Initialising ...
Initialising ...
Initialising ...
Initialising ...
Initialising ...
Initialising ...
Initialising ...
Hamase, Erina; Miyake, Yasuhiro*; Imai, Yasutomo*; Doda, Norihiro; Ono, Ayako; Tanaka, Masaaki
Mechanical Engineering Journal (Internet), 9(4), p.21-00438_1 - 21-00438_15, 2022/08
To enhance the safety of sodium-cooled fast reactors, a dipped-type direct heat exchanger (D-DHX) has been investigated in a natural circulation decay heat removal system. During the D-DHX operation, the core-plenum interactions occurs and the thermal-hydraulics in the reactor vessel (RV) is complicated, the establishment of thermal-hydraulic analysis model in the RV for computational fluid dynamics code (RV-CFD) is required to simulate the thermal stratification in the upper plenum and thermal-hydraulics in the core. In this study, in terms of using RV-CFD for design study, the subchannel CFD model with low computational cost was adopted to the core of RV-CFD and the numerical simulation was carried out in comparison with the measured data in the sodium test facility named PLANDTL-1. As the result, the calculated sodium temperature in the core had good agreement with the experimental result and the applicability of the RV-CFD for the core-plenum interactions was confirmed.
Takai, Toshihide; Furukawa, Tomohiro; Watanabe, Shigeki*; Ishioka, Noriko*
Mechanical Engineering Journal (Internet), 9(4), p.21-00397_1 - 21-00397_11, 2022/08
For the mass production of astatine-211, a promising radiopharmaceutical for cancer treatment, the National Institute for Quantum and Radiological Science and Technology has proposed the innovative "Liquid Bismuth Target System." The target window in this system must be made from a material that resists the highly corrosive liquid bismuth environment. To meet this requirement, a promising target window material was selected in corrosion experiments performed in stagnant liquid bismuth. Based on knowledge of corrosion in liquid lead-bismuth eutectic gained during the development of fast reactors and accelerator-driven subcritical systems, experiments were carried out under saturated dissolved oxygen and low oxygen conditions, and the corrosion behaviors of the specimens were evaluated. The FeCrAl-alloy exhibited the most excellent corrosion resistance, followed by FeCrMo-alloy. Both materials are suitable candidates for the target window.
Sato, Ikken; Yamaji, Akifumi*; Li, X.*; Madokoro, Hiroshi
Mechanical Engineering Journal (Internet), 9(2), p.21-00436_1 - 21-00436_17, 2022/04
Aihara, Jun; Kuroda, Masatoshi*; Tachibana, Yukio
Mechanical Engineering Journal (Internet), 9(4), p.21-00424_1 - 21-00424_13, 2022/00
It is important to improve oxidation resistance of fuel for huge oxygen ingress into core to improve safety of high temperature gas-cooled reactors (HTGRs), because almost volume of cores of HTGRs consist of graphite. In this study, simulated oxidation resistant fuel elements, of which matrix is mixture of SiC and graphite, has been fabricated by hot press method. In order to maintain structural integrity of fuel element under accident conditions, high-strength fuel elements should be developed. In order to identify optimal hot press conditions for preparing high-strength fuel elements, effect of hot press conditions on mechanical strength properties of fuel elements should be evaluated quantitatively. In the present study, response surface model, which represents relationship between hot press conditions and mechanical strength properties, has been constructed by introducing statistical design of experiments (DOE) approaches, and optimal hot press conditions were estimated by model.
synchrotron radiation observation of deformation and annealing processes of aluminum single crystalShiro, Ayumi*; Okada, Tatsuya*; Shobu, Takahisa
Mechanical Engineering Journal (Internet), 8(6), p.21-00106_1 - 21-00106_8, 2021/12
The objective of the present study was to carry out observations of deformation and annealing processes of aluminum single crystals using a synchrotron radiation X-rays at SPring-8. Al single-crystalline samples having a 111 orientation parallel to the longitudinal direction were grown by a Bridgman method. The samples were deformed in tension to a nominal strain of 0.08 at room temperature using an in-line tensioning apparatus. Post-deformation annealing at 480 
C was subsequently carried out in the same apparatus. A two-dimensional detector was used to detect multiple diffracted beams from the sample during the deformation and annealing processes. The volume irradiated by the X-ray beam was found to be composed of three regions having a small orientation difference, which was attributable to sub-grained microstructures of the sample. Detailed analyses of a diffraction spot intensity showed that the sub-grained microstructures were surpassed by dislocated microstructures with the increase in the tensile strain. During the post-deformation annealing, diffraction spots from a recrystallized grain first appeared at 180 s after the temperature reached 480 C. Coexistence of diffraction spots from the deformation matrix and recrystallized grain lasted only for about 22 s in the irradiated volume. The migration rate of the boundary between the deformation matrix and recrystallized grain was estimated to be of the order of several micrometers/s.
