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Wakui, Takashi; Takagishi, Yoichi*; Futakawa, Masatoshi
Materials, 16(17), p.5830_1 - 5830_16, 2023/09
Times Cited Count：0 Percentile：0(Chemistry, Physical)Cavitation damage on the mercury target vessel is induced by proton beam injection in mercury. The prediction method of the cavitation damage using Monte Carlo simulations was proposed taking into account of the uncertainties of the position of cavitation bubbles and impact pressure distributions. The distribution of impact pressure attributed to individual cavitation bubble collapsing was assumed to be the Gaussian distribution, and the probability distribution of the maximum value of impact pressures was assumed to be three kinds of distributions; the delta function, the Gaussian and Weibull distributions. Two parameters were estimated using Bayesian optimization by comparing the distribution of the cavitation damage obtained from experiment with that of accumulated plastic strain obtained from the simulation. It was found that the results obtained using the Weibull distribution reproduced the actual cavitation erosion phenomenon better than the other results.
Yamamoto, Kazami; Ogiwara, Norio*; Kuramochi, Masaya*
e-Journal of Surface Science and Nanotechnology (Internet), 21(4), p.359 - 364, 2023/07
In recent years, durable target is required according to increase of the beam power. To solve this problem, a liquid film was formed in vacuum and tested it as a target. An ethanol and a mercury were selected as liquid target materials, and we investigated whether the liquid sheet could be formed stably in a vacuum and how about the vacuum pressure. As a result, it was confirmed that the liquid films were stably formed in both case and the pressures with the films were about the vapor pressure of the materials.
Wakui, Takashi; Takagishi, Yoichi*; Futakawa, Masatoshi; Tanabe, Makoto*
Jikken Rikigaku, 23(2), p.168 - 174, 2023/06
Cavitation damage on the inner surface of the mercury target for the spallation neutron source occurs by proton bombarding in mercury. The prediction method of the cavitation damage using Monte Carlo simulations was suggested taking variability of the bubble core position and impact pressure distribution into account. The impact pressure distribution was estimated using the inverse analysis with Bayesian optimization was conducted with comparison between cavitation damage distribution obtained from experiment and the cumulative plastic strain distribution obtained from simulation. The average value and spread of maximum impact pressure estimated assuming the Gaussian distribution were 3.1 GPa and 1.2 
m, respectively. Simulation results reproduced experimental results and it can be said that this evaluation method is useful.
Ariyoshi, Gen; Obayashi, Hironari; Sasa, Toshinobu
Journal of Nuclear Science and Technology, 59(9), p.1071 - 1088, 2022/09
Times Cited Count：1 Percentile：31.61(Nuclear Science & Technology)Electromagnetic induction method is one of the effective techniques for local velocity measurement in heavy liquid metals. Ricou and Vives' probe and Von Weissenfluh's probe are famous instrumentations using a permanent magnet. However, sensitivity and measurement volume of the probes show unexpected variation since demagnetization of the magnet is occurred by temperature increase up to the Curie temperature. In this study, electromagnetic probe incorporating a miniature electromagnet was newly developed to overcome such unexpected variation. The diameter and the length of the sensor was 6 mm and 155 mm, respectively. The sensitivity and the measurement volume of the probe were assessed by measurement of local velocity of flowing mercury in a square channel. To clarify the validity for the measured velocity profiles, numerical velocity profiles were calculated and compared with experiment. And the validity for the measured velocity profiles were confirmed by calculated result.
Naoe, Takashi; Kinoshita, Hidetaka; Wakui, Takashi; Kogawa, Hiroyuki; Haga, Katsuhiro
JAEA-Technology 2022-018, 43 Pages, 2022/08
JAEA-Technology-2022-018.pdf:7.84MB
In the liquid mercury target system for the pulsed spallation neutron source of Materials and Life science experimental Facility (MLF) at the Japan in the Japan Proton Accelerator Research Complex (J-PARC), cavitation that is generated by the high-energy proton beam-induced pressure waves, resulting severe erosion damage on the interior surface of the mercury target vessel. The erosion damage is increased with increasing the proton beam power, and has the possibility to cause the leakage of mercury by the penetrated damage and/or the fatigue failure originated from erosion pits during operation. To achieve the long term stable operation under high-power proton beam, the mitigation technologies for cavitation erosion consisting of surface modification on the vessel interior surface, helium gas microbubble injection, double-walled beam window structure has been applied. The damage on interior surface of the vessel is never observed during the beam operation. Therefore, after the target operation term ends, we have cut out specimen from the target nose of the target vessel to inspect damaged surface in detail for verification of the cavitation damage mitigation technologies and lifetime estimation. We have developed the techniques of specimen cutting out by remote handling under high-radiation environment. Cutting method was gradually updated based on experience in actual cutting for the used target vessel. In this report, techniques of specimen cutting out for the beam entrance portion of the target vessel in high-radiation environment and overview of the results of specimen cutting from actual target vessels are described.
