• Transactions of the Korean Society of Pressure Vessels and Piping
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.155-162
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• 2023

In nuclear power plants, the flow rate information is a major indicator of the performance of rotating equipment such as pumps, and is a very important one required for facility operation and maintenance. To measure a flow rate, various types of methods have been developed and used. Among them, the differential pressure type using orifice and the direct doppler type using ultrasonic waves are the most commonly used. However, these flow rate measurement methods have limitations in installation, conditions and status of the measuring part, etc. To solve this problem, we have studied a new technique for measuring flow rate from scratch. In this paper, we have devised a technique to estimate the flow rate using an average moving velocity of large-scale eddy in turbulence that occurs in the piping flow field. The velocity of the large-scale eddy can be measured using the pressure fluctuation signals on the inner surface of the pipe. To estimate the flow rate, at first a cross-correlation function is applied to the two pressure fluctuation signals located at different positions in the down stream for calculating the time delay between the moving eddies. In order to validate the proposed flow rate estimation method, CFD analyses for the internal turbulence flow in pipe are conducted with a fixed flow condition, where the pressure fluctuation signals on the pipe inner surface are simulated. And then the average flow velocity of the large scale eddy is to be estimated. The estimated flow velocity is turned out to be similar to the fixed (known) flow rate.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Pressure Vessels and Piping
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.16-22
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• 2010

Cast austenitic stainless steel(CASS) is used in the primary cooling piping system of nuclear power plant for it's relative low cost, corrosion resistance and easy of welding. However, the coarse-grain structure of cast austenitic stainless steel can strongly affect the inspectability of ultrasonic testing. The major problems encountered during inspection are beam skewing, high attenuation and high background noise of CASS component. So far, the best inspection performance involving CASS components have been achieved using low frequency TRL(Transmitter/Receiver side-by-side L wave) angle beam probe. But TRL technique could not detect shallow defect and it contains an uncertainty for sizing capability. Currently, most of researchers are studying to overcome these challenge issue. In this study, low-frequency phased array TRL technique used to detect and sizing the flaws in CF8A cast austenitic stainless steel.As conclusion, we could detect and size not only axial flaw but also circumferential flaw using low frequency phased array technique.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Pressure Vessels and Piping
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.29-36
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• 2010

Ultrasonic inspection of heavy walled cast austenitic stainless steel(CASS)welds is very difficult due to complex and coarse grained structure of CASS material. The large size of anisotropic grain strongly affects the propagation of ultrasound by severe attenuation, change in velocity, and scattering of ultrasonic energy. therefore, the signal patterns originated from flaws can be difficult to distinguish from scattered signals. To improve detection and sizing capability of ID connected defect for heavy walled CASS piping welds, the low frequency segmented TRL Pulse Echo and Phased Array probe has been developed. The experimental studies have been performed using CASS pipe mock-up block containing artificial reflectors(ID connected EDM notch). The automatic pulse echo and phase array technique is applied the detection and the length sizing of the ID connected artificial reflectors and the results for detection and sizing has been compared respectively. The goal of this study is to assess a newly developed ultrasonic probe to improve the detection ability and the sizing of the crack in coarse-grained CASS components.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Pressure Vessels and Piping
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• v.7 no.4
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• pp.44-50
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• 2011

Turbulent mixing of hot and cold coolants is one of the possible causes of high cycle thermal fatigue in piping systems of nuclear power plants. A typical situation for such mixing appears in turbulent flow through a T-junction. Since the high cycle thermal fatigue caused by thermal striping was not considered in the piping fatigue design in several nuclear power plants, it is very important to evaluate the effect of thermal striping on the integrity of mixing tees. In the present work, before conducting detailed evaluation, three thermal striping evaluation methodology suggested by EPRI, JSME and NESC are analyzed. Then, a by-pass pipe connected to the shutdown cooling system heat exchanger is investigated by using these evaluation methodology. Consequently, the resulting thermal stresses and the fatigue life of the mixing tee are reviewed and compared to each other. Futhermore, the limitation of each methodology are also presented in this paper.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Pressure Vessels and Piping
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.38-43
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• 2017

This paper investigates how to determine the Rayleigh damping coefficients for dynamic time history seismic analysis of piping systems. Three methods are applied. The first one is a conventional method to use the natural frequencies of the mode 1 and 2, derived from dynamic analysis. The second method is to determine the Rayleigh damping coefficients based on frequency range of the acceleration histories. The last one is a iterative transient response analysis method using the transient analysis results without and with damping. It is found that the conventional method and the iterative transient response method yield the same results whereas the acceleration frequency-basis method provides more conservative result than the other methods. In addition, it is concluded that the iterative transient response method is recommended.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Pressure Vessels and Piping
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• v.7 no.3
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• pp.40-47
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• 2011

