• Transactions of the Korean Society of Pressure Vessels and Piping
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.38-47
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• 2018

For safe operation of nuclear power plants, a loose-part monitoring system (LPMS) is used to detect and locate loose-parts within the reactor coolant system, and to estimate their mass and damage potential. There are several methods to estimate mass, such as the center frequency method based on the Hertz's impact theory, a frequency ratio method and so on, but it is known that these methods cannot provide accurate information on impact response for identifying the impact source. Thanks to increasing computing power, finite element analysis (FEA) method recently become an available option to calculate reliably impact response behavior. In this paper, a finite element analysis model to simulate the propagation behavior of the bending wave, generated by a metal ball impact, is validated by performing a series of impact tests and the corresponding finite element analyses for flat plate and shell structures. Also, a FEA-based metal sphere signal map is developed, and then blind tests are performed to verify the map. This study provides an accurate simulation method for predicting the metal impact behavior and for building a metal sphere signal map, which can be used to estimate the mass of loose-parts on site in nuclear power plants.

• 제어로봇시스템학회:학술대회논문집
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• 1998.10a
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• pp.295-300
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• 1998

In this paper, a real time diagnostic algorithm fur estimating the impact location by loose parts is proposed. It is composed of two modules such as the alarm discrimination module (ADM) and the impact-location estimation module(IEM). ADM decides whether the detected signal that triggers the alarm is the impact signal by loose parts or the noise signal. When the decision from ADM is concluded as the impact signal, the beginning time of burst-type signal, which the impact signal has usually such a form in time domain, provides the necessary data fur IEM. IEM by use of the arrival time method estimates the impact location of loose parts. The overall results of the estimated impact location are displayed on a computer monitor by the graphical mode and numerical data composed of the impact point, and thereby a plant operator can recognize easily the status of the impact event. This algorithm can perform the diagnosis process automatically and hence the operator's burden and the possible operator's error due to lack of expert knowledge of impact signals can be reduced remarkably. In order to validate the application of this method, the test experiment with a mock-up (flat board and reactor) system is performed. The experimental results show the efficiency of this algorithm even under high level noise and potential application to Loose Part Monitoring System (LPMS) for improving diagnosis capability in nuclear power plants.