Aizawa, Kosuke; Hiyama, Tomoyuki; Nishimura, Masahiro; Kurihara, Akikazu; Ishida, Katsuji*
Mechanical Engineering Journal (Internet), 8(4), p.20-00547_1 - 20-00547_11, 2021/08
A sodium-cooled fast reactor has been designed to attain a high burn-up core in commercialized fast reactor cycle systems. The sodium-cooled fast reactor adopts a wire spacer between fuel pins. The wire spacer performs functions of securing the coolant channel and the mixing between subchannels. In high burn-up fuel subassemblies, the fuel pin deformation due to swelling and thermal bowing may decrease the local flow velocity in the subassembly and influence the heat removal capability. Therefore, understanding the flow field in a wire-wrapped pin bundle is important. This study performed particle image velocimetry (PIV) measurements using a wire-wrapped three-pin bundle water model to grasp the flow field in the subchannel under conditions, including the laminar to turbulent regions. In the region away from the wrapping wire, the maximum flow velocity was increased by decreasing the Re number. Accordingly, the PIV measurements using the three-pin bundle geometry without the wrapping wire were also conducted to understand the effect of the wrapping wires on the flow field in the subchannel. The results confirmed that the mixing due to the wrapping wire occurred, even in the laminar condition. These experimental results are useful not only for understanding the pin bundle thermal hydraulics, but also for the code validation.
Okajima, Satoshi
Mechanical Engineering Journal (Internet), 8(4), p.21-00080_1 - 21-00080_15, 2021/08
It was reported that the long distance travel of temperature distribution causes a new type of thermal ratcheting, even in the absence of primary stress. When the distance of temperature travel is moderate, the accumulation of the plastic strain due to this mechanism is finally saturated. We have found the strong relationship between hoop-membrane distributions of accumulated plastic strain and residual stress in this saturated case. Focusing on this relationship, we have aimed to predict the saturated distribution of the plastic strain based on the residual stress distribution that is required for the elastic shakedown behavior. In this paper, based on classical shell theory, we formulated the plastic strain distribution that brings uniform hoop-membrane stress in the given region. The formulated strain distribution was validated by the comparison with the accumulated plastic strain distribution obtained by finite element analyses using an elastic-perfectly plastic material.
Kikuchi, Shin; Nakamura, Kinya*; Yamano, Hidemasa
Mechanical Engineering Journal (Internet), 8(4), p.20-00542_1 - 20-00542_13, 2021/08
In a postulated severe accidental condition of sodium-cooled fast reactor (SFR), eutectic melting between boron carbide (B
C) and stainless steel (SS) may take place. Thus, kinetic behavior of BC-SS eutectic melting is one of the important phenomena to be considered when evaluating the core disruptive accidents in SFR. In this study, for the first step to obtain the fundamental information on kinetic feature of BC-SS eutectic melting, the thermal analysis using the pellet type samples of BC and Type 316L SS as different experimental technique was performed. The differential thermal analysis endothermic peaks for the BC-SS eutectic melting appeared from 1483K to 1534K and systematically shifted to higher temperatures when increasing heating rate. Based on this kinetic feature, apparent activation energy and pre-exponential factor for the BC-SS eutectic melting were determined by Kissinger method. It was found that the kinetic parameters obtained by thermal analysis were comparable to the literature values.
Takai, Toshihide; Furukawa, Tomohiro; Yamano, Hidemasa
Mechanical Engineering Journal (Internet), 8(4), p.20-00540_1 - 20-00540_11, 2021/08
In a core disruptive accident scenario, boron carbide, which is used as a control rod material, may melt below the melting temperature of stainless steel owing to the eutectic reaction with them. The eutectic mixture produced is assumed to extensively relocate in the degraded core, and this behavior plays an important role in significantly reducing the neutronic reactivity. However, these behaviors have never been simulated in previous severe accident analysis. To contribute to the improvement of the core disruptive accident analysis code, the thermophysical properties of the eutectic mixture in the solid state were measured, and regression equations that show the temperature (and boron carbide concentration) dependence are created.
