• 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.

• Journal of Welding and Joining
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.100-110
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• 1998

In this paper, the laser weldability of thin gage steels for automobile application is discussed. Welding was carried out with a high power carbon dioxide laser system, and the laser energy was concentrated through a plano-convex lens. Test results showed that the joint gap in the butt welding proved to be one of the critical conditions for an acceptable weld. In the case where the ratio of the gap clearance to the material thickness was slightly bigger than optimal value, the weld strength was reduced showing weld metal fracture. It was possible to obtained a weld penetration ratio of 0.91 when the vertical offset ratio was controlled to be 0.4 or smaller. Results also demonstrated that the weld strength of the lap joint was influenced by travel speed. At the travel speeds lower than 37 mm/s, the weld strength indicated higher value than that of class A recommendation strength of a resistance spot weld based on the KS code. It was clear that the complicated effect of specimen alignment should be considered so as to make a sound weld with high integrity when the laser process was applied to the long weld line.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.91-99
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• 2017

Domestically developed concrete storage casks include an internal canister to maintain the confinement integrity of radio-active materials. In this study, we analyzed the depth of flaws caused by loads that propagate canister weld cracks under normal, off-normal and accident conditions, and evaluated the maximum allowable weld flaw depth needed to secure the structural integrity of the canister weld and to reduce the welding time of the internal canister lid of the concrete storage cask. Structural analyses for normal, off-normal and accident conditions were performed using the general-purpose finite element analysis program ABAQUS; the allowable flaw depth was assessed according to ASME B&PV Code Section XI. Evaluation results revealed an allowable canister weld flaw depth of 18.75 mm for the concrete storage cask, which satisfies the critical flaw depth recommended in NUREG-1536.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Pressure Vessels and Piping
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.29-33
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• 2008

As the measures of nuclear power plant utilities and manufacturers to reduce the defects of tube expansion region during manufacturing steam generators, many types of NDEs(Non-Destructive Examinations) are conducted to inspect the expansion region. The expansion region of tube is subject to degrade because of stress concentration induced by tube expansion, sludge pile and high temperature. So the inspections for tube expansion region have been reinforced. Liquid penetrant test, helium leak test, Bobbin profile test and hydraulic test are performed to confirm the integrity of tube expanded by hydraulic expansion method. Liquid penetrant test and helium leak test are used to inspect seal weld region on tubesheet end part. Bobbin Profile test is used to inspect fully the expanded region of steam generator tube. Hydraulic test finally verifies the integrity of seal weld region on tubesheet end part.

• Journal of Welding and Joining
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.87-93
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• 2015

This study was performed to develop repair technology for J-Groove dissimilar metal weld of pressurizer heater sleeve in nuclear power plants. Pad, J-Groove automatic welding and mechanical machining equipments to develop repair technology using 'Half Nozzle Repair' were designed and manufactured. To obtain the optimum welding process parameters during Pad temperbead overlay welding, several welding experiments using Taguchi method were conducted. Weldability of Pad overlay weld specimens was estimated by PT/RT test, FE-SEM, EDS and Vickers hardness test. Also, J-Groove welding to adjust weld shape conditions requiring in ASME Code was carried out and its integrity of weld specimens was evaluated through PT/RT test and optical microscope. Consequently, it was revealed that Pad and J-Groove overlay welding for dissimilar metal weld of pressurizer heater sleeve could be possible to meet Code standard without weld defect.