Haga, Katsuhiro; Kogawa, Hiroyuki; Naoe, Takashi; Wakui, Takashi; Wakai, Eiichi; Futakawa, Masatoshi
Proceedings of 19th International Topical Meeting on Nuclear Reactor Thermal Hydraulics (NURETH-19) (Internet), 13 Pages, 2022/03
The cross-flow type target was developed as the basic design of mercury target in J-PARC, and the design has been improved to realize the MW-class pulsed spallation neutron source. When the high-power and short-pulsed proton beam is injected into the mercury target, pressure waves are generated in mercury by rapid heat generation. The pressure waves induce the cavitation damages on the target vessel. Two countermeasures were adopted, namely, the injection of microbubbles into mercury and the double walled structure at the beam window. The bubble generator was installed in the target vessel to absorb the volume inflation of mercury and mitigate the pressure waves. Also, the double walled target vessel was designed to suppress the cavitation damage by the large velocity gradient of rapid mercury flow in the narrow channel of double wall. Finally, we could attain 1 MW beam operation with the duration time of 36.5 hours in 2020, and achieved the long term stable operation with 740 kW from April in 2021. This report shows the technical development of the high-power mercury target vessel in view of thermal hydraulics to attain 1 MW operation.
Teshigawara, Makoto; Nakamura, Mitsutaka; Kinsho, Michikazu; Soyama, Kazuhiko
JAEA-Technology 2021-022, 208 Pages, 2022/02
JAEA-Technology-2021-022.pdf:14.28MB
The Materials and Life science experimental Facility (MLF) is an accelerator driven pulsed spallation neutron and muon source with a 1 MW proton beam. The construction began in 2004, and we started beam operation in 2008. Although problems such as exudation of cooling water from the target container have occurred, as of April 2021, the proton beam power has reached up to 700 kW gradually, and stable operation is being performed. In recent years, the operation experience of the rated 1 MW has been steadily accumulated. Several issues such as the durability of the target container have been revealed according to the increase in the operation time. Aiming at making a further improvement of MLF, we summarized the current status of achievements for the design values, such as accelerator technology (LINAC and RCS), neutron and muon source technology, beam transportation of these particles, detection technology, and neutron and muon instruments. Based on the analysis of the current status, we tried to extract improvement points for upgrade of MLF. Through these works, we will raise new proposals that promote the upgrade of MLF, attracting young people. We would like to lead to the further success of researchers and engineers who will lead the next generation.
Kasugai, Yoshimi; Sato, Koichi; Takahashi, Kazutoshi*; Miyamoto, Yukihiro; Kai, Tetsuya; Harada, Masahide; Haga, Katsuhiro; Takada, Hiroshi
JPS Conference Proceedings (Internet), 33, p.011144_1 - 011144_6, 2021/03
A spallation neutron source with a mercury target has been in operation at the Materials and Life Science Experimental Facility of J-PARC since 2008. The target vessel made of stainless steel is required to be exchanged periodically due to radiation damage etc. In this presentation, tritium gas release observed in the first series of exchange work in 2011 and the analytical results will be shown.
Harada, Masahide; Sekijima, Mitsuaki*; Morikawa, Noriyuki*; Masuda, Shiho; Kinoshita, Hidetaka; Sakai, Kenji; Kai, Tetsuya; Kasugai, Yoshimi; Muto, Giichi*; Suzuki, Akio*; et al.
