• Journal of IKEEE
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• v.3 no.1 s.4
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• pp.101-108
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• 1999

In this paper, a real time diagnostic algorithm for estimating the impact location by loose parts is proposed. It is composed of two modules such as the alarm discrimination module (ADM) and the impact-location estimation module(IEM). First, ADM decides whether the detected signal that triggers the alarm is the impact signal by loose parts or the noise signal. Second, IEM by use of the arrival time method estimates the impact location of loose parts. In order to validate the application of this method, the test experiment with a mock-up (flat board and reactor) system is performed. The experimental results show the efficiency of this algorithm even under high level noise and potential application to Loose Part Monitoring System (LPMS) for improving diagnosis capability in nuclear power plants.

• 제어로봇시스템학회:학술대회논문집
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• 1998.10a
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• pp.295-300
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• 1998

In this paper, a real time diagnostic algorithm fur estimating the impact location by loose parts is proposed. It is composed of two modules such as the alarm discrimination module (ADM) and the impact-location estimation module(IEM). ADM decides whether the detected signal that triggers the alarm is the impact signal by loose parts or the noise signal. When the decision from ADM is concluded as the impact signal, the beginning time of burst-type signal, which the impact signal has usually such a form in time domain, provides the necessary data fur IEM. IEM by use of the arrival time method estimates the impact location of loose parts. The overall results of the estimated impact location are displayed on a computer monitor by the graphical mode and numerical data composed of the impact point, and thereby a plant operator can recognize easily the status of the impact event. This algorithm can perform the diagnosis process automatically and hence the operator's burden and the possible operator's error due to lack of expert knowledge of impact signals can be reduced remarkably. In order to validate the application of this method, the test experiment with a mock-up (flat board and reactor) system is performed. The experimental results show the efficiency of this algorithm even under high level noise and potential application to Loose Part Monitoring System (LPMS) for improving diagnosis capability in nuclear power plants.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.52 no.4
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• pp.846-855
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• 2020

A loose part monitoring system is used to detect unexpected loose parts in a reactor coolant system in a nuclear power plant. It is still necessary to develop a new methodology for the localization and mass estimation of loose parts owing to the high estimation error of conventional methods. In addition, model-based diagnostics recently emphasized the importance of a model describing the behavior of a mechanical system or component. The purpose of this study is to propose a new localization and mass-estimation method based on finite element analysis (FEA) and optimization technique. First, an FEA model to simulate the propagation behavior of the bending wave generated by a metal sphere impact is validated by performing an impact test and a corresponding FEA and optimization for a downsized steam-generator structure. Second, a novel methodology based on FEA and optimization technique was proposed to estimate the impact location and mass of a loose part at the same time. The usefulness of the methodology was then validated through a series of FEAs and some blind tests. A new feature vector, the cross-correlation function, was also proposed to predict the impact location and mass of a loose part, and its usefulness was then validated. It is expected that the proposed methodology can be utilized in model-based diagnostics for the estimation of impact parameters such as the mass, velocity, and impact location of a loose part. In addition, the FEA-based model can be used to optimize the sensor position to improve the collected data quality in the site of nuclear power plants.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Noise and Vibration Engineering Conference
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• 2004.11a
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• pp.311-316
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• 2004

For the location estimation in the conventional LPMS(Loose Parts Monitoring System), it is popular to employ a group delay among the acoustic sensors installed within a 3 ft range from the impact source. However, there exists inherent error in determining the arrival time differences of the generated wave group among the neighboring sensors. To overcome this problem in this study, the two dimensional approach has been proposed and applied to effectively estimate the arrival time differences by using a continuous wavelet transform which is one of the linear time-frequency analysis methods. The experiment has been performed to both the plate model and the real steam generator in a nuclear power plant. It is expected that the reliability of the location estimation could be enhanced when the proposed time-frequency method is introduced into the LPMS system.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Nondestructive Testing
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.21-29
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• 1992

Acceleration signal characteristics of a steel plate, impacted by steel balls, were studied in an attempt to apply the experimental results to the impact location and mass estimation of metallic loose parts in the cooling system of nuclear power plants. Experimental results show that the variation of maximum acceleration amplitude and impact contact time due to the change of ball mass and impact velocity can be well explained by the Hertz impact theory. The frequency spectral pattern shifted slightly in spite of the increase of impact velocity and impact location. Ball mass, however, strongly affected the frequency spectral pattern. Hence the frequency spectrum can be used for estimation of the mass of unknown loose parts in the cooling system.

