• Proceedings of the KSME Conference
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• 2001.06d
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• pp.630-635
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• 2001

The stem thrust required to unwedging a gate valve is influenced by the pressure and temperature when the valve is closed and by the changes in these conditions between closure and opening. "Pressure Locking" and "Thennal Binding" refer to situations where pressure and temperature effects cause the unwedging load to be much higher than normal. A model of these phenomena has been developed. The effects of pressure and temperature are analyzed to determine the change in this disk-to-seat "interference". Flexibilities or Stiffness of the disk and body strongly influence the unwedging thrust. Calculation and limited comparison to data have been performed for the RHR motor operated valve designs and scenario. Pressure changes can increase the unwedging thrust when bonnet pressure exceeds the pressure in the adjacent piping and temperature changes can increase the unwedging thrust when a temperature change after closure produces an increase in the disk-to-seat interference.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.35 no.2
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• pp.133-143
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• 2003

Stem-stem nut coefficient of friction(COF) in motor-operated gate/globe valves is one of the important factors which determine the performance of the valve/actuators. The COF is affected greatly by the type and condition of the stem-stem nut lubricants, environmental parameters, surface condition of the stem/stem-nuts, and the number of strokes after the lubrication. In this paper, the measured data of the COFs at stem threads of some safety-related motor-operated gate/globe valves in domestic nuclear power plants are presented. In addition, the performance of the lubricants is evaluated by comparing the COFs among those valves. The results show that the measured COF at torque switch trip are higher than the unwedging COF and conservatively applicable to the unwedging COF. It is also shown that the lubricating performance based on the measured COFs varies with the lubricants.