• Journal of Hydrospace Technology
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.41-54
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• 1996

Sculptured surface structures such as ship hulls are traditionally formed up to the required double curved shape by line heating method. The nature of the line heating process is a transient thermal process, followed by a thermo-elastic-plastic stress field. The permanant shape is dependent on many factors involved in the process, Among them are torch speed and path, supplied heat type and amount , and plate size. Thus, the work is essentially leaded by experts with lots of experiences. However, in order to effectively improve productivity through automation, each factor should be clearly examined how much it affects the final shape. This can not be done only by experiments, but can be achieved by a mechanics-based approach. In this paper, we propose a conceptual configuration for plate forming system, and then present simulations of the line heating process with numerical data in practices and suggest a computerized process of the line heating for practical applications. The modeling of heating torch, water cooling, and the plate to be formed is proposed for the finite element analysis after the mechanics of line heating is studied. Parametric studies are given and discussed for the effects of plate thickness, torch speed and initial curvature in forming a saddle typed surface.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.48 no.2
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• pp.533-544
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• 2016

This paper provides a reference to determine the seal performance of metallic O-rings for a reactor pressure vessel (RPV). A nonlinear elastic-plastic model of an O-ring was constructed by the finite element method to analyze its intrinsic properties. It is also validated by experiments on scaled samples. The effects of the compression ratio, the geometrical parameters of the O-ring, and the structure parameters of the groove on the flange are discussed in detail. The results showed that the numerical analysis of the O-ring agrees well with the experimental data, the compression ratio has an important role in the distribution and magnitude of contact stress, and a suitable gap between the sidewall and groove can improve the sealing capability of the O-ring. After the optimization of the sealing structure, some key parameters of the O-ring (i.e., compression ratio, cross-section diameter, wall thickness, sidewall gap) have been recommended for application in megakilowatt class nuclear power plants. Furthermore, air tightness and thermal cycling tests were performed to verify the rationality of the finite element method and to reliably evaluate the sealing performance of a RPV.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.117-131
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• 2006

A coupled T-H-M(Thermo-Hydro-Mechanical) analysis was carried out for KENTEX (KAERI Engineering-scale T-H-M Experiment for Engineered Barrier System), which is a facility for validating the coupled T-H-M behavior in the engineered barrier system of the Korean reference HLW(high-level waste) disposal system. The changes of temperature, water saturation, and stress were estimated based on the coupled T-H-M analysis, and the influence of the types of mechanical constitutive material laws was investigated by using elastic model, poroelastic model, and poroelastic-plastic model. The analysis was done using ABAQUS, which is a commercial finite element code for general purposes. From the analysis, it was observed that the temperature in the bentonite increased sharply for a couple of days after heating the heater and then slowly increased to a constant value. The temperatures at all locations were nearly at a steady state after about 37.5 days. In the steady state, the temperature was maintained at $90^{\circ}C$ at the interface between the heater and the bentonite and at about $70^{\circ}C$ at the interface between the bentonite and the confining cylinder. The variation of the water saturation with time in bentonite was almost same independent of the material laws used in the coupled T-H-M processes. By comparing the saturation change of T-H-M and that of H-M(Hydro-Mechanical) processes using elastic and poroelastic material mod31 respectively, it was found that the degree of saturation near the heater from T-H-M calculation was higher than that from the coupled H-M calculation mainly because of the thermal flux, which seemed to speed up the saturation. The stresses in three cases with different material laws were increased with time. By comparing the stress change in H-M calculation using poroelasetic and poroelasetic-plastic model, it was possible to conclude that the influence of saturation on the stress change is higher than the influence of temperature. It is, therefore, recommended to use a material law, which can model the elastic-plastic behavior of buffer, since the coupled T-H-M processes in buffer is affected by the variation of void ratio, thermal expansion, as well as swelling pressure.