JPS Conference Proceedings (Internet), 33, p.011099_1 - 011099_6, 2021/03
In MLF at J-PARC, a unified mercury radioactivity monitor (UHAM) is installed to find an indication of failure of the mercury target and loop system by detecting radioactive materials leaked from the system with a 
-ray energy analysis with Germanium semi-conductor detectors (Ge detectors). It is composed of three units of sampling port and radiation monitors: (1) HAM for interstitial helium gas layer between the mercury vessel and surrounding water shroud of the mercury target, (2) CAM for atmosphere in the hot cell where the target loop is operated and (3) VAM for helium gas in the helium vessel where the target vessel is installed. Once any leakages of radioactive materials are detected, an alarm signal is issued immediately to the accelerator control system to stop beam operation. Software and hardware have been upgraded yearly. For example, two Ge detectors are used for HAM for redundancy, NaI Scintillation detectors are also used as supplemental for the Ge detector to keep availability of the system for high counting rate event. In April 2015, the UHAM activated when a small water coolant leakage from the water shroud of the mercury target occurred. VAM detected an abnormal increase of the counting rate in the helium vessel. It was also indicated that the measured radioactive nuclides were generated from the activation of the coolant (water) in the water shroud and not from the mercury.
Naoe, Takashi; Kinoshita, Hidetaka; Kogawa, Hiroyuki; Wakui, Takashi; Wakai, Eiichi; Haga, Katsuhiro; Takada, Hiroshi
Materials Science Forum, 1024, p.111 - 120, 2021/03
The mercury target vessel for the at the J-PARC neutron source is severely damaged by the cavitation caused by proton beam-induced pressure waves in mercury. To mitigate the cavitation damage, we adopted a double-walled structure with a narrow channel for the mercury at the beam window of the vessel. In addition, gas microbubbles were injected into the mercury to suppress the pressure waves. The front end of the vessel was cut out to inspect the effect of the damage mitigation technologies on the interior surface. The results showed that the double-walled target facing the mercury with gas microbubbles operating at 1812 MWh for an average power of 434 kW had equivalent damage to the single-walled target without microbubbles operating 1048 MWh for average power of 181 kW. The erosion depth due to cavitation in the narrow channel was clearly smaller than it was on the wall facing the bubbling mercury
Wakui, Takashi; Wakai, Eiichi; Kogawa, Hiroyuki; Naoe, Takashi; Hanano, Kohei*; Haga, Katsuhiro; Shimada, Tsubasa*; Kanomata, Kenichi*
Materials Science Forum, 1024, p.145 - 150, 2021/03
To realize a high beam power operation at the J-PARC, a mercury target vessel covered with water shroud was developed. In the first step, to realize an operation at 500 kW, the basic structure of the initial design was followed and the connection method between the mercury vessel and the water shroud was changed. Additionally, the operation at a beam power of 500 kW was realized in approximately eight months. In the second step, to realize the operation at 1 MW, the new structure in which only rear ends of vessels were connected was investigated. Cooling of the mercury vessel is used to reduce thermal stress and thick vessels of the water shroud are used to increase stiffness for the internal pressure; therefore, it was adopted. The stress in each vessel was lower than the allowable stress based on the pressure vessel code criteria prescribed in the Japan Industrial Standard, and confirmation was obtained that the operation with a beam power of 1 MW could be conducted.
for a mercury target induced by 3-GeV protonsMatsuda, Hiroki; Iwamoto, Hiroki; Meigo, Shinichiro; Takeshita, Hayato*; Maekawa, Fujio
Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research B, 483, p.33 - 40, 2020/11
Times Cited Count：3 Percentile：36.4(Instruments & Instrumentation)A thick target neutron yield for a mercury target at an angle of 180 from the incident beam direction is measured with the time-of-flight method using a 3-GeV proton beam at the Japan Proton Accelerator Research Complex (J-PARC). Comparing the experimental result with a Monte Carlo particle transport simulation by the Particle and Heavy Ion Transport code System (PHITS) shows that there are apparent discrepancies. We find that this trend is consistent with an experimental result of neutron-induced re- action rates obtained using indium and niobium activation foils. Comparing proton-induced neutron-production double-differential cross-sections for a lead target at backward directions between the PHITS calculation and experimental data suggests that the dis- crepancies for our experiments would be linked to the neutron production calculation around 3 GeV by the PHITS spallation model and/or the calculation of nonelastic cross-sections around 3 GeV in the particle transport simulation.
