• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제46권2호
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• pp.225-234
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• 2014

Wall-thinned defects caused by accelerated corrosion due to fluid flow in the inner pipe appear in many structures of the secondary systems in nuclear power plants (NPPs) and are a major factor in degrading the integrity of pipes. Wall-thinned defects need to be managed not only when the NPP is under maintenance but also when the NPP is in normal operation. To this end, a test technique was developed in this study to detect such wall-thinned defects based on the temperature difference on the surface of a hot pipe using infrared (IR) thermography and a cooling device. Finite element analysis (FEA) was conducted to examine the tendency and experimental conditions for the cooling experiment. Based on the FEA results, the equipment was configured before the cooling experiment was conducted. The IR camera was then used to detect defects in the inner pipe of the pipe specimen that had artificially induced defects. The IR thermography developed in this study is expected to help resolve the issues related to the limitations of non-destructive inspection techniques that are currently conducted for NPP secondary systems and is expected to be very useful on the NPPs site.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제52권11호
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• pp.2678-2685
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• 2020

The pipe bends and elbows in nuclear power plants (NPPs) are vulnerable to degradation mechanisms and can cause wall-thinning defects. As it is difficult to detect both the defects generated inside the wall-thinned pipes and the preliminary signs, the wall-thinning defects should be accurately estimated to maintain the integrity of NPPs. This paper proposes a deep fuzzy neural network (DFNN) method and estimates the collapse moment of wall-thinned pipe bends and elbows. The proposed model has a simplified structure in which the fuzzy neural network module is repeatedly connected, and it is optimized using the least squares method and genetic algorithm. Numerical data obtained through simulations on the pipe bends and elbows with extrados, intrados, and crown defects were applied to the DFNN model to estimate the collapse moment. The acquired databases were divided into training, optimization, and test datasets and used to train and verify the estimation model. Consequently, the relative root mean square (RMS) errors of the estimated collapse moment at all the defect locations were within 0.25% for the test data. Such a low RMS error indicates that the DFNN model is accurate in estimating the collapse moment for wall-thinned pipe bends and elbows.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제40권7호
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• pp.607-614
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• 2008

Since pipes with wall-thinning defects can collapse at fluid pressure that are lower than expected, the collapse moment of wall-thinned pipes should be determined accurately for the safety of nuclear power plants. Wall-thinning defects, which are mostly found in pipe bends and elbows, are mainly caused by flow-accelerated corrosion. This lowers the failure pressure, load-carrying capacity, deformation ability, and fatigue resistance of pipe bends and elbows. This paper offers a support vector regression (SVR) model further enhanced with a fuzzy algorithm for calculation of the collapse moment and for evaluating the integrity of wall-thinned piping systems. The fuzzy support vector regression (FSVR) model is applied to numerical data obtained from finite element analyses of piping systems with wall-thinning defects. In this paper, three FSVR models are developed, respectively, for three data sets divided into extrados, intrados, and crown defects corresponding to three different defect locations. It is known that FSVR models are sufficiently accurate for an integrity evaluation of piping systems from laser or ultrasonic measurements of wall-thinning defects.

• 대한기계학회논문집A
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• 제27권8호
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• pp.1295-1302
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• 2003

In order to evaluate a failure behavior of pipe with notch-type wall thinning, the present study performed full-scale pipe tests using the 102mm, Schedule 80 pipe specimen simulated notch- and circular-type thinning defects. The pipe tests were conducted under the conditions of both monotonic and cyclic bending moment at a constant internal pressure of 10 MPa. From the results. of experiment the failure mode, load carrying capacity, deformation ability, and fatigue life of a notch-type wall thinned pipe were investigated, and they were compared with those of a circular-type wall thinned pipe. The failure mode of notched pipe was similar to that of circular-type thinned pipe under the monotonic bending load. Under the cyclic bending load, however, the mode was clearly distinguished with variation in the shape of wall thinning. The load carrying capacity of a pipe containing notch-type wall thinning was about the same or slightly lower than that of a pipe containing circular-type wall thinning when the thinning area was subjected to tensile stress, whereas it was higher than that of a pipe containing circular-type thinning defect when the thinning area was subjected to compressive stress. On the other hand, the deformation ability and fatigue life of a notch-type wall thinned pipe was lower than those of a circular-type wall thinned pipe.

• 대한기계학회:학술대회논문집
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• 대한기계학회 2004년도 춘계학술대회
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• pp.268-273
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• 2004

This study is conducted to clarify the effect of internal pressure on the deformation and collapse behaviors of wall thinned elbow under in-plane bending moment. Thus the nonlinear three-dmensional finite element analyses were performed to obtain the moment-rotation curve of elbow contatining various wall thinning defects located at intrados and extrados under in-plane bending (closing and opening modes) with internal pressure of $0{\sim}15MPa.$ From the results of analysis, the effect of internal of collapse moment of elbow on the global deformation behavior of wall thinned elbow was discussed, and the dependence of collapse moment of elbow on the magnitude of internal pressure was investigated under different loading mode, defect location, and defect shape.

