• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.53 no.4
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• pp.1049-1078
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• 2021

The review summarizes the published data on the widely applied electron-beam, laser-beam, as well as resistance upset, projection, and spot welding of zirconium alloys for nuclear applications. It provides the results of their analysis to identify common patterns in this area. Great attention has been paid to the quality requirements, the edge preparation, up-to-date equipment, process parameters, as well as post-weld treatment and processing. Also, quality control and weld repair methods have been mentioned. Finally, conclusions have been drawn about a significant gap between the capabilities of advanced welding equipment to control the microstructure and, accordingly, the properties of welded joints of the zirconium alloys and existing algorithms that enable to realize them in the nuclear industry. Considering the ever-increasing demands on the high-burnup accident tolerant nuclear fuel assemblies, great efforts should be focused on the improving the welding procedures by implementing predefined heat input cycles. However, a lot of research is required, since the number of possible combinations of the zirconium alloys, designs and dimensions of the joints dramatically exceeds the quantity of published results on the effect of the welding parameters on the properties of the welds.

• Design & Manufacturing
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.16-21
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• 2022

In order to reduce the weight of parts and materials for the development of high-efficiency engines in accordance with the strengthening of automobile fuel efficiency regulations, the existing casting material is changed to a iron plate material, and plastic processing and turning operations are performed to lighten the weight and reduce the manufacturing cost. Among the pulley components applied to the damper pulley, the HUB product was manufactured by plastic machining instead of the existing casting process, and the inspection standardized for automating the inner diameter and parallelism measurement of the turning result of the new hub part with improved quality, and the inspection system for this Development of design and operation software to automate the inspection of the inner diameter and parallelism of the hub was described. The representative specifications of the development equipment are a hub inner diameter 22mm inspection system, a three-point inspection system with a parallelism of 0.15mm on the top.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.235-246
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• 2023

Neutron resonance transmission technique was applied for assaying isotopic fissile materials produced in the pyro-process. In each process of the pyro-process, a different composition of the fissile material is produced. Simulation was basically performed on ²³⁵U and ²³⁹Pu assay for TRU-RE product, hull waste, and uranium addition. The resonance energies were evaluated for uranium and plutonium in the simulation, and the linearity in the detection response was examined on the fissile content variation. The linear resonance energies were determined for the analysis of ²³⁵U and ²³⁹Pu on the different fissile materials. For enriched TRU-RE assay, the sample condition was suggested; The sample density, content, and thickness are the key factors to obtain accurate fissile content. The detection signal is discriminated for uranium and plutonium in neutron resonance technique. The transmitted signal for fissile resonance has a direct relation with the content of fissile. The simulation results indicated that the neutron resonance technique is promising to analyze ²³⁵U and ²³⁹Pu for various types of the pyro-process material. An accurate fissile assay will contribute toward safeguarding the pyro-processing system.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.55 no.8
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• pp.2785-2796
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• 2023

How to generate the precise broad group cross section is important for the fast reactor design. In this study, a fast reactor multi-group cross-section generation code MGGC2.0 are developed in-house for processing ultrafine group MATXS format library. Validation and verification are performed for MGGC2.0 code by applying the benchmarks of ICSBEP handbook, and the results of MGGC2.0 agree well with that of MCNP. The consistent P_N method with critical buckling search is in good agreement that condensed with TWODANT flux and flux moment for the inner core and outer core region. For the radial blanket and reflector, two region approximation method has been applied in MGGC2.0 by using collision Probability Method neutron flux solver. The RBEC-M benchmark was used to verify the power distribution calculation, and the relative error of power distribution comparison with the reference are less than 0.8% in the fuel region and the maximum relative error is 5.58% in the reflector region. Therefore, the precise broad cross section can be generated by MGGC2.0 for fast reactor.

• Design & Manufacturing
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.47-54
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• 2023

The research direction of the automobile industry worldwide is speeding up research to improve fuel efficiency through weight reduction as the weight of automobiles increases due to environmental problems, convenience demands, and safety problems. As a way to solve weight reduction, there is a method of improving mechanical properties by improving the development and manufacturing method of lightweight materials with replaceable mechanical properties. Therefore, research on the molding and processing technology of aluminum, which is a lightweight material, is being actively conducted. In this study, aluminum material was applied. By using Autoform S/W, a press forming analysis program, the blank holding force, mold die R, and bead restraint force were selected in three levels, respectively, and the results and optimization of formability and shape freezing were carried out. In this study, aluminum material was applied. By using Autoform S/W, a press molding analysis program, the blank holding force, mold die R, and bead restraint force were selected in three levels, respectively, and the results and optimization of formability and shape freezing were carried out. The optimized results were confirmed by comparative analysis of formability and Spring Back. As a result of the experiment, it was possible to confirm the result value of the Spring Back of the final product according to the tensile change of the material.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.56 no.4
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• pp.1339-1346
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• 2024

Electrorefining in molten salts is used for purifying actinides. Optimizing electrorefining is key to minimizing processing time and radiological waste. One possible way of improving electrorefining efficiency is using an AC superimposed DC waveform. This waveform has demonstrated potential benefits in aqueous solutions but has never been utilized in a molten metal, molten salt application. This work investigates the effects of using an AC superimposed DC waveform on molten bismuth electrorefining in a molten LiCl-KCl-CaCl2 eutectic. Bismuth has been identified as a potential surrogate for plutonium electrorefining and a potential cathode in electrorefining used nuclear fuel (UNF). All electrorefining runs resulted in a high purity cathode ring and high yield with exception of the run using a low-frequency, high-amplitude superimposed AC waveform, which experienced some contamination and a lower yield. The other three AC superimposed DC runs experienced an average yield 6.7 % higher than the average yield of the DC runs. The electrorefining run using the high-frequency, high-amplitude superimposed AC signal had the highest yield. It is recommended in future studies to investigate the statistical variability of electrorefining yield and current efficiency and the impact of AC superimposed DC waveforms on solidified bismuth anodes.

