• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제54권9호
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• pp.3317-3323
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• 2022

Half Value Layer calculations theoretically need prior specification of linear attenuation calculations, since the HVL value is derived by dividing ln(2) by the linear attenuation coefficient. The purpose of this study was to establish a direct computational model for determining HVL, a vital parameter in nuclear radiation safety studies and shielding material design. Accordingly, a typical gamma-ray transmission setup has been modeled using MCNPX (version 2.4.0) general-purpose Monte Carlo code. The MCNPX code's INPUT file was designed with two detection locations for primary and secondary gamma-rays, as well as attenuator material between those detectors. Next, Half Value Layer values of some well-known gamma-ray shielding materials such as lead and ordinary concrete have been calculated throughout a broad gamma-ray energy range. The outcomes were then compared to data from the National Institute of Standards and Technology. The Half Value Layer values obtained from MCNPX were reported to be highly compatible with the HVL values obtained from the NIST standard database. Our results indicate that the developed INPUT file may be utilized for direct computations of Half Value Layer values for nuclear safety assessments as well as medical radiation applications. In conclusion, advanced simulation methods such as the Monte Carlo code are very powerful and useful instruments that should be considered for daily radiation safety measures. The modeled MCNPX input file will be provided to the scientific community upon reasonable request.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제54권10호
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• pp.3604-3613
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• 2022

The Physical Protection System (PPS) plays an important role and must effectively deal with various adversary attacks in nuclear security. In specific single adversary path scenarios, we can calculate the PPS effectiveness by EASI (Estimated Adversary Sequence Interruption) through Probability of Interruption (P_I) calculation. EASI uses a single value of the probability of detection (P_D) and the probability of alarm communications (P_C) in the PPS. In this study, we develop a multi-path analysis code based on EASI to evaluate the effectiveness of PPS. Our quantification method for P_I considers the variability and uncertainty of P_D and P_C value by Monte Carlo simulation. We converted the 2-D scheme of the nuclear facility into an Adversary Sequence Diagram (ASD). We used ASD to find the adversary path with the lowest probability of interruption as the most vulnerable paths (MVP). We examined a hypothetical facility (Hypothetical National Nuclear Research Facility - HNNRF) to confirm our code compared with EASI. The results show that implementing the variability extension can estimate the P_I value and its associated uncertainty. The multi-path analysis code allows the analyst to make it easier to assess PPS with more extensive facilities with more complex adversary paths. However, the variability of the P_D value in each protection element allows a significant decrease in the PI value. The possibility of this decrease needs to be an important concern for PPS designers to determine the P_D value correctly or set a higher standard for PPS performance that remains reliable.

• Wind and Structures
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• 제34권1호
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• pp.43-58
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• 2022

The BARC flow is studied via Direct Numerical Simulation at a relatively low turbulent Reynolds number, with focus on the geometrical representation of the leading-edge (LE) corners. The study contributes to further our understanding of the discrepancies between existing numerical and experimental BARC data. In a first part, rounded LE corners with small curvature radii are considered. Results show that a small amount of rounding does not lead to abrupt changes of the mean fields, but that the effects increase with the curvature radius. The shear layer separates from the rounded LE at a lower angle, which reduces the size of the main recirculating region over the cylinder side. In contrast, the longitudinal size of the recirculating region behind the trailing edge (TE) increases, as the TE shear layer is accelerated. The effect of the curvature radii on the turbulent kinetic energy and on its production, dissipation and transport are addressed. The present results should be contrasted with the recent work of Rocchio et al. (2020), who found via implicit Large-Eddy Simulations at larger Reynolds numbers that even a small curvature radius leads to significant changes of the mean flow. In a second part, the LE corners are fully sharp and the exact analytical solution of the Stokes problem in the neighbourhood of the corners is used to locally restore the solution accuracy degraded by the singularity. Changes in the mean flow reveal that the analytical correction leads to streamlines that better follow the corners. The flow separates from the LE with a lower angle, resulting in a slightly smaller recirculating region. The corner-correction approach is valuable in general, and is expected to help developing high-quality numerical simulations at the high Reynolds numbers typical of the experiments with reasonable meshing requirements.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제53권7호
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• pp.2387-2395
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• 2021