Uchida, Mao*; Sakai, Takaaki*; Ezure, Toshiki; Tanaka, Masaaki
Mechanical Engineering Journal (Internet), 8(4), p.21-00161_1 - 21-00161_11, 2021/08
An evaluation method based on numerical analyses has been developed to predict occurrences gas entrainment phenomena at a free surface in a sodium-cooled fast reactor. In this study, experiments were conducted for gas entrainments due to drifting free surface vortexes observed in a circulating water tunnel geometry. Numerical analyses were also conducted in the same geometry using a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) code. Then, Strouhal numbers of vortex frequency and detailed flow velocity profiles were compared between experimental results and numerical results to clarify the evaluation accuracy of CFD calculation. As the results, the Strouhal numbers of the vortex frequency obtained from numerical analyses showed good agreement with the experimental data.
Segawa, Tomoomi; Kawaguchi, Koichi; Ishii, Katsunori; Suzuki, Masahiro; Tachihara, Joji; Takato, Kiyoto; Okita, Takatoshi; Satone, Hiroshi*; Suzuki, Michitaka*
Mechanical Engineering Journal (Internet), 8(3), p.21-00022_1 - 21-00022_9, 2021/06
To reduce the hold-up of the nuclear fuel materials in the glove box and the external exposure dose, the technology of the MOX powder adhesion prevention by the nanoparticle coating to the acrylic panels of the glove box has been developed. The surface analysis by means of atomic force microscopy (AFM) showed that the acrylic test piece surface coated with nanoparticles had a higher root mean square roughness value than that non-coated with nanoparticles. Due to the formation of nano-sized tiny rugged surface, the nanoparticle coating reduced the minimum adhesion force between the UO
particles and the acrylic test piece surface with the smallest particle size of about 5 
m where desorption was observed, by about one-tenth. Moreover, the nanoparticle coating reduced the amount of the MOX powder adhering to the acrylic test piece to about one-tenth. In this study, it was found that applying the nanoparticle coating to the acrylic panels of glove box can prevent the adhesion of nuclear fuel materials. This method is effective for reducing the hold-up of the nuclear fuel materials in the glove box, the external exposure dose and improving the visibility of the acrylic panels.
Kang, Z.; Okuda, Yukihiko; Nishida, Akemi; Tsubota, Haruji; Li, Y.
Mechanical Engineering Journal (Internet), 8(1), p.20-00331_1 - 20-00331_16, 2021/02
Considerable research has been carried out to establish a rational assessment method for nuclear power plants against local damage caused by an accidental projectile impact. Most of the empirical formulas that have been proposed seek to quantitatively investigate local damage to reinforced concrete (RC) structures caused by a rigid projectile impact. These formulas have been derived based on impact tests performed normal to the target structure, while only a few impact tests oblique to the target structure have been studied. This study aims to propose a new formula for evaluating local damage to RC structures caused by oblique impact based on experimental and simulation results. At present, we have validated an analytical method via comparison with experimental results and have conducted simulation analyses of oblique impact assessments on RC slabs using projectile with flat nose shape. In this study, the same analytical method will be used to investigate perforation damage to RC slabs subjected to oblique impact by projectiles with hemispherical nose shapes. In this paper, the effects of projectiles' nose shapes on perforation damage to RC slabs, the residual velocity of projectiles and the time history of energy transmission will be discussed.
Rizaal, M.; Saito, Takumi*; Okamoto, Koji*; Erkan, N.*; Nakajima, Kunihisa; Osaka, Masahiko
Mechanical Engineering Journal (Internet), 7(3), p.19-00563_1 - 19-00563_10, 2020/06
The adsorption of cesium (Cs) on calcium silicate insulation of primary piping system is postulated to contribute in high dose rate of surrounding pedestal area in Fukushima Daiichi NPP unit 2. In this study, room-temperature experiment of Cs adsorption on calcium silicate has been studied as an initial approach of Cs adsorption behavior toward higher temperature condition. As the result of analyzing of Cs adsorption kinetics, it was expected that the underlying adsorption mechanism is chemisorption. Furthermore, analysis of adsorption isotherm suggested unrestricted monolayer formation followed by multilayer formation.
Sato, Hiroyuki; Ohashi, Hirofumi
Mechanical Engineering Journal (Internet), 7(3), p.19-00332_1 - 19-00332_11, 2020/06
An uncertainty analysis method for control room habitability under toxic gas leakage accidents in cogeneration HTGR is proposed to support risk-informed design of the plant. The method is applied to representative toxic gas leakage accidents in a IS process hydrogen production plant coupled to the HTTR gas turbine test plant. Epistemic and aleatory uncertainties for each variable parameter are identified and are propagated using Latin hypercube sampling. The analyses show that the suggested method can successfully characterize and quantify uncertainties in the toxic gas concentration in control room. The results lead us to the conclusion that toxic gas dispersion behavior analysis should combine two evaluation methods: dense gas dispersion model and computational fluid dynamics simulation.
