Papers by Author: Young Jin Kim

Abstract: A piping system including straight pipes, elbows and tee branches in a nuclear power plant is mostly subjected to severe loading conditions with high temperature and pressure. In particular, the wall-thinning of an elbow due to flow accelerated corrosion is one of safety issues in the nuclear industry. In this respect, it is necessary to investigate the limit loads of an elbow with a wall-thinned part for evaluating integrity. In this paper, three dimensional plastic limit analyses are performed to obtain limit loads of an elbow with different bend angles as well as defect geometries under internal pressure and in-plane/out-of-plane bending moment. The limit loads are also compared with the results from limit load solutions of an uninjured elbow based on the von Mises yield criteria. Finally, the effects of significant factors, bend angle and defect shape, are quantified to estimate the exact load carrying capacity of an elbow during operation.

Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to investigate fluid characteristics and flat panel display behaviours on contact-free flat panel display handler nozzles. Since air force distributions streaming bottom surface of a flat panel display highly dependent on operating as well as design conditions and configuration of contact-free handler nozzle, influences of various parameters such as flow rate, supply air pressure, floating height are examined through a series of computational fluid dynamics analyses. Moreover, dynamic finite element analyses of the flat panel display are carried out to assure that an oscillation effect caused by disturbances is not significant. Key findings from the both computational fluid dynamics and structural integrity analysis results are presented and discussed, which can be figured out an optimized operating condition of contact-free handler nozzles.

Abstract: In the ASME Code Section III ‘design by analysis’ approach, stresses are determined by numerical method and compared with corresponding stress limits. This approach provides several stress criteria for fatigue life assessment and procedures for categorizing the representative stress components. Since the stress criteria were derived from two-dimensional basis, however, it may inappropriate to delineate structural components with complex geometry. In this paper, detailed transient analyses are performed for modular pressurizer with an asymmetric geometry, which includes perforated parts to mount various piping and equipments. Also, the applicability of an effective elastic modulus to consider the perforation and the appropriateness of stress linearization method using stress classification line are assessed. Then, the cumulative usage factor as well as stress intensities at critical locations of the pressurizer are calculated and compared with corresponding allowable design stress limits. The key findings of this work can be used to make regulatory guides for evaluation and confirmation of structural intensity of components with asymmetric perforated parts.

Abstract: Fretting damage is a critical problem to prevent failure of press-fitted shaft such as the rotor of a steam turbine, railway axles or coupling. To clarify the characteristics of surface damage due to fretting in press-fitted shaft, experimental methods were applied to small-scale specimen with different bending load conditions. Fatigue tests and interrupted fatigue tests of press-fitted specimen were carried out by using a rotate bending fatigue test machine. Macroscopic and microscopic characteristics were examined using scanning electron microscope (SEM), optical microscope or profilometer. It is found that small fatigue cracks are nucleated early in life regardless of bending stress, and thus the most portion of fatigue life on press fits can be considered to be crack propagation process. Most of surface cracks are initiated near the contact edge, and multiple cracks are nucleated and interconnected. Furthermore, the fretting wear rates at the contact edge increase rapidly at the initial stage of total fatigue life. It is thus suggested that the fatigue crack nucleation and propagation process is strongly related to the evolution of surface profile by fretting wear in press fits.

Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to investigate principles of levitation and restitution of blowing nozzle prior to fabricating a prototype of air handling system. Since air force distributions streaming bottom surface of a flat panel display (FPD) highly dependent on operating as well as design condition and configuration of air handling system, influences of various parameters such as flow rate, supply air pressure, floating height and tilted angle are examined through a series of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analyses. Moreover, dynamic finite element analyses of the FPD are carried out to assure that an oscillation effect caused by disturbances is not significant. Key findings from the both CFD and structural analysis results are presented and discussed, which can be utilized as technical bases for development of the practical air handling system.

