• Journal of the Korean Society for Nondestructive Testing
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.34-39
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• 2013

In the advanced research deducted infrared thermography (IRT) test using 4 inch pipe with artificial wall-thinning defect to measure on the wall-thinned nuclear pipe components. This study conducted for defect detection condition of nuclear small-bore pipe research using deducted condition in the advanced research. Defect process is processed by change for defect length, circumferential direction angle, wall-thinning depth. In the used equipment IR camera and two halogen lamps, whose full power capacitany is 1 kW, halogen lamps and Target pipe experiment performed to the distance of the changed 1 m, 1.5 m, 2 m. To analysis of the experimental results ensure for the temperature distribution data, by this data measure for defect length. artificial defect of 4 inch pipe is high reliability in the 2 m, but small-bore pipe is in the 1.5 m from the defect clearly was detected.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Nondestructive Testing
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.323-330
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• 2008

High cycle bending fatigue of socket welded small bore pipe was characterized, and also the fatigue crack initiation of small bore pipe was monitored in situ by the acoustic emission (AE) technique. The STS 316L stainless steel specimens were prepared by gas tungsten arc welding (GTAW) process having the artificial defect (i.e., lack of penetration) and defect free at the root. The fatigue failure was occurred at the loc for high stress and root for relatively low stress. The crack initiation cycles ($N_i$) was defined to the abrupt increase in AE counts during the fatigue test, and then the cracks were observed by the radiographic test and electron microscope before and after the fatigue crack initiation cycles. The socket welded pipe damaged by bending fatigue was studied regarding the welding defect, failure mode, and crack initiation cycles for the diagnosis and monitoring.

• Corrosion Science and Technology
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• v.12 no.5
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• pp.227-232
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• 2013

A number of components installed in the secondary system of nuclear power plants are exposed to aging mechanisms such as FAC (Flow-Accelerated Corrosion), Cavitation, Flashing, and LDIE (Liquid Droplet Impingement Erosion). Those aging mechanisms can lead to thinning of the components. In April 2013, one (1) inch small bore piping branched from the main steam line experienced leakage resulting from wall thinning in a 1,000 MWe Korean PWR nuclear power plant. During the normal operation, extracted steam from the main steam line goes to condenser through the small bore piping. The leak occurred in the downstream of an orifice. A control valve with vertical flow path was placed on in front of the orifice. This paper deals with UT (Ultrasonic Test) thickness data, SEM images, and numerical simulation results in order to analyze the extent of damage and the cause of leakage in the small bore piping. As a result, it is concluded that the main cause of the small bore pipe wall thinning is liquid droplet impingement erosion. Moreover, it is observed that the leak occurred at the reattachment point of the vortex flow in the downstream side of the orifice.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Pressure Vessels and Piping
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.40-45
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• 2019

Unlike the welded pipes in the primary system of light water nuclear power plants being periodically inspected with in-Service inspection program, relatively small pipes with the outer diameter less than 2 inch have not been regularly inspected to date. However, after several failure reports on the occurrence of critical crack-like defects in small pipes, inspection for the small pipes has been more demanded because it could cause the provisional outage of nuclear power plants. Nevertheless, there's no particular method to examine the small pipes having access limitations for inspection due to various reasons; inaccessible area, excessive radiation exposure, hazardous surrounding, and etc. This study is to develop a reliable inspection technique using torsional and flexural modes of guided wave to detect defects that could occur in inaccessible area. The attribute of guided wave that can travel a long distance enables to inspect even isolated range of the pipe from accessible location. This paper presents a case study of the evaluation test on 3/4" small-bore pipes with guide wave method. The test result demonstrates the crack signal behavior and assures possibility to detect the crack signal in a flexural mode, which is clearly distinguishable from the symmetric structure signal in a torsional mode.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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• v.33 no.5
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• pp.9-14
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• 2018

The piping system of a nuclear power plant plays a role of transferring high energy fluid to equipment and various devices. The safety and soundness of these piping systems are very closely related to the operability of the power plant. In the case of a welded part of a small diameter pipe, it may grow as a microcrack due to a lack of penetration, and it may grow to a size that affects the safety of the pipe due to the influence of mechanical vibration and fatigue load. Resonance refers to an increase in energy as the natural frequency of an object coincides with the frequency applied to the external force. When this resonance occurs, the frequency is the resonance frequency. In this study, when defects exist in the welds of small diameter pipe, the natural frequency of the pipe changes and resonance may occur. Since these resonances are likely to cause fatigue damage to the piping, resonance frequency changes due to the size and shape of the defects are analyzed and evaluated. As a result of the vibration test, the resonance frequency tended to decrease as the depth of the defect deepened, and the influence was larger when the defect existed at the bottom of the top of the trough. Also, it was confirmed that the Transverse cracks had an effect on the resonance frequency in the presence of the cracks in the weld bead, compared to the longitudinal cracks. As a result of this study, it is expected that the cause of the defect and the condition of the pipe can be monitored because the resonance frequency tendency according to the shape of the crack is analyzed.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Noise and Vibration Engineering Conference
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• 2006.05a
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• pp.1285-1289
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• 2006

In a large diameter piping system, high frequency energy can produce excessive noise, high vibration, and failures of thermo-well, instrumentation, and attached small-bore piping. High frequency energy is generated by flow induced vibration like vortex shedding in orifices and valves. Once this energy is generated, amplification may occur from acoustical and/or structural resonances, resulting in high amplitude vibration and noise. At low frequencies, pipe vibration occurs laterally along the pipe's length, but at higher frequencies, the pipe shell wall vibrates radially across its cross-section. The simple beam analogy which is based on the beam mode vibration can not be applied to evaluate shell mode vibration. ASME OM3 recommends that the stress be measured directly by strain gauge and be evaluated according to the fatigue curves of the piping material. This Paper discusses the excitation and amplification mechanism relevant to high frequency energy generation in piping system, the monitoring method of the shell mode vibration in ASME OM3, the evaluation method generally used in the industry. Finally this paper presents the stress evaluation of the cavitating venturi down stream piping, where high frequency shell mode vibrations were observed during the operation.