number of FPIs is increased as the feedback is stronger regardless of its sign. In addition, the Jacobi type FPIs generally shows a slower convergence rate than the G-S type FPI. It also turns out that the xenon equilibrium model can cause numerical instability for certain conditions. Lastly, it is figured out that the Anderson acceleration can effectively improve the convergence behaviors of FPI, compared to the conventional relaxation scheme.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.55 no.5
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• pp.1911-1923
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• 2023

The nuclear safety assessment involving large transient simulations is forcing the community to develop methods for coupling thermal-hydraulics and neutronic codes and three-dimensional (3D) Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) codes. In this paper a set of dynamic boundary conditions are implemented in OpenFOAM^Ⓡ in order to apply zero-dimensional (0D) approaches coupling with 3D thermal-hydraulic simulation in a single framework. This boundary conditions are applied to model pipelines, tanks, pumps, and heat exchangers. On a first stage, four tests are perform in order to assess the implementations. The results are compared with experimental data, full 3D CFD, and system code simulations, finding a general good agreement. The semi-implicit implementation nature of these boundary conditions has shown robustness and accuracy for large time steps. Finally, an application case, consisting of a simplified open pool with a cooling external circuit is solved to remark the capability of the tool to simulate thermal hydraulic systems commonly found in nuclear installations.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.42 no.2
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• pp.114-129
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• 2017

Background: The purpose of this paper is to confirm the event timings and the magnitude of fission product aerosol release from the Fukushima accident. Over a few hundreds of technical papers have been published on the environmental impact of Fukushima Daiichi accident since the accident occurred on March 11, 2011. However, most of the research used reverse or inverse method based on the monitoring of activities in the remote places and only few papers attempted to estimate the release of fission products from individual reactor core or from individual spent fuel pool. Severe accident analysis code can be used to estimate the radioactive release from which reactor core and from which radionuclide the peaks in monitoring points can be generated. Materials and Methods: The basic material used for this study are the initial core inventory obtained from the report JAEA-Data/Code 2012-018 and the given accident scenarios provided by Japanese Government or Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) in official reports. In this research a forward method using severe accident progression code is used as it might be useful for justifying the results of reverse or inverse method or vice versa. Results and Discussion: The release timing and amounts to the environment are estimated for volatile radioactive fission products such as noble gases, cesium, iodine, and tellurium up to 184 hours (about 7.7 days) after earthquake occurs. The in-plant fission product behaviors and release characteristics to environment are estimated using the severe accident progression analysis code, MELCOR, for Fukushima Daiichi accident. These results are compared with other research results which are summarized in UNSCEAR 2013 Report and other technical papers. Also it may provide the physically based arguments for justifying or suspecting the rationale for the scenarios provided in open literature. Conclusion: The estimated results by MELCOR code simulation of this study indicate that the release amount of volatile fission products to environment from Units 1, 2, and 3 cores is well within the range estimated by the reverse or inverse method, which are summarized in UNSCEAR 2013 report. But this does not necessarily mean that these two approaches are consistent.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.37 no.1
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• pp.25-78
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• 2005

As a key and core knowledge for the design of various types of nuclear reactors, the discipline of reactor physics has been advanced continually in the past six decades and has led to a very sophisticated fabric of analysis methods and computer codes in use today. Notwithstanding, the discipline faces interesting challenges from next-generation nuclear reactors and innovative new fuel designs in the coming. After presenting a brief overview of important tasks and steps involved in the nuclear design and analysis of a reactor, this article focuses on the currently-used design and analysis methods, issues and limitations, and current activities to resolve them as follows: (1) Derivation of the multi group transport equations and the multi group diffusion equations, with representative solution methods thereof. (2) Elements of modem (now almost three decades old) diffusion nodal methods. (3) Limitations of nodal methods such as transverse integration, flux reconstruction, and analysis of UO2-MOX mixed cores. Homogenization and related issues. (4) Description of the analytic function expansion nodal (AFEN) method. (5) Ongoing efforts for three-dimensional whole-core heterogeneous transport calculations and acceleration methods. (6) Elements of spatial kinetics calculation methods and coupled neutronics and thermal-hydraulics transient analysis. (7) Identification of future research and development areas in advanced reactors and Generation-IV reactors, in particular, in very high temperature gas reactor (VHTR) cores.