• 대한기계학회:학술대회논문집
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• 대한기계학회 2007년도 춘계학술대회A
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• pp.120-125
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• 2007

Put Abstract text here The strain distribution measurement for wall thinned pipe bends by ESPI is presented. Defect types observed in the steel piping in the nuclear power plants (NPP) are the crack at the weld part and the wall thinning defect in the pipe bends. Especially, the wall thinning defects in the pipe bends due to the flow-accelerated corrosion (FAC) is a main type of defects observed in the carbon steel piping system. ESPI is one of the optical non-destructive testing methods and can measure the stress and the strain distribution of the object subjected by the tensile loading or the internal pressure. In this paper, the strain distribution of the wall thinned pipe bends due to the internal pressure will be measured by ESPI technique and the results are discussed. From the results, the size of the wall thinning defect can also be measured approximately.

• 대한기계학회:학술대회논문집
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• 대한기계학회 2001년도 춘계학술대회논문집A
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• pp.351-356
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• 2001

A potential loss of structural integrity due to aging of nuclear piping may have a significant effect on the safety of nuclear power plants. In particular, failures due to the erosion and corrosion defects are a major concern. As a result, there is a need to assess the remaining strength of pipe with erosion/corrosion defects. In this paper, a limit load solution for the eroded and corroded SA106 Grade B pipes subjected by internal pressure is developed. based in 3-D finite element analyses, considering a wide range of the shape of pipeline, flaw depth and axial flaw length parametrically.

• 대한기계학회:학술대회논문집
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• 대한기계학회 2008년도 추계학술대회A
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• pp.281-286
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• 2008

Wall thinning defect due to flow accelerated corrosion is one of major aging phenomena in most power plant industries, and it results in reducing load carrying capacity of the piping systems. A failure testing system was set up for real scale elbows containing various simulated wall thinning defects, and monotonic in-plane bending tests were performed under internal pressure to find out the failure behavior of thinned elbows. Various finite element models were generated and analysed to figure out and simulate the behavior for other thinning shapes and loading conditions. This paper presents the decreasing trends of load carrying capacity according to the thinning dimensions which were revealed from the investigation of finite element analysis results. A mechanical integrity evaluation model for thinned elbows was proposed, also. This model can be used to calculate the TES plastic load of thinned elbows for general internal pressure, thinning location, and in-plane bending direction.

• 비파괴검사학회지
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• 제32권1호
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• pp.12-19
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• 2012

본 논문에서는 적외선 열화상 기법을 원전 배관에 적용하여 감육결함을 검사하기 위한 시험 조건을 파악하기 위해서, 인공 결함이 가공된 배관 시편과 평판 시편을 이용하여 적외선 열화상 시험을 수행하였다. 시험에는 할로겐램프를 사용하여 시편을 가열하였으며, 램프의 출력과 시편과 램프의 거리를 변수로 실험을 수행하였다. 시험 결과 시편과 램프의 거리가 1~2 m 이고 램프의 출력이 정격출력의 60 % 이상일 때, 적외선 열화상 기법은 1회 촬영으로 최소한 500 mm 범위 내에 존재하는 원주방향 폭이 $2{\Theta}=90^{\circ}$이고 깊이와 길이가 각각 d/t=0.5와 $L/D_o=0.25$인 배관내 인공 감육 결함들을 검출하였다. 평판 시편과 배관 시편에서 시편과 램프의 거리에 관계없이 램프 출력이 높을수록 결함에 대한 이미지가 선명하였다. 평판 시편과 배관 시편에서 적외선 열화상 방법의 결함 검출 능력은 유사하지만, 최적의 시험 조건은 시편에 따라 다르게 나타났다.

• 대한기계학회논문집A
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• 제34권9호
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• pp.1293-1298
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• 2010

본 연구에서는 인공감육엘보에 대해 내압 및 굽힘의 복합하중을 작용시킨 실 배관 실증실험으로부터 생성한 회전각 대비 모멘트 곡선으로부터 감육결함 엘보에서 소성변형이 시작되는 1 배탄성구배법에 기초한 OES 탄성하중과 2 배탄성구배법에 기초한 TES 소성하중의 거동 및 상관관계를 살펴보았다. ASME 에서도 제시하고 있는 TES 소성하중은 균열손상에 따른 배관계통 구조 건전성 상실을 배제하면서도 지속사용을 허용할 수 있는 대체 관리 기준으로서 적합한 것으로 판단된다.