• Journal of the Korean Society of Manufacturing Process Engineers
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.23-29
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• 2014

The purpose of this paper is to assess the structural integrity of piping penetrations for nuclear power plants. A piping qualification analysis describes loads due to deadweight, pressure difference acts normal to the plate, thermal transients, and earthquakes, among other events, on piping penetrations that have been modeled as an anchor. Amodel was analyzed using a commercial finite element program. Apiping penetration analysis model was constructed with an assembly of pipe, head fittings and sleeves. Normally, the design load, thus obtained, will consist of three moments and three forces, referred to a Cartesian coordinate system. When comparing the stress analysis results from each required cutting position, the general membrane stress intensities and local membrane plus bending stress intensities during a structural evaluation cannot exceed the allowable amount of stress for the design loads. Therefore, the piping penetration design satisfies the code requirements.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.24 no.8 s.179
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• pp.2015-2021
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• 2000

In order to evaluate the integrity of nuclear power plant components, the analysis based on fracture mechanics is crucial. For this purpose, finite element method is popularly used to obtain J-integral. However, it is time consuming to design the finite element model of a cracked structure. Also, the J-integral should be verified by alternative methods since it may differ depending on the calculation method. The objective of this paper is to develop a three-dimensional elastic-plastic J-integral analysis system which is named as EPAS program. The EPAS program consists of an automatic mesh generator for a through-wall crack and a surface crack, a solver based on ABAQUS program, and a J-integral calculation program which provides DI (Domain Integral) and EDI (Equivalent Domain Integral) based J-integral calculation. Using the EPAS program, an optimized finite element model for a cracked structure can be generated and corresponding J-integral can be obtained subsequently.

• Transactions of the Korean Society for Noise and Vibration Engineering
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.370-377
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• 2009

A simple preliminary analysis is often useful to check a validity of design alternatives before the detailed analysis phase in the viewpoint of efficiency. This paper describes a preliminary analysis procedure for the selection among basket design candidates for the spent fuel shipping cask of Korean standard nuclear power plant. As the cask should maintain the structural integrity in hypothetical accident condition, the case of 9 m drop is significantly considered as the worst scenario among the accident conditions in structural design viewpoint in this paper. As basket design options, totally four different types are considered and analyzed in the point of structural integrity at drop impact and weldability for fabrication. As a result, an insertion round plate type with densely spaced supports turns out to be the best in both of the viewpoints, though the weld plate type shows a bit more design margin.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.34 no.9
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• pp.1273-1279
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• 2010

Pressure tubes at the CANada Deuterium Uranium (CANDU) nuclear power plants are periodically inspected in accordance with the CSA N285.4 code. If flaws that do not satisfy the criteria given in CSA N285.4 are detected, the code permits a fitness-for-service assessment to determine the acceptability of the flawed pressure tubes. In this paper, the Wolsong In-service Evaluation System (WIES) is introduced; this system has been developed for the assessment of the flawed pressure tubes and is based on CSA N285.8. Since the system evaluates the integrity of flawed pressure tubes exactly and promptly during an in-service inspection, it will help in operating the Wolsong nuclear power plants without prolonging the outage period.

• Corrosion Science and Technology
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.33-39
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• 2015

Pipe wall-thinning by flow-accelerated corrosion and various types of erosion is significant damage in secondary system piping of nuclear power plants(NPPs). All NPPs in Korea have management programs to ensure pipe integrity from degradation mechanisms. Ultrasonic test(UT) is widely used for pipe wall thickness measurement. Numerous UT measurements have been performed during scheduled outages. Wall-thinning rates are determined conservatively according to several evaluation methods developed by Electric Power Research Institute(EPRI). The issue of reliability caused by measurement error should be considered in the process of evaluation. The reliability analysis method was developed for single and multiple measurement data in the previous researches. This paper describes the application results of reliability analysis method to real measurement data during scheduled outage and proved its benefits.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.132-144
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• 2001

Fracture mechanics is one of the major areas of the pressurized thermal shock (PTS) evaluation. To evaluate the reactor pressure vessel integrity associated with PTS, PFM methodology demands precise calculation of temperature, stress, and stress intensity factor for the variety of PTS transients. However, the existence of stainless steel cladding, with different thermal, physical, and mechanical property, at the inner surface of reactor pressure vessel complicates the fracture mechanics analysis. In this paper, treatment schemes to evaluate stress and resulting stress intensity factor for RPV with stainless steel clad are introduced. For a reference transient, the effects of clad thermal conductivity and thermal expansion coefficients on deterministic fracture mechanics analysis are examined.