• Magazine of the Korean Society of Agricultural Engineers
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.111-122
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• 1989

A multiple box model which is suitable for the prediction of water quality in shallow lakes with active mixing is a water quality model expected to be used widely in estuary reservoir. In this study, a multiple box water quality model for estuary reservoirs (MBQER) was developed arid the applicability of the MBQER was tested by applying data obtained from Asan-estuary reservoir. The results of this study can be summarized as follows. 1. The MBQER, dynamic water quality model, was developed to estimate 10-day water qualities of estuary reservoirs. For the proper analysis and the application of hydraulics needed to build a model, lake hydraulics was simplified by condisering only hydrological inflow and lake mixing currents. The box division in the MBQER is longitudinal one dimension for upper and middle part, and two layers for lower part of the reservoir. 2. The methods of box division for the multiple box model were ekamined and applied to Asan-estuary reservoir. For determining the number of boxes, Pe number and Pk number were used. In case of three boxes, the error by the model simplification would be estimated about 5 % Therefore, in Asan reservoir, the proper number of boxes was three. 3. The MBQER was calibrated and verified using measured data in Asan-estuary reservoir from 1986 to 1988. The Root Mean Squares(RMS) for the differences between measured data and simulated results by the MBQER were 1.10$^{\circ}$C C for water temperature, 75.8mg/1 for salinity, 0.082mg/1 for total-phosphorus showing good estimations. 4. Through the simulation of water temperature and salinity by the MBQER, the exchange flow and the mixing coefficients for the estuary lake were determined. As a result of simulation, the horizontal mixing coefficients in Asan-estuary reservoir were in the range of 1.07X 105 to 1.12X 105 cm$^2$/sec and vertical mixing coefficient was 2.90X 10-1 cm$^2$/sec.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.1-9
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• 2019

Shallow failures occur frequently in both engineered and natural slopes in expansive soils. Rainfall infiltration is the most predominant triggering factor that contributes to slope failures in both expansive soils and clayey soils. However, slope failures in expansive soils have some distinct characteristics in comparison to slopes in conventional clayey soils. They typically undergo shallow failures with gentle sliding retrogression characteristics. The shallow sliding mass near the slope surface is typically in a state of unsaturated condition and will exhibit significant volume changes with increasing water content during rainfall periods. Many other properties or characteristics change such as the shear strength, matric suction including stress distribution change with respect to depth and time. All these parameters have a significant contribution to the expansive soil slopes instability and are difficult to take into consideration in slope stability analysis using traditional slope stability analysis methods based on principles of saturated soil mechanics. In this paper, commercial software VADOSE/W that can account for climatic factors is used to predict variation of matric suction with respect to time for an expansive soil cut slope in China, which is reported in the literature. The variation of factor of safety with respect to time for this slope is computed using SLOPE/W by taking account of shear strength reduction associated with loss of matric suction extending state-of-the art understanding of the mechanics of unsaturated soils.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.26 no.1B
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• pp.89-98
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• 2006

In this study, a method for flood runoff analysis in main channel connected with interior floodplain, is applied for evaluation of hydraulics of Sapgyo lake for the purpose of flood protection by considering tidal effect of West Sea and runoff from the watershed. Especially, operational condition of sluice gate was explicitly modeled in conjunction with various runoff scenarios from watershed. The change in hydraulics of main channel and interior floodplain was found to be predominantly affected by tidal effect, and explicit modeling of gate operation made possible the evaluation of hydraulic characteristics of different alternatives. Until now, such an analysis was not made due to the lack of models with such capability, however, with the proposed method, it is possible to perform such an analysis and is thought that the proposed method can be a valuable tool for flood protection planning.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.35 no.6
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• pp.647-663
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• 2023

The investigation of the disc cutter wear prediction has an important guiding role in TBM equipment selection, project planning, and cost forecasting, especially when tunneling in a long-distance rock formations with high strength and high abrasivity. In this study, a comprehensive database of disc cutter wear data, geological properties, and tunneling parameters is obtained from a 1326 m excavated metro tunnel project in leptynite in Shenzhen, China. The failure forms and wear consumption of disc cutters on site are analyzed with emphasis. The results showed that 81% of disc cutters fail due to uniform wear, and other cutters are replaced owing to abnormal wear, especially flat wear of the cutter rings. In addition, it is found that there is a reasonable direct proportional relationship between the uniform wear rate (WR) and the installation radius (R), and the coefficient depends on geological characteristics and tunneling parameters. Thus, a preliminary prediction formula of the uniform wear rate, based on the installation radius of the cutterhead, was established. The correlation between some important geological properties (K_V and UCS) along with some tunneling parameters (F_n and p) and wear rate was discussed using regression analysis methods, and several prediction models for uniform wear rate were developed. Compared with a single variable, the multivariable model shows better prediction ability, and 89% of WR can be accurately estimated. The prediction model has reliability and provides a practical tool for wear prediction of disc cutter under similar hard rock projects with similar geological conditions.

• Journal of computational fluids engineering
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.30-48
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• 2011

A three-dimensional thermal-hydraulic code, CUPID, has been developed for the analysis of transient two-phase flows at component scale. The CUPID code adopts a two-fluid three-field model for two-phase flows. A semi-implicit two-step numerical method was developed to obtain numerical solutions on unstructured grids. This paper presents an overview of the CUPID code development and assessment strategy. The governing equations, physical models, numerical methods and their improvements, and the systematic verification and validation processes are discussed. The code couplings with a system code, MARS, and, a three-dimensional reactor kinetics code, MASTER, are also presented.