• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.27 no.5
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• pp.775-783
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• 1995

This study is to assess the effects of increasing wall thickness on the safety margin of pressure tube in operating and of lowering initial hydrogen concentration on the DHC growth in respect to the improvement of the reliability of pressure tube in CANDU reactors. The pressure tube with thicker wall of 5.2 mm shows much higher safety margin for flaw tolerance by 25％ than the current 4.2mmm tube. The thicker pressure tubes have a great benefit in LBB assessment including the initial crack depth at which DHC occurs, the crack length at onset of leaking and the available time for action. The resistance for the pressure tube ballooning at LOCA accident is also increased with the thicker tube. The calculations for Heq concentration after 20 years of operation as a function of wall thickness and initial hydrogen concentration show that the 5.2 mm nil thickness tube with 5 ppm initial hydrogen concentration is the most resistant to DHC. with the lower initial hydrogen concentration, TSS temperature for the precipitation or hydride decreases and the crack growth during cooldown reduces.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.226-233
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• 1995

The wall thickness of a pressure tube is increased in order to reduce the probability of failure in a pressure tube of CANDU type reactor. It is presented here that the variation of wall thickness changes stress, hydrogen concentration and delayed hydride cracking in Zr-2.5Nb pressure tube. When the wall thickness is increased from 4.2 mm to 5.2 mm, the stress exerted on the tube and the deuterium taken up during operation are reduced by 19％. Further, the calculated allowable depth of the surface flaw over which delayed hydride cracking(DHC) is susceptible increases by 50％. DHC initiation is controlled by the stress and by the hydrogen concentration in the pressure tube. The results are therefore very significant in such a respect that increased wall thickness may reduce DHC initiation. Ac the wall thickness increases the hydrostatic tension will increase. Its impact on the acceleration of the crack growth rate of DHC deserves further studies.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Nondestructive Testing
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.38-44
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• 2002

MFL method is a qualitative inspection tool and is a reliable, fast and economical NDT method. The application of MFL method to the inspection of storage tank floor plates has been shown to be a viable means. Examination of tank floors previously depended primarily upon ultrasonic test methods that required slow and painstaking application. Therefor most ultrasonic inspection of storage tank has been limited to spot testing only. Our NDE group have developed magnetic flux leakage system to overcome limitation of ultrasonic test. The developed system consists of magnetic yoke, array sensor, crawler and software. It is proved that the system is able to detect artificial flaw like 3.2mm diameter, 1.2mm depth in 6mm thick steel plate.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Gas
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• v.25 no.6
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• pp.53-65
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• 2021

While the hydrogen refueling station is rapidly expanded and installed, the safety inspection of the hydrogen pressure vessel in the station should be very important. Of these, according to ASME, hydrogen embrittlement tests must be performed for hydrogen vessel that store hydrogen above a certain pressure. The main test method for hydrogen embrittlement inspection is to carry out fracture tests and fatigue fracture tests in a high pressure hydrogen atmosphere, which allows the durability limit of the pressure vessel to be measured and the endurable limit to be determined in the hydrogen atmosphere. In detail, the critical crack depth can be calculated by the stress intensity factor(K), and the service life can be determined by da/dN (fatigue growth rate). API579-1/ ASME FFS-1 part 9 exemplifies the calculation method according to the mode of crack-like flaws, but for various shapes such as plates and cylinders, there are about 55 modes according to the shape and location of the crack. Due to the fairly complex formula, it is not easily accessible. In this study, we will show you how to calculate fracture mechanics numerically via Excel and VBA. In addition, this was applied to analyze the effects of the thickness and inner diameter of the pressure vessel on the service life.