• Transactions of Materials Processing
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• v.23 no.5
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• pp.289-296
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• 2014

Uniaxial tensile tests were conducted to accurately evaluate the in-plane mechanical properties of fiber metal laminates (FMLs). The FMLs in the current study are comprised of a layer of self-reinforced polypropylene (SRPP) sandwiched between two layers of aluminum alloy 5052-H34. The nonlinear tensile behavior of the FMLs under in-plane loading conditions was investigated using both numerical simulations and a theoretical analysis. The numerical simulation was based on finite element modeling using the ABAQUS/Explicit code and the theoretical constitutive model was based on the volume fraction approach using the rule of mixture and a modification of the classical lamination theory, which incorporates the elastic-plastic behavior of the aluminum alloy and the SRPP. The simulations and the model are used to predict the inplane mechanical properties such as stress-strain response and deformation behavior of the FMLs. In addition, a post-stretching process is used to reduce the thermal residual stresses before uniaxial tensile testing of the FMLs. Through comparison of both the numerical simulations and the theoretical analysis with the experimental results, it is concluded that the numerical simulation model and the theoretical approach can describe with sufficient accuracy the actual tensile stress-strain behavior of the FMLs.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.88-104
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• 1988

The FUel Rod Analysis(FURA) code is developed using two-dimensional finite element methods for axisymmetric and plane stress analysis of fuel rod. It predicts the thermal and mechanical behavior of fuel rod during normal and load follow operations. To evaluate the exact temperature distribution and the inner gas pressure, the radial deformation of pellet and clad, the fission gas release are considered over the full-length of fuel rod. The thermal element equation is derived using Galerkin's techniques. The displacement element equation is derived using the principle of virtual works. The mechanical analysis can accommodate various components of strain: elastic, plastic, creep and thermal strain as well as strain due to swelling, relocation and densification. The 4-node quadratic isoparametric elements are adopted, and the geometric model is confined to a half-pellet-height region with the assumption that pellet-pellet interaction is symmetrical. The pellet cracking and crack healing, pellet-cladding interaction are modelled. The Newton-Raphson iteration with an implicit algorithm is applied to perform the analysis of non-linear material behavior accurately and stably. The pellet and cladding model has been compared with both analytical solutions and experimental results. The observed and predicted results are in good agreement. The general behavior of fuel rod is calculated by axisymmetric system and the cladding behavior against radial crack is used by plane stress system. The sensitivity of strain aging of PWR fuel cladding tube due to load following is evaluated in terms of linear power, load cycle frequency and amplitude.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.36 no.2
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• pp.187-194
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• 2012

The strength of particle-reinforced metal matrix composites is, in general, known to be increased by the geometrically necessary dislocations punched around a particle that form during cooling after consolidation because of coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) mismatch between the particle and the matrix. An additional strength increase may also be observed, since another type of geometrically necessary dislocation can be formed during extensive deformation as a result of the strain gradient plasticity due to the elastic-plastic mismatch between the particle and the matrix. In this paper, the magnitudes of these two types of dislocations are calculated based on the dislocation plasticity. The dislocations are then converted to the respective strengths and allocated hierarchically to the matrix around the particle in the axisymmetric finite-element unit cell model. The proposed method is shown to be very effective by performing finite-element strength analysis of $SiC_p$/Al2124-T4 composites that included ductile failure in the matrix and particlematrix decohesion. The predicted results for different particle sizes and volume fractions show that the length scale effect of the particle size obviously affects the strength and failure behavior of the particle-reinforced metal matrix composites.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.38 no.3
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• pp.275-282
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• 2014

Particle-reinforced metal matrix composites exhibit a strengthening effect due to the particle size-dependent length scale that arises from the strain gradient, and thus from the geometrically necessary dislocations between the particles and matrix that result from their CTE(Coefficient of Thermal Expansion) and elastic-plastic mismatches. In this study, the influence of the size-dependent length scale on the particle-matrix interface failure and ductile failure in the matrix was examined using finite-element punch zone modeling whereby an augmented strength was assigned around the particle. The failure behavior was observed by a parametric study, while varying the interface failure properties such as the interface strength and debonding energy with different particle sizes and volume fractions. It is shown that the two failure modes (interface failure and ductile failure in the matrix) interact with each other and are closely related to the particle size-dependent length scale; in other words, the composite with the smaller particles, which is surrounded by a denser dislocation than that with the larger particles, retards the initiation and growth of the interface and matrix failures, and also leads to a smaller amount of decrease in the flow stress during failure.