• Proceedings of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute Conference
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• 2006.04a
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• pp.828-835
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• 2006

Spacer grid springs support the fuel rods in a nuclear fuel system. The spacer grid is a part of a fuel assembly. Since a spring has repeated contacts with the fuel rod, fretting wear occurs on the surface of the spring. Design is usually performed to reduce the wear. The conceptual design process for the spring is defined by using the Independence of axiomatic design and the design is carried out based on the direction that the design matrix indicates. For detailed design an optimization problem is formulated. In optimization, homologous design is employed to reduce fretting wear. The deformation of a structure is called homologous if a given geometrical relationship holds for a given number of structural points before, during, and after the deformation. In this case, the deformed shape of the spring should be the same as that of the fuel rod. 1bis condition is transformed to a function and considered as a constraint in the optimization process. The objective function is minimizing the maximum stress to allow a local plastic deformation. Optimization results show that the contact occurs in a wide range. Also, the results are verified by nonlinear finite element analysis.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.33 no.5
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• pp.547-555
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• 2001

In pressurized light water reactor fuel assembly, spacer grids support nuclear fuel rods both laterally and vertically. The fuel rods are supported by spacer grid springs and grid dimples that are located in the grid cell. The support system allows for some thermal expansion and imbalance of the fuel rods. The imbalance is absorbed by elastic energy to prevent coolant flow- induced vibration damage. Design requirements are defined and a design process is established. The design process includes mathematical optimization as well as practical design method. The shape of the grid spring is designed to maintain its function during the lifetime of the fuel assembly. A structural optimization method is employed for the shape design. Since the optimization is carried out in the linear range of finite element analysis, the optimum solution is verified by nonlinear analysis. A good design is found and the final design is compared with the initial conceptual design. Commercial codes are utilized for structural analysis and optimization.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.51 no.1
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• pp.284-292
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• 2019

For the continuous operation of a nuclear reactor, burnt fuel needs to be replaced with fresh fuel, where appropriate (ex-vessel) fuel handling is required. Particularly for the Sodium-cooled Fast Reactor (SFR) refueling, its process has unique challenges due to liquid sodium coolant. The ex-vessel spent fuel transportation should concern several design features such as the radiation shielding, decay-heat removal, and inert space separated from air. This paper proposes a new design optimization methodology of cask shielding to transport the spent fuel assembly in a prototype SFR for the first time. The Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) algorithm had been applied to design trade-offs between shielding and cask weight. The cask is designed as a double-cylinder structure to block an inert sodium region from the air-cooling space. The PSO process yielded the optimum shielding thickness of 26 cm, considering the weight as well. To confirm the shielding performance, the radiation dose of spent fuel removed at its peak burnup and after 1-year cooling was calculated. Two different fuel positions located during transportation were also investigated to consider a functional disorder in a cask drive system. This study concludes the current cask design in normal operations is satisfactory in accordance with regulatory rules.

• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
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• v.20 no.6
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• pp.492-498
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• 2009

Six sigma methode was applied for optimization of flow field design of a proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC). The optimization between number of channel and channel/rib width was suggested in this paper with six sigma method. With the help of six sigma design of experiment (DOE) the number of experiments may be reduced dramatically. The fuel cell channel design optimization with results of these experiments with a 100 $cm^2$ serpentine flow field indicates a optimization data for a given constant operating conditions.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Aeronautical & Space Sciences
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• v.46 no.4
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• pp.332-337
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• 2018

This paper presents the design optimization of fuel sensor location used to measure remained fuel amount in aircraft conformal fuel tank. The conformal fuel tank is utilized to expand the mission range in airplane, and the sensor location is a critical design variable determining the measurement accuracy. In this work, the sensor location is optimized to minimize unmeasurable fuel amount due to non-contact between fuel and sensor. The simplified model is prepared from the conformal fuel tank CATIA model, and the unmeasurable fuel amount is calculated. Then, the optimization is performed using MATLAB optimization solver. The optimized sensor location is validated by comparing with the location obtained using parametric study.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Automotive Engineers
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.99-106
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• 2011

