• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.53 no.9
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• pp.2775-2787
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• 2021

At present, most of the widely used system codes for nuclear safety analysis are one-dimensional, which cannot effectively simulate the flow field of the reactor core or other structures. This is true even for the system codes containing three-dimensional modules with limited three-dimensional simulation function such as RELAP-3D. In contrast, the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) codes excel at providing a detailed three-dimensional flow field of the reactor core or other components; however, the computational domain is relatively small and results in the very high computing resource consuming. Therefore, the development of coupling codes, which can make comprehensive use of the advantages of system and CFD codes, has become a research focus. In this paper, a review focus on the researches of coupled CFD and thermal-hydraulic system codes was carried out, which summarized the method of coupling, the data transfer processing between CFD and system codes, and the verification and validation (V&V) of coupled codes. Furthermore, a series of problems associated with the coupling procedure have been identified, which provide the general direction for the development and V&V efforts of coupled codes.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.39 no.1
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• pp.109-123
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• 2021

This research endeavor intends to use the implicit finite element method to investigate the structural response of steel shear walls with partial plate-column connection. To this end, comprehensive verification studies are initially performed by comparing the numerical predictions with several reported experimental results in order to demonstrate the reliability and accuracy of the implicit analysis method. Comparison is made between the hysteresis curves, failure modes, and base shear capacities predicted numerically using ABAQUS software and obtained/observed experimentally. Following the validation of the finite element analysis approach, the effects of partial plate-column connection on the strength and stiffness performances of steel shear wall systems with different web-plate slenderness and aspect ratios under monotonic loading are investigated through a parametric study. While removal of the connection between the web-plate and columns can be beneficial by decreasing the overall system demand on the vertical boundary members, based on the results and findings of this study such detachment can lower the stiffness and strength capacities of steel shear walls by about 25%, on average.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.135-143
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• 2022

The object of this paper is to investigate the free vibration behavior under the effect of carbon nanotube distribution in functionally graded carbon nanotube-reinforced composite (FG-CNTRC) by using higher-order shear deformation theories. In this work, we present a novel distribution method for carbon nanotubes in the polymer matrix by using a new exponential power law distribution of carbon nanotube volume fraction. It is assumed that the SWCNTs are aligned along the beam axial direction and the distribution of the SWCNTs may vary through the thickness of the beam with different patterns of reinforcement. The rule of mixtures is used in order to obtain material properties of the CNTRC beams. Hamilton's principle is used in deriving the equations of motion. The validity of the free Vibration results is examined by comparing them with those of the known data in the literature. The results that obtained indicate that the carbon nanotube volume fraction distribution play a very important role on the free vibrations characteristics of the CNTRC beam.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.53 no.2
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• pp.455-465
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• 2021

The Molten Salt Reactor (MSR), one of the six advanced reactor types of the 4th generation nuclear energy systems, has many impressive features including economic advantages, inherent safety and nuclear non-proliferation. This paper introduces a system analysis code named TREND, which is developed and used for the steady and transient simulation of MSRs. The TREND code calculates the distributions of pressure, velocity and temperature of single-phase flows by solving the conservation equations of mass, momentum and energy, along with a fluid state equation. Heat structures coupled with the fluid dynamics model is sufficient to meet the demands of modeling MSR system-level thermal-hydraulics. The core power is based on the point reactor neutron kinetics model calculated by the typical Runge-Kutta method. An incremental PID controller is inserted to adjust the operation behaviors. The verification and validation of the TREND code have been carried out in two aspects: detailed code-to-code comparison with established thermal-hydraulic system codes such as RELAP5, and validation with the experimental data from MSRE and the CIET facility (the University of California, Berkeley's Compact Integral Effects Test facility).The results indicate that TREND can be used in analyzing the transient behaviors of MSRs and will be improved by validating with more experimental results with the support of SINAP.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.45 no.6
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• pp.775-796
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• 2022

In this study, a new type of energy absorbers with a functionally graded thickness is investigated, these type of absorbers absorb energy through expanding-folding processes. The expanding-folding absorbers are composed of two sections: a thin-walled aluminum matrix and a thin-walled steel mandrel. Previous studies have shown higher efficiency of the mentioned absorbers compared to the conventional ones. In this study, the effect of thickness which has been functionally-graded on the aluminum matrix (in which expansion occurs) was investigated. To this end, initial functions were considered for the matrix thickness, which was ascending/descending along the axis. The study was done experimentally and numerically. Comparing the experimental data with the numerical results showed high consistency between the numerical and experimental results. In the final section of this study, the best energy absorber functionally graded thickness was introduced by optimization using a third-order genetic algorithm. The optimization results showed that by choosing a minimum thickness of 1.6 mm and the exponential coefficient of 3.25, the most optimal condition can be obtained for descending thickness absorbers.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.35 no.1
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• pp.55-65
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• 2023

Soft clay is widely spread in nature and encountered in geotechnical engineering applications. The creep property of soft clay greatly affects the long-term performance of its upper structures. Therefore, it is vital to establish a reasonable and practical creep constitutive model. In the study, two updated hyperbolic equations based on the volumetric creep and deviatoric creep are respectively proposed. Subsequently, three creep constitutive models based on different creep behavior, i.e., V-model (use volumetric creep equation), D-model (use deviatoric creep equation) and VD-model (use both volumetric and deviatoric creep equations) are developed and compared. From the aspect of prediction accuracy, both V-model and D-model show good agreements with experimental results, while the predictions of the VD-model are smaller than the experimental results. In terms of the parametric sensitivity, D-model and VD-model are lower sensitive to parameter M (the slope of the critical state line) than V-model. Therefore, the D-model which is developed by incorporating the updated deviatoric creep equation is suggested in engineering applications.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.421-432
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• 2022

