• Journal of the Korean Society for Nondestructive Testing
• /
• v.33 no.6
• /
• pp.519-523
• /
• 2013

A steam generator (SG) tube is an important component of a nuclear power plant (NPP). It works as a pressure boundary between the primary and secondary systems. The integrity of a SG tube can be assessed by an eddy current test every outage. The eddy current technique(adopting a bobbin probe) is currently the main technique used to assess the integrity of the tubing of a steam generator. An eddy current signal analyst for steam generator tubes continuously analyzes data over a given period of time. However, there are possibilities that the analyst conducting the test may get tired and cause mistakes, such as: missing indications or not being able to separate a true defect signal from one that is more complicated. This error could lead to confusion and an improper interpretation of the signal analysis. In order to avoid these possibilities, many countries of opted for automated analyses. Axial ODSCC (outside diameter stress corrosion cracking) defects on the tubes of OPR1000 steam generators have been found on the tube that are in contract with tube support plates. In this study, automated analysis software called CDS (computer data screening) made by Zetec was used. This paper will discuss the results of introducing an automated analysis system for an axial ODSCC on the tubes of an OPR1000 steam generator.

• Journal of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute of Korea
• /
• v.14 no.4
• /
• pp.413-422
• /
• 2001

In this study, the effect of hydrodynamic masses is investigated in the dynamic characteristics and earthquake response analyses of the submerged HANARO flow tubes. First, the consistent hydrodynamic masses of the surrounding water are obtained by finite element method. Then, modal analyses and response spectrum analyses are performed and verified by comparing the results with those measured from an experiment. Arbitrary cross-sections of submerged structures and boundary conditions of the surrounding fluid can be considered by using the general benefits of a finite element method comparing with the conventional analytical methods. Practical criteria based on parametric studies are proposed to evaluate the dynamic characteristics of HANARO flow tubes including the hydrodynamic masses.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
• /
• v.60 no.3
• /
• pp.387-404
• /
• 2016

In this paper, the response and failure of sharp-notched 6061-T6 aluminum alloy circular tubes with five different notch depths of 0.4, 0.8, 1.2, 1.6 and 2.0 mm subjected to cyclic bending were experimentally and theoretically investigated. The experimental moment-curvature relationship exhibits an almost steady loop from the beginning of the first cycle. And, the notch depth has almost no influence on its relationship. However, the ovalization-curvature relationship exhibits a symmetrical, increasing, and ratcheting behavior as the number of cycles increases. In addition, a higher notch depth of a tube leads to a more severe unsymmetrical trend of the ovalization-curvature relationship. Focusing on the aforementioned relationships, the finite element software ANSYS was used to continue the related theoretical simulation. Furthermore, the five groups of tubes tested have different notch depths, from which five unparallel straight lines can be observed from the relationship between the controlled curvature and the number of cycles required to produce failure in the log-log scale. Finally, a failure model was proposed to simulate the aforementioned relationship. Through comparison with the experimental data, the proposed model can properly simulate the experimental data.

• Steel and Composite Structures
• /
• v.19 no.1
• /
• pp.131-152
• /
• 2015

Easy detection and evaluation of defect in the tube structure is a continuous problem and remains a significant demand in tube inspection technologies. This study is aimed to automate defect detection using the pattern recognition approach based on the classification of high frequency stress wave signals. The stress wave signals from vibrational impact excitation on several tube conditions were captured to identify the defect in ASTM A179 seamless steel tubes. The variation in stress wave propagation was captured by a high frequency sensor. Stress wave signals from four tubes with artificial defects of different depths and one reference tube were classified using the autoregressive (AR) algorithm. The results were demonstrated using a dendrogram. The preliminary research revealed the natural arrangement of stress wave signals were grouped into two clusters. The stress wave signals from the healthy tube were grouped together in one cluster and the signals from the defective tubes were classified in another cluster. This approach was effective in separating different stress wave signals and allowed quicker and easier defect identification and interpretation in steel tubes.

• Proceedings of the KSME Conference
• /
• 2001.06d
• /
• pp.425-432
• /
• 2001

Single-phase heat transfer coefficients and pressure drops of R-22 were measured in smooth, horizontal copper tubes with inner diameters of 3.36 mm, 5.35 mm, 6.54 mm and 8.12 mm, respectively. The experiments were conducted in the closed loop, which was driven by a magnetic gear pump. Data are presented for the following range of variables: Reynolds from 1000 to 20000. Single-phase heat transfer coefficients increased by $10{\sim}30%$ as the inner diameter of tube was reduced and it was found that a well-known previous correlation, Gnielinski's correlation, was not suitable for the small diameter tubes. But the pressure drop in the small diameter tubes have been shown slightly deviations with Blauius' correlation. Based on an analogy between heat and mass transfer, the new heat transfer correlation is proposed to predict the experimental data successfully.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
• /
• v.24 no.1
• /
• pp.124-131
• /
• 2000