• Journal of Practical Engineering Education
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.119-126
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• 2023

Today, in order to improve fuel efficiency and dynamic behavior of automobiles, an era of light weight and simplification of automobile parts is being formed. In order to simplify and design and manufacture the shape of the product, various components are integrated. For example, in order to commercialize three products into one product, product processing is occurring to a very narrow area. In the case of existing parts, precision die casting or casting production is used for processing convenience, and the multi-piece method requires a lot of processes and reduces the precision and strength of the parts. It is very advantageous to manufacture integrally to simplify the processing air and secure the strength of the parts, but if a deep and narrow pocket part needs to be processed, it cannot be processed with the equipment's own spindle. To solve a problem, research on cutting processing is being actively conducted, and multi-axis composite processing technology not only solves this problem. It has many advantages, such as being able to cut into composite shapes that have been difficult to flexibly cut through various processes with one machine tool so far. However, the reality is that expensive equipment increases manufacturing costs and lacks engineers who can operate the machine. In the five-axis cutting processing machine, when producing products with deep and narrow sections, the cycle time increases in product production due to the indirectness of tools, and many problems occur in processing. Therefore, dedicated machine tools and multi-axis composite machines should be used. Alternatively, an angle spindle may be used as a special tool capable of multi-axis composite machining of five or more axes in a three-axis machining center. Various and continuous studies are needed in areas such as processing vibration absorption, low heat generation and operational stability, excellent dimensional stability, and strength securing by using the angle spindle.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.77-83
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• 1997

Epoxy resin-type neutron shielding materials, KNS(Kaeri Neutron Shield)-101, KNS-102, and KNS-103 have been fabricated to be used in spent fuel shipping cask. The base material is epoxy resin, and polypropylene, aluminium hydroxide, and boron carbide are added. These shielding materials offer good fluidity at processing, which makes it possible to apply this resin shield to complicated geometric shapes such as shipping cask. The shielding property of these shielding materials for shipping cask for loading 28 PWR spent fuel assemblies has been evaluated. ANISN code is used to evaluate the shielding property of the shipping cask with the thickness of the three neutron shielding materials greater than 10 cm. As a result of analysis, the maximum calculated dose rate at the radial surface of the cask is determined to be $300{\mu}Sv/h$ and the maximum calculated dose rate at 100 cm from the cask is $97{\mu}Sv/h$. These dose rates remain within allowable values specified in related regulations.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
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• v.35 no.5
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• pp.451-457
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• 2011

The main objective of this study is to investigate the variation in the ignition characteristics of coals as a function of moisture content in a laminar flow reactor (LFR) equipped with a fuel moisture micro-supplier designed by the Pusan Clean Coal Center. The volatile ignition position and time were observed experimentally when a pulverized coal with moisture was fed into the LFR under burning conditions similar to those at the exit of the pulverizer and real boiler. The reaction-zone temperature along the centerline of the reactor was measured with a $70-{\mu}m$, R-type thermocouple. For different moisture contents, the volatile ignition position was determined based on an average of 15 to 20 images captured by a CCD camera using a proprietary image-processing technique. The reaction zone decreased proportionally as a function of the moisture content. As the moisture content increased, the volatile ignition positions were 2.92, 3.36, 3.96, and 4.65 mm corresponding to ignition times of 1.46, 1.68, 2.00, and 2.33 ms, respectively. These results indicate that the ignition position and time increased exponentially. We also calculated the ignition-delay time derived from the adiabatic thermal explosion. It showed a trend that was similar to that of the experimental data.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.55-61
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• 2013

The recovery of Zr from Zircaloy-4 (Zry-4) cladding hulls using a chlorination method was demonstrated for complete conversion of Zr into $ZrCl_4$. A chlorination reaction was performed by reacting Zry-4 hulls for 8 h under a 70 cc/min $Cl_2$ + 70 cc/min Ar flow at $380^{\circ}C$. The initial weight of the reactant (51.7 g) decreased to 0.49 g after 8 h of operation, which is only 0.95wt% of the initial weight. The weight of the total reaction products was 121.7 g with a high Zr purity of 99.80wt%. Fe and Sn were identified as major (0.18wt%) and minor (0.02wt%) impurities of the reaction products, respectively. It was also shown that Zr exhibited a high recovery ratio of 96.95wt% with a relatively small experimental loss of 2.34wt%. Observation of the reaction residues revealed that the chlorination reaction was dominant along the longitudinal direction, and surface oxide layers remained as reaction residues. The high purity and recovery ratio of Zr proposed the feasibility of the chlorination technique as an effective hull waste treatment method.