Abstract: The present work deals with an applicability of the local approach to assess in-plane size effects among different sized compact tension (CT) specimens. To characterize ductile crack growth of typical nuclear materials, SA515 Gr.60 and SA516 Gr.70 carbon steels, finite element analyses employing modified GTN and Rousselier models as well as fracture toughness tests were carried out. Material damage parameters were calibrated using standard CT specimens and reflected to predict fracture resistance (J-R) curves of larger CT specimens. Since comparison results between numerically estimated J-R curves and experimentally determined ones corresponded well, it is anticipated that the local approach might be used as a promising tool for ductile fracture evaluation incorporating the in-plane size effect.

Abstract: Steam generator in a nuclear power plant is huge heat exchanger that transfers heat from reactor to make steam to drive turbine-generator. Failure of the steam generator tubes can result in the release of fission products to the secondary side. Therefore, accurate integrity assessment of the cracked steam generator tubes is of great importance for maintaining the safety of the nuclear power plant. This paper provides limit loads for circumferential through-wall cracks in steam generator tubes under combined internal pressure and bending loads. Such limit loads are developed on the basis of three dimensional finite element analyses assuming elastic-perfectly plastic material behavior. As for the crack location, both the top of the tubesheet and U-bend regions are considered. The analysis results can be directly applied to the practical integrity assessment of cracked steam generator tubes, because the comparison between experimental data and FE results shows a very good agreement.

Abstract: Fracture toughness data from the cleavage resistance test of structural steels often show a large scatter. Geometry dependency as well as the scatter makes it difficult to evaluate appropriate fracture integrity of cracked components. To address these restrictions, several stochastic models have been proposed by Beremin group, Mudry and other researchers while each of them employs specific estimation scheme and micro-mechanical parameters. The purpose of this paper is to investigate applicability of the Weibull stress model in transition temperature regime and to quantify constraint effect among different-sized CT and PCVN specimens. The constituting parameters m and σu are determined at three temperatures by maximum likelihood estimate (MLE) technique in use of FE analysis results and experimental data of PCVN specimens. Also, failure probabilities of PCVN and CT specimens are calculated from the Weibull parameters, which are used for derivation of a prototype of toughness scale diagram. The diagram provides a technical basis to resolve transferability issue in the same material under different temperatures and constraint conditions.

Abstract: The aim of this study was to estimate the mechanical properties and evaluate the biocompatibility of silk and PGA scaffolds as an artificial ligament to an ACL reconstruction. The scaffold for the artificial ligament was braided / knitted silk or PGA thread. The mechanical properties, cell growth, and subcutaneous tissue reactions were determined for both types of scaffolds. The breaking load of the PGA scaffold was double that of the sericin removed silk scaffold (SRSS). However, the initial attachment and growth of human ACL cells on the SRSS was superior to the PGA scaffold. In addition, the immune response was significantly higher on the PGA scaffold after 72 h (p<0.05) compared with the sericin removed silk scaffold by T lymphocyte and mononuclear cells (MNCs) in vitro cultures. In vivo, the ACL scaffold made from silk or PGA were implanted in the subcutaneous layer in rats and harvested 1 week later. A histological evaluation of the scaffolds explants revealed the presence of monocytes in the SRSS, and an absence of giant cells in all cases. An inflammatory tissue reaction was more conspicuous around the silk scaffold containing sericin and even more around the PGA scaffold compared with SRSS. These results support the conclusion that a properly prepared SRSS, aside from providing benefits in terms of biocompatibility both in vitro and in vivo, can provide suitable scaffolds for the support of ACL cell growth. These results suggest that a SRSS for ACL repair can overcome the current limitations with the PGA scaffold. And SRSS is biocompatible, and the in vitro T cell and MNCs culture model showed inflammatory responses that were comparable to those observed in vivo.

Abstract: The effects of acid treatment methods on the fracture of single walled carbon nanotubes are investigated using gel electrophoresis and Raman spectroscopic techniques. The mechanism of gel electrophoresis is based on the migration of charged particles in an electric field, and the gel matrix acts as a sieve for the analyte. A comparative Raman spectroscopy analysis, performed on the migrated nanotubes in the gel, shows that small diameter tubes are cut shorter by the acid treatments.