• KSTLE International Journal
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.49-53
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• 2002

Inconel 690 for nuclear steam generator tube has more chromium than the conventionally used Inconel 600 in order to increase the corrosion resistance. TD evaluate the tribological characteristics under fretting condition the fretting tests as well as sliding tests were carried out in elevated temperature water environment. Fretting tests of the cross-cylinder type were done under various vibrating amplitudes and applied normal loads in order to measure the friction forces and wear volumes. Also, the conventional sliding tests of pin-en-disk type were carried out to compare the test results. In fretting, the friction was very sensitive to the load and the amplitude. The friction coefficient decreased with increasing load and decreasing amplitude. Also, the wear of Inconel 690 can be predictable using the work rate model. Depending on normal loads and vibrating amplitudes, distinctively different wear mechanisms and of ten drastically different wear rates can occur. It was fecund that the fretting wear coefficients in water were increased as increasing the temperature of water.

• KSTLE International Journal
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• v.10 no.1_2
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• pp.27-32
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• 2009

In this study, fretting wear tests of nuclear fuel rods have been performed by using two kinds of spacer grid springs with a concave and a convex shape in room temperature dry and distilled water conditions. The objectives were to examine the variation of the wear mechanism with increasing fretting cycles and to evaluate the difference of the wear debris detachment behavior at each test environment. From the test results, the wear volume of each spring condition increased with increasing fretting cycles regardless of the test environments. However, the wear rate did not show a regular tendency and apparently changed with increasing fretting cycles. This is because the formation of the wear particle layer and/or the variation of the contact condition between the fuel rod and spring surfaces could affect a critical plastic deformation for detaching the wear debris. Based on the test results, the relationship between the wear behavior of each spring shape and test environment condition, and the variation of the surface characteristics are discussed in detail.

• Journal of Mechanical Science and Technology
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• v.15 no.9
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• pp.1274-1280
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• 2001

The fretting wear behavior of the contact between Zircaloy-4 tube and Inconel 600, which are used as the fuel rod cladding and grid, respectively, in PWR nuclear power plants was investigated in air. In the study, number of cycles, slip amplitude and normal load were selected as the main factors of fretting wear. The results indicated that wear increased with load, slip amplitude and number of cycles but was affected mainly by the slip amplitude. SEM micrographs revealed the characteristics of fretting wear features on the surface of the specimens such as stick, partial slip and gross slip which depended on the slip amplitude. It was found that fretting wear was caused by the crack generation along the stick-slip boundaries due to the accumulation of plastic flow at small slip amplitudes and by abrasive wear in the entire contact area at high slip amplitudes.

• Tribology and Lubricants
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.16-20
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• 2005

Friction and wear characteristics between two steel surfaces under fretting condition are investigated experimentally. The fretting damage caused by low-amplitude oscillatory sliding can be classified into three regimes of gross-slip, mixed-slip and partial-slip due to stick-slip phenomenon. One of the most important characteristics of fretting wear is the transition from gross-slip to mixed-slip. This study was focused on getting the degree of stick-slip out of the friction transition under fretting condition. Fretting wear is divided into three conditions of gross-slip/mixed-slip/partial-slip. The criteria for the division are friction and displacement amplitude, wear scar morphology and dissipated energy. In this test, friction force and displacement were measured for detecting the transition from mixed-slip to gross-slip and qualitatively predicting the degree of the wear.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Tribologists and Lubrication Engineers Conference
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• 2000.06a
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• pp.269-275
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• 2000

The fretting wear characteristics of TiN coated Zircaloy-4 tube were investigated experimentally The fretting wear experiment was performed using TiN coated Zircaloy-4 tube as the fuel rod cladding material and uncoated Zircaloy-4 tube as one of grids. TiN coating is probably one of the most frequently and successfully used PVD coatings for the mitigation of fretting wear. In this study, TiN coating by PVD was employed for improvement of Zircaloy-4 tube fretting characteristics. The fretting tester was designed and manufactured for this experiment. TiN coated Zircaloy-4 tube was used as the moving specimen, uncoated ZircaBoy-4 tube as the stationary one. The number of cycles, slip amplitude and normal load were selected as main factors of fretting wear. The results of this research showed that the wear volume of TiN coated Zircaloy-4 tube increased as number of cycles, normal load and slip amplitude increase but the quantity of volume was lower than the case of uncoated Zircaloy-4 tube pairs.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Tribologists and Lubrication Engineers Conference
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• 2002.10b
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• pp.185-186
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• 2002

