• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.52 no.9
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• pp.2041-2046
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• 2020

The present article investigates the influence of hydrogen concentration on the creep performance of cold-worked stress-relieved unirradiated Zircaloy-4 cladding tube using nanoindentation technique. The as-received Zircaloy-4 tube is hydrided to the concentrations of 600 ppm and 900 ppm using gaseous hydrogen charging method. Constant load indentation creep tests are performed for a dwell period of 600 s in the temperature range of 300℃-500 ℃ at 1000 μN, 2000 μN, and 3000 μN. The impact of hydrogen is evaluated in terms of steady state power law creep exponent and activation energy. The power law creep exponent decreases with increase in hydrogen concentration, however, it remains fairly constant with increase in temperature up to 500 ℃. Moreover, activation energy too decreases significantly with increase in hydrogen concentration. The mean stress exponent and activation energy are found to be 3.58 and 28.67 kJ/mol, respectively, for as-received sample.

• Tribology and Lubricants
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.250-255
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• 2009

Oxidation characteristics of Zirlo and Zircaloy-4 tubes, which are widely used as nuclear power fuel cladding, are studied in steam environment up to $1200^{\circ}C$. Oxidation resistances are compared in terms of the mass increase due to the absorption of oxygen. The evolution of microscopic structure accompanied with the oxidation process is investigated. Also, the influence of oxidation on the fretting wear characteristics of the tubes is studied. Piezo-electrically actuated rig is employed to fret the tubes with cross-contacting arrangement. Wear scar is observed and measured, by using microscopes and a 3D-profiler. The results of fretting wear are quantified in terms of scar size, wear volume and wear coefficient, and compared for the three different tube materials of oxidated Zirlo, virgin Zirlo and Zircaloy-4.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.231-238
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• 2003

The fuel of light water reactor is used for several years under high temperature and pressure, so it needs to be clad with high corrosion resistance material. The cladding materials must have the characteristics of low absorption of a neutron and high corrosion resistance. Zircaloy-2 in Boiling Water Reactor, Zircaloy-4 in Pressurized Water Reactor have been used as cladding materials and Zirlo has been developed as the material for preventing the corrosion. If the fracture of the cladding tube occurs during operation, it will cause the economic loss to shut down and replace the system. So it is needed to evaluate the integrity of the cladding materials. In this paper, the tensile characteristics of the cladding materials were investigated for the basic research of fracture characteristics. Also the residual stress was analyzed to compare the tube type(original type) specimen and the flattened type specimen.

• Proceedings of the KSME Conference
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• 2001.06a
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• pp.489-494
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• 2001

The fuel of light water reactor used far several years at high temperature and pressure, so it needs to clad with high corrosion resistance material. The cladding materials need low absorption of a neutron and high corrosion resistance. Cladding materials used Zircaloy-2 in Boiling Water Reactor, Zircaloy-4 in Pressurized Water Reactor and Zirlo has good for long term corrosion. If fracture of cladding tube occured during operation, it caused disaster. So it is needed to estimate of integrity fur cladding materials. In this paper, tension characteristics of cladding materials are investigate which is basic research far fracture characteristic. Also analysis of residual stress effect between tube type(original type) specimen and flattened type specimen.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Tribologists and Lubrication Engineers Conference
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• 2001.06a
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• pp.89-95
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• 2001

The fretting wear characteristics of Zircaloy-4 tube at room and high temperature were Investigated experimentally. In this study, the number of cycles, slip amplitude and temperature were selected as main factors of fretting wear. The results of this research showed that the wear volume Increased with the Increase of slip amplitudes and the number of cycles but decreased with temperature and the coefficient of friction were observed different tendency between room and high temperature. According to SEM(EDS) only gross slip were observed on the surface of both specimens and compacted oxide were on worn surfaces. XRO patterns showed that the crystallization of ZrO$_2$ were observed on the worn surface at high temperature. The fretting wear were Investigated due to oxidation and accumulation of plastic flow.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.65-72
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• 1978

In this paper, it is attempted to investigate the phenomena of iodine stress corrosion cracking of Zircaloy-4 cladding failures in reactor through the results of similar out-of-pile test in iodine vapour. The main result of this experiment is a finding of the relation between the threshold stress which can lead to iodine stress corrosion cracking of Zircaloy-4 tube and the iodine concentration. The values of critical stress and the critical iodine concentration are also obtained. A model which relates failure time of Zircaley-4 tube to failure stress and iodine concentration is suggested as follows: log t$_{F}$ =5.5-(3/2)log$_{c}$-4log $\sigma$ where t$_{F}$ : failure time, minutes c: iodne concentration, mg/㎤ $\sigma$: stress, 10$^4$psi.