Seismic qualifications of electrical equipment, such as cabinet systems, have been emerging as the key area of nuclear power plants in Korea since the 2016 Gyeongju earthquake, including the high-frequency domain. In addition, electrical equipment was sensitive to the high-frequency ground motions during the past earthquake. Therefore, this paper presents the rocking behavior of the electrical cabinet system subjected to Reg. 1.60 and UHS. The high fidelity finite element (FE) model of the cabinet related to the shaking table test data was developed. In particular, the first two global modes of the cabinet from the experimental test were 16 Hz and 24 Hz, respectively. In addition, 30.05 Hz and 37.5 Hz were determined to be the first two local modes in the cabinet. The high fidelity FE model of the cabinet using the ABAQUS platform was extremely reconciled with shaking table tests. As a result, the dynamic properties of the cabinet were sensitive to electrical instruments, such as relays and switchboards, during the shaking table test. In addition, the amplification with respect to the vibration transfer function of the cabinet was observed on the third floor in the cabinet due to localized impact corresponding to the rocking phenomenon of the cabinet under Reg.1.60 and UHS. Overall, the rocking of the cabinet system can be caused by the low-frequency oscillations and higher peak horizontal acceleration.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• 제46권2호
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• pp.39-47
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• 2021

Background: The National Institutes for Quantum and Radiological Science and Technology-National Institute of Radiological Sciences (QST-NIRS) has continuously investigated the undesired radiation exposure in ion beam radiotherapy mainly in carbon-ion radiotherapy (CIRT). This review introduces our investigations on the secondary neutron dose in CIRT with the broad and scanning beam methods. Materials and Methods: The neutron ambient dose equivalents in CIRT are evaluated based on rem meter (WENDI-II) measurements. The out-of-field organ doses assuming prostate cancer and pediatric brain tumor treatments are also evaluated through the Monte Carlo simulation. This evaluation of the out-of-field dose includes contributions from secondary neutrons and secondary charged particles. Results and Discussion: The measurements of the neutron ambient dose equivalents at a 90#x00B0; angle to the beam axis in CIRT with the broad beam method show that the neutron dose per treatment dose in CIRT is lower than that in proton radiotherapy (PRT). For the scanning beam with the energy scanning technique, the neutron dose per treatment dose in CIRT is lower than that in PRT. Moreover, the out-of-field organ doses in CIRT decreased with distance to the target and are less than the lower bound in intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) shown in AAPM TG-158 (American Association of Physicists in Medicine Task Group). Conclusion: The evaluation of the out-of-field doses is important from the viewpoint of secondary cancer risk after radiotherapy. Secondary neutrons are the major source in CIRT, especially in the distant area from the target volume. However, the dose level in CIRT is similar or lower than that in PRT and IMRT, even if the contributions from all radiation species are included in the evaluation.

• 시스템엔지니어링학술지
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• 제18권2호
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• pp.94-107
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• 2022

Accidents prevention and mitigation is the highest priority of nuclear power plant (NPP) operation, particularly in the aftermath of the Fukushima Daiichi accident, which has reignited public anxieties and skepticism regarding nuclear energy usage. To deal with accident scenarios more effectively, operators must have ample and precise information about key safety parameters as well as their future trajectories. This work investigates the potential of machine learning in forecasting NPP response in real-time to provide an additional validation method and help reduce human error, especially in accident situations where operators are under a lot of stress. First, a base-case SGTR simulation is carried out by the best-estimate code RELAP5/MOD3.4 to confirm the validity of the model against results reported in the APR1400 Design Control Document (DCD). Then, uncertainty quantification is performed by coupling RELAP5/MOD3.4 and the statistical tool DAKOTA to generate a large enough dataset for the construction and training of neural-based machine learning (ML) models, namely LSTM, GRU, and hybrid CNN-LSTM. Finally, the accuracy and reliability of these models in forecasting system response are tested by their performance on fresh data. To facilitate and oversee the process of developing the ML models, a Systems Engineering (SE) methodology is used to ensure that the work is consistently in line with the originating mission statement and that the findings obtained at each subsequent phase are valid.

