• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.36 no.6
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• pp.637-644
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• 2012

In a nuclear power plant, fretting wear due to impact motion between U-tubes and support structures located in steam generators can cause serious problems. In order to guarantee the reliability of the steam generator, the damage due to fretting wear should be thoroughly investigated. The purpose of this study is to elucidate the fretting wear mechanism qualitatively and quantitatively. Hence, fretting wear simulation is performed for the environments to which the actual steam generators in nuclear power plants are exposed. Initial experimental results are obtained for various experimental parameters, and the effect of the work rate and temperature on fretting wear is evaluated. In water, the wear coefficients for $90^{\circ}C$, $200^{\circ}C$, and $340^{\circ}C$ are found to be $9.051{\times}10^{-16}\;Pa^{-1}$, $3.009{\times}10^{-15}\;Pa^{-1}$, and $2.235{\times}10^{-15}\;Pa^{-1}$, respectively. It is also found that the wear coefficient at room temperature is larger than that at low temperature in water because of the dynamic viscosity of water.

• Tribology and Lubricants
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• v.37 no.5
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• pp.179-188
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• 2021

Reputed for their low friction coefficient and wear protection effect, diamond-like carbon (DLC) materials are considered amongst the most important lubricant coatings for tribological applications. In this framework, this investigation aims to elucidate the effect of a few operating parameters, such as applied stress and sliding amplitude on the friction lifetime of DLC coatings. Fretting wear tests are conducted using a 12.7 mm radius counterpart of 52100 steel balls slid against a substrate of the same material coated with a 2 ㎛ thickness DLC. Approximately, 5 to 57 N force is applied, generating a maximum Hertzian contact pressure of 430 to 662 MPa, corresponding to the applied force. The coefficient of friction (CoF) generates three regimes, first a running-in period regime, followed by a steady-state evolution regime, and finally a progressive increase of the CoF reaching the steel CoF value, as an indicator of reaching the substrate. To track the wear scenario, interrupted tests are performed with analysis combining scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), 3D profilometer and micro-Raman spectroscopy. The results show two endurance values: one characterizing the coating failure (Nc₁), and the other (Nc₂) indicating the friction failure which is situated where the CoF reaches a threshold value of μ_th = 0.3 in the third regime. The Archard energy density factor is used to determine the two endurance values (Nc₁, Nc₂). Based on this approach, a master curve is established delimitating both the coating and the friction endurances.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Precision Engineering
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.101-108
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• 2009

A fretting wear test rig for dry ambient condition, which employs a piezoelectric actuator, has been developed. It is driven and loaded in a very simple manner with acceptable experimental accuracy. By using the rig, Inconel 690 tube has been tested under the normal load of 10 and 15N with sliding amplitude of less than $100{\mu}m$ during $10^6$cycles. The wear resistance of the material has been characterized in terms of the wear coefficient based on the work rate model. SEM micrographs show the complex structures of the scars, which consist of risen peaks, plate-type thin layers and locally exposed bare surfaces. The cracks spread over the layers give clue to the fretting wear mechanism of the material.

• Journal of Mechanical Science and Technology
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• v.14 no.8
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• pp.816-822
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• 2000

In the core of the nuclear power plant of PWR, several cases of fuel failure by unknown causes have been experienced for various fuel types. From the common features of the failure pattern, failure lead time, flow conditions, and flow induced vibration characteristics in nuclear fuel bundles, it is deduced that the fretting wear failure of the fuel rod at the spacer grid position is due to the fluidelastic vibration. In the past, fluidelastic vibration was simulated by quasi -static semi-analytical model, so called the static model, which could not account for the interaction between the rods within a bundle. To overcome this defect and to provide for more flexibilities applicable to the fuel bundle, Tanaka's unsteady model was modified to accomodate the geometrical differences and governing parameter changes during the operations such as the number of rods, pitch to diameter ratio (P/D), spring force, damping coefficient, etc. The critical velocity was calculated by solving the governing equations with the MATLAB code. A comparison between the estimated critical velocity and the test result shows a good agreement. Finally, the level of decrease of the critical velocity due to the reduction in the spring force and reduced damping coefficient due to the radiation exposure is also estimated.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.46 no.5
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• pp.633-640
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• 2014

In this research, the surface roughness affecting the pressure drop in a pipe used as the steam generator of a PWR was studied. Based on the CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) technique using a commercial code named ANSYS-FLUENT, a straight pipe was modeled to obtain the Darcy frictional coefficient, changed with a range of various surface roughness ratios as well as Reynolds numbers. The result is validated by the comparison with a Moody chart to set the appropriate size of grids at the wall for the correct consideration of surface roughness. The pressure drop in a full-scale U-shaped pipe is measured with the same code, correlated with the surface roughness ratio. In the next stage, we studied a reduced scale model of a U-shaped heat pipe with experiment and analysis of the investigation into fluid-structure interaction (FSI). The material of the pipe was cut from the real heat pipe of a material named Inconel 690 alloy, now used in steam generators. The accelerations at the fixed stations on the outer surface of the pipe model are measured in the series of time history, and Fourier transformed to the frequency domain. The natural frequency of three leading modes were traced from the FFT data, and compared with the result of a numerical analysis for unsteady, incompressible flow. The corresponding mode shapes and maximum displacement are obtained numerically from the FSI simulation with the coupling of the commercial codes, ANSYS-FLUENT and TRANSIENT_STRUCTURAL. The primary frequencies for the model system consist of three parts: structural vibration, BPF(blade pass frequency) of pump, and fluid-structure interaction.