• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.298-306
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• 2001

As fuel burnup proceeds, thermal gradients, differential swelling, and inter-assembly loading may induce assembly duct bowing. Since duct bowing affects the reactivity, such as long or short term power-reactivity-decrement variations, handling problem, caused by top end deflection of the bowed assembly duct, and the integrity of the assembly duct itself. Assembly duct bowing were first observed at EBR-ll in 1965, and then several designs of assembly ducts and core restraint system were used to accommodate this problem. In this study, NUBOW-2D KMOD was used to analyze the bowing behavior of the assembly duct under the KALIMER(Korea Advanced Liquid MEtal Reactor) core restraint system conditions. The mechanical behavior of assembly ducts related to several design parameters are evaluated. ACLP(Above Core Load Pad) positions, the gap distance between the ducts, and the gap distance between the duct and restraint ring were selected as the sensitivity parameter for the evaluation of duct deflection.