• 방사성폐기물학회지
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• 제20권2호
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• pp.161-170
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• 2022

The effect of oxidation time on the characteristics and mechanical properties of spent nuclear fuel cladding was investigated using Raman spectroscopy, tube rupture test, and tensile test. As oxidation time increased, the Raman peak associated with the tetragonal zirconium oxide phase diminished and merged with the Raman peak associated with the monoclinic zirconium oxide phase near 333 cm^-1. Additionally, the other tetragonal zirconium oxide phase peak at 380 cm^-1 decreased after 100 d of oxidation, whereas the zirconium monoclinic oxide peak became the dominant peak. The oxidation time had no effect on the tube rupture pressure of the oxidized zirconium alloy tube. However, the yield and tensile stresses of the oxidized nuclear fuel cladding tube decreased after 100 d of oxidation. The results of the scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy were represented with the in-situ Raman analysis result for the oxide characteristics generated on the cladding of spent nuclear fuel.

• 한국원자력학회:학술대회논문집
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• 한국원자력학회 2004년도 추계학술발표회 발표논문집
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• pp.931-932
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• 2004

• 한국원자력학회:학술대회논문집
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• 한국원자력학회 2005년도 춘계학술발표회
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• pp.519-520
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• 2005

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제55권11호
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• pp.4066-4076
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• 2023

Pressure resistance welding is usually used to seal the connection between the cladding tube and the end plug made of zirconium alloy. The seal welded joint has a direct effect on the service performance of the fuel rod cladding structure. In this paper, the pressure resistance welded joints of zirconium alloy tube-plug structure were obtained by thermal-mechanical simulation experiments. The microstructure and microhardness of the joints were both analyzed. The effect of processing parameters on the microstructure was studied in detail. The results showed that there was no β-Zr phase observed in the joint, and no obvious element segregation. There were different types of Widmanstätten structure in the thermo-mechanically affected zone (TMAZ) and heat affected zone (HAZ) of the cladding tube and the end plug joint because of the low cooling rate. Some part of the grains in the joint grew up due to overheating. Its size was about 2.8 times that of the base metal grains. Due to the high dislocation density and texture evolution, the microhardnesses of TMAZ and HAZ were both significantly higher than that of the base metal, and the microhardness of the TMAZ was the highest. With the increasing of welding temperature, the proportion of recrystallization in TMAZ decreased, which was caused by the increasing of strain rate and dislocation annihilation.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제35권5호
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• pp.369-377
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• 2003

Since Zr-2.5Nb pressure tubes have a high risk for the formation of blisters during their operation in pressurized heavy water reactors, there has been a strong incentive to develop a method for the non-destructive detection of blisters grown on the tube surfaces. However, because there is little mismatch in acoustic impedance between the hydride blisters and zirconium matrix, it is not easy to distinguish the boundary between the blister and zirconium matrix with conventional ultrasonic methods. This study has focused on the development of a special ultrasonic method, so called ultrasonic velocity ratio method for a reliable detection of blisters formed on Zr-2.5Nb pressure tubes. Hydride blisters were grown on the outer surface of the Zr-2.5Nb pressure tube using a cold finger attached to a steady state thermal diffusion equipment. To maximize a difference in the ultrasonic velocity in hydride blisters and the zirconium matrix, the ultrasonic velocity ratio of longitudinal wave to shear wave, $V_L/V_S$, has been determined based on the flight time of the longitudinal echo and reflected shear echo from the outer surface of the tubes. The feasibility of the ultrasonic velocity ratio method is confirmed by comparing the contour plots reproduced by this method with those of the blisters grown on the Zr-2.5Nb pressure tubes.

• 한국압력기기공학회 논문집
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• 제13권2호
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• pp.75-83
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• 2017

In severe accident conditions of light water reactors, the loss of coolant may cause problems in integrity of zirconium fuel cladding. Under the condition of the loss of coolant, the zirconium fuel cladding can be exposed to high temperature steam and reacted with them by producing of hydrogen, which is caused by the failure in oxidation resistance of zirconium cladding materials during the loss of coolant accident scenarios. In order to avoid these problems, we develop a multi-metallic layered composite (MMLC) fuel cladding which compromises between the neutronic advantages of zirconium-based alloys and the accident-tolerance of non-zirconium-based metallic materials. Cold pilgering process is a common tube manufacturing process, which is complex material forming operation in highly non-steady state, where the materials undergo a long series of deformation resulting in both diameter and thickness reduction. During the cold pilgering process, MMLC claddings need to reduce the outside diameter and wall thickness. However, multi-layers of the tube are expected to occur different deformation processes because each layer has different mechanical properties. To improve the utilization of the pilgering process, 3-dimensional computational analyses have been made using a finite element modeling technique. We also analyze the dimensional change, strain and stress distribution at MMLC tube by considering the behavior of rolls such as stroke rate and feed rate.

• 한국재료학회지
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• 제14권7호
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• pp.451-456
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• 2004

Thermal creep properties of the zirconium tube which was developed for high burnup application were evaluated. The creep test of cladding tubes after various final heat treatment was carried out by the internal pressurization method in the temperature range from $350^{\circ}C to 400^{\circ}C$ and from 100 to 150 MPa in the hoop stress. Creep tests were lasted up to 900days, which showed the steady-state secondary creep rate. The creep resistance of zirconium claddings was higher than that of Zircaloy-4. Factors that affect creep resistance, such as final annealing temperature, applied stress and alloying element were discussed. Tin as an alloying element was more effective than niobium due to solute hardening effect of tin. In case of advanced claddings, the optimization of final heat treatment temperature as well as alloying element causes a great influence on the improvement of creep resistance.

• 한국재료학회지
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• 제15권2호
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• pp.126-133
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• 2005

Mechanical properties of zirconium cladding were evaluated by ring tension test to simulate Reactivity-Initiated Accident (RIA) at high burnup situation as an out-reactor test. Zircaloy-4 cladding was hydrided up to 1000 ppm as well as oxidized up to $100\;{\mu}m$ to simulate high-burnup situation. After simulated high-burnup treatment, ring tension test was carried out from 0.01 to 1/sec to correlate with actual RIA event. The results showed that ductility and circumferential toughness decreased with the hydrogen content and oxide thickness. Hydride generated inside cladding acted as brittle failure. Oxygen influenced cladding tube by the reduction of load bearing area, oxygen embrittlement, and thermal aging. Correlation between in-reactor RIA parameter like fuel enthalpy and out-reactor toughness was performed and showed a reasonable result.

• 한국방사성폐기물학회:학술대회논문집
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• 한국방사성폐기물학회 2019년도 춘계학술논문요약집
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• pp.80-81
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• 2019

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제50권3호
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• pp.425-431
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• 2018

Different methods of axial and tangential testing and various sample geometries were investigated, and new test geometries were designed to determine the ultimate tensile strength of zirconium cladding tubes. The finite element method was used to model the tensile tests, and the results of the simulations were evaluated. Axial and tangential tensile tests were performed on as-received and machined fuel cladding tube samples of both E110 and E110G Russian zirconium alloys at room temperature to compare their ultimate tensile strengths and the different sample preparation methods.