• Transactions of the Korean Society of Pressure Vessels and Piping
• /
• v.7 no.1
• /
• pp.9-16
• /
• 2011

Primary water stress corrosion cracking (PWSCC) has been found in the weld region of the nuclear power plant. Welding can produce tensile residual stress. Tensile residual stress contributes to the initiation and growth of PWSCC. It is important to estimate weld residual stress accurately to predict or prevent the initiation and growth of PWSCC. This paper shows the results of finite element analysis and measurement experiment for weld residual stress. For the study, four kinds of specimen were fabricated with the materials used in the nuclear power plant. Residual stresses were measured by four kinds of methods of hole drilling, x-ray diffraction, instrumented indentation and sectioning. Through the study, numerical analysis and measurement results were compared and the characteristics of each measurement technique were observed.

• Proceedings of the KSME Conference
• /
• 2008.11a
• /
• pp.79-82
• /
• 2008

In this paper, results of simulational round robin test on residual stress prediction was provided. Welding residual stress is one of the reasons for primary water stress corrosion cracking in PWR. Therefore, quantifying the welding variables and defining the recommendation for prediction welding residual stress is important. Through the round robin test, it is known that compressive axial and hoop residual stress occurs in dissimilar metal weld and pre-existing residual stress distribution in dissimilar metal weld was affected by similar metal weld due to short length of safe end.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.27 no.4
• /
• pp.591-602
• /
• 1995

가압경수로에서는 장기적인 반응도 조절을 위하여 B-10과 B-11을 함유한 천연붕산을 사용한다. 천연붕산의 사용으로 원자로냉각재의 붕소농도가 높기 때문에 pH를 적정한 범위로 유지하기 위하여 많은 양의 수산화리튬이 주입된다. 이로 인한 높은 리튬 농도는 증기발생기 재질의 응력부식균열과 핵연료피복재의 산화를 촉진시키는 등의 부작용을 초래할 수 있다고 보고되었다. 따라서 본 고에서는 천연붕산을 B-10 함량이 높은 농축붕산으로 대체하는 경우에 대한 기술적, 경제적 영향을 조사하고 검토하였다. 조사 결과, 농축붕산은 원전의 일차계통 수질화학, 부식생성물의 방사화에 의한 선량율, 보조계통 설계, 액체폐기물 발생량관점에서 여러가지 이점이 있을 수 있으며, 노심설계, 안전해석, 발전소 인허가 등의 관점에서는 문제가 없다고 밝혀졌다. 현재 천연붕산으로 운전중인 원전에서는 농축붕산의 경제성이 발전소의 주어진 제반여건에 의존하고, 농축붕산의 가격에 따라 크게 차이가 있는 것으로 보고되었다. 국내에 신규 원전이 계속적으로 건설되고 있는 현실에 비추어 볼 때, 발전소의 경제성과 안전성을 향상시키기 위하여 농축붕산 사용에 대한 타당성을 좀 더 면밀히 분석 할 필요가 있다고 판단된다.

• Proceedings of the KSME Conference
• /
• 2008.11a
• /
• pp.85-87
• /
• 2008

DMWs are common feature of the PWR in the welded connections between carbon steel and stainless steel piping. The nickel-based weld metal, Alloy 82/182, is used for welding the dissimilar metals and is known to be susceptible to PWSCC. A round-robin program has been implemented to benchmark the numerical simulation of the transient temperature and weld residual stresses in the DMWs. To solve the round-robin problem related to Pressurizer Safety & Relief nozzle, the thermal elasto-plastic analysis is performed in the DMW by using the FEM. The welding includes both the DMW of the nozzle to safe-end and the SMW of the safe-end and piping. Major results of the analyses are discussed: The axial and circumferential residual stresses are found to be -88MPa(225MPa) and -38MPa(293MPa) on the inner surface of the DMW; where the values in parenthesis are the residual stresses after the DMW. Thermo-mechanical interaction by the SMW has a significant effect on the residual stress fields in the DMW.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Pressure Vessels and Piping
• /
• v.7 no.4
• /
• pp.1-11
• /
• 2011

