Analysis of welding distortion due to narrow-gap welding of upper port plug

Narrow-gap welding is a low distortion welding process. This process allows very thick plates to be joined using fewer weld passes as compared to conventional V-groove or double V-groove welding. In case of narrow-gap arc welding as the heat input and weld volume is low, it reduces thermal stress leading to reduction of both residual stress and distortion. In this present study the effect of narrow-gap welding was studied on fabrication of a scaled down port plug in the form of a trapezoidal box made of 10 mm thick mild steel (MS) plates using gas tungsten arc welding (GTAW). Inherent strain method was used for numerical prediction of resulting distortions. The numerical results compared well with that of the experimentally measured distortion. The validated numerical scheme was used for prediction of weld induced distortion due to narrow-gap welding of full scale upper port plug made of 60 mm thick SS316LN material as is proposed for use in ITER project. It was observed that it is feasible to fabricate the said port plug keeping the distortions minimum within about 7 mm using GTAW for root pass welding followed by SMAW for filler runs.     

Gap instability of laminar flows in eccentric annular channels

Flow visualization has demonstrated that the critical Reynolds number for flow instability in the narrow gap of an annular channel with a diameter ratio of about 0.28 increases with increasing eccentricity e in the range 0.5 < e < 0.8. The critical Reynolds numbers in the wide gap at all eccentricities and in the narrow gap for 0 < e < 0.5 seem to be insensitive to eccentricity. These observations and comparison of the frequencies of transverse flow oscillations at different Reynolds numbers and different eccentricities demonstrate that at least two distinct instability mechanisms are present in annular flows. The one of particular interest in this work arises in narrow gaps and is attributed to the instability of the two shear layers forming on either side of the gap. Linear stability analysis demonstrated that the basic flow in concentric annuli is stable for the considered diameter ratio and range of Reynolds numbers. In contrast, the basic flow in eccentric annuli has an azimuthal variation that contains two inflection points, thus being potentially linearly unstable.     

Analytical model for CHF in narrow gaps with surface orientation effects

The CHF in rectangular narrow gaps has been investigated to develop a reasonable predictive model for CHF, accounting for the surface orientation effects. The model was based on Wallis formulation of the counter current flow limitation (CCFL) for flooding of the flow entrance gap. The results by the predictive model were compared with the experimental data by Kim and Suh (2003), and a good agreement was obtained for gap sizes of 1 mm and 2 mm with surface inclination angles ranging from 15° to 90°. However, when the surface inclination angle was less than 15° (nearly downward-facing position), the predictive model underestimated the CHF. A modified Katto–Kosho correlation based on Kutateladze approach was further proposed and it could predict the CHF well for inclination angles less than 15°, due to the surface tension effects. For the gap sizes of 5 mm and 10 mm, the predictive results were far larger than experimental data by Kim and Suh. And the large differences between the predictive results and experimental data were attributed to the fact that the mechanism of CHF in large gap is quite different from a narrow gap. It indicated that the validity of the model based on CCFL was limited to gaps of less than 5 mm. The present work is instructive for the safety analysis of the lower head of PWR in case of core meltdown during severe accident.     

Electromagnetic analysis of ITER generic equatorial port plug designs during three plasma current disruption cases

Electromagnetic phenomena due to plasma current disruptions are the cause for the main mechanical operation loads over the ITER equatorial level port plug structures.This paper presents a detailed finite element simulation and analysis of the transient electromagnetic effects of three different plasma current disruption cases over three designs of diagnostic shielding module (DSM) structure. The DSMs are contained into and supported by the generic equatorial port plug (GEPP) analyzed structure.The three plasma disruption cases studied were: major disruption upwards linear decay in 36 ms (MD UP LIN36), vertical displacements events, upwards and downwards linear decay in 36 ms (VDE UP LIN36 and VDE DW LIN36). A detailed analysis for GEPP structure and three DSM-first wall (FW) designs (horizontal and vertical drawers and monoblock) is also presented in order to extract the Eddy current distribution on these devices and thus the resultant electromagnetic forces and moments acting on them.     