In this study, pool boiling performance of Turbo/B-type metal-formed tubes was investigated. Tubes with three different cavity gap width(0.04 mm, 0.07 mm, 0.1 mm) were manufactured and tested using R-11, R-123 and R-134a. Tests were conducted at two different saturation temperatures $4.4^{\circ}C$ and $26.7^{\circ}C.$ Heat flux was varied from 10 kW/m2 to 50 kW/m2. It was found that optimum gap width varied for different refrigerants. For low-pressure refrigerants such as R-11 or R-123, optimum gap width was 0.07 mm. For high-pressure refrigerant R-134a, however, the optimum value was 0.1 mm. Compared with the heat transfer performance of the smooth tube, the metal-formed tubes enhanced the heat transfer coefficients significantly - 6.5 times for R-11, 6.0 times for R-123 and 5.0 times for R-134a (at $4.4^{\circ}C$ saturation temperature and 40 kW/m2 heat flux), which are comparable with the performance of foreign products. The heat transfer coefficients of R-134a were larger than those of R-11 or R-123, and they increased as the saturation temperature increased.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.35 no.5
• /
• pp.369-377
• /
• 2003

Since Zr-2.5Nb pressure tubes have a high risk for the formation of blisters during their operation in pressurized heavy water reactors, there has been a strong incentive to develop a method for the non-destructive detection of blisters grown on the tube surfaces. However, because there is little mismatch in acoustic impedance between the hydride blisters and zirconium matrix, it is not easy to distinguish the boundary between the blister and zirconium matrix with conventional ultrasonic methods. This study has focused on the development of a special ultrasonic method, so called ultrasonic velocity ratio method for a reliable detection of blisters formed on Zr-2.5Nb pressure tubes. Hydride blisters were grown on the outer surface of the Zr-2.5Nb pressure tube using a cold finger attached to a steady state thermal diffusion equipment. To maximize a difference in the ultrasonic velocity in hydride blisters and the zirconium matrix, the ultrasonic velocity ratio of longitudinal wave to shear wave, $V_L/V_S$, has been determined based on the flight time of the longitudinal echo and reflected shear echo from the outer surface of the tubes. The feasibility of the ultrasonic velocity ratio method is confirmed by comparing the contour plots reproduced by this method with those of the blisters grown on the Zr-2.5Nb pressure tubes.

• Korean Journal of Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Engineering
• /
• v.16 no.5
• /
• pp.444-451
• /
• 2004

Flow condensation heat transfer coefficients (HTCs) of R22, R134a, R407C, and R410A were measured on horizontal plain and microfin tubes. The experimental apparatus was composed of three main parts; a refrigerant loop, a water loop and a water/glycol loop. The test section in the refrigerant loop was made of both a plain and a microfin copper tube of 6.0∼6.16 mm inside diameter and 1.0 m length. Refrigerants were cooled by passing cold water through an annulus surrounding the test section. Tests were performed at a fixed refrigerant saturation temperature of 4$0^{\circ}C$ with mass fluxes of 100, 200, and 300 kg/m2s. Test results showed that at similar mass flux the flow condensation HTCs of R134a were similar to those of R22 for both plain and microfin tubes. On the other hand, HTCs of R407C were lower than those of R22 by 4∼16% and 16∼42% for plain and microfin tubes respectively. And HTCs of R410A were similar to those of R22 for a plain tube but lower than those of R22 by 3∼9% for a microfin tube. Heat transfer enhancement factors of a microfin tube were 1.3∼1.9.

• Transactions of the Korean Society for Noise and Vibration Engineering
• /
• v.15 no.8 s.101
• /
• pp.962-967
• /
• 2005

The twin-impulse wave discharged from two parallel tubes is investigated to see flow patterns, compared with the single impulse wave. In the present study, the merging phenomena and propagation characteristics of the impulse waves are investigated by experiment and numerical computation. The Harten-Yee's total variation diminishing scheme is used to solve the unsteady, two-dimensional, compressible, Euler equations. The Mach number Ms of incident shock wave is lower than 1.5 and the distance between the tubes is between 1.2 and 4.0. In the shock tube experiment, the twin impulse waves are visualized by a Schlieren optical system in order to validate the computational result. It is shown that on the symmetric axis between two parallel tubes, the peak pressure produced by the twin impulse waves and its location strongly depend upon the tube distance and the incident shock Mach number, Ms. The predicted Schlieren images show a good agreement with the measured twin-impulse wave.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Tribologists and Lubrication Engineers Conference
• /
• 2002.05a
• /
• pp.304-309
• /
• 2002

Fretting wear test in room temperature water was performed to evaluate the wear coefficient of Inconel 600,690 (Pressurized Water Reactor, PWR) and Alloy 800 (CANadian DeuteriumUranium, CANDU) steam generator (SG) tubes against ferritic and martensitic stainless steels. The main focus is to compare the wear behaviors between Alloy 800 and Inconel alloys. Test conditions are $10{\sim}30N$ of normal load, $200{\sim}450{\mu}m$ of sliding amplitude and 30Hz of frequency. The result indicated that the wear rate of Alloy 800 was higher than those of Inconel 690 at various test condition such as normal loads, sliding amplitudes etc. From the results of SEM observation, there was little evidence of plastic deformation layer that were dominantly formed on the worn surfaces of Inconel 690. Also, wear particles in Alloy 800 were released from contacting asperities deformed by severe plastic flow during fretting wear. Main cause of wear rate between Alloy 800 and Inconel 690 may be due to the difference of hardness between martensitic and ferritic stainless steel. The wear rate and wear mechanism of two tubes in room temperature water are discussed.