Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A (대한기계학회논문집A)

The Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers (대한기계학회)
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Finite Element Analysis of Hydrogen Concentration for Blister Growth Estimation of CANDU Pressure Tube

CANDU 압력관의 블리스터 성장 예측을 위한 유한요소 수소 확산 해석

  • Published : 2004.02.01
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Abstract

The pressure tubes, which contain high temperature heavy water and fuel, are within the core of a CANDU nuclear reactor, and are thus subjected to high stresses, temperature gradient, and neutron flux. Further, it is well known that pressure tubes of cold-worked Zr-2.5Nb materials result in hydrogen diffusion, which create fully-hydrided regions (frequently called Blister). Thus a proper investigation of hydrogen diffusion within zirconium-alloy nuclear components, such as CANDU pressure tube and fuel channels is essential to predict the structural integrity of these components. In this respect, this paper presents numerical investigation of hydrogen diffusion to quantify the hydrogen concentration fur blister growth of CANDU pressure tube. For this purpose, coupled temperature-hydrogen diffusion analyses are performed by means of two-dimensional finite element analysis. Comparison of predicted temperature field and blister with published test data shows good agreement.

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References

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