Low activation steels welding with PWHT and coating for ITER test blanket modules and DEMO

EUROFER weldability is investigated in support of the European material properties database and TBM manufacturing. Electron Beam, Hybrid, laser and narrow gap TIG processes have been carried out on the EUROFER-97 steel (thickness up to 40 mm), a reduced activation ferritic-martensitic steel developed in Europe. These welding processes produce similar welding results with high joint coefficients and are well adapted for minimizing residual distortions. The fusion zones are typically composed of martensite laths, with small grain sizes. In the heat-affected zones, martensite grains contain carbide precipitates. High hardness values are measured in all these zones that if not tempered would degrade toughness and creep resistance. PWHT developments have driven to a one-step PWHT (750 °C/3 h), successfully applied to joints restoring good material performances. It will produce less distortion levels than a full austenitization PWHT process, not really applicable to a complex welded structure such as the TBM. Different tungsten coatings have been successfully processed on EUROFER material. It has shown no really effect on the EUROFER base material microstructure.     

Numerical study on effect of gap width of narrow rectangular channel on critical heat flux enhancement

According to the flow passage characteristic of narrow rectangular channel and liquid film dry-out mechanics of annular flow critical heat flux (CHF), an annular flow CHF analytical model for narrow rectangular channel has been achieved. This model may be used to predict the CHF behavior of boiling two-phase flow in narrow rectangular channel with gap width of not being less than 0.0005 m (the equivalent diameter of this channel is 0.001 m). Through analyzing and calculating, when the inlet dimensionless gap width of narrow rectangular channel is within 30-85, the enhancement of CHF in channel is obvious. At the same time, according to the characteristic of two-phase flow, the new determinant laws of CHF in boiling two-phase flow system have been derived. Through analyzing and calculating, it is substantial that this determinant laws is appropriate. The best dimensionless gap width of heat flux enhancement has been achieved to be 45-75.     

The effect of fuel rod loading speed on spacer grid spring force

The burnup-dependent grid-to-rod gap combined with the fluid-induced vibration may generate grid-to-rod fretting wear-induced fuel failure for some fuel assemblies in a certain burnup range. The grid-to-rod gap is dependent on initial spacer grid spring force, spring force relaxation and cladding creepdown. It is found that the initial spring force is reduced during the fuel rod loading into the fuel assembly skeleton. The extent of the initial spring force loss is strongly dependent on the fuel rod loading speed. Based on the initial spring force loss data obtained from two kinds of fuel rod loading speeds of 0.18 and 0.33 m/s, it can be said that the higher rod loading speed generates the larger initial spring force loss. This is because the higher speed generates the larger overshooting of spring deflection during the fuel rod loading. The extent of overshooting may be affected by axial misalignment of SG cells, spring-to-fuel rod end plug contact angle, ballooning of FR end plug weld region and the extent of gravity-induced FR bowing, combining with the fuel rod loading speed. The rod loading speed of 0.33 m/s is found to produce some spacer grid cells less than a minimum initial spring force requirement of 12 N against the grid-to-rod fretting wear-induced failure. In order to produce initial spacer grid spring force meeting the minimum spring force requirement, it is recommended that the lower rod loading speed be used, combined with axially aligned spacer grid cells and lower contact angle of spring-to-fuel rod end plug.     

Engineering of diagnostic equatorial port plugs for ITER

Within the ITER vacuum vessel, there are a significant number of diagnostics, measuring items such as plasma density, temperature and impurities; and providing a visible image of the ITER plasma. Since reliable diagnostic measurements are critical to the successful operation of ITER, robust structural design of the diagnostic supports, or port plugs, is also essential. The port plugs are substantial steel structures, mounted in both the equatorial and upper ports on the vacuum vessel. They not only support the diagnostics, but also provide functions of baking, cooling, and neutron shielding.Significant progress has been made in the mechanical design of the port plugs, culminating in the proposal of a new conceptual design, which uses the lid of the port plug as a structural member. This allows the port plug's mass to be more efficiently distributed, providing additional space for diagnostics, and better neutron shielding. A critical aspect of the design has been to provide a suitable interface between the lid and body of the structure which will support all of the structural loads which may be applied to the port plug. The lid also allows easy access to the diagnostic components when maintenance is required.Analyses have been carried out in support of the proposed changes. Structural analysis indicates that the wall thickness of the port plug could be reduced from 130 mm to 40 mm. Thermal analysis has demonstrated that the cooling and baking requirement for the port plug structure is less challenging than originally thought, and hence could be carried out in a simpler fashion. Neutronics analysis has led to a better understanding of the impact of different shielding materials and cavities through the contents of the port plug, and show that it may be possible to reduce the shielding thickness from 2000 mm to 1000 mm. Further electromagnetic analysis has been carried out demonstrating that modelling the effect of plasma movement will not affect the resultant loads by more than 20%, and that the originally defined port plug loads were probably conservative.     

