• KEPCO Journal on Electric Power and Energy
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• 제2권4호
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• pp.583-588
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• 2016

The high-temperature steam pipes of thermal power plants are subjected to severe conditions such as creep and fatigue due to the power plant frequently being started up and shut down. To prevent critical pipes from serious damage and possible failure, inspection methods such as computational analysis and online piping displacement monitoring have been developed. However, these methods are limited in that they cannot determine the life consumption rate of a critical pipe precisely. Therefore, we set out to develop a life assessment system, based on a three-dimensional piping displacement monitoring system, which is capable of evaluating the life consumption rate of a critical pipe. This system was installed at the "M" thermal power plant in Malaysia, and was shown to operate well in practice. The results of this study are expected to contribute to the increase safety of piping systems by minimizing stress and extending the actual life of critical piping.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• 제46권3호
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• pp.337-352
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• 2013

Seismic performance of critical facilities has been focused on the structural components over the past decade. However, most earthquake damages were observed to the nonstructural components during and after the earthquakes. The primary objective of this research was to develop the seismic fragility of the piping system incorporating the nonlinear Tee-joint finite element model in the full scale piping configuration installed in critical facilities. The procedure for evaluating fragility curves corresponding to the first damage state was considered the effects of the top floor acceleration sensitivities for 5, 10, 15, and 20 story linear RC and steel building systems subjected to 22 selected ground motions as a function of ground motion uncertainties. The result of this study revealed that the conditional probability of failure of the piping system on the top floor in critical facilities did not increase with increased level of story height and in fact, story level in buildings can tune the fragilities between the building and the piping system.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• 제9권3호
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• pp.563-576
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• 2015

Over the past few decades, seismic retrofitting of structural systems has been significantly improved by the adoption of various methods such as FRP composite wraps, base isolation systems, and passive/active damper control systems. In parallel with this trend, probabilistic risk assessment (PRA) for structural and nonstructural components has become necessary for risk mitigation and the achievement of reliable designs in performance-based earthquake engineering. The primary objective of the present study was to evaluate the effect on piping fragility at T-joints due to seismic retrofitting of structural systems with passive energy-dissipation devices (i.e., linear viscous dampers). Three mid-rise building types were considered: without any seismic retrofitting; with distributed damper systems; with optimal placement of dampers. The results showed that the probability of piping system failure was considerably reduced in a Multi Degree of Freedom (MDOF) building retrofitted with optimal passive damper systems at lower floor levels. This effect of damper systems on piping fragility became insignificant as the floor level increased.

• Corrosion Science and Technology
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• 제20권1호
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• pp.1-6
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• 2021

Many Korean industrial plants including nuclear and fossil power plants use seawater as the ultimate heat sink to cool the heat generated by various facilities. Owing to the high corrosivity of seawater, facilities and piping made of metal material in contact with seawater are coated or lined with polymeric materials to avoid direct contact with seawater. However, polymeric materials used as coating and lining have some level of permeability to water and are degraded over time. Korean industrial plants have also experienced a gradual increase in the frequency of damage to pipes in seawater systems due to prolonged operating periods. In the event of a cavitation-like phenomenon, coating or lining inside the piping is likely to be damaged faster than expected. In this paper, the cause of water leakage due to base metal damage caused by the failure of the polyester lining in seawater system piping was assessed and the experience with establishing countermeasures to prevent such damage was described.

• 한국압력기기공학회 논문집
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• 제16권1호
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• pp.22-29
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• 2020

In nuclear power plants, there is a risk of thermal fatigue in equipment and piping affecting system soundness because the temperature change of the system accompanies in every operation and shutdown. Therefore, in order to prevent the excess of the fatigue limit during the lifetime of plants, the fatigue limit of each piping material is determined in the designing stage. However, there are many cases where equipment or piping is locally subjected to thermal fatigue that is not considered in the design, resulting in damage to the equipment and piping, and failure during operation. Currently, local thermal fatigue generation mechanisms that are not taken into account in the design stage are gradually being identified. In this paper, the effects of the fluid temperature fluctuations on the piping soundness due to the mixing of hot and cold water, one of the local thermal fatigue generating mechanisms, were evaluated.

