• Corrosion Science and Technology
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.85-92
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• 2013

This work is concerned with an evaluation of dynamic boric acid corrosion (BAC) of low alloy steel for reactor pressure vessel of a pressurized water reactor (PWR). Mockup test method was newly established to investigate dynamic BAC of the low alloy steel under various conditions simulating a primary water leakage incident. The average corrosion rate was measured from the weight loss of the low alloy steel specimen, and the maximum corrosion rate was obtained by the surface profilometry after the mockup test. The corrosion rates increased with the rise of the leakage rate of the primary water containing boric acid, and the presence of oxygen dissolved in the primary water also accelerated the corrosion. From the specimen surface analysis, it was found that typical flow-accelerated corrosion and jet-impingement occurred under two-phase fluid of water droplet and steam environment. The maximum corrosion rate was determined as 5.97 mm/year at the leakage rate of 20 cc/min of the primary water with a saturated content of oxygen within the range of experimental condition of this work.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.505-513
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• 2002

During heatup and cooldown of pressurized water reactor, thermal stress was generated in the reactor pressure vessel (RPV) because of the temperature gradient. To prevent potential failure of RPV, pressure was required to be maintained below the P-T limit curves. In this paper, several methods for constructing the P-T limit curves including the ASME Sec. XI, App. G method were explained and the results were compared. Then, the effects of the various parameters such as flaw size, flaw orientation, cooldown rate, existence of chad, and reference fracture toughness, were evaluated. It was found that the current ASME Sec. XI App. G method resulted in the most conservative P-T limit curve. As the more accurate fracture mechanics analysis results were used, some of the conservatism can be removed. Among the parameters analysed, reference flaw orientation and reference fracture toughness curve had the greatest effect on the resulting P-T limit curves.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.44 no.7
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• pp.773-780
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• 2012

The article presented is concerned with an evaluation of the corrosion behavior of SA-508 low alloy steel (LAS) and Type 309L stainless steel (SS) cladding of a reactor pressure vessel under the simulated primary water chemistry of a pressurized water reactor (PWR). The uniform corrosion and galvanic corrosion rates of SA-508 LAS and Type 309L SS were measured in three different control conditions: power operation, shutdown, and power operation followed by shutdown. In all conditions, the dissimilar metal coupling of SA-508 LAS and Type 309L SS exhibited higher corrosion rates than the SA-508 base metal itself due to severe galvanic corrosion near the cladding interface, while the corrosion of Type 309L in the primary water environment was minimal. The galvanic corrosion rate of the SA-508 LAS and Type 309L SS couple measured under the simulated power operation condition was much lower than that measured in the simulated shutdown condition due to the formation of magnetite on the metal surface in a reducing environment. Based on the experimental results, the corrosion rate of SA-508 LAS clad with Type 309L SS was estimated as a function of operating cycle simulated for a typical PWR.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.44 no.7
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• pp.709-718
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• 2012

The pressurized water reactor APR1400 adopts DVI (Direct Vessel Injection) for the emergency cooling water in the upper downcomer annulus. The International Standard Problem number 50 (ISP-50) was launched with the aim to investigate thermal hydraulic phenomena during a 50% DVI line break scenario with best estimate codes making use of the experimental data available from the ATLAS facility located at KAERI. The present work describes the calculation results obtained for the ISP-50 using the RELAP5/MOD3.3 system code. The work aims at validation and assessment of the code to reproduce the observed phenomena and investigate about its limitations to predict complicated mixing phenomena between the subcooled emergency cooling water and the two-phase flow in the downcomer. The obtained results show that the overall trends of the main test variables are well reproduced by the calculations. In particular, the pressure in the primary system show excellent agreement with the experiment. The loop seal clearance phenomenon was observed in the calculation and it was found to have an important influence on the transient progression. Moreover, the collapsed water levels in the core are accurately reproduced in the simulations. However, the drop in the downcomer level before the activation of the DVI from safety injection tanks was underestimated due to multi-dimensional phenomena in the downcomer that are not properly captured by one-dimensional simulations.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.756-763
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• 2001

In the process of integrity evaluation for nuclear power plant components, a series of fracture mechanics evaluation on surface cracks in reactor pressure vessel(RPV) must be conducted. These fracture mechanics evaluation are based on stress intensity factor, K. However, under pressurized thermal shock(PTS) conditions, the combination of thermal and mechanical stress by steep temperature gradient and internal pressure causes considerably high tensile stress at the inside of RPV wall. Besides, the internal pressure during the normal operation produces high tensile stress at the RPV wall. As a result, cracks on inner surface of RPVs may experience elastic-plastic behavior which can be explained with J-integral. In such a case, however, J-integral may possibly lose its validity due to constraint effect. In this paper, in order to verify the suitability of J-integral, tow dimensional finite element analyses were applied for various surface cracks. A total of 18 crack geometries were analyzed, and $\Omega$ stresses were obtained by comparing resulting HRR stress distribution with corresponding actual stress distributions. In conclusion, HRR stress fields were found to overestimate the actual crack-tip stress field due to constraint effect.