Tokamak field error measurements with an electron beam in KSTAR

It is possible to detect the presence of small field errors in a tokamak with an electron beam. This was demonstrated earlier on T-15 and TEXTOR. This paper discusses the concept, past experience on these tokamaks, calculations for the Korea Superconducting Tokamak Advanced Research (KSTAR) device, an electron beam source, measurement devices for these measurements, and some results. It is shown that small toroidally averaged field errors can be detected by this method. A low voltage electron beam (e-beam) gun and fluorescent screen were mounted in a vertical port and inserted into the vacuum vessel at the end of the KSTAR 2nd campaign plasma experiments. A camera with a narrow field of view was mounted in midplane port in a tube tangent to the field lines at R ∼ 1.3 m and photographed the beam striking the screen. The poloidal field (PF) currents were held constant during the camera exposure period. Many shots with various PF coils energized were made and the deflections of the e-beam were measured. The measurements were made with a camera integration time of 300 ms because of the low light intensity. The results show that there are large field errors that diminish as the PF currents are raised. There appears to be no significant up-down asymmetry for static fields. Measurements with a 7 PF coil scenario with a calculated field null located at e-beam radial position show much larger fields than calculated. KSTAR was constructed with Incoloy 908 conduit using cable-in-conduit conductors (CICC) in 10 of the 14 PF coils and all 16 of the toroidal field (TF) coils. Incoloy 908 has a relative magnetic permeability, μ, of about 10. The field errors appear to be largely due to Incoloy 908.     

Investigations on post-dryout heat transfer in bilaterally heated annular channels

Post-dryout heat transfer in bilaterally heated vertical narrow annular channels with 1.0, 1.5 and 2.0 mm gap size has been experimentally investigated with deionized water under the condition of pressure ranging from 1.38 to 5.9 MPa and low mass flow rate from 42.9 to 150.2 kg/m²s. The experimental data was compared with well known empirical correlations including Groeneveld, Mattson, etc., and none of them gave an ideal prediction. Theoretical investigations were also carried out on post-dryout heat transfer in annular channels. Based on analysis of heat exchange processes arising among the droplets, the vapor and two tube walls of annular channel, a non-equilibrium mechanistic heat transfer model was developed. Comparison indicated that the present model prediction showed a good agreement with our experimental data. Theoretical calculation result showed that the forced convective heat transfer between the heated wall and vapor dominate the overall heat transfer. The heat transfer caused by the droplets direct contact to the wall and the interfacial convection/evaporation of droplets in superheated vapors also had an indispensable contribution. The radiation heat transfer would be neglected because of its small contribution (less than 0.11%) to the total heat transfer.     

Experimental investigations on single-phase heat transfer enhancement with longitudinal vortices in narrow rectangular channel

Four pairs of rectangular block as longitudinal vortex generators (LVG) were mounted periodically in a narrow rectangular channel to investigate fluid flow and convective heat transfer respectively in the narrow rectangular channel with LVG and without LVG. Both the channels have the same narrow gap (d) = 3 mm, the same hydraulic diameter (D_h) = 5.58 mm and the same length to diameter ratio (L/D_h) = 80.65. The experiments were performed with the channels oriented uprightly and uniform heat fluxes applied at the one side of the heating plate and single-phase water was used as test fluid. The parameters that were varied during the experiments included the mass flow rate, inlet liquid temperature, system pressure, and heat flux.In each of the experiments conducted, the temperature of both the liquid and the wall was measured at various locations along the flow direction. Based on the measured temperatures and the overall energy balance across the test section, the heat transfer coefficients for single-phase forced convection have been calculated. At the same time, in these experiments, the single-phase pressure drop across the channels was also measured. The correlations have been developed for mean Nusselt numbers and friction factors. Additionally, the visual experiments of infrared thermo-image recording the temperature on the outer wall of the heating plate have been conducted for validating the effects of LV.In these experimental investigations, both laminar regime and turbulent regime were under the thermo-hydraulic developing conditions, laminar-to-turbulent transition occurred in advance with the help of LV when Reynolds numbers vary between 310 and 4220. In laminar regime, LV causes heat transfer enhancement of about 100.9% and flow resistance increase of only 11.4%. And in turbulent regime, LV causes heat transfer enhancement of above 87.1% and flow resistance increase of 100.3%. As a result, LV can obviously enhance heat transfer of single-phase water, and increase flow resistance mildly.     

