Papers by Author: Myung Jo Jhung

Abstract: In general, the fatigue life of major nuclear components has been evaluated based on design codes conservatively. However, sometimes, more exact fatigue life evaluation is required for continued operation beyond the endorsed life. The purpose of this paper is to carry out 3-D stress and fatigue analyses reflecting full geometry as well as actual operating data. The actual operating data acquired through a monitoring system were filtered and assessed. Then, temperature and stress transfer Green’s functions were developed and applied to critical locations of reactor pressure vessel. The finite element analyses results for representative design transients were verified through comparison to reference solution and showed that the conservatism of current 2-D evaluation. Therefore, it is anticipated that the proposed scheme adopting Green’s function and real operating histories can be utilized for remaining life time evaluation of major components.

Abstract: Major nuclear components have been designed by conservative codes to prevent unanticipated fatigue failure. However, more realistic and effective assessment is necessary in proof of continued operation beyond the design life. In the present paper, three-dimensional stress and fatigue evaluation is carried out for pressurizer employing complex full geometry itself instead of conventional discrete subcomponents. For this purpose, temperature and mechanical stress transfer Green’s functions are derived from finite element analyses and applied to critical locations of pressurizer. In accordance with comparison of resulting stresses obtained from the Green’s function and detailed finite element analysis, suitability of the specific Green’s function is investigated. Finally, prototype of fatigue life assessment results is provided along with relevant ongoing activities.

Abstract: To prevent the potential failure of the reactor pressure vessel (RPV), it is requested to operate RPV according to the pressure-temperature (P-T) limit curve during the heat-up and cool-down process. The procedure to make the P-T limit curve was suggested in the ASME Code but it has been known to be too conservative for some cases. In this paper, the conservatism of the ASME Code Sec. XI, App. G was investigated by performing a series of sensitivity analyses. The effects of six parameters such as crack depth, crack orientation, clad thickness, fracture toughness, cooling rate, and neutron fluence were analyzed. The results of P-T limit curves are compared to one another.