• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.41 no.3
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• pp.233-239
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• 2017

The CA (Control Assembly) of an SFR has a CRA(Control Rod Assembly) with an inner duct and control rod. During an emergency situation, the CRA falls into the duct of the CA for a rapid shut-down. The drop time and impact velocity of the CRA are important parameters with respect to the reactivity insertion time and the structural integrity of the CRA. The objective of this study was to investigate the dynamic behavior and integrity of the CRA owing to a drop impact. The impact analysis of the CRA under normal/abnormal drop conditions was carried out using the commercial FEM code LS-DYNA. Results of the drop impact analysis demonstrated that the CRA maintained structural integrity, and could be safely inserted into the flow hole of the damper under abnormal conditions.

• Computational Structural Engineering
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.47-54
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• 1996

The Control Element Assembly(CEA) shroud is one of the most important components in the reactor vessel internals for the nuclear power plant. Because of the severe modification from its original design the structural integrity of this component has been questioned. In an attempt to resolve this question, the response of the CEA shroud to a random loading in the actual operating condition is calculated analytically and experimentally and compared to the code allowables to show that it is structurally adequate and acceptable for the long term operation.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.197-204
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• 1994

In a PWR rod cluster control assembly(RCCA) for shutdown is released upon action of control rod drive mechanism and falls down through the guide thimble by its weight. Drop time and impact velocity of the RCCA are two key parameters with respect to reactivity insertion time and the mechanical integrity of fuel assembly. Therefore, the precise control of drop time and impact velocity is prerequisite to modifying the existing design features of the RCCA and guide thimble or newly designing them. During its falling down into the core, the RCCA is retarded by various forces acting on it such as fluid resistance caused by the RCCA movement, buoyance and mechanical friction caused by contacting inner surface of the guide thimble, etc. However, complicated coupling of the various forces makes it difficult to derive an analytical dynamic equation for the drop time and impact velocity. This paper deals with the development of a computer program containing an analytical dynamic equation applicable to the Korean Fuel Assembly(KOFA). The computer program is benchmarked with an available single control rod drop tests. Since the predicted values are in good agreement with the test results, the computer program developed in this paper can be employed to modify the exiting design features of the RCCA and guide thimble and to develope their new design features for advanced nuclear reactors.

• The KSFM Journal of Fluid Machinery
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.25-28
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• 2011

The control rod assemblies do freely fall into the reactor core by the gravity from the control rod drive mechanism. In order to achieve a rapid shutdown and control the reactor power, it is required to insert control rod assemblies as soon as possible. In this paper, we evaluated the drop time and flow characteristics caused around guide tube for SMART(System-integrated modular advanced reactor) control rod assembly. Numerical analyses are carried out with FLUENT program of computational fluid dynamics. This study results show that the drop time of the control rod assembly in the operating condition of SMART is more 20 percent rapidly than the drop time of the room temperature and ambient atmosphere condition.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Pressure Vessels and Piping
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.134-140
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• 2016

The Control Rod Assembly (CRA) controls the reactor power by adjusting its position in the reactor core during normal operation and should be quickly inserted into the reactor core by free drop under scram condition to shut down chain reactions. Therefore, the drop time of the CRA is one of important factors for the safety of the nuclear reactor and must be experimentally verified. This study presents the drop performance test of the CRA which has been conceptually designed for the Proto-type Generation IV Sodium-cooled Fast Reactor. During the test, the CRA was free dropped from a height of 1 m under different flow rate conditions and its drop time was measured. The results showed that the drop time of the CRA increased as the flow rate increased; the average drop times of the CRA were approximately 1.527 seconds, 1.599 seconds and 1.676 seconds at 0%, 100% and 200% of design flow rates, respectively.