Moderator poison design and burn-up calculations at the SNS

The spallation neutron source (SNS) at Oak Ridge National Laboratory was commissioned in April 2006. At the nominal operating power (1.4 MW), it will have thermal neutron fluxes approximately an order of magnitude greater than any existing pulsed spallation source. It thus brings a serious challenge to the lifetime of the moderator poison sheets. The SNS moderators are integrated with the inner reflector plug (IRP) at a cost of ∼$2 million a piece. A replacement of the inner reflector plug presents a significant drawback to the facility due to the activation and the operation cost. Although there are a lot of factors limiting the lifetime of the inner reflector plug, like radiation damage to the structural material and helium production of beryllium, the bottle-neck is the lifetime of the moderator poison sheets. Increasing the thickness of the poison sheet extends the lifetime but would sacrifice the neutronic performance of the moderators. A compromise is accepted at the current SNS target system which uses thick Gd poison sheets at a projected lifetime of 6 MW-years of operation. The calculations in this paper reveal that Cd may be a better poison material from the perspective of lifetime and neutronic performance. In replacing Gd, the inner reflector plug could reach a lifetime of 8 MW-years with ∼5% higher peak neutron fluxes at almost no loss of energy resolution.     

Design concepts for reactor assembly components of 500 MWe future SFRs

500 MWe Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor (PFBR) is under construction in India. Beyond PFBR, it is planned to construct 3 twin units; each one is 2 MWe × 500 MWe capacity reactors with improved economy and enhanced safety. Significant capital cost reduction is targeted for the reactor assembly, by way of introducing new concepts for the grid plate, primary pipes, top shield and fuel handling system and optimizing the main vessel diameter and bottom dished head shape. The capital cost reduction of the reactor assembly components that could be achieved through these improved concepts is estimated to be about 25%. To validate these concepts, preliminary analysis has been completed, R&D areas have been identified and strategy to execute the R&D has been defined clearly. The basis of each concept is highlighted to depict the Indian approach and strategy to make the fast reactor economically competitive.     

First neutronics analysis for ITER bio-shield equatorial port plug

ITER equatorial port cell outside the bio-shield plug is a place to allow personnel access after shutdown that accommodates various sensitive equipment and pipes. Gamma dose rate after shutdown of 1 day in the port cell should be within 10 μSv/h for occupational safety which is one order of magnitude less than that in the port interspace by the shielding of bio-shield plug. To verify the shielding property of the bio-shield plug, the distributions of gamma dose rates in port cell were studied. Based on the ITER neutronics model Alite4 which is a three-dimensional ITER tokomak neutronics model for MCNP calculations with a 40 degree extent in the toroidal direction and vertical reflecting bounded planes on both sides, the equatorial port was updated according to a conceptual CAD model using Monte Carlo Automatic Modeling Program for Radiation Transport Simulation (MCAM). A 2-step method of gamma dose rate calculation was used for shutdown dose rates in CAD-based Multi-Functional 4D Neutronics Simulation System (VisualBUS). The result showed that gamma dose rates in the port cell were higher than the desired limit. Refinements to the bio-shield plug design were suggested to ensure that dose rates in the port cell were within the design value for maintenance access.     

Investigations on the effect of 100 MeV Ni ions irradiated chloride vapour phase epitaxy (Cl-VPE) grown GaN epilayers

Gallium nitride (GaN) epilayers have been grown by chloride vapour phase epitaxy (Cl-VPE) technique and the grown GaN layers were irradiated with 100 MeV Ni ions at the fluences of 5 × 10¹² and 2 × 10¹³ ions/cm². The pristine and 100 MeV Ni ions irradiated GaN samples were characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD), UV-visible transmittance spectrum, photoluminescence (PL) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) analysis. XRD results indicate the presence of gallium oxide phases after Ni ion irradiation, increase in the FWHM and decrease in the intensity of the GaN (0 0 0 2) peak with increasing ion fluences. The UV-visible transmittance spectrum and PL measurements show decrease in the band gap value after irradiation. AFM images show the nanocluster formation upon irradiation and the roughness value of GaN increases with increasing ion fluences.     