• Journal of Mechanical Science and Technology
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• v.14 no.11
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• pp.1216-1224
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• 2000

The collapse pressure of tubes is determined experimentally by Tschoepe and Maison for various materials with different geometries. The results are compared with those obtained by ASME Codes UG-31 and UG-28. A collage pressure is the pressure required for the incipient yielding stress of the tubes with and without ovality. This collapse pressure is compared with the experimental results by Tschoepe and Maison. The present investigation is towards finding the collapse pressure required to bring the entire wall of tubes into a state of plastic flow for the pipes, with ovality and without ovality. This collapse pressure is compared with the collapse pressure obtained through experiments in the present investigation. The experimental results are compared with the pressure obtained by FEM(finite element methods). The FEM results are then compared with results obtained through an approximate plastic analysis of the strain hardening material, SA312-TP304 stainless steel. The structural integrity evaluation is performed for the heat exchanger used in an actual nuclear power plant by using various methods described in this paper. The results obtained by the various analyses and the FEM are discussed. consequently, the paper is oriented towards an actual design purpose of d heat exchanger in an industrial environment, rather than for the purpose of an academic research project investigation.

• Proceedings of the Korean Nuclear Society Conference
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• 1995.05a
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• pp.1001-1007
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• 1995

A Comprehensive Vibration Assessment Program (CVAP) has been performed for Yonggwang Nuclear Power Plant Unit 4 (YGN 4) in order to verify the structural integrity of the reactor internals for flow induced vibrations prior to commercial operation. The theoretical evidence for the structural integrity of the reactor internals and the basis for measurement and inspection are provided by the analysis. Flow induced hydraulic loads and reactor internals vibration response data were measured during pre-core hot functional testing in YGN 4 site. Also, the critical areas in the reactor internals were inspected visually to check any existence of structural abnormality before and after the pre-core hot functional testing. Then, the measured data have been analyzed and compared with the predicted data by analysis. The measured stresses are less than the predicted values and the allowable limits. It is concluded that the vibration response of the reactor internals due to the flow induced vibration under normal operation is acceptable for long term operation.

• Proceedings of the Korean Nuclear Society Conference
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• 1998.05a
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• pp.719-724
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• 1998

A preliminary fuel channel analysis for 35% reactor inlet header (RIH) break in CANDU reactor loaded with the CANFLEX-RU fuel bundles has been performed. The predicted results are compared with those for the reactor compared with those for the reactor loaded with standard 37-element bundles. The maximum fuel centerline and sheath temperatures for the CANFLEX-RU bundle channel were lower by 338 and 122 $^{\circ}C$, respectively, than those for the standard bundle because of the Bower maximum linear power of the CANFLEX-RU bundle In spite of the 0.4 FPS higher power pulse of the CANFLEX-RU bundle case. Fuel integrity margin to fuel breakup for the CANFLEX-RU bundle is about 50 J/g higher than that for the standard bundle. The PT/CT contact for the CANFLEX-RU bundle occurred 2 s later than that for the standard bundle. The PT/CT contact temperature for the CANFLEX-RU bundle was 2 $^{\circ}C$ lower than that for the standard bundle. These provide the CANFLEX-RU bundle with the negligibly enhanced safety margin for the fuel channel integrity in CANDU 6 reactor, compared with the standard bundle.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Noise and Vibration Engineering Conference
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• 2012.04a
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• pp.907-910
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• 2012

Since the inner barrel assembly of the Advanced Power Reactor 1400 reactor vessel is a new design feature introduced instead of CEA(control element assembly) shroud assembly, the inner barrel assembly can be a significant object of structural integrity assessment. This paper covers the structural responses of top plate, which is a component of the inner barrel assembly, against the deterministic hydraulic load induced by pump pulsation and the random hydraulic load induced by turbulence of coolant. The top plate responds to the deterministic hydraulic load more than to the random hydraulic load and shows enough structural integrity. The results of this paper will be important basis for the selection of instruments and measurement location.