• 해양환경안전학회지
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• 제28권6호
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• pp.973-991
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• 2022

전 세계적으로 해상을 마주하고 있는 여러 국가들은 기존의 전력 생산방식의 단점을 극복하고 해상풍력 개발을 통한 친환경에너지자원을 활용하고 있다. 해상은 넓은 해역에 대규모 풍력단지를 개발할 수 있는 장점이 있으나 해양구조물의 설치로 인해 선박의 안전운항이 위협받고 있다. 이에 따라, 선박 통항로와 해상풍력단지 간 상호 미치는 영향에 대해 분석하여 선박이 안전하게 운항할 수 있도록 PIANC에서는 표준 Guideline을 제시하였다. 그럼에도 불구하고, 표준 Guideline은 모든상황에서 동일한 이격거리를 산정하였다. 따라서 본 연구에서는 선회성능, 조우상태, 환경외력, 해상밀집도, 해상풍력발전기, 항로형태 등을 요소로 반영한 선박 통항로와 해상풍력단지 간 최적의 이격거리 산정 모델을 개발하였다. 개발된 모델 검증을 위한 시뮬레이션 결과, 운항 준비상태에 따른 입지 특성별 선회성능 크기는 산정 모델에서 제시한 크기와 유사하였다.

• 플랜트 저널
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• 제18권2호
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• pp.41-45
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• 2022

머드 유동 압력파를 이용한 기존의 통신방식은 속도가 1-2 bps 수준으로서 통신에 소요되는 시간이 길어 실시간 제어가 불가능한 수준이다. 통신 속도를 10배 이상 향상시키기 위한 음파통신 방식은 상용화되기는 하였으나 가격이 비싸 이용이 제한적이고 응용 사례도 많지 않다. 본 연구는 해당 설비에 해당하는 시뮬레이터를 개발하여 실제 시험 결과와 유사하게 성능을 개발하였다. 드릴 파이프를 통한 음파 통신 모사를 위해 머드에 의한 마찰 감쇠를 모사할 수 있는 지배 방정식을 제안하고 수치해석 모델을 개발하였다. 감쇠 계수는 시추 현장에서의 음파 에너지 감쇠율과 비교하여 보정하였다. 개발된 수치해석 모델을 대상 QPSK 변조 방식의 통신 알고리즘을 적용하여 지상부에서 통신 에러율 0.04% 수준의 우수한 성능을 확인하였다. 이는 아직 노이즈가 혼입되지 않은 조건에서의 통신 성능이며 이를 적용하기 위해 현장 노이즈 데이터를 확보하여 혼입을 위한 실제 노이즈 신호를 재생하는 기술을 확립하였다.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• 제42권6호
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• pp.779-789
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• 2022

This work presents a non-linear cylindrical bending analysis of functionally graded plate reinforced by single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) in thermal environment using a simple integral higher-order shear deformation theory (HSDT). This theory does not require shear correction factors and the transverse shear stresses vary parabolically through the thickness. The material properties of SWCNTs are assumed to be temperature-dependent and are obtained from molecular dynamics simulations. The material properties of functionally graded carbon nanotube-reinforced composites (FG-CNTCRs) are considered to be graded in the thickness direction, and are estimated through a micromechanical model. The non-linear strain-displacement relations in the Von Karman sense are used to study the effect of geometric non-linearity and the solution is obtained by minimization of the total potential energy. The numerical illustrations concern the nonlinear bending response of FG-CNTRC plates under different sets of thermal environmental conditions, from which results for uniformly distributed CNTRC plates are obtained as benchmarks.

• Advances in nano research
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• 제12권2호
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• pp.213-221
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• 2022

Silicon carbide (SiC) is a binary carbon-silicon compound. In its two-dimensional form, monolayer SiC is composed of a monolayer carbon and silicon atoms constructed as a honeycomb lattice. SiC has recently been receiving increasing attention from researchers owing to its intriguing electronic properties. In this present work, SiC nanoribbons (SiCNRs) are modelled and simulated to obtain accurate electronic properties, which can further guide fabrication processes, through bandgap engineering. The primary objective of this work is to obtain the electronic properties of monolayer SiCNRs by applying numerical computation methods using nearest-neighbour tight-binding models. Hamiltonian operator discretization and approximation of plane wave are assumed for the models and simulation by applying the basis function. The computed electronic properties include the band structures and density of states of monolayer SiCNRs of varying width. Furthermore, the properties are compared with those of graphene nanoribbons. The bandgap of ASiCNR as a function of width are also benchmarked with published DFT-GW and DFT-GGA data. Our nearest neighbour tight-binding (NNTB) model predicted data closer to the calculations based on the standard DFT-GGA and underestimated the bandgap values projected from DFT-GW, which takes in account the exchange-correlation energy of many-body effects.