• 한국압력기기공학회 논문집
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• 제10권1호
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• pp.31-36
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• 2014

For decreasing an unexpected shutdown of Nuclear Power Plants, Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power co.(KHNP) has developed Single Point Vulnerability(SPV) of NPPs since 2008. SPV is the equipment that cause reactor shutdown & turbine trip or more than 50% power rundown due to its malfunction. New type Nuclear Power Plants need to develop the SPV list, so performed the SPV selection for about 1 year. To develop this, Failure Mode Effect Analysis(FMEA) methods are used. As results of FMEA analysis, about 700 equipment are selected as SPV. Thereafter those are going to be applied to new type Nuclear Power Plants to enhance equipment reliability.

• 한국압력기기공학회 논문집
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• 제5권2호
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• pp.40-44
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• 2009

In this study, Event Corrective Action Supporting System (ECAS) is developed for the accident evaluation in nuclear power plant. The ECAS system can be used in supporting regulator and/or operator under event situation in nuclear power plants. The ECAS system consists of 5 modules including failure location module, failure analysis module, failure integrity evaluation module, system vulnerability evaluation module, and reporting and operating experience feedback module. The ECAS system will be used as sub module of Knowledge-Based Event Evaluation Network (K-EvENT) which is developing for the against the accident in nuclear power plants.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제44권8호
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• pp.961-970
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• 2012

Often, probabilistic fracture mechanics (PFM) approaches have been adopted to quantify the failure probabilities of Ni-base alloy components, especially due to primary water stress corrosion cracking (PWSCC), in a primary piping system of pressurized water reactors. In this paper, the key features of an advanced PFM code, PINEP-PWSCC (Probabilistic INtegrity Evaluation for nuclear Piping-PWSCC) for such purpose, are described. In developing the code, we adopted most recent research results and advanced models in calculation modules such as PWSCC crack initiation and growth models, a performance-based probability of detection (POD) model for Ni-base alloy welds, and so on. To verify the code, the failure probabilities for various Alloy 182 welds locations were evaluated and compared with field experience and other PFM codes. Finally, the effects of pre-existing crack, weld repair, and POD models on failure probability were evaluated to demonstrate the applicability of PINEP-PWSCC.

• 한국지반공학회논문집
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• 제38권11호
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• pp.19-30
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• 2022

하천제방의 취약도 곡선을 구하기 위해서는 수위에 따른 파괴확률을 각 파괴모드 별로 구해야 한다. 확률론적 해석은 지반공학적 확률변수의 변동성을 고려하기 위하여 반복적인 해석을 필요로 하므로 취약도 곡선을 구하는 작업은 많은 반복 계산을 필연적으로 수반한다. 실제 제방의 취약도 곡선 작성에서는 계산량을 줄이기 위하여 단순화된 확률론적 해석기법을 적용하고 있으나 그 정확성에 대한 명확한 평가는 없는 형편이다. 본 연구에서는 실제 하천제방을 대상으로 확률론적인 방법에 의해 사면안정과 파이핑에 대한 파괴확률을 계산하여 제방의 안전도를 평가하고 수위에 따른 제방의 취약도 곡선을 구하였다. 이때 간략법인 FOSM과 PEM의 결과를 MCS의 결과와 비교하여 사면안정과 파이핑 파괴모드의 취약도 곡선 작성에 대한 적용성을 평가하였다.

• 한국압력기기공학회 논문집
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• 제16권2호
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• pp.58-67
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• 2020

This study presents cyclic stress-strain and tensile test results at room temperature (RT) and 316℃ using cold-worked TP304 stainless steel base and weld metals. By comparing the cyclic hardening/softening behavior and failure cycle of cold-worked materials with those of irradiated austenitic stainless steels, the feasibility of simulating the irradiation effect on cyclic deformation and failure behaviors of TP304 stainless steel base and weld metals was investigated. It was found that, in the absence of strain-induced martensite trasformation, cold-working could properly simulate the change in cyclic hardening/softening behavior of TP304 stainless steel base and weld metals due to neutron irradiation. It was also recognized that cold-working could adequately simulate the reduction in failure cycles of TP304 stainless steel base and weld metals due to neutron irradition in the low-cycle fatigue region.