• Proceedings of the KWS Conference
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• 2001.10a
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• pp.65-68
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• 2001

Corrosion and tensile properties of zircaloy-4 cladding tube having a laser welding part in elevated temperature are studied to present the criterion of quality evaluation in nuclear reactor and to found the scientific basis of SCC, with laser welding method using by coupling up cladding tube to end cap. In the result of tensile test(40$0^{\circ}C$), the fracture is not happened in the welding part but base metal and the result of corrosion test(40$0^{\circ}C$ 1500psi steam), corrosion rate of the molten zone and PMZ is a little higher than the other zone

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Tribologists and Lubrication Engineers Conference
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• 2001.06a
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• pp.81-88
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• 2001

To study the influence of the shape of contacting bodies (especially the end profile) on slip regime, wear test is conducted in the case of the contact between tube and support. Two different end profiles of the support are used such as truncated wedge and rounded punch. During the test, 10, 30 and 50 N are applied as normal force and slip displacement varies between 10-200 $\mu\textrm{m}$. The tube and the support specimens are made of Zircaloy-4 and a specially designed wear tester is used. Tests are carried out in air at room temperature. Wear on the tube is examined by measuring microscope. Partial and gross slip regimes are classified from the observed wear shape. Surface roughness tester is also used to measure the wear depth and contour, from which wear volume is evaluated. The transition from partial to gross slip is also investigated by investigating the considerable increase of wear volume. From the result, the boundary between the partial and the gross slip is newly determined in the conventional fretting map for the present specific contact configuration. Since the transition is related with the amount of energy dissipation from the contact surface so is wear, it is regarded that wear can be restrained by designing a proper shape of support.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Precision Engineering Conference
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• 2000.11a
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• pp.393-396
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• 2000

Spent fuel rod cutting device should cut a spent fuel rod to an optimal size in order to fast decladding operation. In this paper, for developing spent fuel rod cutting device with cutter blade, rod properties such as dimension and material of zircaloy tube and fuel pellet are investigated at first and then, various methods of existing cutting devices used commercially are investigated and their performance are analyzed and compared. This device is designed to be operated automatically via remote control system considering later use in Hot-Cell (radioactive area) and the mdularization in the structure of this device makes maintenance easy. SUS and Zircaloy-4 are selected as cut material used in the test of spent fuel rod cutting device by cutter blade. In order for constructing the high durable cutter blade, various materials are analyzed in terms of quality, shape, characteristic, and heat treatment, etc. and from these results, spent fuel rod cutting device is designed and manufactured based on the considerations of durability, round shape sustainability of rod cross-section, debris generation, and fire risk, etc.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.52 no.11
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• pp.2565-2571
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• 2020

Background: Understanding the behaviour of nuclear fuel claddings by conducting burst test on single cladding tube under simulated loss-of-coolant accident conditions and developing theoretical cum empirical predictive computer codes have been the focus of several investigations. The developed burst criterion (a) assumes symmetrical deformation of cladding tube in contrast to experimental observation (b) interpolates the properties of Zircaloy-4 cladding in mixed α+β phase (c) does not account for azimuthal temperature variations. In order to overcome all these drawbacks of burst criterion, it is reasoned that artificial intelligence technique may be a better option to predict the burst parameters. Methods: Artificial neural network models based on feedforward backpropagation algorithm with logsig transfer function are developed. Results: Neural network architecture of 2-4-4-3, that is model with two hidden layers having four nodes in each layer is found to be the most suitable. The mean, maximum, and minimum prediction errors for this optimised model are 0.82%, 19.62%, and 0.004%, respectively. Conclusion: The burst stress, burst temperature, and burst strain obtained from burst criterion have average deviation of 19%, 12%, and 53% respectively whereas the developed neural network model predicted these parameters with average deviation of 6%, 2%, and 8%, respectively.