• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.299-308
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• 2000

A safety assessment of reactor vessel lower head integrity under in-vessel vapor explosion loads has been performed. The core melt relocation parameters were chosen within the ranges of physically realizable bounds. The premixing and explosion calculations were performed using TRACER-II code. Using the calculated explosion pressures imposed on the lower head inner wall, strain calculations were peformed using ANSYS code. Then, the calculated strain results and the established failure criteria were used in determining the failure probability of the lower head, In the explosion analyses, it is shown that the explosion impulses are not altered significantly by the uncertain parameters of triggering location and time, fuel and vapor volume fractions in uniform premixture bounding calculations. Strain analyses show that the vapor explosion-induced lower head failure is not possible under the present framework of assessment. The result of static analysis using the conservative explosion-end pressure of 50 MPa also supports the conclusion. It is recommended, however, that an assessment of fracture mechanics for preexisting cracks be also considered to obtain a more concrete conclusion.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Automotive Engineers
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.410-419
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• 2015

In this study, the roadability, fuel economy and emission characteristics were evaluated for a natural gas converted vehicle. The results are as follows; Not only the shortage of power was observed in stall test, but also large deterioration of acceleration performance was exposed in roadability. Compared to the original LPG system, the acceleration is 76% in start acceleration and 45 ~ 65% in overtaking acceleration, especially the decline became larger when air conditioner is at work. Furthermore, because the mapping data, which controls the injection depending on driving condition, do not match up with injection system, the failure of air-fuel ratio feedback control occurs resulting from the large gap between the required and the really supplied amount of fuel. This failure cause the exhaust gas to emit without catalytic conversion and the fuel economy based on the fuel heat value to get worse 22% in the mode test and 16% in road test respectively. In addition, the existing injection system does not secure enough fuel at the starting so that it may lead to the fail of clod start, the deterioration of hot start and inharmonic of engine at the idle after start.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.56 no.3
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• pp.973-979
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• 2024

In the framework of the Generation IV research and development project, in which the French Commission of Alternative and Atomic Energies (CEA) is involved, a main objective for the design of Sodium-cooled Fast Reactor (SFR) is to meet the safety goals for severe accidents. Among the severe ones, the Unprotected Transient OverPower (UTOP) accidents can lead very quickly to a global melting of the core. UTOP accidents can be considered either as slow during a Control Rod Withdrawal (CRW) or as fast. The paper focuses on fast UTOP accidents, which occur in a few milliseconds, and three different scenarios are considered: rupture of the core support plate, uncontrolled passage of a gas bubble inside the core and core mechanical distortion such as a core flowering/compaction during an earthquake. Several levels and rates of reactivity insertions are also considered and the thermal-mechanical behavior of an ASTRID fuel pin from the ASTRID CFV core is simulated with the GERMINAL code. Two types of fuel pins are simulated, inner and outer core pins, and three different burn-up are considered. Moreover, the feedback from the CABRI programs on these type of transients is used in order to evaluate the failure mechanism in terms of kinetics of energy injection and fuel melting. The CABRI experiments complete the analysis made with GERMINAL calculations and have shown that three dominant mechanisms can be considered as responsible for pin failure or onset of pin degradation during ULOF/UTOP accident: molten cavity pressure loading, fuel-cladding mechanical interaction (FCMI) and fuel break-up. The study is one of the first step in fast UTOP accidents modelling with GERMINAL and it has shown that the code can already succeed in modelling these type of scenarios up to the sodium boiling point. The modeling of the radial propagation of the melting front, validated by comparison with CABRI tests, is already very efficient.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.52 no.1
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• pp.135-147
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• 2020

A methodology for evaluation of mechanical and thermal effects of localized non-axisymmetric oxidation in zircaloy claddings on LWR fuel reliability is proposed. To this end, the basic capabilities of the FALCON fuel behaviour code are used. Examples of methodology application to adjustment of selected operational limits for modern BWR fuel rods, to capture effects of the excess local oxidation, are presented. Specifically, the limiting rod internal pressure for the onset of cladding lift-off is reduced, depending on initial excess oxidation spot sizes. Also, the power limits for Anticipated Operational Occurrences are adjusted, to preclude fuel melting and cladding failure due to PCMI and PCI-SCC in the affected fuel rods.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.491-501
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• 2021

This paper aims to evaluate the mechanical integrity for Spent Nuclear Fuel (SNF) cladding under lateral loads during transportation. The evaluation process requires a conservative consideration of the degradation conditions of SNF cladding, especially the hydride effect, which reduces the ductility of the cladding. The dynamic forces occurring during the drop event are pinch force, axial force and bending moment. Among those forces, axial force and bending moment can induce transverse tearing of cladding. Our assessment of 14 × 14 PWR SNF was performed using finite element analysis considering SNF characteristics. We also considered the probabilistic procedures with a Monte Carlo method and a reliability evaluation. The evaluation results revealed that there was no probability of damage under normal conditions, and that under accident conditions the probability was small for transverse failure mode.

