• Journal of Welding and Joining
• /
• v.30 no.1
• /
• pp.59-63
• /
• 2012

The spacer grid is one of the main structural components in a fuel assembly. It supports fuel rods, guides cooling water and maintains geometry from external impact load and cyclic stress by the vibration of nuclear fuel rod, it is necessary to have sufficient strength against dynamic external load and fatigue strength. In this study, the mechanical properties and fatigue characteristics of laser beam welded zircaloy thin sheet are examined. The material used in this study is a zirconium alloy with 0.66 mm of thickness. The fatigue strength under cyclic load was evaluated at stress ratio R=0.1. S-N curves are presented with statistical testing method recommend by JSME- S002 and compared with S-N curves at R.T. and $315^{\circ}C$. As a result of the experimental approach, the design guide of fatigue strength is proposed and the results obtained from this study are expected to be useful data for spacer gird design.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
• /
• v.14 no.7
• /
• pp.451-456
• /
• 2004

Thermal creep properties of the zirconium tube which was developed for high burnup application were evaluated. The creep test of cladding tubes after various final heat treatment was carried out by the internal pressurization method in the temperature range from $350^{\circ}C to 400^{\circ}C$ and from 100 to 150 MPa in the hoop stress. Creep tests were lasted up to 900days, which showed the steady-state secondary creep rate. The creep resistance of zirconium claddings was higher than that of Zircaloy-4. Factors that affect creep resistance, such as final annealing temperature, applied stress and alloying element were discussed. Tin as an alloying element was more effective than niobium due to solute hardening effect of tin. In case of advanced claddings, the optimization of final heat treatment temperature as well as alloying element causes a great influence on the improvement of creep resistance.

• Proceedings of the Materials Research Society of Korea Conference
• /
• 2003.11a
• /
• pp.213-213
• /
• 2003

고온 및 고압의 가혹한 방사선 분위기에서 사용되는 핵연료 피복관은 중성자 조사 및 수소화합물의 생성 등으로 인하여 기계적 성질이 저하된다. 따라서 조사된 핵연료 피복관의 손상기준 확립과 안전성 해석을 위해서는 연성 및 강도 등 기계적 특성을 정확히 이해하여야 할 필요가 있다. 핵연료 피복관의 종 및 횡 방향 인장특성 평가를 위하여 개발된 기존의 다양한 시험법들을 비교하고, 핫셀시험에 적합한 인장시험법을 개발하였다. 피복관의 종방향 인장시편은 튜브시편 또는 게이지부 내에서 균일한 변형률 분포를 얻도록 설계된 도그본 튜브시편(그림 1)을 사용한다. 피복관의 횡방향 인장시험에 사용되는 링시편(그림 2)은 게이지부 내에서 균일한 단축 원환변형율 분포 또는 평면변형율 조건을 나타내도록 설계한다. 연소 또는 조사된 피복관으로부터 시편을 제작하기 위해서는 핫셀 내에서 작업 이 가능한 방전가공기(그림 3)를 사용한다. 피복관의 종방향 인장시험용그립(grip)은 핀-부하형이며, 횡방향 인장시험의 경우는 시험 동안 시편의 곡률이 일정하게 유지 되도록 그립의 형상 및 치수를 결정한다(그림 4). 피복관의 종 및 횡방향 강도와 변형 등 기계적 특성을 평가하기 위한 응력-변형율 곡선은 시험기의 복합 강성(K)을 고려하여 결정한다. 이상과 같이 검토된 인장시험법은 피복관의 안전성 해석(safety analysis)과 관련 규정(regulatory)에서 사용되는 피복관 손상기준(fuel damage criteria)의 개선에 필수적인 자료를 제공한다.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
• /
• v.15 no.2
• /
• pp.126-133
• /
• 2005

Mechanical properties of zirconium cladding were evaluated by ring tension test to simulate Reactivity-Initiated Accident (RIA) at high burnup situation as an out-reactor test. Zircaloy-4 cladding was hydrided up to 1000 ppm as well as oxidized up to $100\;{\mu}m$ to simulate high-burnup situation. After simulated high-burnup treatment, ring tension test was carried out from 0.01 to 1/sec to correlate with actual RIA event. The results showed that ductility and circumferential toughness decreased with the hydrogen content and oxide thickness. Hydride generated inside cladding acted as brittle failure. Oxygen influenced cladding tube by the reduction of load bearing area, oxygen embrittlement, and thermal aging. Correlation between in-reactor RIA parameter like fuel enthalpy and out-reactor toughness was performed and showed a reasonable result.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Tribologists and Lubrication Engineers Conference
• /
• 2003.11a
• /
• pp.64-71
• /
• 2003

In order to evaluate the effect of alloying elements (Nb and Sn) on the wear resistance of advanced Zr fuel claddings, sliding wear tests have been performed in room temperature air and water and these results were compared with those of commercial alloys such as Zircaloy-4, A and B alloys. As a result, the advanced Zr fuel claddings have a similar wear resistance compared with the commercial alloys. The wear resistance of the advanced Zr fuel claddings is closely releted to the content of Nb and Sn even though the effects of transition elements are involved in deforming wear properties. In the tested specimens with similar Sn content, wear volume became down to a minimum at $0.4\;wt\;\%$ Nb, then rapidly increased at 1.0 wt Nb. This behavior results in the variation of grain size with alloying contents. But Sn did not have a significant effect on the wear volume of advanced Zr fuel claddings below $1.1\;wt\%$. The relationship between alloying elements and wear behaviour was evaluated and discussed using material compatibility factor.

