• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
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• v.34 no.4
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• pp.429-435
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• 2010

In approximately fifty utilities, including KHNP (Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power), CHECWORKS is used as a tool for predicting and managing the wall thinning of carbon steel piping; this wall thinning is caused by flow-accelerated corrosion (FAC). It is known that CHECWORKS is only applicable to predict the wall thinning of piping with large bores. When dealing with small-bore steel piping, FAC engineers measure the thickness of the susceptible area that is selected on the basis of the experience and judgment of the engineer. This paper proposes the application of CHECWORKS for the management of wall thinning of small-bore piping. Four small-bore pipelines of a domestic nuclear power plant were analyzed from the viewpoints of FAC and fluid dynamics by using CHECWORKS and FLUENT code. Depending on the engineer's skill, CHECWORKS can also be used for the management of wall thinning of small-bore piping.

• Proceedings of the KSME Conference
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• 2001.06d
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• pp.807-812
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• 2001

This paper represents the wall thinning analysis results for secondary side piping of two types of domestic nuclear power plants based on the DB establishment and F AC analysis study for NPP secondary system piping. CHECWORKS code utilized in this study has been applied world widely to wall thinning analyses for secondary side piping and its reliability has also been proved. The predicted wear rates for several piping systems of a pressurized water reactor NPP are compared with those of a pressurized heavy water reactor NPP and with the measured wear rates. On the basis of comparison results of the predicted and measured wear rates, the analysis results can be effectively applied to the development of a standard thinned pipe management program targeted all domestic nuclear power plants.

• Corrosion Science and Technology
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.62-69
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• 2014

A huge number of carbon steel piping components installed in the secondary system of nuclear power plants are exposed to aging mechanisms such as FAC (Flow-Accelerated Corrosion), Cavitation, Flashing, and LDIE (Liquid Droplet Impingement Erosion). Those aging mechanisms can lead to thinning of the piping components. To manage the wall thinning degradation, most of utilities in the world predict the wall thinning rate based on the computational program such as CHECWORKS, COMSY, and BRT-CICERO, evaluate the UT (Ultrasonic Test) data, and determine next inspection timing, repair or replacement, if needed. There are several evaluation methods, such as band, blanket, and strip methods, commonly used for determining the wear of piping components from single UT inspection data. It has been identified that those single UT evaluation methods not only do not consider the manufacturing features of pipes, but also may exclude the data of the most thinned point when determining the representative wear rate of piping components. This paper describes a newly developed single UT evaluation method, E-Cross method, for solving above problems and introduces application examples for several pipes and elbows. It was identified that the E-Cross method using the length and width of UT data excluded the most thinned points appropriate as the single UT evaluation method for thinned piping components.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.67-76
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• 2000

Significant wall thinning due to flow accelerated corrosion(FAC）was recently reported in main feedwater pipes in 3 Korean pressurized water reactor(PWR) plants. The main feedwater pipes in one plant were repaired using overlay weld method at the outside of pipe, while those in 2 other plants were replaced with new pipes. In this study, the effect of the wall thinning in the main feedwater pipes on piping integrity was evaluated using finite element method. Especially, the effects of both the overlay weld repair and the stress concentration in notch-type thinned area on the piping integrity were investigated. The results are as follows : (1) The piping load carrying capacity may significantly decrease due to FAC. In special, the load carrying capacity of the main feedwater pipe was reduced by about 40% during about 140 months operation in Korean PWR plants. (2) By performing overlay weld repair at the outside of pipe, the piping load carrying capacity can increase and the stress concentration level in the thinned area can be reduced.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.52 no.4
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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.

• Proceedings of the KSME Conference
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• 2008.11a
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• pp.299-304
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• 2008

This paper presents plastic limit loads of piping branch junctions with local wall thinning under combined pressure and in-plane bending, based on systematic three-dimensional finite element limit analyses using elastic-perfectly plastic materials. An ideal branch junction without weld or reinforcement around the intersection is considered with two locations of wall thinning; one in the run pipe, and the other in the branch pipe. Based on FE results, effects of thinning geometries on plastic limit moments are quantified and simple approximations of plastic limit loads are proposed.

