• 한국압력기기공학회 논문집
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• 제13권2호
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• pp.67-74
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• 2017

Recently there have been many concerns on structural integrity of nuclear piping under seismic loadings. In terms of failure of nuclear piping due to seismic loadings, an important failure mechanism is low cycle fatigue with large cyclic displacements. To investigate the effects of seismic loading on low cycle fatigue behavior of nuclear piping, the cyclic behavior of materials and nuclear piping needs to be accurately estimated. In this paper, the non-linear finite element (FE) analyses have been carried out to evaluate the effects of three different cyclic hardening models on cyclic behavior of materials and nuclear piping, such as isotropic hardening, kinematic hardening and combined hardening.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제48권6호
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• pp.1376-1386
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• 2016

This study investigated the loading rate effect on the fracture resistance under cyclic loading conditions to understand clearly the fracture behavior of piping materials under seismic conditions. J-R fracture toughness tests were conducted under monotonic and cyclic loading conditions at various displacement rates at room temperature and the operating temperature of nuclear power plants (i.e., $316^{\circ}C$). SA508 Gr.1a low-alloy steel and SA312 TP316 stainless steel piping materials were used for the tests. The fracture resistance under a reversible cyclic load was considerably lower than that under monotonic load regardless of test temperature, material, and loading rate. Under both cyclic and monotonic loading conditions, the fracture behavior of SA312 TP316 stainless steel was independent of the loading rate at both room temperature and $316^{\circ}C$. For SA508 Gr.1a lowalloy steel, the loading rate effect on the fracture behavior was appreciable at $316^{\circ}C$ under cyclic and monotonic loading conditions. However, the loading rate effect diminished when the cyclic load ratio of the load (R) was -1. Thus, it was recognized that the fracture behavior of piping materials, including seismic loading characteristics, can be evaluated when tested under a cyclic load of R = -1 at a quasistatic loading rate.

• Tribology and Lubricants
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• 제30권2호
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• pp.124-129
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• 2014

The piping system accounts for a large portion of the machinery structure of a plant, and is considered as a very important mechanical structure for plant safety. Accordingly, it is used in most energy plants in the nuclear, gas, and heavy chemical industries. In particular, the piping system for a nuclear plant is generally complicated and uses the reactor and its cooling system. The piping equipment is exposed to diverse loads such as weight, temperature, pressure, and seismic load from pipes and fluids, and is used to transfer steam, oil, and gas. In ultrasound infrared thermography, which is an active thermography technology, a 15-100 kHz ultrasound wave is applied to the subject, and the resulting heat from the defective parts is measured using a thermography camera. Because this technique can inspect a large area simultaneously and detect defects such as cracks and delamination in real time, it is used to detect defects in the new and renewable energy, car, and aerospace industries, and recently, in piping defect detection. In this study, ultrasound infrared thermography is used to detect information for the diagnosis of nuclear equipment and structures. Test specimens are prepared with piping materials for nuclear plants, and the optimally designed ultrasound horn and ultrasound vibration system is used to determine damages on nuclear plant piping and detect defects. Additionally, the detected images are used to improve the reliability of the surface and internal defect detection for nuclear piping materials, and their field applicability and reliability is verified.

• 한국원자력학회:학술대회논문집
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• 한국원자력학회 1996년도 추계학술발표회논문집(1)
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• pp.183-190
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• 1996

Leak-before-break(LBB) approach has been shown to be both cost and risk effective by reducing maintenance cost and occupational exposure when applied to high energy piping in nuclear power plants. For Korean Next Generation Reactor(KNGR) development, LBB is considered for the Main Steam Line(MSL) piping inside containment. Unlike the reactor coolant piping leakages which can be detected by particulate and gaseous radiation monitoring, main steam line leak detection systems must be based on principles that do not involve radioactivity. Ceramics are widely used as humidity sensor materials which can be further developed for nuclear applications. In this paper, we describe the progress in the development of ceramic humidity sensors for use with the main steam lines of KNGR.

• 한국압력기기공학회 논문집
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• 제7권3호
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• pp.23-29
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• 2011

The renewed global interest in nuclear power has arisen from the need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to provide sufficient electricity for a growing global population before the accident at Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant in Japan. In spite of the safety issues of nuclear power plants raised by the ongoing Japanese nuclear crisis, many countries with nuclear power plants (NPPs) are still implementing license extensions of 10~20 years, and even consideration is being given to the concept of life-beyond-60, a further period of license extension from 60 to 80 years. To solving the materials aging problem is integral to its success. To evaluate the plant aging phenomena, a lot of background information such as materials and environment of the parts of the reactor and plant systems is needed by the experts. Information on degradation mechanisms is also used. In this paper, a materials degradation evaluation program called OnMDE-SYS (On-line Materials Degradation Evaluation System) is introduced. The developed program provides a variety of information on the materials and stressors as well as operational experience to the experts. It is also anticipated that the experts can perform materials degradation assessment on the web directly by referring to domestic and international information about the degradation of a nuclear power plants through OnMDE-SYS.