Nakayama, Masashi
JAEA-Data/Code 2020-009, 98 Pages, 2020/09
JAEA-Data-Code-2020-009.pdf:6.06MB
JAEA-Data-Code-2020-009-appendix1(DVD-ROM).zip:172.11MBJAEA-Data-Code-2020-009-appendix2-1(DVD-ROM).zip:468.85MBJAEA-Data-Code-2020-009-appendix2-2(DVD-ROM).zip:102.94MBJAEA-Data-Code-2020-009-appendix2-3(DVD-ROM).zip:141.88MBJAEA-Data-Code-2020-009-appendix2-4(DVD-ROM).zip:141.6MB
Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA) has developed a low alkaline cement, named as HFSC (Highly Fly-ash contained Silicafume Cement), in order to decrease the effect on geological environment of cementitious material. HFSC was used experimentally as the shotcrete (140m, 250m and 350m depth gallery) and lining concrete (GL-374m to GL-380m of east access shaft) in construction part of Horonobe URL. In order to evaluate the effect of HFSC on the surrounding rock and groundwater, concrete and rock cores were periodically sampled from the site where the in-situ construction test was conducted, and various analyzes were conducted. Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC) was used for part of 140m depth gallery, and the same analysis as HFSC was conducted, in order to compare the effect of OPC and HFSC. This report summarizes the results of analyzes conducted on core samples from 2009 to 2018.
Naoe, Takashi; Kinoshita, Hidetaka; Kogawa, Hiroyuki; Wakui, Takashi; Wakai, Eiichi; Haga, Katsuhiro; Takada, Hiroshi
JPS Conference Proceedings (Internet), 28, p.081004_1 - 081004_6, 2020/02
The beam window of the mercury target vessel in J-PARC is severely damaged by the cavitation. The cavitation damage is a crucial factor to limit lifetime of the target because it increases with the beam power. Therefore, mitigating cavitation damage is an important issue to operate the target stably for long time at 1 MW. At J-PARC, to mitigate the cavitation damage: gas microbubbles are injected into mercury for suppressing pressure waves, and double-walled structure with a narrow channel of 2 mm in width to form high-speed mercury flow (
4m/s) has been adopted. After operation, the beam window was cut to inspect the effect of the cavitation damage mitigation on inner wall. We optimized cutting conditions through the cold cutting tests, succeeding in cutting the target No.2 (without damage mitigation technologies) smoothly in 2017, and target No.8 with damage mitigation technologies. In the workshop, progress of cavitation damage observation for the target vessel will be presented.
Takada, Hiroshi; Haga, Katsuhiro
JPS Conference Proceedings (Internet), 28, p.081003_1 - 081003_7, 2020/02
At the Japan Proton Accelerator Research Complex (J-PARC), the pulsed spallation neutron source has been in operation with a redesigned mercury target vessel from October 2017 to July 2018, during which the operational beam power was restored to 500 kW and the operation with a 1-MW equivalent beam was demonstrated for one hour. The target vessel includes a gas-micro-bubbles injector and a 2-mm-wide narrow mercury flow channel at the front end as measures to suppress the cavitation damage. After the operating period, it was observed that the cavitation damage at the 3-mm-thick front end of the target vessel could be suppressed less than 17.5 m.
Naoe, Takashi; Kogawa, Hiroyuki; Tanaka, Nobuatsu*; Futakawa, Masatoshi
Advanced Experimental Mechanics, 4, p.17 - 21, 2019/08
We have introduced the following two techniques to mitigate the pressure wave-induced cavitation damage in the mercury target. One is the gas microbubble injection into the flowing mercury, and the other is the double-walled structure with a narrow gap channel at the proton beam entrance portion of the mercury vessel. The latter is expected to mitigate the cavitation damage due to the high-speed liquid flow ( 4 m/s) and the narrow gap boundary (2 mm). To quantitatively investigate the effect of double-walled structure on cavitation damage, cavitation damage tests were conducted by parametrically changing mercury flow velocity and gap width of the channel wall. The results showed that the damage evaluated as a surface roughness was reduced by increasing the flow velocity. By contrast, the effect of gap width on cavitation damage was hardly observed under flowing conditions.