Regarding the high significance of correct pan evaporation modeling, this study introduces two novel neuro-metaheuristic approaches to improve the accuracy of prediction for this parameter. Vortex search algorithms (VSA), sunflower optimization (SFO), and stochastic fractal search (SFS) are integrated with a multilayer perceptron neural network to create the VSA-MLPNN, SFO-MLPNN, and SFS-MLPNN hybrids. The climate data of Arcata-Eureka station (operated by the US environmental protection agency) belonging to the years 1986-1989 and the year 1990 are used for training and testing the models, respectively. Trying different configurations revealed that the best performance of the VSA, SFO, and SFS is obtained for the population size of 400, 300, and 100, respectively. The results were compared with a conventionally trained MLPNN to examine the effect of the metaheuristic algorithms. Overall, all four models presented a very reliable simulation. However, the SFS-MLPNN (mean absolute error, MAE = 0.0997 and Pearson correlation coefficient, R_P = 0.9957) was the most accurate model, followed by the VSA-MLPNN (MAE = 0.1058 and R_P = 0.9945), conventional MLPNN (MAE = 0.1062 and R_P = 0.9944), and SFO-MLPNN (MAE = 0.1305 and R_P = 0.9914). The findings indicated that employing the VSA and SFS results in improving the accuracy of the neural network in the prediction of pan evaporation. Hence, the suggested models are recommended for future practical applications.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.55 no.6
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• pp.2088-2095
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• 2023

The safety of nuclear installations is largely determined by the tightness of fuel elements cladding. As the Fukushima nuclear accident showed, the main task in case of loss of power supply is to ensure reliable removal of residual heat release from spent fuel pool (SFP) with irradiated fuel assemblies (IFAs). The paper presents the results of calculated-experimental studies and thermal-hydraulic modeling of temperature storage modes of IFAs in SFP. Experimental studies of SFP's temperature regime and calculated evaluation of residual heat removal due to the thermal conductivity of building structures surrounding the SFP were performed. To ensure the safe operation of research reactors, it's necessary to know the IFA's residual heat power (RHP) in the reactor and SFP, which is determined depending on the operating time of fuel assemblies (FAs) and the IFAs calculated holding time. The FAs operating time depends on the reactor energy output. The IFAs calculated holding time is determined by the fuel burnup, U-235 mass in the fuel, and reactor utilization factor. The IFAs fuel burnup was calculated using the MCU-PTR program. Also presented are the RHP's calculation results using some of the empirical dependencies. The concept of a passive heat removal system (PHRS) based on thermosyphon's operating principle was proposed.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.55 no.6
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• pp.1999-2010
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• 2023

Undesirable flapping motion of discs can cause the failure of swing check valves in nuclear passive safety systems. Time-resolved particle image velocimetry (PIV) was employed to investigate the flow characteristics around a free-to-rotate plate and the motion response, with the Reynolds numbers, based on the hydraulic diameter of the channel, from 1.32 × 10⁴ to 3.95 × 10⁴. Appreciable flapping motion (±3.52°) appeared at the Reynolds number of 2.6 × 10⁴ with the frequency of 5.08 Hz. In the low-Reynolds-number case, the plate showed negligible flapping. In the high-Reynolds-number case, the deflection angle increased with reduced flapping amplitude. The torque from the fluid determined the flapping amplitude. In the low-Reynolds-number case, Karman vortices were absent. With increasing Reynolds numbers, Karman vortices developed behind the plate with larger deflection angles. Strong interaction between the wake flow from the leading and trailing edge of the plate was observed. Based on power spectrum density (PSD) analysis, the vortex shedding frequency coincided with the flapping frequency, and the amplitude was positively correlated to the strength of the vortices. Proper orthogonal decomposition (POD) modes evince that, in the case of appreciable motion, coherent structures exhibited a larger spatial scale, enhancing the magnitude of the external torque on the plate.

• Proceedings of the Korea Water Resources Association Conference
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• 2020.06a
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• pp.411-411
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• 2020

하상 변화는 유량이나 유사의 흐름에 따라 침식, 운반, 퇴적되어 변화하며, 하상변동에 의한 결과는 하천의 형태 (직렬,복렬, 곡렬 등)나 서식처의 구조 (여울과 소, 웅덩이, 습지 등) 형성 로 나타난다. 하천이 공간적 시간적 규모가 연계되어 있음에도, 국내에서의 하천 복원 사업은 서식처의 구조나 형태에 중점을 둔 서식처 조성 사업이 주를 이룬다. 하지만 궁극적인 생태하천 복원 및 관리를 위해서는 생태적인 서식처의 구조가 제대로 발현되는 유량이나 유사량과 연계하여, 통합 유역관리가 가능하도록 진행하여야 한다. 본 연구에서는 수리 (유량이나 유사량)-지형(서식처 구조)-생태 (생물다양성)을 연계하여 하천의 환경유량을 산정하는 방안을 제안하고자 한다. Nays2D 수리모델링을 활용하여 하상변화를 살펴보고, 수리모델링 결과를 서식처 구조 분포로 해석하여, 서식처가 다양한 유량을 산정하고 제안한다. 수리모델링 이전에 하천건강성 평가에 활용된 하천 생물종 모니터링 결과와 서식처 다양성과의 관계를 우선 분석하고 수리모델링을 진행한다. 본 연구의 대상 하천은 금강 지류인 갑천 약 5 km를 대상으로 2010년대 생물상, 항공사진, 지형데이타 (DEM and 단면도)를 활용한다.