A remotely steered millimetre wave launcher for electron cyclotron heating and current drive on ITER

High-power millimetre wave beams employed on ITER for heating and current drive at the 170 GHz electron cyclotron resonance frequency require agile steering and tight focusing of the beams to suppress neoclassical tearing modes. This paper presents experimental validation of the remote steering (RS) concept of the ITER upper port millimetre wave beam launcher. Remote steering at the entrance of the upper port launcher rather than at the plasma side offers advantages in reliability and maintenance of the mechanically vulnerable steering system. A one-to-one scale mock-up consisting of a transmission line, mitre bends, remote steering unit, vacuum window, square corrugated waveguide and front mirror simulates the ITER launcher design configuration. Validation is based on low-power heterodyne measurements of the complex amplitude and phase distribution of the steered Gaussian beam. High-power (400 kW) short pulse (10 ms) operation under vacuum, diagnosed by calorimetry and thermography of the near- and far-field beam patterns, confirms high-power operation, but shows increased power loss attributed to deteriorating input beam quality compared with low-power operation. Polarization measurements show little variation with steering, which is important for effective current drive requiring elliptical polarization for O-mode excitation. Results show that a RS range of up to −12° to +12° can be achieved with acceptable beam quality. These measurements confirm the back-up design of the ITER ECRH&CD launcher with future application for DEMO.     

The ITER EC H&CD upper launcher: Structural system

After approval of the preliminary design of the ITER EC H&CD Upper Launcher, ECHUL-CA, a consortium of several European research institutes, was founded to pool resources for approaching the final design. At the end of 2011 the consortium has signed a 2 years contract with F4E to go ahead with the work on the launcher. The contract deals with design work on both the port plug, forming the structural system, and the mm-wave-system, which injects the RF-power into the plasma. Within the period of this contract all components being part of the Tritium confinement, of which the closure plate, the support flange, the diamond windows and the waveguide feed-throughs are the most outstanding ones, will get the status of the final design.Important steps to be done for the structural system are the optimization of the mechanical behavior of the launcher, leading to minimum deflections of the port plug during plasma disruptions and optimum seismic resistance. To reduce the effect of halo currents it was decided to recess the first wall of 100 mm compared to the regular blanket tangent. This recess requires substantial changes of the cooling system and the thermo-hydraulic design of the launcher. Also the layout of the shielding arrangement and the integration of the mm-wave system need significant revision. Moreover manufacturing aspects and enhanced remote handling capability are taken into account.For the final design also quality aspects must be considered; thus the design is elaborated with respect to applicable codes and standards, material specifications, risk analyses and the RAMI (reliability, availability, maintainability and inspectability) analysis to guarantee maximum performance of the device.This paper outlines the present status of the structural system of the EC H&CD upper launcher and represents the most recent steps towards its final design.     

Optical characteristics of recrystallized tungsten mirrors exposed to low-energy, high flux D plasmas

The surface topography and optical properties of recrystallized tungsten exposed to a low-energy (38 eV/D), high flux (10²² D/m² s) deuterium plasma with an ion fluence of 10²⁶ D/m² at various temperatures was investigated. It was found that the surface morphology weakly depends on the exposure temperature in the range 320-695 K with the exception of the narrow temperature region around 535 K, where large changes to all optical characteristics occurs. After plasma exposure at this temperature, the surface topography of the W sample is characterized by active blistering as has already been indicated in previous publications. The reflectance found in direct measurements at normal incidence drops in the wavelength interval 220-650 nm, whereas the estimations of reflectance using the ellipsometry data demonstrate some increase.     

Safety analysis for core conversion (from HEU to LEU) of Pakistan research reactor-2 (PARR-2)

PARR-2 (Pakistan Research Reactor-2), an MNSR (Miniature Neutron Source Reactor) is to be converted from HEU (High Enriched Uranium) to LEU (Low Enriched Uranium) fuel, along with all current MNSRs in various other countries. The purpose of conversion is to minimize the use of HEU for non-proliferation of high-grade nuclear fuel. The present report presents thermal hydraulic and safety analyses of PARR-2 using existing HEU fuel as well as proposed LEU fuel. Presently, the core is comprised of 90.2% enriched UAl₄-Al fuel. There are 344 fuel pins of 5.5 mm diameter. The core has a total of 994.8 g of U²³⁵. Standard computer code PARET/ANL (version 1992) (Obenchain, 1969) was employed to perform steady-state and transient analyses. Various parameters were computed, which included: coolant outlet, maximum clad surface & maximum fuel centerline temperatures; and peak power & corresponding peak core temperatures resulting from a transient initiated by 4 mK positive reactivity insertion. Results were compared with the reported data in Final Safety Analysis Report (FSAR) (Qazi et al., 1994). It was found that the PARET results were in reasonable agreement with the manufacturer's results. Calculations were also carried out for the proposed LEU core with two suggested fuel pin sizes (5.5 mm and 5.1 mm diameter with 12.6% & 12.3% enrichment, respectively). Comparison of the LEU results with the existing HEU fuel has been made and discussed.