• Korean Journal of Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Engineering
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• v.29 no.12
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• pp.654-662
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• 2017

When emergency core cooling system (ECCS) is operated during loss of coolant accident (LOCA) in a pressurized water reactor (PWR), pressurized thermal shock (PTS) phenomenon can occur as cooling water is injected into a cold leg, mixed with hot primary coolant, and then entrained into a reactor vessel. Insufficient flow mixing may cause temperature stratification and steam condensation. In addition, flow vibration may cause thermal stresses in surrounding structures. This will reduce the life of the reactor vessel. Due to the importance of PTS phenomenon, in this study, calculation was performed for Test 1 among six types of OECD/NEA ROSA tests with ANSYS CFX R.17. Predicted results were then compared to measured data. Additionally, because temperature difference between the hot coolant at the inlet of the cold leg and the cold cooling water at the inlet of the ECCS injection line is 200 K or more, buoyancy force due to density difference might have significant effect on thermal-hydraulic characteristics of flow. Therefore, in this study, the necessity to include buoyancy force term in governing equations for accurate prediction of single phase thermal stratification in both cold legs and downcomer by ECCS injection was numerically studied.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.179-184
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• 2009

The Fuel Test Loop(FTL) which is capable of an irradiation testing under a similar operating condition to those of PWR(Pressurized Water Reactor) and CANDU(CANadian Deuterium Uranium reactor) nuclear power plants has been developed and installed in HANARO, KAERI(Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute). It consists of In-Pile Section(IPS) and Out-of Pile System(OPS). The IPS, which is located inside the pool is divided into 3-parts; the in-pool pipes, the IVA(IPS Vessel Assembly) and the support structures. The test fuel is loaded inside a double wall, inner pressure vessel and outer pressure vessel, to keep the functionality of the reactor coolant pressure boundary. The IVA is manufactured by local company and the functional test and verification were done through pressure drop, vibration, hydraulic and leakage tests. The brazing technique for the instrument lines has been checked for its functionality and performance. An IVA has been manufactured by local technique and have finally tested under high temperature and high pressure. The IVA and piping did not experience leakage, as we have checked the piping, flanges, assembly parts. We have obtained good data during the three cycle test which includes a pressure test, pressure and temperature cycling, and constant temperature.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Gas
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• v.7 no.3 s.20
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• pp.51-57
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• 2003

This paper presents the temperature distribution and deformation characteristics of O-ring groove geometry in which is strongly related the sealing performance of pressure vessels. A working gas in pressure vessel may be heated by a heater and pressurized by a gas compressor. Thus, the pressure vessel should keep high Pressure and temperature for a limited working period. For these operation conditions, the working gas in pressure vessels should not leak to the air by two O-rings with a rectangular groove. The FEM computed results indicate that the thermal and mechanical properties of metal sealing material is very important for stopping a leakage of hot gas in a vessel. Based on the results, high thermal conductive and low mechanical strength material is recommended as a metal sealing one. This may improve the sealing characteristics of O-ring sealing mechanism with a rectangular groove, which reduces the sealing gap between a flange and a cylinder and the width of O-ring groove.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.52 no.8
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• pp.1871-1880
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• 2020

Round robin analyses for vessel failure probabilities due to PTS events are proposed for plant-specific analyses of all types of reactors developed in Korea. Four organizations, that are responsible for regulation, operation, research and design of the nuclear power plant in Korea, participated in the round robin analysis. The vessel failure probabilities from the probabilistic fracture mechanics analyses are calculated to assure the structural integrity of the reactor pressure vessel during transients that are expected to initiate PTS events. The failure probabilities due to various parameters are compared with each other. All results are obtained based on several assumptions about material properties, flaw distribution data, and transient data such as pressure, temperature, and heat transfer coefficient. The realistic input data can be used to obtain more realistic failure probabilities. The various results presented in this study will be helpful not only for benchmark calculations, result comparisons, and verification of PFM codes developed but also as a contribution to knowledge management for the future generation.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.395-409
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• 2000

Parametric studies were performed to assess the sensitivity in determining the maximum in-vessel heat removal capability from the core material relocated into the lower plenum of the reactor pressure vessel (RPV）during a core melt accident. A fraction of the sensible heat can be removed during the molten jet delivery from the core to the lower plenum, while the remaining sensible heat and the decay heat can be transported by rather complex mechanisms of the counter-current flow limitation (CCFL) and the critical heat flux (CHF）through the irregular, hemispherical gap that may be formed between the freezing oxidic debris and the overheated metallic RPV wall. It is shown that under the pressurized condition of 10MPa with the sensible heat loss being 50% for the reactors considered in this study, i.e. TMI-2, KORI-2 like, YGN-3&4 like and KNGR like reactors, the heat removal through the gap cooling mechanism was capable of ensuring the RPV integrity as much as 30% to 40% of the total core mass was relocated to the lower plenum. The sensitivity analysis indicated that the cooling rate of debris coupled with the sensible heat loss was a significant factor The newly proposed heat removal capability map (HRCM) clearly displays the critical factors in estimating the maximum heat removal from the debris in the lower plenum. This map can be used as a first-principle engineering tool to assess the RPV thermal integrity during a core melt accident. The predictive model also provided ith a reasonable explanation for the non-failure of the test vessel in the LAVA experiments performed at the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI), which apparently indicated a cooling effect of water ingression through the debris-to-vessel gap and the intra-debris pores and crevices.