This paper deals with engine room layout design optimization of fuel cell electric vehicle (FCEV), which has been proposed as a potential alternative to fossil fuel depletion. Investing the great R&D efforts, the global vehicle manufacturers, especially Honda motor corporate, have shown not prototype vehicle but commercial vehicle using fuel cell in the market recently. In this paper, we analyze cooling performance and flow characteristic in the engine room of newly FCEV, in addition we suggest the optimization process for engine room layout design optimization. The two radiators in the vehicle for fuel cell stack and electronic components cooling have been analyzed and their performance are obtained in terms of cooling performance ratio (CPR). The value of CPR should always be less than one and based on criteria, we have achieved the optimum cooling performance of radiators for stack and electronic components. Aerodynamic performance is evaluated in terms of drag coefficient, improved through underbody modification using air devices.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.53 no.7
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• pp.2268-2276
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• 2021

Spent nuclear fuel, which can degrade during long-term storage, must be transported intact in normal transport conditions. In this regard, many studies, including those involving Multi-Modal Transportation Test (MMTT) campaigns, have been conducted. In order to transport the spent fuel safely, a tie-down structure for supporting and transporting a cask containing the spent fuel is essential. To ensure its structural integrity, a method for finding an optimum conceptual design for the tie-down structure is presented. An optimized transportation test model of a tie-down structure for the KORAD-21 metal cask is derived based on the proposed optimization approach, and the transportation test model is manufactured by redesigning the optimized model to enable its producibility. The topology optimization approach presented in this paper can be used to obtain optimum conceptual designs of tie-down structures developed in the future.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Automotive Engineers
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• v.18 no.6
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• pp.114-121
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• 2010

This paper presents a design process of light-weighted fuel cell vehicle (FCV) frame to meet design target of natural frequency in early design stage. At first, using validated FE model for the current design, thickness optimization was carried out. Next. optimization process, comprised of beam model size optimization, shell model design and shell model thickness optimization, was investigated for two frame types. In addition, in order to ensure hydrogen tanks safety against rear impact load, structural collapse characteristics was estimated for the rear frame model finally produced from the previous optimization process and, with the target of equal collapse characteristics to the current design model, structural modification with small weight increase was studied through static structural collapse analyses. The same attempt was applied to the front side frame. The results explain that the proposed process enables to design light-weighted frames with high structural performance in early stage.

• 유체기계공업학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2005.12a
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• pp.240-243
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• 2005

This study deals with the shape optimization of a wire spacer fuel assembly of Liquid Metal Reactors (LMRs). The Response Surface based optimization Method is used as an optimization technique with the Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes analysis of fluid flow and heat transfer using Shear Stress Transport (SST) turbulence model as a turbulence closure. Two design variables namely, pitch to fuel rod diameter ratio and lead length to fuel rod diameter ratio are selected. The objective function is defined as a combination of the heat transfer rate and the inverse of friction loss with a weighting factor. Three level full-factorial method is used to determine the training points. In total, nine experiments have been performed numerically and the resulting datas have been analysed for optimization study. Also, a comparison has been made between the optimized surface and the reference one in this study.

• Proceedings of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute Conference
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• 2007.04a
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• pp.145-150
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• 2007

The spacer grid set is a component in the nuclear fuel assembly. The set supports the fuel rods saftely. Therefore, the spacer gl1d set should have sufficient strength for the external impact forces. The fretting wear occurs between the spring of the fuel rod and the spacer grid due to tile flow-induced vibration. The conceptual design of the spacer grid set is performed based on the Independence Axiom of axiomatic design. Two functional requirements are defined and corresponding design parameters are selected. The overall flow of the design is defined according to the application of axiomatic design. The design for the impact load is carried out by using nonlinear dynamic analysis to determine the length of the dimple. Topology optimization is carried out to determine a new configuration of the spring. The fretting wear is reduced by shape optimization using the homology theory. In the design to reduce the fretting wear, the deformed shape of the spring should be the same as that of the fuel rod. This condition is transformed to a function and considered as a constraint in the shape optimization process. The fretting wear is expected to be reduced due to the homology constraint. The objective function is minimizing the maximum stress to allow a slight plastic deformation. Shape optimization results are confirmed through nonlinear static analysis because the contact area becomes wider.