• The KSFM Journal of Fluid Machinery
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• v.18 no.6
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• pp.5-11
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• 2015

In a pressurized water reactor (PWR), control rod assembly (CRA) falls into the guide tubes of a fuel assembly due to gravity for scram. Various theoretical approaches and numerical analyses have been performed because its shape is simple and its design was completely developed several decades ago. A control rod assembly for a sodium-cooled faster reactor (SFR) which is geometrically more complicated is being actively developed in Korea nowadays. Drop time and impact velocity of a CRA are important parameters with respect to reactivity insertion time and the mechanical robustness of a CRA and a guide duct. In this paper, computational method considering simultaneously the equation of motion for rigid body and the Navier-Stokes equations for fluid is suggested and verified by comparison with theoretical analysis results. Through this valuable CFD analysis method, drop time and impact velocity of initially designed SFR CRA are evaluated before performing scram tests with it.

• Computational Structural Engineering
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• v.5 no.4
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• pp.93-102
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• 1992

The design of reactor internals requires the accurate vibration characteristics of each component for subsequent dynamic structural response analyses. For Korean standard nuclear power plant some modifications on the Control Element Assembly shroud from the reference design have been made, Since the shroud is complex in geometry having an array of vertical round tubes and webs in a square grid pattern, and being tied down by preloaded tie rods into position, it is planned to perform a vibration measurement program consisting of both experimental and analytical modal studies upon that component. The shroud modal testing was performed on the low frequency global survey to measure the first several modes. The analysis using the finite element model was also performed for the as-tested conditions. The natural frequencies and mode shapes from both test and analysis have been acquired and compared to be in good agreement. It is concluded that finite element model generated is good enough to be used in the design for the dynamic response analysis under various loading conditions.

• Computational Structural Engineering
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• v.5 no.3
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• pp.105-112
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• 1992

The design of reactor internals requires the accurate vibration characteristics of each component for subsequent dynamic structural response analysis. For Korean standard nuclear power plant some modifications on the Control Element Assembly shroud from the reference design have been made. Since the shroud is complex in geometry having an array of vertical round tubes and webs in a square grid pattern, and being tied down by preloaded tie rods into position, it is planned to perform a vibration measurement program consisting of both experimental and analytical modal studies upon that component. To determine the proper test conditions, the pre-test analysis has been performed using the general purpose structural analysis program ANSYS. Also the effects of the number of master degrees of freedom, holes in the web and tie-rod preload on the natural frequencies are examined prior to the pre-test analysis. After decision of appropriate finite element model, frequency analysis and harmonic analysis are performed and ideas for the test conditions such as the number of measurement points, their locations, measurement frequency range and the excitation force level are determined.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.236-242
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• 1992

The characteristics of dynamic terms in the core overtemperature Delta-T trip function are investigated for various time constants and the effects on the trip setpoint are studied for the uncontrolled RCCA bank withdrawal at power event by using the NLOOP and the PUMA code. Based on this study, a procedure determining the optimal dynamic term is suggested and accordingly the optimum time constants are determined for the KORI 3&4 transition core. It reveals that the vessel average temperature-lead-lag term is the most sensitive in DNB trip setpoint and the optimized time constants are 21 seconds for lead and 4 seconds for lag.

• Journal of the Korean Magnetics Society
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• v.26 no.5
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• pp.154-158
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• 2016

A CRDM (Control Rod Drive Mechanism) is an electromagnetic device which drives a control rod assembly linearly to regulate the reactivity of a nuclear core. An RPIS (Rod Position Indication System) is used as a position indicator for a control rod assembly of a CRDM of SMART, and an RPIS consists of permanent magnets and reed switches. SMART is designed for the maximum coolant temperature of $350^{\circ}C$, and the permanent magnets are installed inside of the reactor. The reed switches and electrical circuit are installed outside of the reactor on the other hand. Test coil for a reed switch is test equipment for quality verification of a reed switch, and a test coil consists of a coil and core. In this study, magnetic property of test coil and permanent magnet on a reed switch is compared by using finite element electromagnetic simulation.