Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

The Wendelstein 7-X (W7-X) modular stellarator is under construction at the Max-Planck-Institut fuer Plasmaphysik in Greifswald, Germany. The W7-X magnet system contains 70 coils made up from helium cooled superconducting cables in aluminium alloy (EN AW-6063) jackets. Several hundred connections of the jacket to the cable joints are made by aluminium-to-aluminium welds. Due to geometrical and thermal boundary conditions these welds cannot be accomplished free from defects. Microscopic analyses of the welds show that a variety of small flaws such as cracks and pores develop during welding. The welds have thus to be dimensioned accordingly, and appropriate weld qualification, investigation and testing has to be done in order not to jeopardise the structural integrity and leak tightness. The weld is mechanically loaded during cool-down due to the difference in thermal contractions between the GRP insulation and the aluminium, and during operation by bending moments ...

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

This paper deals with the heat transfer characteristics of horizontal steam generators, particularly under natural circulation (decay heat removal) conditions on the primary side. Special emphasis is on the inherent features of horizontal steam generator behaviour. A mathematical model of the horizontal steam generator primary side is developed and qualitative results are obtained analytically. A computer code, called HSG, is developed to solve the model numerically, and its predictions are compared with experimental data. The code is employed to obtain for VVER 440 steam generators quantitative results concerning the dependence of primary-to-secondary heat transfer efficiency on the primary side flow rate, temperature and secondary level. It turns out that the depletion of the secondary inventory leads to an inherent limitation of the decay energy removal in VVER steam generators. The limitation arises as a consequence of the steam generator tube bundle geometry. As an example, it is ...