• Journal of Drive and Control
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.9-16
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• 2017

In this study, the force tracking performance of the single-rod and double-rod type EHAs (Electro-Hydrostatic Actuators) was compared by computer simulation and experiments. The force-controlled EHAs exhibit non-linear behavior that are significantly dependent on operation conditions. The investigation focused on localizing the parameters that provide significant rise to the non-linearity. For this, the single-rod and double-rod type EHAs were mathematically expressed to derive their linear models. In parallel, they were modeled by a commercial simulation program including non-linear properties based on experimental results. It was shown that the dependency of the bulk modulus of oil with entrapped air on working pressure dominated the non-linearity in force control performance in case of the double-rod type EHA. The force control of the single-rod type EHA was influenced by much more elements. Besides the asymmetrical piston geometry and the non-linear bulk modulus of oil, its pilot-operated check valves made it dependent not only on the magnitude of reference input but also on its direction.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.54 no.3
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• pp.803-810
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• 2022

The small modular liquid-metal fast reactor (SMFR) is an important component of advanced nuclear systems. SMFRs exhibit relatively low breeding capability and constraint space for control rod installation. Consequently, control rods are deeply inserted at beginning and are withdrawn gradually to compensate for large burnup reactivity loss in a long lifetime. This paper is committed to investigating the impact of control rod compensation operation on core neutronics characteristics. This paper presents a whole core fine depletion model of long lifetime SMFR using OpenMC and the influence of depletion chains is verified. Three control rod position schemes to simulate the compensation process are compared. The results show that the fine simulation of the control rod compensation process impacts significantly the fuel burnup distribution and absorber consumption. A control rod equivalent position scheme proposed in this work is an optimal option in the trade-off between computation time and accuracy. The control position is crucial for accurate power distribution and void feedback coefficients in SMFRs. The results in this paper also show that the pin level power distribution is important due to the heterogeneous distribution in SMFRs. The fuel burnup distribution at the end of core life impacts the worth of control rods.

• Proceedings of the KIEE Conference
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• 2002.07d
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• pp.2182-2184
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• 2002

In this paper we describe a prototype Control Rod Control System(CRCS). The CRCS controls the motion of the full length rod drive mechanisms in response to signals from the Reactor Operator and the Reactor Control System. Each mechanism belongs to either Shutdown Banks or Control Banks. The CRCS also provides information regarding the rod motion, rod position, and the status of the Rod Control System. The prototype CRCS will be used to obtain the requirements for detailed design of a full-scale CRCS.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.50 no.5
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• pp.648-653
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• 2018

Elimination of soluble boron from reactor design eliminates boron-induced reactivity accidents and leads to a more negative moderator temperature coefficient. However, a large negative moderator temperature coefficient can lead to large reactivity feedback that could allow the reactor to return to power when it cools down from hot full power to cold zero power. In soluble boron-free small modular reactor (SMR) design, only control rods are available to control such rapid core transient. The purpose of this study is to investigate whether an SMR would have enough control rod worth to compensate for large reactivity feedback. The investigation begins with classification of reactivity and completes an analysis of the reactivity balance in each reactor state for the SMR model. The control rod worth requirement obtained from the reactivity balance is a minimum control rod worth to maintain the reactor critical during the whole cycle. The minimum available rod worth must be larger than the control rod worth requirement to manipulate the reactor safely in each reactor state. It is found that the SMR does have enough control rod worth available during rapid transient to maintain the SMR at subcritical below k-effectives of 0.99 for both hot zero power and cold zero power.

• Journal of Korean Society for Quality Management
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• v.45 no.3
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• pp.365-377
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• 2017

Purpose: In the A rotorcraft, the division of a long yaw control rod was studied to improve the heat treatment capability. The purpose of this study was to analyze whether division of yaw control rod affects quality reliability in the A rotorcraft and analyze whether it secured flight safety. Methods: The structural static test and the vibration durability test on the split shape of yaw control rod were carried out in order to examine and verify the existing structural analysis results. Results: Structural static test results showed that there were no cracks and vibration durability test results showed that there was no damage or breakage on the split yaw control rod. Conclusion: This study showed that the quality reliability was confirmed and thus the flight safety of the A rotorcraft was secured. And it is expected that the split technique of the yaw control rod will contribute to the development of the rotorcraft industry in the future.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.51 no.3
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• pp.922-929
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• 2019

