• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.36 no.10
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• pp.1115-1130
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• 2012

In nuclear power plants, the reactor pressure vessel (RPV) upper head control rod drive mechanism (CRDM) penetration nozzles are fabricated using J-groove weld geometry. Recently, the incidences of cracking in Alloy 600 CRDM nozzles and their associated welds have increased significantly. The cracking mechanism has been attributed to primary water stress corrosion cracking (PWSCC), and it has been shown to be driven by welding residual stresses and operational stresses in the weld region. The weld-induced residual stress is the main factor contributing to crack growth. Therefore, an exact estimation of the residual stress is important for ensuring reliable operation. This study presents the residual stress computation performed for an RPV CRDM penetration nozzle in Korea. Based on two and three dimensional finite element analyses, the effect of welding variables on the residual stress variation is estimated for sensitivity analysis.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.55 no.3
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• pp.1125-1139
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• 2023

The system-integrated modular advanced reactor 100 (SMART100), an integral-type pressurized water small modular reactor, is based on a novel design concept for containment cooling and radioactive material reduction; it is known as the containment pressure and radioactivity suppression system (CPRSS). There is a passive cooling system using a condensation with non-condensable gas in the SMART CPRSS. When a design basis accident such as a small break loss of coolant accident (SBLOCA) occurs, the pressurized low containment area (LCA) of the SMART CPRSS leads to steam condensation in an incontainment refuelling water storage tank (IRWST). Additionally, the steam and non-condensable gas mixture passes through the CPRSS heat exchanger (CHX) submerged in the emergency cooldown tank (ECT) that can partially remove the residual heat. When the steam and non-condensable gas mixture passes through the CHX, the non-condensable gas can interrupt the condensation heat transfer in the CHX and it degrades CHX performance. In this study, condensation heat transfer experiments of steam and non-condensable gas mixture in the natural circulation loop were conducted. The pressure, temperature, and effects of the non-condensable gas were investigated according to the constant inlet steam flow rate with non-condensable gas injections in the loop.

• Analytical Science and Technology
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.23-35
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• 2021

In order to measure the volatile organic compounds (VOCs) of a sample which is too large to use commercially available chamber, a stainless steel vacuum chamber (VC) (with an internal diameter of 205 mm and a height of 50 mm) was manufactured and the temperature of the chamber was controlled using an oven. After concentrating the volatiles of the sample in the chamber by helium gas, it was made possible to remove residual volatile substances present in the chamber under reduced pressure ((2 ± 1) × 10-2 mmHg). The chamber was connected to a purge & trap (P&T) using a 6 port valve to concentrate the VOCs, which were analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) after thermal desorption (VC-P&T-GC-MS). Using toluene, the toluene recovery rate of this device was 85 ± 2 %, reproducibility was 5 ± 2 %, and the detection limit was 0.01 ng L-1. The method of removing VOCs remaining in the chamber with helium and the method of removing those with reduced pressure was compared using Korean drinking water regulation (KDWR) VOC Mix A (5 μL of 100 ㎍ mL-1) and butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT, 2 μL of 500 ㎍ mL-1). In case of using helium, which requires a large amount of gas and time, reduced pressure ((2 ± 1) × 10-2 mmHg) only during the GC-MS running time, could remove VOCs and BHT to less than 0.1 % of the original injection concentration. As a result of analyzing volatile substances using VC-P&T-GC-MS of six types of cell phone case, BHT was detected in four types and quantitatively analyzed. Maintaining the chamber at reduced pressure during the GC-MS analysis time eliminated memory effect and did not affect the next sample analysis. The volatile substances in a cell phone case were also analyzed by dynamic headspace (HT3) and GC-MS, and the results of the analysis were compared with those of VC-P&T-GC-MS. Considering the chamber volume and sample weight, the VC-P&T configuration was able to collect volatile substances more efficiently than the HT3. The VC-P&T-GC-MS system is believed to be useful for VOCs measurement of inhomogeneous large sample or devices used inside clean rooms.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.40 no.4
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• pp.445-459
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• 2007