KSNPs(Korea Standard Nuclear Power Plant) have been applied the break exclusion criteria to the high energy lines passing through containment penetration area to ensure that piping failures would not cause the loss of containment isolation function, and to reduce the resulting dynamic effects. Systems with the criteria are the Main Steam system, Feed Water system, Steam Generator Blowdown system, and Chemical & Volume Control system. In accordance with FSAR(Final Safety Analysis Report), a 100% volumetric examination by augmented in-service inspection of all pipe welds appled the break exclusion criteria is required for the break exclusion application piping. However, it is difficult to fully satisfy the requirements of inspection because 12", 8" and 6" weldolet weldments of Main Steam pipe line have complex structural shapes. To resolve the difficulty on the application of conventional UT(Ultrasonic Testing) technique, realistic mock-ups and UT calibration blocks were made. Simulations of conventional UT were performed utilizing CIVA, a commercial NDE(Nondestructive Examination) simulation software. Phased array UT experiments were performed through mock-up including artificial notch type flaws. A phased array UT technique is finally developed to improve the reliability of ultrasonic test at main steam line pipe to 12", 8" and 6" branch connection weld.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Pressure Vessels and Piping
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• v.6 no.2
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• pp.54-60
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• 2010

Piping failures due to thermal fatigue have been widely reported in normally stagnant non-isolable reactor coolant branch lines. Since the thermal fatigue due to thermal stratification was not considered in the piping fatigue design in old NPPs, it is important to evaluate the effect of thermal stratification on the integrity of branch lines. In this study, geometrical screening criteria for Up-horizontal branch lines in MRP-132 were applied to SI(Safety Injection) lines of KSNP 2-loop and WH 3-loop. Some computational fluid dynamic(CFD) analyses on the Reactor Coolant System(RCS) branch lines were also performed to develop the regulatory guidelines for screening criteria. As a result of applying MRP-132 screening criteria, KSNP 2-loop and WH 3-loop SI lines are determined to need further detailed evaluation. Results of CFD analyses show that both valve isolation and amount of leakage through valve can be used as technical bases for the screening criteria on the thermal fatigue analysis.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Pressure Vessels and Piping
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.59-68
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• 2018

This study compares true stress-true strain curves obtained by tensile tests of various piping materials with bi-linear stress-strain approximation suggested in the JSME Code Case(CC) Draft, a guideline for piping seismic inelastic response analysis. Based on the comparisons, the reliability of the bi-linear approximation is evaluated. It is found that bi-linear stress-strain curve of TP316 stainless steel is in good agreement with its true stress-true strain curve. However, Bi-linear stress-strain curves of TP304 stainless steel and carbon steels determined by the approximation cannot appropriately estimate their stress-strain behavior. Accordingly new bi-linear approximations for carbon steels and low-alloy steels are proposed. The proposed bi-linear approximations for carbon and low-alloy steels, which include the temperature effect on strength and hardening of material, estimate their stress-strain behavior reasonably well.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Pressure Vessels and Piping
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.35-46
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• 2020

In this paper, a fracture mechanics evaluation system which can be used to assess the leak-before-break (LBB) of nuclear piping is developed. Existing solutions for calculating the fracture mechanics parameters (J-integral and crack opening displacement) required for LBB evaluation were firstly presented. Then a module for calculating J-integral and COD was developed, with an additional module for predicting the critical load based on the crack driving force diagram to finally develop a fracture mechanics evaluation system. To confirm the validity of the proposed evaluation system, finite element (FE) analysis was performed, and the FE J-integral and COD results were compared with prediction results using the J-integral and COD estimations program. Furthermore, the critical load assessment module was verified by comparing the actual pipe test results (Battelle test data) with prediction results using the proposed program.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Pressure Vessels and Piping
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.69-73
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• 2015

The study investigated effects of residual stresses and Charpy impact energy on brittle fractures of the butt weld between the valve and the piping, and of the valve body in nuclear power plants via a linear elastic fracture mechanics approach in the ASME B&PV Code, Sec.XI and finite element analysis. Weld residual stress in a butt weld between close check valve and piping, and residual stress in the valve due to casting process were assumed to be proportional to yield strength of base metal. Operating stresses in the butt weld and the valve body were calculated using approximate engineering formulae and finite element analysis, respectively. Applied stress intensity factors were calculated by assuming postulated cracks with specific sizes and then by substituting the residual stresses and the operating stresses into engineering formulae presented in the ASME B&PV Code, Sec.III. Plane strain fracture toughness was derived by using a correlation between Charpy V-notch impact energy and fracture toughness. Structural integrity of the weld and the body against brittle fracture was assessed by using the applied stress intensity factors, plane strain fracture toughness and the linear elastic fracture mechanics approach. As a result, it was identified that the structural integrity was maintained with decreasing the residual stress levels and increasing the Charpy V-notch impact energy.