This paper presents the drop performance test of the control rod assembly which is one of the main components strongly related to the safety of the prototype generation IV sodium-cooled fast reactor. To investigate the drop performance, a real-sized control rod assembly that was recently modified based on the drop analysis results was newly fabricated, and several free drop tests under different flow rate conditions were carried out. Then the results were compared with those obtained from the previous tests conducted on the conceptually designed control rod assembly to demonstrate the improvement in performance. Moreover, the drop performance tests under several types and magnitudes of seismic loadings were also conducted to investigate the effect of the seismic loading on the drop performance of the modified control rod assembly. The results showed that the effects of the type and magnitude of the seismic loading on the drop performance of the modified control rod assembly were not significant. Also, the drop time requirement was successfully satisfied, even under the seismic loading conditions.

• Journal of Institute of Control, Robotics and Systems
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• v.17 no.9
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• pp.882-887
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• 2011

A spiral electrodynamic wheel is proposed as an actuator for the contactless conveyance of a conductive rod. When rotating the wheel around the rod, a radial force, a tangential force, and an axial force are generated on the rod and cause a screw motion of the rod. The rotation of the rod is the inevitable result due to traction torque of the wheel and the unintended motion to be excluded. However, the rotating speed of the rod should be measured without mechanical contact to be cancelled out through the controller, so the electrodynamic wheel is used as a sensor measuring the rotating speed of the rod indirectly as well as an actuator. In this paper, we model the magnetic forces by the proposed wheel theoretically and compare the derived model with simulation result by Maxwell, and analyze influences on the magnetic forces by key parameters constituting the wheel. The feasibility of the conveyance system is verified experimentally.

• Journal of Drive and Control
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.17-22
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• 2017

In this study, the back-drivability of the single-rod and double-rod type EHAs (Electro-Hydrostatic Actuators) was compared by computer simulation and experiments. The back-drivability of EHAs exhibit non-linear behavior like their force tracking performance. In case of the double-rod type EHA, the back-drivability was mostly influenced by the bulk modulus of oil that changes with the working pressure due to entrapped air. The back-drivability of the single-rod type EHA was directly affected by the operation states of its pilot-operated check valves, while the asymmetrical piston geometry and the non-linear bulk modulus of oil also made the dynamic response in building up the cylinder pressure dependent on the operating conditions.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.28 no.5
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• pp.593-602
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• 2004

We have developed a digital control rod control system not only to improve its performance but also to improve its reliability and speed of response so that it can replace the old fashioned analog system. However, a new developed digital control system should be tested to prove the validity by using any prototype or mock-up before application. The reliability prediction and the reliability block diagram analysis methods were adopted to verify the reliability of the developed hardware. For the case of software, especially fur a new developed control algorithm it has been tested to prove performances and validation by using a dynamic simulator and mock-up of control rod drive mechanism altogether. Here we want to present some key factors regarding to the new developed digital system with some verification procedures.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.54 no.11
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• pp.4111-4124
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• 2022

The control rod drive system is critical to the reactor's reliable operation. The performance of its control system and mechanical system will gradually deteriorate because of operational and environmental stresses, thus increasing the reactor's operational risk. Currently there are few researches on the aging-related degradation of the entire control rod drive system. Because it is difficult to quantify the effect of various environmental stresses and establish an accurate physical model when multiple mechanisms superimposed in the degradation process. Therefore, this paper investigates the aging-related degradation of a control rod drive system by integrating Dynamic Object-Oriented Bayesian Network and Hidden Markov Model. Uncertainties in the degradation of the control system and mechanical system are addressed by using fuzzy theory and the Hidden Markov Model respectively. A system which consists of eight control rod drive mechanisms divided into two groups is used to demonstrate the method. The aging-related degradation of the control rod drive system is analyzed by the Bayesian inference algorithm based on the accelerated life test data, and the impact of different operating schemes on the system performance is also investigated. Meanwhile, the components or units that have major impact on the system's performance are identified at different operational phases. Finally, several essential safety measures are suggested to mitigate the risk caused by the system degradation.