• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.55 no.4
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• pp.1382-1399
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• 2023

Pressure relief valve (PRV) is one of the important control valves used in nuclear power plants, and its sealing performance is crucial to ensure the safety and function of the entire pressure system. For the sealing performance improving purpose, an explicit function that accounts for all design parameters and can accurately describe the relationship between the multi-design parameters and the seal performance is essential, which is also the challenge of the valve seal design and/or optimization work. On this basis, a surrogate model-based design optimization is carried out in this paper. To obtain the basic data required by the surrogate model, both the Finite Element Model (FEM) and the Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) based numerical models were successively established, and thereby both the contact stresses of valve static sealing and dynamic impact (between valve disk and nozzle) could be predicted. With these basic data, the polynomial chaos expansion (PCE) surrogate model which can not only be used for inputs-outputs relationship construction, but also produce the sensitivity of different design parameters were developed. Based on the PCE surrogate model, a new design scheme was obtained after optimization, in which the valve sealing stress is increased by 24.42% while keeping the maximum impact stress lower than 90% of the material allowable stress. The result confirms the ability and feasibility of the method proposed in this paper, and should also be suitable for performance design optimizations of control valves with similar structures.

• Corrosion Science and Technology
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• v.14 no.6
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• pp.261-266
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• 2015

The capacity of passive metal to repassivate after film damage determines the development of local corrosion and the resistance to corrosion failures. In this work, the repassivation kinetics of 316L stainless steel (316L SS) was investigated in borate buffer solution (pH 9.1) using a novel abrading electrode technique. The repassivation kinetics was analyzed in terms of the current density flowing from freshly bare 316L SS surface as measured by a potentiostatic method. During the early phase of decay (t < 2 s), according to the Avrami kinetics-based film growth model, the transient current was separated into anodic dissolution ($i_{diss}$) and film formation ($i_{film}$) components and analyzed individually. The film reformation rate and thickness were compared according to applied potential. Anodic dissolution initially dominated the repassivation for a short time, and the amount of dissolution increased with increasing applied potential in the passive region. Film growth at higher potentials occurred more rapidly compared to at lower potentials. Increasing the applied potential from 0 $V_{SCE}$ to 0.8 $V_{SCE}$ resulted in a thicker passive film (0.12 to 0.52 nm). If the oxide monolayer covered the entire bare surface (${\theta}=1$), the electric field strength through the thin passive film reached $1.6{\times}10^7V/cm$.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.41 no.2
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• pp.117-121
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• 2016

Background: Definition and grouping of initiating events (IEs) are important basics for probabilistic safety assessment (PSA). An IE in a spent fuel reprocessing plant (SFRP) is an event that probably leads to the release of dangerous material to jeopardize workers, public and environment. The main difference between SFRPs and nuclear power plants (NPPs) is that hazard materials spread diffusely in a SFRP and radioactive material is just one kind of hazard material. Materials and Methods: Since the research on IEs for NPPs is in-depth around the world, there are several general methods to identify IEs: reference of lists in existence, review of experience feedback, qualitative analysis method, and deductive analysis method. While failure mode and effect analysis (FMEA) is an important qualitative analysis method, master logic diagram (MLD) method is the deductive analysis method. IE identification in SFRPs should be consulted with the experience of NPPs, however the differences between SFRPs and NPPs should be considered seriously. Results and Discussion: The plutonium uranium reduction extraction (Purex) process is adopted by the technics in a model reprocessing plant. The first extraction cycle (FEC) is the pivotal process in the Purex process. Whether the FEC can function safely and steadily would directly influence the production process of the whole plant-production quality. Important facilities of the FEC are installed in the equipment cells (ECs). In this work, IEs in the FEC process were identified and categorized by FMEA and MLD two methods, based on the fact that ECs are containments in the plant. Conclusion: The results show that only two ECs in the FEC do not need to be concerned particularly with safety problems, and criticality, fire and red oil explosion are IEs which should be emphatically analyzed. The results are accordant with the references.

• Proceedings of KOSOMES biannual meeting
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• 2004.11a
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• pp.137-141
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• 2004

Ship structures are basically an assembly of plate elements and the load-carrying capacity or the ultimate strength is one of the most important criteria for safety assessment and economic design. Also, Structural elements making up ship plated structures do not work separately, resulting in high degree of redundancy and complexity, in contrast to those of steel framed structures. To enable the behavior of such structures to be analyzed, simplifications or idealizations must essentially be made considering the accuracy needed and the degree of complexity of the analysis to be used. On this study, to investigate effect of modeling range, the finite element method are used and their results are compared varying the analysis ranges. The model has been selected from bottom panels of large merchant ship structures. For FEA, three types of structural modeling are adopted in terms of the extent of the analysis. The purpose of the present study is to numerically calculate the characteristics of ultimate strength behavior according to the analysis ranges of stiffened panels subject to uniaxial compressive loads.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.313-325
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• 2020

Slope displacement and factor of safety (FOS) of a slope are two aspects that reflect the stability of a slope. However, the traditional limit equilibrium (LE) methods only give the result of the slope FOS and cannot be used to solve for the slope displacement. Therefore, developing a LE method to obtain the results of the slope FOS and slope displacement has significance for engineering applications. Based on a force-displacement coupled mode, this work expands the LE Morgenstern-Price (M-P) method. Except for the mechanical equilibrium conditions of a sliding body adopted in the traditional M-P method, the present method introduces a nonlinear model of the shear stress and shear displacement. Moreover, the energy equation satisfied by a sliding body under a small slope displacement is also applied. Therefore, the double solutions of the slope FOS and horizontal slope displacement are established. Furthermore, the flow chart for the expanded LE M-P method is given. By comparisons and analyses of slope examples, the present method has close results with previous research and numerical simulation methods, thus verifying the feasibility of the present method. Thereafter, from the parametric analysis, the following conclusions are obtained: (1) the shear displacement parameters of the soil affect the horizontal slope displacement but have little effect on the slope FOS; and (2) the curves of the horizontal slope displacement vs. the minimum slope FOS could be fitted by a hyperbolic model, which would be beneficial to obtain the horizontal slope displacement for the slope in the critical state.

