Nuclear Engineering and Technology

Korean Nuclear Society (한국원자력학회)
권호 표지
DOI QR코드

DOI QR Code

Deformation Characteristics and Sealing Performance of Metallic O-rings for a Reactor Pressure Vessel

  • Shen, Mingxue (Engineering Research Center of Process Equipment and Its Remanufacture, Ministry of Education, Zhejiang University of Technology) ;
  • Peng, Xudong (Engineering Research Center of Process Equipment and Its Remanufacture, Ministry of Education, Zhejiang University of Technology) ;
  • Xie, Linjun (Engineering Research Center of Process Equipment and Its Remanufacture, Ministry of Education, Zhejiang University of Technology) ;
  • Meng, Xiangkai (Engineering Research Center of Process Equipment and Its Remanufacture, Ministry of Education, Zhejiang University of Technology) ;
  • Li, Xinggen (Ningbo Tiansheng Sealing Packing Co., Ltd.)
  • Received : 2015.09.07
  • Accepted : 2015.11.06
  • Published : 2016.04.25
Download PDF
⟨ Previous Next ⟩

Abstract

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.

Keywords

References

  1. T.J. Lin, R.F. Li, H. Long, H. Ou, Three-dimensional transient sealing analysis of the bolted flange connections of reactor pressure vessel, Nucl. Eng. Des. 236 (2006) 2599-2607. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nucengdes.2006.03.018
  2. K. Ma, K. Guan, R.L. Cai, Compression recovery performance of spring energized C-rings, Proc. Inst. Mech. Eng. Part E d J. Process. Mech. Eng. (2015), http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0954408914535572 (in press).
  3. X.H. Jia, H.M. Chen, X.G. Li, Y.M. Wang, L.K. Wang, A study on the sealing performance of metallic C-rings in reactor pressure vessel, Nucl. Eng. Des. 278 (2014) 64-70. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nucengdes.2014.07.006
  4. G.H. Koo, J.H. Lee, Feasibility of an integrated steam generator system in a sodium-cooled fast rector subjected to elevated temperature services, Nucl. Eng. Technol. 41 (2009) 1115-1126. https://doi.org/10.5516/NET.2009.41.8.1115
  5. A. Al Mazouzi, A. Alamo, D. Lidbury, D. Moinereau, S. Van Dyck, PERFORM 60: prediction of the effects of radiation for reactor pressure vessel and in-core materials using multiscale modeling-60 years foreseen plant lifetime, Nucl. Eng. Des. 241 (2011) 3403-3415. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nucengdes.2011.01.054
  6. N. Soneda, Irradiation Embrittlement of Reactor Pressure Vessels (RPVS) in Nuclear Power Plants, Woodhead Publishing Ltd, Cambridge (UK), 2014.
  7. G.H. Kim, Y.S. Lee, H.L. Yang, A new design concept of metal O-ring seal for long-term performance, Vacuum 123 (2016) 54-61. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.vacuum.2015.10.014
  8. Saint-Gobain Seals, The High-performance Sealing Solutions, Saint-Gobain Group, Garden Grove, CA USA, 2012.
  9. Nuclear [Internet]. Garlock, Palmyra (NY), 2015 [cited 2015 Dec 19]. Available from: http://www.garlock.com/en/markets/nuclear/.
  10. T. Kobayashi, Deformation characteristics of a metal hollow O-ring, in: Analysis of Bolted Joints, 1999: The 1999 ASME Pressure Vessels and Piping Conference, American Society of Mechanical Engineers, Boston, MA, USA, August 1-5, 1999.
  11. N.K. Sinha, B. Raj, Choice of rotatable plug seals for prototype fast breeder reactor: review of historical perspectives, Nucl. Eng. Des. 291 (2015) 109-132. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nucengdes.2015.05.017
  12. F. Fiori, Z. Zhou, Sustainability of the Chinese nuclear expansion: natural uranium resources availability, Pu cycle, fuel utilization efficiency and spent fuel management, Ann. Nucl. Energy 83 (2015) 246-257. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anucene.2015.03.051
  13. Q. Yan, A.J. Wang, G.S. Wang, W.J. Yu, Q.S. Chen, Nuclear power development in China and uranium demand forecast: based on analysis of global current situation, Prog. Nucl. Energy 53 (2011) 742-747. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pnucene.2010.09.001
  14. S.Y. Yu, J.J. Liu, W.D. Zuo, S.Y. He, Sealing behavior of the HTR-10 pressure vessel flanges, Nucl. Eng. Des. 216 (2002) 247-253. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0029-5493(02)00055-9
  15. Y. Liu, K. Zhou, W.F. Huang, Z. Gao, Y.M. Wang, Numerical and experimental analysis of the reusability of spring energized metal C rings, Sci. China Technol. Sci. 57 (2014) 1670-1676. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11431-014-5584-3
  16. R.L. Cai, Fluid Sealing Technology-Principles and Engineering Applications, Chemical Industry Press, Beijing (China) 2013 (In Chinese).
  17. A. Houghton, R. Lewis, U. Olofsson, J. Sundh, Characterising and reducing seizure wear of Inconel and Incoloy superalloys in a sliding contact, Wear 271 (2011) 1671-1680. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wear.2011.02.022
  18. A. Capsoni, L. Corradi, Variational formulations for the plane strain elastic-plastic problem for materials governed by the von Mises criterion, Int. J. Plast. 12 (1996) 547-560. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0749-6419(96)00019-8

Cited by

  1. Influence of Material Parameters and Thermal Parameters on Sealing Performance of Reactor Pressure Vessel Under Heat Focusing Effect vol.141, pp.4, 2019, https://doi.org/10.1115/1.4043682
  2. Safety assessment of pressure vessel components for Reaktor Daya Eksperimental vol.1493, pp.None, 2016, https://doi.org/10.1088/1742-6596/1493/1/012023