• 한국압력기기공학회 논문집
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• 제13권1호
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• pp.75-83
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• 2017

This study investigated deformation behavior of major nuclear structural materials under cyclic loading conditions via cyclic stress-strain test. The cyclic stress-strain tests were conducted on SA312 TP316 stainless steel and SA508 Gr.3 Cl.1 low-alloy steel, which are used as materials for primary piping and reactor pressure vessel nozzle respectively, under cyclic load with constant strain amplitude and constant load amplitude at room temperature (RT) and $316^{\circ}C$. From the results of tests, the cyclic hardening and softening behavior, stabilized cyclic stress-strain behavior, and ratcheting behavior of both materials were investigated at both RT and $316^{\circ}C$. In addition, appropriate considerations for cyclic deformation behavior in the structural integrity evaluation of major nuclear components under excessive seismic condition were discussed.

• 한국원자력학회:학술대회논문집
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• 한국원자력학회 2003년도 춘계학술발표대회 요약집
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• pp.239-239
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• 2003

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제52권4호
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• pp.784-790
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• 2020

The accelerated corrosion by Flow Accelerated Corrosion (FAC) has caused unexpected rupture of piping, hindering the safety of nuclear power plants (NPPs) and sometimes causing personal injury. For the safety, it may be necessary to select some pipes in terms of condition monitoring and to measure the change in thickness of pipes in real time. Direct current potential drop (DCPD) method has advantages in on-line monitoring of pipe wall thinning. However, it has a disadvantage in that it is difficult to quantify thinning due to various thinning shapes and thus there is a limitation in application. The machine learning approach has advantages in that it can be easily applied because the machine can learn the signals of various thinning shapes and can identify the thinning using these. In this paper, finite element analysis (FEA) was performed by applying direct current to a carbon steel pipe and measuring the potential drop. The fundamental machine learning was carried out and the piping thinning model was developed. In this process, the features of DCPD to thinning were proposed.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제38권7호
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• pp.639-656
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• 2006

In order to apply the leak before break (LBB) concept to nuclear piping systems, the dynamic strain aging effect of low carbon steel materials has to be taken into account, in compliance with the requirements of the Korean Standard Review Guide (KSRG) 3.6.3-1. For this goal, J-R tests are needed for a range of various temperatures and loading rates, including dynamic loading conditions. In the dynamic loading J-R test, the unloading compliance method can not be applied to measure the crack growth and direct current potential drop (DCPD) method; this method also has a problem defining the crack initiation point. The normalization method is known as a very useful method to determine the J-R curve under dynamic loading because it does not need additional equipment or complicated loading sequences such as electric current or unloading. This method was accepted by the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) as a standard test method E1820 A15 in 2001. However, it has not yet been clearly verified yet if the normalization method is sufficiently reliable to be applied to LBB. In this study, the basic background of the J-integral, LBB and dynamic loading J-R test are explained, and the current status for dynamic loading J-R test methods are reviewed from the view point of LBB for nuclear piping. In particular, the theoretical and historical background of the normalization method which has received attention recently, is summarized. Recent studies for this method are introduced and future works are suggested that may improve the reliability of LBB for nuclear piping.

• Corrosion Science and Technology
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• 제20권1호
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• pp.1-6
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• 2021

Many Korean industrial plants including nuclear and fossil power plants use seawater as the ultimate heat sink to cool the heat generated by various facilities. Owing to the high corrosivity of seawater, facilities and piping made of metal material in contact with seawater are coated or lined with polymeric materials to avoid direct contact with seawater. However, polymeric materials used as coating and lining have some level of permeability to water and are degraded over time. Korean industrial plants have also experienced a gradual increase in the frequency of damage to pipes in seawater systems due to prolonged operating periods. In the event of a cavitation-like phenomenon, coating or lining inside the piping is likely to be damaged faster than expected. In this paper, the cause of water leakage due to base metal damage caused by the failure of the polyester lining in seawater system piping was assessed and the experience with establishing countermeasures to prevent such damage was described.