A study on calculation of friction coefficient and packing stress using static diagnosis test for a balanced globe valve in nuclear power plants

A valve assembly used in nuclear power plants must be qualified and supervised. New technical standards such as ASME QME-1 2007 particularly require detailed qualification using experiment and analysis. Particularly, diagnostic tests and engineering studies are required for qualification of ASME QME-1 2007. Among these studies, the research on the measurement of friction coefficient and packing stress is important. The irregular change of packing stress along the stroke distance occurs because of the abnormal phenomenon, which must be found and studied with quantitative methods. Packing stress should be analyzed conservatively through experimentation and analysis. In this study, various formulas were applied to measure and calculate coefficient of friction and packing stress. This study can be used in relation to qualification and supervision of packing materials. And the calculation using static diagnosis test can be used to find the packing frictional force in dynamic diagnosis test with flow pressure in a pipe. This study has made it possible to reliably consider packing frictional force generated in a valve body. And so, it is believed that more margin can be secured when evaluating the capacity of valve actuator by applying the accurate frictional force generated in the valve assembly.