• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.45 no.4
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• pp.513-522
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• 2013

The ODSCC detected in the TSP position of Ulchin 3&4 SGs are typical ODSCC of Alloy 600MA tubes. The causative chemical environment is formed by concentration of impurities inside the occluded region formed by the tube surface, egg crate strips, and sludge deposit there. Most cracks are detected at or near the line contacts between the tube surface and the egg crate strips. The region of dense crack population, as defined as between $4^{th}$ and $9^{th}$ TSPs, and near the center of hot leg hemisphere plane, coincided well with the region of preferential sludge deposition as defined by thermal hydraulics calculation using SGAP computer code. The cracks developed homogeneously in a wide range of SGs, so that the number of cracks detected each outage increased very rapidly since the first detection in the $8^{th}$ refueling outage. The root cause assessment focused on investigation of the difference in microstructure and manufacturing residual stress in order to reveal the cause of different susceptibilities to ODSCC among identical six units. The manufacturing residual stress as measured by XRD on OD surface and by split tube method indicated that the high residual stress of Alloy 600MA tube played a critical role in developing ODSCC. The level of residual stress showed substantial variations among the six units depending on details of straightening and OD grinding processes. Youngwang 3&4 tubes are less susceptible to ODSCC than U3 and U4 tubes because semi-continuous coarse chromium carbides are formed along the grain boundary of Y3&4 tubes, while there are finer less continuous chromium carbides in U3 and U4. The different carbide morphology is caused by the difference in cooling rate after mill anneal. There is a possibility that high chromium content in the Y3&4 tubes, still within the allowable range of Alloy 600, has made some contribution to the improved resistance to ODSCC. It is anticipated that ODSCC in Y5&6 SGs will be retarded more considerably than U3 SGs since the manufacturing residual stress in Y5&6 tubes is substantially lower than in U3 tubes, while the microstructure is similar with each other.

• International Journal of Automotive Technology
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• v.6 no.4
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• pp.305-314
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• 2005

Injection rate shape control is one feature of a diesel fuel injection system that is strongly desired at this time. In the conventional common rail system, it is difficult to control the injection rate since the fuel pressure is constant during the injection period, resulting in a nearly rectangular rate shape. In order to look into possible injection modulations, injectors equipped with standard and geometrically modified control valves were investigated in detail by means of computer modelling and simulation. Experiments were carried out to validate the feasibility of such a shaping. The results of this study show a noteworthy dependence of the fuel rate on geometrical modifications in the piloting stage of the injector.

• International Journal of Automotive Technology
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.155-163
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• 2007

The control of the fuel to be introduced into the combustion chamber under idling and low-load conditions is known to be a problem in Diesel engines, owing to the relatively small fraction of the full-load fuel needed under light loads. Thus, particular attention should be paid to the behavior of the injector with reference to short injection events. This work presents the results of an experimental campaign carried out with two different types of common rail injectors, a standard injector and a modified one. The latter, coming from a simple modification realized in a standard injector, exhibits linear behavior between injected fuel and solenoid energizing time in the field of short injections. A direct comparison of the two injection behaviors suggests a possible way to better control short or pilot injections.