STRUCTURAL INTEGRITY EVALUATION OF NUCLEAR FUEL WITH REDUCED WELDING CONDITIONS

Welding is required for a connection between two different components in the nuclear fuel of a pressurized water reactor. This work relies on a mechanical experiment and analytic results to investigate the structural integrity of nuclear fuel in a situation where some components are not welded to each other. A series of lateral vibration tests are performed in a test facility, and the test structures are examined in terms of dynamic behavior. In the tests, the displacement signal at every grid structure that sustains fuel rods is measured and processed to identify the dynamic properties. The fluid-elastic stability of the structure is also analyzed to evaluate susceptibility to a cross flow with an assumed conservative cross flow distribution. The test and analysis results confirm that the structural integrity can be maintained even in the absence of some welding connections.