• Journal of Mechanical Science and Technology
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.114-121
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• 2003

Water droplet erosion is one of major concerns in the design of modern large fossil steam turbines because it causes serious operational problems such as performance degradation and reduction of service life. A new erosion model has been developed in the present study for the prediction of water droplet erosion of rotor blades operated in wet steam conditions. The major four erosion parameter : impact velocity, impacting droplet flow rate, droplet size and hardness of target are involved in the model so that it can also be used for engineering purpose at the design stage of rotor blades. Comparison of the predicted erosion rate with the measured data obtained from the practical steam turbine operated for more than 90,000 hours shows good agreement.

• Corrosion Science and Technology
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• v.12 no.4
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• pp.179-184
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• 2013

Pipe wall thinning caused by erosion and corrosion can adversely affect the operation of aged nuclear power plants. Some injured workers owing to pipe rupture has been reported and power reduction caused by unexpected pipe damage has been occurred consistently. Therefore, it is important to develop erosion-corrosion damage prediction model and investigate its mechanisms. Especially, liquid droplet impingement erosion(LDIE) is regarded as the main issue of pipe wall thinning management. To investigate LDIE mechanism with corrosion environment, we developed erosion-corrosion damage simulation apparatus and its capability has been verified through the preliminary damage experiment of 6061-Al alloy. The apparatus design has been based on ASTM standard test method, G73-10, that use high-speed rotator and enable to simulate water hammering and droplet impingement. The preliminary test results showed mass loss of 3.2% in conditions of peripheral speed of 110m/s, droplet size of 1mm-diameter, and accumulated time of 3 hours. In this study, the apparatus design revealed feasibility of LDIE damage simulation and provided possibility of accelerated erosion-corrosion damage test by controlling water chemistry.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Precision Engineering Conference
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• 2012.05a
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• pp.1059-1060
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• 2012

• Journal of ILASS-Korea
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.9-15
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• 2013

Wall thinning of pipeline in power plants occurs mainly by flow acceleration corrosion (FAC), cavitation erosion (C/E), liquid droplet impingement erosion (LDIE). Wall thinning by FAC and C/E has been well investigated; however, LDIE in plant industries has rarely been studied due to the experimental difficulty of setting up a long injection of highly-pressurized air. In this study, we designed a long-term experimental system for LDIE and investigate the behavior of LDIE for three kinds of materials (A106B, SS400, A6061). The main control parameter was the air-water ratio (${\alpha}$), which was defined as the volumetric ratio of water to air (0.79, 1.00, 1.72). In order to clearly understand LDIE, the spraying velocity (${\nu}$) of liquid droplets was controled larger then 160 m/s and the experiments were performed for 15 days. Therefore, this research focuses relation between erosion rate and air-water ratio on the various pipe-flow materials. NPP(nuclear power plant)'s LDIE prediction theory and management technique were drawn from the obtained data.

• Corrosion Science and Technology
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• v.19 no.6
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• pp.310-317
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• 2020

This study investigated the damage to the specimen due to liquid droplet impingement erosion corrosion, which improved the corrosion resistance and durability via hard anodization of 5083-H321 aluminum alloy, which is widely used for small ships and marine structures. The experiment combined liquid droplet impingement erosion and electrochemical equipment with the flow rates in natural seawater solution. Subsequently, Tafel extrapolation of polarization curves was performed to evaluate damage due to the liquid droplet impingement erosion corrosion. The damaged surface was observed using a 3D microscope and a scanning electron microscope. The degree of pitting damage was measured using the Image J program, and the surface hardness was measured using the micro-Vickers hardness tester. The corrosion current density, area, depth, and ratio of the damaged areas increased with the increase in flow rate. The grain size of the damaged area at a flow rate of 20 m s-1 showed fewer and minor differences in height, and a smooth curved shape. The hardness of the damaged surface tended to decrease with increase in flow rate.

• Corrosion Science and Technology
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.125-131
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• 2013

The most common pipe wall thinning degradation mechanisms that can occur in the steam and feedwater systems are FAC (Flow Acceleration Corrosion), cavitation, flashing, and LDIE (Liquid Droplet Impingement Erosion). Among those degradation mechanisms, FAC has been investigated by many laboratories and industries. Cavitation and flashing are also protected on the piping design phase. LDIE has mainly investigated in aviation industry and turbine blade manufactures. On the other hand, LDIE has been little studied in NPP (Nuclear Power Plant) industry. This paper presents the development of prediction system for pipe wall thinning caused by LDIE in terms of erosion rate based on air-water ratio and material. Experiment is conducted in 3 cases of air-water ratio 0.79, 1.00, and 1.72 using the three types of the materials of A106B, SS400, and A6061. The main control parameter is the air-water ratio which is defined as the volumetric ratio of water to air (0.79, 1.00, 1.72). The experiments were performed for 15 days, and the surface morphology and hardness of the materials were examined for every 5 days. Since the spraying velocity (v) of liquid droplets and their contact area ($A_c$) on specimens are changed according to the air-water ratio, we analyzed the behavior of LDIE for the materials. Finally, the prediction equations(i.e. erosion rate) for LDIE of the materials were determined in the range of the air-water ratio from 0 to 2%.

• Journal of Advanced Marine Engineering and Technology
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• v.39 no.3
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• pp.201-205
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• 2015

This paper describes thermal flow characteristic in various pipelines: straight pipeline and curved pipeline. In the Arctic and ocean area, pipelines are exposed to a extremely low temperature ($0{\sim}-40^{\circ}C$). In this situation, three-dimensional flow analysis should be analyzed to investigate thermal effects such as pressure drop, temperature change, velocity deficit and distribution change of liquid droplet of internal fluid. Also, due to freezing of water droplet, impingement erosion is expected in the curved pipeline. The stability of the pipelines can be influenced by impingement erosion. In this paper, multi-phase and multi-species analysis was introduced to analyze the flow characteristics and impingement erosion of Arctic and ocean pipelines.

• The Journal of the Korea institute of electronic communication sciences
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.543-552
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• 2020

This study is aimed at determining an algorithm capable of estimating the erosion index of rainfall for the region of Maceió-Alagoas in the northeast of Brazil. The sample of the truncated data from 2003 to 2006 counts 26,889 droplet size distributions integrated per minute, with 680 rain events with duration longer than 10 minutes. The equation proposed to estimate erosion index used as a dependent variable and independent variable, presenting a coefficient of determination of 99%. The statistical significance validated the relation between minimum rainfall intensity and erosion.

• 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.

• Journal of Power System Engineering
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• v.12 no.4
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• pp.57-63
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• 2008

The last stage blade of the low pressure steam turbine remarkably affects turbine plant performance and availability Turbine manufacturers are continuously developing the low pressure last stage blades using the latest technology in order to achieve higher reliability and improved efficiency. They tend to lengthen the last stage blade and apply shrouds at the blades to enhance turbine efficiency. The long blades increase the blade tip circumferential speed and water droplet erosion at shroud is anticipated. Parts of integral shrouds of the last stage 40 inch blades were cracked and liberated recently in a combined cycle power plant. In order to analyze the root cause of the last stage blades shroud cracks, we investigated operational history, heat balance diagram, damaged blades shape, fractured surface of damaged blades, microstructure examination and design data, etc. Root causes were analyzed as the improper material and design of the blade. Notches induced by erosion and blade shroud were failed eventually by high cycle fatigue. This paper describes the root cause analysis and countermeasures for the steam turbine last stage blade shroud cracks of the combined cycle power plant.