Superconducting Gravimeter(SG) was installed and has been successfully operated at MunGyung, Kyungsang province in Korea in March 2005. It was registered as the 21st observatory of the Global Geodynamics Project. Since SG can precisely measure the gravity variations below the 1mHz frequency band, it has the outstanding capability to sense and resolve many different periodic gravity components from each other. From the raw data collected between 18 March 2005 and 21 February 2006 diurnal and semi-diurnal tidal band's residual gravity components were analyzed. During this process, the instrumental noises, air pressure, and ground water corrections were carried out. Values of $-3.18nm/s^2/hPa\;and\;17nm/s^2/m$ were used respectively in the air pressure and groundwater corrections. Hartmann-Wenzel and Whar-Dehant Earth tide models were adopted to compute the residual gravity for Q1, O1, P1, K1, M2, N2, S2, K2 tidal bands. For the ocean loading correction, SCW80, FES952, and FES02 models were used and compared. As a result, FES02 ocean loading model has shown the best match for the data processing at MunGyung SG MunGyung SG gravity was compared with GRACE satellite gravity. The correlation coefficient between the two gravity after groundwater correction was 0.628, which is higher than before ground water correction. To evaluate sensitivity at MunGyung SG gravity statition, the gravity data measured during 2005 Indodesian earthquake was compared with STS-2 broad band seismometer data. The result clearly revealed that the SG could recorded the same period of earthquake with seismometer event and a few after-shock events those were detected by seismometer.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Agricultural Engineers
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• v.46 no.6
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• pp.61-69
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• 2004

The aim of the work described in this paper was to confirm the application of the equation of the soil-water characteristic curves on an unsaturated soil. A series of suction test for unsaturated soils was conducted on the selected 4 kinds of soil using modified pressure extractor apparatus. And it was carried out to analyse The experimental parameters which can be describe the soil-water characteristics, were determined by using the data obtained from the experiment. From the results, it was found that The matric suction varied according to the grain size distribution, amount of fine grain particles and void ratio. Also it was found that the residual degree of saturation was decreased with in crease of the void ratio, but the pore size distribution index and air entry value were increased with in crease of the void ratio. And The application of the soil-water characteristic curve equation was confirmed for the various conditions and the various state by the comparison between the measured degree of saturation and the predicted degree of saturation.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.15 no.5
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• pp.3-18
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• 1999

The geotextile filter, which is installed between the ground and the lining and used as a tunnel drainage system, should have sufficient groundwater drainage capacity so that water pressure does not act on the lining. The clogging may have a serious effect on the long term behaviour of geotextile filters. Two typical weathered residual soils in Korea, Shinnae-dong soil and Poi-dong soil, were chosen to investigate the in-plane flow characteristics of the soils with varying degree of compressive stresses applied on the geotextiles and with various conditions of hydraulic gradient. The Shinnae-dong soil is a relatively coarse material classified as'SW-SM'; on the other hand, the Poi-dong soil is much finer and is classified as'SC'. Based on the comparison of the $O_{95}$ of geotextile to the $D_{15}$ of residual soils, existing clogging criteria were reviewed, and a tentative clogging criterion for the in-plane flow of the residual soil through filters was proposed. The Shinnae-dong soil showed noticeable clogging phenomenon, while the clogging of the Poi-dong soil was not so serious. The Poi-dong soil seemed to be hindered in particle transport by its cohesiveness.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.32 no.3C
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• pp.113-120
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• 2012

An actual slope failure was analyzed in residual soils at Jinju. Due to rainfall infiltration, the safety factor decreases in the unsaturated layers, since the effective stress and shear strength decrease. In this study, the effective stress is based on suction stress using soil water retention curve. Unsaturated properties were evaluated on soil water retention curve, hydraulic conductivity and shear strength with samples from the site. After infiltration analysis of unsaturated flow under the actual rainfall, the distribution of pore water pressure could be calculated in the slope layers. In the stress field of finite elements, an elastic analysis calculated total stress distribution in the layers and also shear stresses on the slip surface using elastic model. On the slip surface, suction stress and effective stress evaluated the shear strength. As a result, the factor of safety was calculated due to rainfall, which could simulate the actual slope failure. In particular, it was found that the suction stress increases and both the effective stress and the shear strength decrease simultaneously on the slip surface.