Fretting of fuel rod cladding material, Zircaloy-4 tube, in PWR nuclear power plants must be reduced and avoided. Nowadays the introduction of surface treatments or coatings is expected to be an ideal solution to fretting damage since fretting is closely related to wear. corrosion and fatigue. Therefore. in this study the fretting wear experiment was performed using TiAlN coated Zircaloy-4 tube as the fuel rod cladding and uncoated Zircaloy-4 as on of grids, especially concentrating on the sliding component. Fretting wear resistance of TiAlN coated Zircaloy-4 tubes was improved compared with that of TiN coated tubes and uncoated tubes and fretting wear mechanisms were brittle fracture and plastic flow at lower slip amplitude but severe oxidation and spallation of oxidative layer at higher ship amplitude.

• Proceedings of the KSME Conference
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• 2007.05a
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• pp.1859-1863
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• 2007

A new type of a fretting wear tester has been designed and developed in order to simulate the actual vibration behavior of a nuclear fuel rod for springs/dimples in room temperature. When considering the actual contact condition between fuel rod and spring/dimple, if fretting wear progress due to the flow-induced vibration (FIV) under a specific normal load exerted on the fuel rod by the elastic deformation of the spring, the contacting force between the fuel rod and dimple that were located in the opposite side should be decreased. Consequently, the evaluation of developed spacer grids against fretting wear damage should be performed with the results of a cell unit experiments because the contacting force is one of the most important variables that influence to the fretting wear mechanism. Therefore, it is necessary to develop a new type of fretting test rig in order to simulate the actual contact condition. In this paper, the development procedure of a new fretting wear tester and its performance were discussed in detail.

• KSTLE International Journal
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• v.10 no.1_2
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• pp.33-36
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• 2009

The nuclear steam generator is composed of a bundle of tubes. The length of these tubes is very long, but their diameter is small. Fluid exists inside of the steam generator and its flow causes vibration, therefore these tubes are supported by anti-vibration bars. The wear damage due to the vibration is known as fretting wear, which should be minimized to ensure the safety of the plants. Research needs to be done about decreasing the amount of fretting wear. Hard coatings have proven to be very effective in reducing the amount of wear. The commercial coatings of TiN and CrN have excellent wear resistance and are used to protect the Inconel tube from fretting wear. The tube-on-flat type tester was used for conducting the fretting wear tests. It was found that the wear amounts of the coated tubes decreased depending on the coating thickness. CrN was found to be very effective in reducing the wear, while the wear amounts were dependent on the coating thickness in the case of TiN and a thick coating of TiN was very effective on wear resistance.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Tribologists and Lubrication Engineers Conference
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• 1999.06a
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• pp.303-309
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• 1999

The fretting wear behaviour of Zircaloy-4 tube used as the fuel rod cladding in PWR nuclear power plants has been investigated at the different test environment, in light water and in air as a function of slip amplitude, normal load, test duration and frequency. Zircaloy-4 tubes were used for both of oscillating and stationary specimens. A fretting wear tester was designed to be suitable for this fretting test. The wear volume and specific wear rate of Zircaloy-4 tube in water were greater than those in air under various slip amplitude. It was found that delaminate debris and surface cracks were observed at low slip amplitude and high load in water Experimental results showed that the light water accelerated the wear of Zircaloy-4 tube at low slip amplitude in fretting.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Tribologists and Lubrication Engineers Conference
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• 1999.06a
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• pp.310-316
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• 1999

The fretting wear characteristics of the contact between Zircaloy-4 tube and Inconel 600 tube have investigated. Zircaloy-4 is used for fuel rod in nuclear reactor and Inconel 600 is used for tube In steam generator of nuclear power plant. A fretting wear tester was designed to be suitable for this fretting test. In this study, the number of cycles, slip amplitude and normal load were selected as main factors of fretting wear. This study shows that the wear scar length of Zircaloy-4 and Inconel 600 increases as number of cycles, normal load and slip amplitude increase and the wear scar length of Zircaloy-4 is more longer than that of Inconel 600 due to the surface hardness.