• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.44 no.5
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• pp.551-560
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• 2012

The Wolsong-1 (W-1) Phase-B pre-simulations were carried out in preparation for tests to be conducted for the restart of the reactor after a major refurbishment project that included replacement of the pressure tube. These pre-simulations for Wolsong-1 Phase-B differ from those in the past that were performed for the Wolsong-1,2,3,4 tests in that these tests use the WIMS/DRAGON/RFSP-IST code suite for verification of the tests and gadolinium instead of the traditional PPV/MULTICELL/RFSP code system and boron as poison in the moderator system. The use of gadolinium is deemed not to have domestically accumulated experience gained from the previous Phase-B tests. Thus, it is appropriate to conduct a study in order to gain a correct understanding and interpretation of potential differences in test results stemming from using gadolinium rather than boron. Although the calibration of the reactivity device will not be noticeably different using boron and gadolinium at a constant moderator temperature, the temperature dependency of the neutronic behavior due to the presence of gadolinium in the moderator system might be pronounced. The results of the pre-simulations using gadolinium revealed that the moderator temperature reactivity coefficients indeed showed significant differences in comparison with those with boron. In order to secure the validity of the analysis results, the newly acquired WIMS/DRAGON/RFSP-IST code suite was verified against the W-2,3,4 Phase-B test results. The results of the new code suite verifications revealed some overall improvements in accuracy; justification of the use of the code can be claimed for the validation of the W-1 Phase-B test results.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.88 no.5
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• pp.451-462
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• 2023

Lumped Damage Mechanics (LDM) is a theory proposed in the late eighties, which assumes that structural collapse may be analyzed as a two-phase phenomenon. In the first (pre-localization) stage, energy dissipation is a continuous process and it may be modelled by means of the classic versions of the theory of plasticity or Continuum Damage Mechanics (CDM). The second, post-localization, phase can be modelled assuming that energy dissipation is lumped in zones of zero volume: inelastic hinges, hinge lines or localization surfaces. This paper proposes a new LDM formulation for cracking in concrete structures in tension. It also describes its numerical implementation in conventional finite element programs. The results of three numerical simulations of experimental tests reported in the literature are presented. They correspond to plain and fiber-reinforced concrete specimens. A fourth simulation describes also the experimental results of a new test using the digital image correlation technique. These numerical simulations are also compared with the ones obtained using conventional Cohesive Fracture Mechanics (CFM). It is then shown that LDM conserves the advantages of both, CDM and CFM, while overcoming their drawbacks.