• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.53 no.3
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• pp.920-926
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• 2021

Capsules containing NaCl-MgCl₂ salt with 316L stainless steel or alloy N samples were irradiated in the Ohio State University Research Reactor for 21 nonconsecutive hours. A custom irradiation vessel was designed for this purpose, and details on its design and construction are given. Stainless steel samples that were irradiated during exposure had less corrosive attack than samples exposed to the same conditions without irradiation. Alloy N samples showed no significant effect of irradiation. This work shows a method for conducting in-reactor irradiation-corrosion experiments in static molten salts and presents preliminary data showing that neutron irradiation may decelerate corrosion of alloys in molten chloride salts.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.54 no.1
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• pp.357-373
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• 2022

The high-temperature gas-cooled reactor pebble-bed module project is the first commercial Generation-IV NPP(Nuclear Power Plant) in China. A new joint is used for the vertical support of RPV(Reactor Pressure Vessel). The steel corbel is integrally embedded into the reactor-cabin wall through eight asymmetrically arranged pre-stressed high-strength bolts, achieving the different path transmission of shear force and moment. The vertical monotonic loading test of two specimens is conducted. The results show that the failure mode of the joint is bolt fracture. There is no prominent yield stage in the whole loading process. The stress of bolts is linearly distributed along the height of corbel at initial loading. As the load increases, the height of neutral axis of bolts gradually decreases. The upper and lower edges of the wall opening contact the corbel plate to restrict the rotation of the corbel. During the loading, the pre-stress of some bolts decreases. The increase of the pre-stress strength ratio of bolts has no noticeable effect on the structure stiffness, but it reduces the ultimate bearing capacity of the joint. A simplified calculation model for the elastic stage of the joint is established, and the estimation results are in good agreement with the experimental results.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.26 no.11
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• pp.2399-2408
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• 2002

A prediction procedure has been developed to evaluate the microtructures and material properties of heat affected zone (HAZ) in pressure vessel steel weld, based on temperature analysis, thermodynamics calculation and reaction kinetics model. Temperature distributions in HAE are calculated by finite element method. The microstructures in HAZ are predicted by combining the temperature analysis results with the reaction kinetics model for austenite grain growth and austenite decomposition. Substituting the microstructure prediction results into the previous experimental relations, the mechanical material properties such as hardness, yielding strength and tensile strength are calculated. The prediction procedure is modified and verified by the comparison between the present results and the previous study results for the simulated HAZ in reactor pressure vessel (RPV) circurnferential weld. Finally, the microstructures and mechanical material properties are determined by applying the final procedure to real RPV circumferential weld and the local weak zone in HAZ is evaluated based on the application results.

• Journal of Ocean Engineering and Technology
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.88-94
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• 2000

Recently various pressure vessels like an atomic reactor and plant facilities become more larger and are needed to bear in both very high temperature and pressure condition. And in making such a high pressure vessels the amount of annual usage of 2 $\frac {1}{4}$ Cr-1Mo steels which are predominant to resist high temperature high pressure and corrosive circumstances are increasing. But despite of this advantage of 2 $\frac {1}{4}$Cr-1Mo steel. when PWHT(post welding heat treatment) is carried out lots of reheating cracks are occur. In this reason it is strongly needed to study and examine the mechanical behavior of welded joints through welding to PWHT process. So in this study welded nozzle of pressure vessel where reheat cracks are frequently occur are selected for analysis the crack-occurrence mechanism.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Pressure Vessels and Piping
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.113-121
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• 2014

In this work, an integrated model including molecular dynamics and chemical rate theory was implemented to calculate the growth of point defect clusters(PDC) and copper-rich precipitates(CRP) which could change the mechanical properties of reactor pressure vessel(RPV) steels in a nuclear power plant. A number of time-dependent differential equations were established and numerically integrated to estimate the evolution of irradiation defects. The calculation showed that the concentration of the vacancies was higher than that of the self-interstitial atoms. The higher concentration of vacancies induced a formation of the CRPs in the later stage. The size of the CRPs was used to estimate the mechanical property changes in RPV steels, as is the same case with the PDCs. The calculation results were compared with the measured values of yield strength change and Charpy V-notch transition temperature shift, which were obtained from the surveillance test data of Korean light water reactors(LWRs). The estimated values were in fair agreement with the experimental results in spite of the uncertainty of the modeling parameters.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Pressure Vessels and Piping
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.64-69
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• 2014

Gr. 91 steel is used for the major structural components of Generation-IV reactor systems, such as a very high temperature reactor(VHTR) and sodium-cooled fast reactor(SFR). Since these structures are designed for up to 60 years at elevated temperatures, the prediction of long-term creep life is important for a design application of Gr. 91 steel. In this study, a number of creep rupture data were collected through world-wide literature surveys, and using these data, the long-term creep life was predicted in terms of three methods: the single-C method in Larson-Miller(L-M) parameter, multi-C constant method in the L-M parameter, and a modified method("sinh" equation) in the L-M parameter. The results of the creep-life prediction were compared using the standard deviation of error value, respectively. Modified method proposed by the "sinh" equation revealed better agreement in creep life prediction than the single-C L-M method.

• Korean Journal of Metals and Materials
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• v.46 no.12
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• pp.771-779
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• 2008

An effective way of increasing the strength and fracture toughness of reactor pressure vessel steels is to change the material specification from that of Mn-Mo-Ni low alloy steel(SA508 Gr.3) to Ni-Mo-Cr low alloy steel(SA508 Gr.4N). In this study, we evaluate the effects of alloying elements on the microstructural characteristics of Ni-Mo-Cr low alloy steel. The changes in the stable phase of the SA508 Gr.4N low alloy steel with alloying elements were evaluated by means of a thermodynamic calculation conducted with the software ThermoCalc. The changes were then compared with the observed microstructural results. The calculation of Ni-Mo-Cr low alloy steels confirms that the ferrite formation temperature decreases as the Ni content increases because of the austenite stabilization effect. Consequently, in the microscopic observation, the lath martensitic structure becomes finer as the Ni content increases. However, Ni does not affect the carbide phases such as $M_{23}C_6 $ and $M_7C_3$. When the Cr content decreases, the carbide phases become unstable and carbide coarsening can be observed. With an increase in the Mo content, the $M_2C$ phase becomes stable instead of the $M_7C_3$ phase. This behavior is also observed in TEM. From the calculation results and the observation results of the microstructure, the thermodynamic calculation can be used to predict the precipitation behavior.

• Proceedings of the KWS Conference
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• 2000.10a
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• pp.211-213
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• 2000

• Proceedings of the Korean Nuclear Society Conference
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• 1999.10a
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• pp.225-225
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• 1999

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.49 no.5
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• pp.1109-1112
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• 2017

The precise prediction of radiation embrittlement of aged reactor pressure vessels (RPVs) is a prerequisite for the long-term operation of nuclear power plants beyond their original design life. The expiration of the operation licenses for Korean reactors the RPVs of which are made from SA533B-1 plates and welds is imminent. Korean regulatory rules have adopted the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission's transition temperature shift (TTS) models to the prediction of the embrittlement of Korean reactor pressure vessels. The applicability of the TTS model to predict the embrittlement of Korean RPVs made of SA533B-1 plates and welds was investigated in this study. It was concluded that the TTS model of 10 CFR 50.61a matched the trends of the radiation embrittlement in the SA533B-1 plates and welds better than did that of Regulatory Guide (RG) 1.99 Rev. 2. This is attributed to the fact that the prediction performance of 10 CFR 50.61a was enhanced by considering the difference in radiation embrittlement sensitivity among the different types of RPV materials.