Suzuki, Hiroaki*; Morita, Yoshihiro*; Naito, Masanori*; Nemoto, Yoshiyuki; Kaji, Yoshiyuki
Mechanical Engineering Journal (Internet), 7(3), p.19-00450_1 - 19-00450_17, 2020/06
In this study, the SAMPSON code was modified to evaluate severe accidents in a spent fuel pool (SFP). Air oxidation models based on oxidation data obtained on the Zircaroy-4 cladding (ANL model) and the Zircaroy-2 cladding (JAEA model) were included in the modified SAMPSON code. Experiments done by Sandia National Laboratory using simulated fuel assemblies equivalent to those of an actual BWR plant were analyzed by the modified SAMPSON code to confirm the functions for analysis of the severe SFP accidents. The rapid fuel rod temperature rise due to the Zr air oxidation reaction could be reasonably evaluated by the SAMPSON analysis. The SFP accident analyses were conducted with different initial water levels which were no water, water level at bottom of active fuel, and water level at half of active fuel. The present analysis showed that the earliest temperature rise of the fuel rod surface occurred when there was no water in the SFP and natural circulation of air became possible.
Pshenichnikov, A.; Nagae, Yuji; Kurata, Masaki
Mechanical Engineering Journal (Internet), 7(3), p.19-00503_1 - 19-00503_10, 2020/06
Ishida, Shinya; Kawada, Kenichi; Fukano, Yoshitaka
Mechanical Engineering Journal (Internet), 7(3), p.19-00523_1 - 19-00523_17, 2020/06
The Phenomena Identification and Ranking Table (PIRT) approach was applied to the validation of SAS4A code in order to indicate the reliability of SAS4A code sufficiently and objectively. Based on this approach, issue and objective were clarified, plant design and scenario were defined, FOM and key phenomena were selected, and the code validation test matrix was completed with the results of investigation about analysis models and test cases. The results of the test analysis corresponding to this matrix show that the SAS4A models required for the IP evaluation were sufficiently validated. Furthermore, the validation with this matrix is highly reliable, since this matrix represents the comprehensive validation that also considers the relation between physical phenomena. In this study, the reliability and validity of SAS4A code were significantly enhanced by using PIRT approach to the sufficient level for CDA analyses in SFR.
Riyana, E. S.; Okumura, Keisuke; Terashima, Kenichi; Matsumura, Taichi; Sakamoto, Masahiro
Mechanical Engineering Journal (Internet), 7(3), p.19-00543_1 - 19-00543_8, 2020/06
Miwa, Shuhei; Nakajima, Kunihisa; Miyahara, Naoya; Nishioka, Shunichiro; Suzuki, Eriko; Horiguchi, Naoki; Liu, J.; Miradji, F.; Imoto, Jumpei; Afiqa, B. M.; et al.
Mechanical Engineering Journal (Internet), 7(3), p.19-00537_1 - 19-00537_11, 2020/06
We constructed the fission product (FP) chemistry database named ECUME for LWR severe accident. This version of ECUME is equipped with dataset of the chemical reactions and their kinetics constants for the reactions of cesium(Cs)-iodine(I)-boron(B)-molybdenum(Mo)-oxygen(O)-hydrogen(H) system in gas phase, the elemental model for the high temperature chemical reaction of Cs with stainless steel applied as the structural material in a reactor, and thermodynamic data for CsBO vapor species and solids of CsSiO
and CsFeSiO for these chemical reactions. The ECUME will provide estimation of Cs distribution due to the evaluation of effects of interaction with BWR control material B and stainless steel on Cs behavior in the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station.
Nakajima, Kunihisa; Nishioka, Shunichiro*; Suzuki, Eriko; Osaka, Masahiko
Mechanical Engineering Journal (Internet), 7(3), p.19-00564_1 - 19-00564_14, 2020/06
A large amount of cesium (Cs) chemisorbed onto stainless steel is predicted to be present especially in the upper region of reactor pressure vessel (RPV) during light water reactor severe accident (LWR SA) and a chemisorption model was developed for estimation of such amounts of Cs for stainless steel type 304 (SS304). However, this existing chemisorption model cannot accurately reproduce experimental results. Therefore, in this study, a modified Cs chemisorption model which accounts for silicon content in SS304 and concentration of cesium hydroxide (CsOH) in gaseous phases was constructed by combining penetration theory for gas-liquid mass transfer with chemical reaction and mass action law for CsOH decomposition at interface between gaseous and solid phases. As a result, it was found that the modified model was able to reproduce the experimental data more accurately than the existing model.