• 제어로봇시스템학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2000.10a
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• pp.522-522
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• 2000

In this paper, two pre-filtering techniques are presented for accurately estimating the impact location of a loose part. The reason why a pre-filterng technique Is necessary in a Loose Part Monitoring System is that the effects of background noise on the signal to noise ratio (SNR) can be reduced considerably resulting in improved estimation accuracy. The first method is to take d moving average operation in the time domain. The second one is to adopt band-pass filters designed in the frequency domain such as a Butterworth filter, Chebyshev filter I & II and an Elliptic Filter. To show the effectiveness, the impact test data (signals) from the YGN3 power plant are first preprocessed and then used to estimate the loose pan impact position. Resultantly. we observed that SNR is much improved and the average estimation error is below 7.5%.

• Proceedings of the Korea Concrete Institute Conference
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• 2004.05a
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• pp.416-419
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• 2004

The kinetic energy during ship collision with bridge piers is released as the permanent deformations of structure and friction between the impact surfaces. So the ship collision energy is estimated from the equations of motions for ship-pier collisions which include the influence of the surrounding water, different impact angles and impact locations. The normal impact energy and tangent impact energy at a collision location and angle can be transformed into the normal impact force and friction force acting on the structure. Also the kinetic energy after collisions is calculated from the linear and angular impulse of ship collisions. The collision energy absorption system such as the protective structures for bridges is designed by evaluating the damage portions of ship and structure during the ship-structure collisions varying from the soft impact to hard impact and then the estimation of it will be suited for the design of protective measures.

• Transactions of the Korean Society for Noise and Vibration Engineering
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• v.26 no.5
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• pp.594-601
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• 2016

Mass estimation analysis of loose-parts in pressure vessel is necessary for the structural integrity assessment of pressure boundary in nuclear power plants. Mass of loose-parts can be generally estimated from the peak values and the center frequency of impact signals. Magnitude of impact signals is, however, inevitably attenuated according to the traveling distance of the signals and depending on the frequencies. Attenuation rate must be therefore carefully compensated for the precise estimation of loose-part mass. This paper proposes a new compensation method for the attenuation rate based on Bessel function instead of Hankel function in conventional method which has a limitation of usage in near the impact location. It was verified that the suggested compensating equation based on the Bessel function can be applied to the attenuation rate calculation without any limitation.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.53 no.4
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• pp.1199-1209
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• 2021

The detection of unexpected loose parts in the primary coolant system in a nuclear power plant remains an extremely important issue. It is essential to develop a methodology for the localization and mass estimation of loose parts owing to the high prediction error of conventional methods. An effective approach is presented for the localization and mass estimation of a loose part using machine-learning and deep-learning algorithms. First, a methodology was developed to estimate both the impact location and the mass of a loose part at the same times in a real structure in which geometric changes exist. Second, an impact database was constructed through a series of impact finite-element analyses (FEAs). Then, impact parameter prediction modes were generated for localization and mass estimation of a simulated metallic loose part using machine-learning algorithms (artificial neural network, Gaussian process, and support vector machine) and a deep-learning algorithm (convolutional neural network). The usefulness of the methodology was validated through blind tests, and the noise effect of the training data was also investigated. The high performance obtained in this study shows that the proposed methodology using an FEA-based database and deep learning is useful for localization and mass estimation of loose parts on site.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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• v.28 no.6
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• pp.36-41
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• 2013

Previous study showed that delamination region in concrete structures can be successfully visualized using mode shapes of delaminated concrete section. However, modal tests for this purpose to obtain mode shapes of the delaminated concrete section may not be applicable in practice since, to correctly obtain the mode shapes of the section, the location and the shape of the delamination region in a structure should be known in advance. Unfortunately those are normally unknown in a real structure. Therefore, a moving forward test method may be useful to obtain the mode shapes of the concrete section when the location and the shape of the delamination region are not known. In this study, impact-echo testing based mode shape estimation technique is proposed and experimentally validated for visualization of delamination region.