• Journal of Korean Society of Water and Wastewater
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• v.24 no.6
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• pp.735-741
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• 2010

A pilot test was carried out to investigate the long term operation characteristics of Microfiltration (MF) system as a pretreatment for seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO) processes for two years. A commercialized MF module with pressurized operation type was used to filter seawater to remove particles which can foul reverse osmosis (RO) membrane. Silt Density Index (SDI) values of filtered seawater by the MF system were ranged from 0.14 to 1.79, which meet the SDI standard for RO feed water as depicted in previous literatures. Although the tested seawater is quite clean (i.e., dissolved organic cabon (DOC) concentration and turbidity were about 1 mg/l and less than 1 NTU, respectively) enough not to foul the MF membrane, steep increase in trans-membrane pressure (TMP) with a constant flux were observed over a whole operation period. A set of operation and water analysis data implies that the steep increase in TMP was resulted from iron and maganese fouling by the combination of metal corrosion by seawater and oxidation state by aeration and residual chlorine.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.27-35
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• 2018

In the water-filling and preloading test, the sensing cables were installed on the surface of steel spiral case and in the surrounding concrete to monitor the strain distribution of several cross-sections by using Brillouin Optical Time Domain Analysis (BOTDA), a kind of distributed optical fiber sensing (DOFS) technology. The average hoop strain of the spiral case was about $330{\mu}{\varepsilon}$ and $590{\mu}{\varepsilon}$ when the water-filling pressure in the spiral case was 2.6 MPa and 4.1 MPa. The difference between the measured and the calculated strain was only about $50{\mu}{\varepsilon}$. It was the first time that the stress adjustment of the spiral case was monitored by the sensing cable when the pressure was increased to 1 MPa and the residual strain of $20{\mu}{\varepsilon}$ was obtained after preloading. Meanwhile, the shrinkage of $70{\sim}100{\mu}{\varepsilon}$ of the surrounding concrete was effectively monitored during the depressurization. It is estimated that the width of the gap between the steel spiral case and the surrounding concrete was 0.51 ~ 0.75 mm. BOTDA based distributed optical fiber sensing technology can obtain continuous strain of the structure and it is more reliable than traditional point sensor. The strain distribution obtained by BOTDA provides strong support for the design and optimization of the spiral case structure.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Pressure Vessels and Piping
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• v.6 no.2
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• pp.20-27
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• 2010

In order to prevent the corrosion of component contacted primary water designed alloy 600 material in the nuclear power plant. But the primary water stress corrosion cracking(PWSCC) of alloy 600 and weld area occurs continuously due to the residual stress. The leakage accident resulted from PWSCC in the drain nozzle of the steam generator of domestic power plants. Heater sleeves of the pressurizer are welded with alloy 600 weld material and therefore exposed to the primary water environment. PWSCC occurred in heater sleeve material and weld area of many foreign power plants. The current issue of domestic nuclear power plants are consequently concentrated to PWSCC of similar material. In order to improve the detection and the sizing of the PWSCC in the welding sleeve of the pressurizer, the automatic UT system and multi-directions probe sets have been developed. The experimental studies have been performed using the mock-up block containing artificial reflectors(ID connected EDM notch) and semi-artificial cracks made from thermal fatigue. The automatic UT System is applied in the detection and the length sizing of the ID/OD on the tube and the J-groove weld area of the artificial reflectors and results of the detection and the sizing are compared respectively. Also, the developed automatic UT system is successfully accomplished to inspect the heater sleeve and the J-groove weld area on the pressurizer for the detection of PWSCC.