• Proceedings of the KWS Conference
• /
• 2007.11a
• /
• pp.203-205
• /
• 2007

A spacer grid assembly, which is an interconnected array of slotted grid straps and is welded at the intersections to form an egg crate structure, is one of the main structural components of the nuclear fuel assembly for pressurized water reactors(PWRs). The spacer grid assembly is structurally required to have enough buckling strength under various kinds of lateral loads acting on the nuclear fuel assembly so as to keep the nuclear fuel assembly straight. And also, the spacer grid assembly is hydraulically required to have less hydraulic resistance of coolant. To meet this requirement, it is necessary to weld the welding parts carefully and precisely. In this study, weld qualities such as, weld bead size and spatter manufactured by various welders were compared and analyzed. And performance parameters such as impact strength of spacer grid and hydraulic resistance of coolant were also compared and analyzed. Comparison results show that the weld qualities could be improved by selecting the optimal welding condition and also improving the welding technique.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Nondestructive Testing
• /
• v.30 no.4
• /
• pp.324-329
• /
• 2010

Fuel rods using in nuclear power plants consist of uranium dioxide pellets enclosed in zirconium alloy(zircaloy) tubes. It is vitally important for the pellet surface to remain free from pits, cracks and chipping defects after it is loaded into the tubes to prevent local hot spots during reactor operation. This paper investigates the feasibility study for detecting surface flaws of pellets contained within nuclear fuel rod through X-ray tomography simulation. Reconstructed images used by parallel and fan-beam filtered back projection method were presented and confirmed the accessibility between simulation data and MPS(missing pellet surface) image data.

• Proceedings of the Korean Nuclear Society Conference
• /
• 1995.05a
• /
• pp.680-686
• /
• 1995

It has been known that water-side corrosion of fuel rods in nuclear reactor is accompanied with the loss of metallic wall thickness and pickup of hydrogen. This corrosion is one of the important limiting factors ill the operating life of fuel rods. In connection with the fuel cladding corrosion, a device to measure the water-side oxide layer thickness by means of the eddy-current method without destructing the fuel rod was developed by KAERI. The device was installed on the multi-function testing bench in the nondestructive test hot-cell and its calibration was carried out successfully for the standard rod attached with plastic thin films whose thicknesses are predetermined. It shows good precision within about 10% error. And a PWR fuel rod, one of the J-44 assembly discharged from Kori nuclear power plant Unit-2, has been selected for oxide layer thickness measurements. With the result of data analysis, it appeared that the oxide layer thicknesses of Zircaloy cladding vary with the length of the fuel rod, and their thicknesses were compared with those of the destructive test results to confirm the real thicknesses.

• Proceedings of the Korean Nuclear Society Conference
• /
• 2005.05a
• /
• pp.423-424
• /
• 2005

The performance of HANA claddings was evaluated in out-of-pile conditions. All the performance test results revealed that HANA claddings were superior to the reference claddings such as Zircaloy-4 and A-cladding. Corrosion resistance was improved by 60 to 70% compared to the commercial claddings. Creep, burst, tensile, LOCA, wear and microstructural properties were shown to be as good as the commercial claddings.

• Journal of Welding and Joining
• /
• v.7 no.2
• /
• pp.60-69
• /
• 1989

The present study was aimed at investigating the effect of welding parameters such as welding current, electrode force(or squeeze force) and parts cleaning on the sound weld, and establishing the most reliable weld conditions for HWP(Heavy Water Reactor) fuel end capping with the resistance upset butt welding. Major results obtained are as follows. 1. The amount of sound weld was increased with increasing weld current(5.0-11KA) because the activated diffusion with increasing heat generation played an important role in eliminating the porosity and weld line in the weld interface. 2. It was found that weld current was not significantly influenced by the electrode force although the increase of it caused a slight increase of weld current and upset deformation. 3. Acetone rinsing before drying for the Zircaloy-4 end cap cleaning produced the reliable sound weld because it would remove the remaining solvent and surface films, and provided the uniform contact between the end cap and the tube. 4. The optimum welding conditions for fuel end capping by a resistance upset hytt welding are obtained as follows. weld current: 10-11KA, electrode force: 62-90KPa parts cleaning: vapor degreasing.rarw.water, acetone rinsing.rarw.drying.