• Tribology and Lubricants
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• v.25 no.5
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• pp.324-329
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• 2009

In this study a complex design fitness analysis of journal bearings is carried out for the LPLi rotary-vane fuel pump application, as an external and horizontal installation, in LPG vehicles. Bearings considered in the analyses are plain and 3-axial groove journal bearings. Upon reflecting the fact that the primary failure mode of bearings in the application is a premature friction and wear failure of bearing metal due to a very low viscosity of liquid fuel LPG as a bearing lubricant, the performance factors of bearings used in an evaluation process of design fitness are a load carrying capacity and vibration suppression ability relative to a rated speed. At this time the design variables of bearings are a radial clearance and length. Results show that, in terms of both of the load carrying capacity and vibration suppression ability, the plain journal bearings are superior to the 3-axial groove journal bearings and among the plain bearings the smaller the bearing clearance (5>10>$15\;{\mu}m$) is and the longer the bearing length (6<8<10<12<14 mm) is, the better the bearing performance is.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.46 no.1
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• pp.73-80
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• 2014

A concrete cask is an option for spent nuclear fuel interim storage. A concrete cask usually consists of a metallic canister which confines the spent nuclear fuel assemblies and a concrete overpack. When the overpack undergoes a missile impact, which might be caused by a tornado or an aircraft crash, it should sustain an acceptable level of structural integrity so that its radiation shielding capability and the retrievability of the canister are maintained. A missile impact against a concrete overpack produces two damage modes, local damage and global damage. In conventional approaches [1], those two damage modes are decoupled and evaluated separately. The local damage of concrete is usually evaluated by empirical formulas, while the global damage is evaluated by finite element analysis. However, this decoupled approach may lead to a very conservative estimation of both damages. In this research, finite element analysis with material failure models and element erosion is applied to the evaluation of local and global damage of concrete overpacks under high speed missile impacts. Two types of concrete overpacks with different configurations are considered. The numerical simulation results are compared with test results, and it is shown that the finite element analysis predicts both local and global damage qualitatively well, but the quantitative accuracy of the results are highly dependent on the fine-tuning of material and failure parameters.

• Composites Research
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.53-59
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• 2016

Aircraft wing structure is used as a fuel tank containing the fluid. Fuel tank and joint parts are consists of composite structure. Hydrodynamic Ram(HRAM) effect occurs when the high speed object pass through the aircraft wing or explosion and the high pressure are generated in the fuel tank by HRAM effect. High pressure can cause failure of the fuel tank and the joint parts as well as the aircraft wing structure. To ensure the aircraft survivability design, we shall examine the behavior of the joint parts in HRAM effect. In this study, static tensile tests were conducted on four kind of the composite T-Joints. The failure behavior of the composite T-joint was examined by strain gauges and high speed camera. We examine the validity of the Finite Element Modeling by comparing the results of FEA and static tensile tests. The failure stresses and failure pressure of the composite T-Joint were calculated by FEA.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.233-241
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• 1987

Difficulties are encountered when the behavior of complex systems (i.e., fuel failure probability) that have unreliable deterministic models is predicted. For more realistic prediction of the behavior of complex systems with limited observational data, the present study was undertaken to devise an approach of combining predictions from the deterministic model and actual observational data. Predictions by this method of combining are inferred to be of higher reliability than separate predictions made by either model taken independently. A systematic method of hierarchical pattern discovery based on the method developed in the SPEAR was used for systematic search of weighting factors and pattern boundaries for the present method. A sample calculation was performed for prediction of CANDU fuel failures that had occurred due to power ramp during refuelling process. It was demonstrated by this sample calculation that there exists a region of feature space in which fuel failure probability from the PROFIT model nearly agree with that from observational data.

• Journal of Advanced Navigation Technology
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.436-446
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• 2023

In the field of safety-critical systems, analyzing the effects of various failure factors (failure modes) is essential through Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA). However, with the increasing importance of software in systems, applying FMEA analysis to the design phase has become challenging. This paper proposes the use of Automatic FMEA, which can automatically perform FMEA using model-based design techniques, and presents a case study of FMEA for automotive engines. A comparison is made between the model-based Automatic FMEA analysis tool and existing FMEA tools. The study aims to demonstrate the performance of the Automatic FMEA analysis tool and propose future research plans.