• Journal of Welding and Joining
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.59-72
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• 1994

This paper presents an on-line quality monitoring and control method to obtain a uniform weld quality in gas metal arc welding (GMAW) processes. The geometrical parameters of the weld pool such as the top bead width and the penetration depth plus half back width are utilized to assess the integrity of the weld quality. Since a good quality weld is characterized by a relatively high depth-to-width ratio in its dimensions, the second geometrical parameter is regulated to a desired one. The monitoring variables are the surface temperatures measured at various points on the top surface of the weldment which are strongly related to the formation of the weld pool The relationship between the measured temperatures and the weld pool size is implemented on the multilayer perceptrons which are powerful for realization of complex mapping characteristics through training by samples. For on-line quality monitoring and control, it is prerequisite to estimate the weld pool sizes in the region of transient states. For this purpose, the time history of the surface temperatures is used as the input to the neural estimator. The control purpose is to obtain a uniform weld quality. In this research, the weld pool size is directly regulated to a desired one. The proposed controller is composed of a neural pool size estimator, a neural feedforward controller and a conventional feedback controller. The pool size estimator predicts the weld pool size under growing. The feedforward controller compensates for the nonlinear characteristics of the welding process. A series of simulation studies shows that the proposed control method improves the overall system response in the presence of changes in torch travel speed during GMA welding and guarantees the uniform weld quality.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Pressure Vessels and Piping
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.74-83
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• 2020

A number of so-called 'Type IV' cracking was reported to occur at the welded joints of the P91 steel or P92 steel reheat steam piping systems in Korean supercritical thermal power plants. The reheat steam piping systems are subjected to severe thermal and pressure loading conditions of coolant higher than 570℃ and 4MPa, respectively. In this study, piping analyses and design evaluations were conducted for the piping system of a specific thermal plant in Korea and suggestions were made how structural integrity could be improved so that type IV cracks at the welded joints could be prevented. Integrity evaluations were conducted as per ASME B31.1 code with implicit consideration of creep effects which was used in original design of the piping system and as per nuclear-grade RCC-MRx code with explicit consideration of creep effects. Comparisons were made between the evaluation results from the two design rules. Another approach with modification or reduction of the redundant supports in the piping systems was investigated as a tool to mitigate thermal stresses which should essentially contribute to prevention of Type IV cracking without major modification of the existing piping systems. In addition, a post weld heat treatment method and repair weld method which could improve integrity of the welded joint of P91 steel were investigated.

• Journal of Welding and Joining
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.50-57
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• 2004

This paper provides FE and experimental validation of the defect assessment method for strength mismatched welded structures, resulting from the Brite Euram SINTAP (Structural Integrity Assessment Procedures for European Industry) project. This shows that the proposed method is conservative, and that the degree of conservatism is similar to that embedded in the methods for homogeneous structures. It provides confidence in the use of the proposed SINTAP method for assessing defective weld strength mismatched structures.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Railway
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• v.5 no.2
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• pp.55-60
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• 2002

This study proposes the post-processor simulator construction of ultrasonic signal for integrity evaluation of railway truck. For these purposes, the ultrasonic signals for defects(crack) of weld zone in frames are acquired in the type of time series data and echo strength. The detection of the natural defects in railway truck is performed using the characteristics of echodynamic pattern in ultrasonic signal. The constructed post-processor simulator agree fairly well with the measured results of test block(defect location, beam propagation distance, echo strength, etc). Proposed post-processor simulator construction of ultrasonic in this study can be used for the integrity evaluation of railway truck.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Railway
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• v.2 no.2
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• pp.21-30
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• 1999

This study proposes the analysis and evaluation method of time series ultrasonic signal using the phase space-frequency domain. Features extracted from time series signal analyze quantitatively characteristics of weld defects. For this purpose, analysis objectives in this study are features of time domain and frequency domain. Trajectory changes in the attractor indicated a substantial difference in fractal characteristics resulting from distance shifts such as parts of head and flange even though the types of defects are identified. These differences in characteristics of weld defects enables the evaluation of unique characteristics of defects in the weld zone. In quantitative fractal feature extraction, feature values of 3.848 in the case of part of head(crack) and 4.102 in the case of part of web(side hole) and 3.711 in the case of part of flange(crack) were proposed on the basis of fractal dimension. Proposed phase space-frequency domain method in this study can integrity evaluation for defect signals of rail weld zone such as side hole and crack.