• Proceedings of the KSME Conference
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• 2007.05a
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• pp.1813-1817
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• 2007

The present work presents plastic limit load solutions for piping branch junctions with local wall-thinning, based on detailed three-dimensional (3-D) and small strain FE limit analyses using elastic-perfectly plastic materials. Three types of loading are considered; internal pressure, in-plane bending on the branch pipe and in-plane bending on the run pipe. The wall-tinning located on variable area of the piping branch junction is considered. A wide range of piping branch junction and wall-thinning geometries are considered. Comparison of the proposed solutions with FE results shows good agreement

• Corrosion Science and Technology
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.142-148
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• 2013

Safety is a major concern in Nuclear Power Plants (NPPs). Piping systems in NPPs are very complex and composed of many components such as tees, elbows, expanders and straight pipes. The high pressure and high temperature water flows inside piping components. As high speed water flows inside piping, the pipe wall thinning occurs in various reasons such as FAC (Flow Accelerated Corrosion), LDIE (Liquid Droplet Impingement Erosion) and Flashing. To inspect the wall thinning phenomenon and protect the piping from damages, piping components are checked by UT measurement in every overhaul. During every overhaul, approximately 200~300 components (40,000~60,000 UT data) are examined in NPPs. There are some methods from EPRI for evaluating wear rate of components. However, only few studies have been conducted to find out the raw data reliability for the wear rate evaluation. Securing the reliable raw data is the key factor for a reasonable evaluation. This paper suggests the reliability analysis method for the repeatedly measured data for wear rate evaluation.

• Corrosion Science and Technology
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• v.12 no.5
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• pp.227-232
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• 2013

A number of components installed in the secondary system of nuclear power plants are exposed to aging mechanisms such as FAC (Flow-Accelerated Corrosion), Cavitation, Flashing, and LDIE (Liquid Droplet Impingement Erosion). Those aging mechanisms can lead to thinning of the components. In April 2013, one (1) inch small bore piping branched from the main steam line experienced leakage resulting from wall thinning in a 1,000 MWe Korean PWR nuclear power plant. During the normal operation, extracted steam from the main steam line goes to condenser through the small bore piping. The leak occurred in the downstream of an orifice. A control valve with vertical flow path was placed on in front of the orifice. This paper deals with UT (Ultrasonic Test) thickness data, SEM images, and numerical simulation results in order to analyze the extent of damage and the cause of leakage in the small bore piping. As a result, it is concluded that the main cause of the small bore pipe wall thinning is liquid droplet impingement erosion. Moreover, it is observed that the leak occurred at the reattachment point of the vortex flow in the downstream side of the orifice.

• Corrosion Science and Technology
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• v.11 no.3
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• pp.89-95
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• 2012

U.S. Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) has developed CHECWORKS program and applied it to power plant piping lines since some lines were ruptured by flow-accelerated corrosion (FAC) in 1978. Nowadays the CHECWORKS program has been used to manage pipe wall thinning phenomena caused by FAC. However, various erosion mechanisms can occur in carbon-steel piping. Most common forms of erosion are cavitation, flashing, liquid droplet impingement erosion (LDIE), and Solid Particle Erosion (SPE). Those erosion mechanisms cause pipe wall thinning, leaking, rupturing, and even result in unplanned shutdowns of utilities. Especially, in two phase condition, LDIE damages a wide scope of plant pipelines. Furthermore, LDIE is the major culprit to cause such as power runback by pipe leaking. This paper describes the methodologies that manage wall thinning and also predict LDIE wall thinning area. For this study, current properties of two-phase condition are investigated and LDIE areas are selected. The areas are checked by B-Scan method to detect the effect of wall thinning phenomena.