• International Journal of Highway Engineering
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• v.19 no.6
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• pp.13-21
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• 2017

PURPOSES : In this research, an SB3-level roadside barrier for a highway transition zone that meets the newly established guide Installation and Management Guide for Roadside Safety Appurtenance is developed. Its performance is evaluated by a numerical simulation and real-scale vehicle impact test. METHODS : The commercial explicit dynamic software LS-DYNA is utilized for impact simulation. An FE model of a passenger vehicle developed and released by the National Crash Analysis Center (NCAC) at George Washington University and a heavy goods vehicle (HGV) model developed by the TC226/CM-E Work Group are utilized for impact simulation. The original vehicle models were modified to reflect the conditions of test vehicles. The impact positions of the passenger vehicle and truck to the transition guardrail were set as 1/2 and 3/4 of the transition region, respectively, according to the guide. RESULTS : Based on the numerical simulation results of the existing transition barrier, a new structural system with improved performance was suggested. According to the result of a numerical simulation of the suggested structural system, two sets of transition barriers were manufactured and installed for real-scale vehicle impact tests. The tests were performed at a test field for roadside safety hardware of the Korea Highway Corporation Research Institute. CONCLUSIONS : The results of both the real-vehicle impact tests and numerical simulations of the developed transition barrier satisfied the performance criteria, and the results of numerical simulation showed good correlation with the test results.

• The Journal of the Convergence on Culture Technology
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• v.8 no.5
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• pp.735-740
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• 2022

The construction is the industry with the highest fatalities, and the fatalities has not decreased despite various institutional improvements. Accordingly, real-time safety management by applying artificial intelligence (AI) to CCTV images is emerging. Although some research on worker detection by applying AI to images of construction sites is being conducted, there are limitations in performance expression due to problems such as complex background due to the nature of the construction industry. In this study, the YOLO model and the OpenPose model were fused to improve the performance of worker detection and posture estimation to improve the detection performance of workers in various complex conditions. This is expected to be highly useful in terms of unsafe behavior and health management of workers in the future.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.925-946
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• 2015

This paper presents a new cost-effective hybrid GFRP-Concrete deck system that the GFRP panel serves as both tensile reinforcement and stay-in-place form. In order to understand the fatigue behavior of such hybrid deck, fatigue test on a full-scale specimen under sagging moment was conducted, and a series of static tests were also carried out after certain repeated loading cycles. The fatigue test results indicated that such hybrid deck has a good fatigue performance even after 3.1 million repeated loading cycles. A three-dimensional finite element model of the hybrid deck was established based on experimental work. The results from finite element analyses are in good agreement with those from the tests. In addition, flexural fatigue analysis considering the reduction in flexural stiffness and modulus under cyclic loading was carried out. The predicted flexural strength agreed well with the analytical strength from finite element simulation, and the calculated fatigue failure cycle was consistent with the result based on related S-N curve and finite element analyses. However, the flexural fatigue analytical results tended to be conservative compared to the tested results in safety side. The presented overall investigation may provide reference for the design and construction of such hybrid deck system.

• Tribology and Lubricants
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.31-36
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• 2010

The brake system is an important part of the automobile safety system. The disc brake system is divided into two parts: a rotating axi-symmetrical disc, and the stationary pads. The frictional heat, which is generated on the interface of the disc and pads, can cause high temperatures during the braking process. The frictional heat source (the pads) is moving on the disc and the location is time-dependent. Our study applies a moving heat source, which is defined by the time and space variable on the frictional surface, in order to simulate the frictional heat behavior accurately during the braking process. The object of the present work is the determination of the temperature distribution and thermal stress in the solid disc by non-axisymmetric 3D modeling for repeated braking.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.35 no.6
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• pp.515-522
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• 2003

Tritium behavior in the solid breeder blanket is one of the key factors in determining tritium self-sufficiency, as well as safety, of fusion reactors. Recently, a model has been developed to describe the tritium behavior in solid breeder material, which can predict the tritium release and inventory in the blanket. However, the model has limitation to account for tritium solubility effects, mainly existing as LiOT, especially inside the $Li_{2}O$ solid breeder. In order to improve the capability of predicting the LiOT precipitation in $Li_{2}O$ solid breeder, a new logic is developed and integrated in the existing tritium release and inventory calculation code. With the logic developed in this work, the code can have capabilities to analyze tritium release and inventories in $Li_{2}O$ under steady and transient conditions. It can be found that tritium inventory as LiOT is an important mechanism under pulsed operation, and the amount of inventory becomes higher as the tritium generation rate increases and the temperature decreases. Also, the temperature limits for the generation of LiOT precipitation are determined. Therefore the developed logic helps understand the tritium transport mechanism in $Li_{2}O$ solid breeder.