Wakui, Takashi; Ishii, Hideaki*; Naoe, Takashi; Kogawa, Hiroyuki; Haga, Katsuhiro; Wakai, Eiichi; Takada, Hiroshi; Futakawa, Masatoshi
Materials Transactions, 60(6), p.1026 - 1033, 2019/06
Times Cited Count：3 Percentile：17.96(Materials Science, Multidisciplinary)The mercury target has large size as 1.3
1.32.5 m
. In view of reducing the amount of wastes, we studied the structure so that the fore part could be separated. The flange is required to have high seal performance less than 110
Pa m/s. Invar with low thermal expansion is a candidate. Due to its low stiffness, however, the flange may deform when it is fastened by bolts. Practically invar is reinforced with stainless steel where all interface between them has to be bonded completely with the HIP bonding. In this study, we made specimens at four temperatures and conducted tensile tests. The specimen bonded at 973 K had little diffusion layer, and so fractured at the interface. The tensile strength reduced with increasing the temperature, and the reduced amount was about 10% at 1473 K. The analyzed residual stresses near the interface increased by 50% at maximum. Then, we concluded that the optimum temperature was 1173 K.
and Au surfaces in preparation for chemical investigations on Cn, Nh, and Fl at TASCALens, L.*; Yakushev, A.*; D
llmann, Ch. E.*; Asai, Masato; Ballof, J.*; Block, M.*; David, H. M.*; Despotopulos, J.*; Di Nitto, A.*; Eberhardt, K.*; et al.
Radiochimica Acta, 106(12), p.949 - 962, 2018/12
Times Cited Count：8 Percentile：62.99(Chemistry, Inorganic & Nuclear)Online gas-solid adsorption studies with single atom quantities of Hg, Tl, and Pb on SiO and Au surfaces were carried out using short-lived radioisotopes with half-lives in the range of 4-49 s. This is a model study to measure adsorption enthalpies of superheavy elements Cn, Nh, and Fl. The short-lived isotopes were produced and separated by the gas-filled recoil separator TASCA at GSI. The products were stopped in He gas, and flushed into gas chromatography columns made of Si detectors whose surfaces were covered by SiO or Au. The short-lived Tl and Pb were successfully measured by the Si detectors with the SiO surface at room temperature. On the other hand, the Hg did not adsorb on the SiO surface, but adsorbed on the Au surface. The results demonstrated that the adsorption properties of short-lived Hg, Tl, and Pb could be studied with this setup, and that this method is applicable to the experiment for Cn, Nh, and Fl.
Wakui, Takashi; Wakai, Eiichi; Naoe, Takashi; Shintaku, Yohei*; Li, T.*; Murakami, Kazuya*; Kanomata, Kenichi*; Kogawa, Hiroyuki; Haga, Katsuhiro; Takada, Hiroshi; et al.
Journal of Nuclear Materials, 506, p.3 - 11, 2018/08
Times Cited Count：3 Percentile：30.05(Materials Science, Multidisciplinary)The mercury target vessel is designed as multi-walled structure with thin wall (min. 3 mm), and assembled by welding. In order to estimate the structural integrity of the vessel, it is important to measure the defects in welding accurately. For nondestructive tests of the welding, radiographic testing is applicable but it is difficult to detect for some defect shapes. Therefore it is effective to do ultrasonic testing together with it. Because ultrasonic methods prescribed in JIS inspect on the plate with more than 6 mm in thickness, these methods couldn't be applied as the inspection on the vessel with thin walls. In order to develop effective method, we carried out measurements using some testing method on samples with small defect whose size is specified. In the case of the latest phased array method, measured value agreed with actual size. It was found that this method was applicable to detect defects in the thin-walled structure for which accurate inspection was difficult so far.
Kai, Tetsuya; Uchida, Toshitsugu; Kinoshita, Hidetaka; Seki, Masakazu; Oi, Motoki; Wakui, Takashi; Haga, Katsuhiro; Kasugai, Yoshimi; Takada, Hiroshi
Journal of Physics; Conference Series, 1021(1), p.012042_1 - 012042_4, 2018/06
Times Cited Count：0 Percentile：0.11(Nuclear Science & Technology)