This paper presents the effects of preventive maintenance schemes on the residual stress distributions in dissimilar metal welds. Dissimilar metal weld is known susceptible to PWSCC and thus, effective maintenance schemes to prevent PWSCC are needed. Three preventive maintenances schemes, i.e. weld overlay, MSIP and inlay weld which are widely used in nuclear power plants, are selected and their effects on welding residual stresses are investigated via finite element analyses. As results, weld overlay and MSIP were proved effective method to mitigate residual stresses and inlay weld, on the other hand, produces strong tensile residual stresses in the inner surface. Although Alloy 690 known to be resistant to PWSCC are used in inlay weld, continuous careful observation are needed since tensile welding residual stresses are key parameter for PWSCC.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
• /
• v.35 no.5
• /
• pp.543-547
• /
• 2011

Primary water stress corrosion cracking has occurred in dissimilar weld areas in nuclear power plants. Residual stress is a driving force in the crack. Residual stress may be generated by weld or surface machining. Residual stress due to surface machining depends on the machining method, e.g., milling, grinding, or EDM. The stress is usually distributed on or near the surface of the material. We present the measured residual stress for machining on SA 508 and austenitic stainless steels such as TP304 and F316. The residual stress can be tensile or compressive depending on the machining method. The depth and the magnitude of the residual stress depend on the material and the machining method.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
• /
• v.36 no.10
• /
• pp.1235-1239
• /
• 2012

Primary water stress corrosion cracking (PWSCC) has been observed around the weld region of control rod drive mechanism (CRDM) nozzles in nuclear power plants overseas. The weld has a J-shaped groove and it connects the CRDM nozzle with the reactor vessel upper head (RVUH). It is a dissimilar metal weld (DMW), because the CRDM is made of alloy 600 and the RVUH is made of carbon steel. In this study, finite element analysis (FEA) was performed to estimate the stress condition around the weld region. Generally, it is known that a high tensile region is more susceptible to PWSCC. FEA was performed as for the condition of welding, hydrostatic test and normal operation successively to observe how the residual stress changes due to plant condition. The FEA results show that a high tensile stress region is formed around the weld starting point on the inner surface and around the weld stop point on the outer surface.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Pressure Vessels and Piping
• /
• v.7 no.2
• /
• pp.21-25
• /
• 2011

Although many defects in PZR heater sleeve have been reported continually from operating experiences in oversea nuclear power plant, utilities get into difficulties in finding appropriate methods for diagnostics of the components due to the limited access or high radiation problems. Recently, as an alternative, diagnostics using Guided Wave Testing(GWT) are proposed and the attention of the methods has been growing gradually because of their long range inspection capability. This study is to investigate the effectiveness of GWT to detect PWSCC in welding points of PZR heater sleeve. Moreover, mode sensitivity analysis of GWT and optimal frequency for the diagnostics of PWSCC are presented by testing the mock-ups specimens that contain artificial flaws.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
• /
• v.32 no.8
• /
• pp.668-677
• /
• 2008

In nuclear power plants, ferritic low alloy steel nozzle was connected with austenitic stainless steel piping system through alloy 82/182 butt weld. Accurate estimation of residual stress for weldment is important in the sense that alloy 82/182 is susceptible to stress corrosion cracking. There are many results which predict residual stress distribution for alloy 82/182 weld between nozzle and pipe. However, nozzle and piping system usually connected through safe end which has short length. In this paper, residual stress distribution for pressurizer nozzle of Kori nuclear power plant was predicted using FE analysis, which consideded safe end. As a result, existing residual stress profile was redistributed and residual stress of inner surface was decreased specially. It means that safe end should be considered to reduce conservatism when estimating the piping system.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
• /
• v.33 no.1
• /
• pp.72-81
• /
• 2009

This paper provides simulational round robin test results for welding residual stress prediction of safety/relief nozzle. To quantify the welding variables and define the recommendation for prediction and determination of welding residual stress, 6 partners in 5 institutes participated in round robin test. It is concluded that compressive axial and hoop residual stress occurs in dissimilar metal weld and pre-existing residual stress distribution in dissimilar metal weld was affected by similar metal weld due to short length of safe end. Although the reason for the deviation among the results was not pursued further, the effect of several key elements of FE analyses on welding residual stress was investigated in this paper.