Analysis of core damage frequency: Peach Bottom, Unit 2 internal events appendices

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kolaczkowski, A.M.; Cramond, W.R.; Sype, T.T.; Maloney, K.J.; Wheeler, T.A.; Daniel, S.L.

1989-08-01

This document contains the appendices for the accident sequence analysis of internally initiated events for the Peach Bottom, Unit 2 Nuclear Power Plant. This is one of the five plant analyses conducted as part of the NUREG-1150 effort for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The work performed and described here is an extensive reanalysis of that published in October 1986 as NUREG/CR-4550, Volume 4. It addresses comments from numerous reviewers and significant changes to the plant systems and procedures made since the first report. The uncertainty analysis and presentation of results are also much improved, and considerable effort was expended on an improved analysis of loss of offsite power. The content and detail of this report is directed toward PRA practitioners who need to know how the work was done and the details for use in further studies. The mean core damage frequency is 4.5E-6 with 5% and 95% uncertainty bounds of 3.5E-7 and 1.3E-5, respectively. Station blackout type accidents (loss of all ac power) contributed about 46% of the core damage frequency with Anticipated Transient Without Scram (ATWS) accidents contributing another 42%. The numerical results are driven by loss of offsite power, transients with the power conversion system initially available operator errors, and mechanical failure to scram. 13 refs., 345 figs., 171 tabs

An estimation of core damage frequency of a pressurized water reactor during midloop operation due to loss of residual heat removal

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chao, C.C.; Chen, C.T.; Lee, M.

1995-01-01

The core damage frequency caused by loss of residual heat removal (RHR) events was assessed during midloop operation of a Westinghouse-designed three-loop pressurized water reactor. The assessment considers two types of outages (refueling and drained maintenance) and uses failure data collected specifically for shutdown condition. Event trees were developed for five categories of loss of RHR events. Human actions to mitigate the loss of RHR events were identified and human error probabilities were quantified using the human cognitive reliability (HCR) and the technique for human error rate prediction (THERP) models. The results showed that the core damage frequency caused by loss of RHR events during midloop operation was 3.4 x 10 -5 per year. The results also showed that the core damage frequency can be reduced significantly by removing a pressurizer safety valve before entering midloop operation. The establishment of reflux cooling, i.e., decay heat removal through the steam generator secondary side, also plays an important role in mitigating the loss of RHR events during midloop operation

Estimation of core-damage frequency to evolutionary ALWR [advanced light water reactor] due to seismic initiating events: Task 4.3.3

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Brooks, R.D.; Harrison, D.G.; Summitt, R.L.

1990-04-01

The Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) is presently developing a requirements document for the design of advanced light water reactors (ALWRs). One of the basic goals of the EPRI ALWR Requirements Document is that the core-damage frequency for an ALWR shall be less than 1.0E-5. To aid in this effort, the Department of Energy's Advanced Reactor Severe Accident Program (ARSAP) initiated a functional probabilistic risk assessment (PRA) to determine how effectively the evolutionary plant requirements contained in the existing EPRI Requirements Document assure that this safety goal will be met. This report develops an approximation of the core-damage frequency due to seismic events for both evolutionary plant designs (pressurized-water reactor (PWR) and boiling-water reactor(BWR)) as modeled in the corresponding functional PRAs. Component fragility values were taken directly form information which has been submitted for inclusion in Appendix A to Volume 1 of the EPRI Requirements Document. The results show a seismic core-damage frequency of 5.2E-6 for PWRS and 5.0E-6 for BWRs. Combined with the internal initiators from the functional PRAs, the overall core-damage frequencies are 6.0E-6 for the pwr and BWR, both of which satisfy the 1.0E-5 EPRI goal. In addition, site-specific considerations, such as more rigid components and less conservative fragility data and seismic hazard curves, may further reduce these frequencies. The effect of seismic events on structures are not addressed in this generic evaluation and should be addressed separately on a design-specific basis. 7 refs., 6 figs., 3 tabs

Evaluation of nuclear power plant component failure probability and core damage probability using simplified PSA model

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shimada, Yoshio

2000-01-01

It is anticipated that the change of frequency of surveillance tests, preventive maintenance or parts replacement of safety related components may cause the change of component failure probability and result in the change of core damage probability. It is also anticipated that the change is different depending on the initiating event frequency or the component types. This study assessed the change of core damage probability using simplified PSA model capable of calculating core damage probability in a short time period, which is developed by the US NRC to process accident sequence precursors, when various component's failure probability is changed between 0 and 1, or Japanese or American initiating event frequency data are used. As a result of the analysis, (1) It was clarified that frequency of surveillance test, preventive maintenance or parts replacement of motor driven pumps (high pressure injection pumps, residual heat removal pumps, auxiliary feedwater pumps) should be carefully changed, since the core damage probability's change is large, when the base failure probability changes toward increasing direction. (2) Core damage probability change is insensitive to surveillance test frequency change, since the core damage probability change is small, when motor operated valves and turbine driven auxiliary feed water pump failure probability changes around one figure. (3) Core damage probability change is small, when Japanese failure probability data are applied to emergency diesel generator, even if failure probability changes one figure from the base value. On the other hand, when American failure probability data is applied, core damage probability increase is large, even if failure probability changes toward increasing direction. Therefore, when Japanese failure probability data is applied, core damage probability change is insensitive to surveillance tests frequency change etc. (author)

Evaluation of potential severe accidents during low power and shutdown operations at Surry, Unit 1: Analysis of core damage frequency from internal floods during mid-loop operations. Volume 4

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kohut, P.

1994-07-01

The major objective of the Surry internal flood analysis was to provide an improved understanding of the core damage scenarios arising from internal flood-related events. The mean core damage frequency of the Surry plant due to internal flood events during mid-loop operations is 4.8E-06 per year, and the 5th and 95th percentiles are 2.2E-07 and 1.8E-05 per year, respectively. Some limited sensitivity calculations were performed on three plant improvement options. The most significant result involves modifications of intake-level structure on the canal, which reduced core damage frequency contribution from floods in mid-loop by about 75%

The effect of uncertainties in nuclear reactor plant-specific failure data on core damage frequency

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Martz, H.F.

1995-05-01

It is sometimes the case in PRA applications that reported plant-specific failure data are, in fact, only estimates which are uncertain. Even for detailed plant-specific data, the reported exposure time or number of demands is often only an estimate of the actual exposure time or number of demands. Likewise the reported number of failure events or incidents is sometimes also uncertain because incident or malfunction reports may be ambiguous. In this report we determine the corresponding uncertainty in core damage frequency which can b attributed to such uncertainties in plant-specific data using a simple but typical nuclear power reactor example

The IPE Database: providing information on plant design, core damage frequency and containment performance

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lehner, J.R.; Lin, C.C.; Pratt, W.T.; Su, T.; Danziger, L.

1996-01-01

A database, called the IPE Database has been developed that stores data obtained from the Individual Plant Examinations (IPEs) which licensees of nuclear power plants have conducted in response to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's (NRC) Generic Letter GL88-20. The IPE Database is a collection of linked files which store information about plant design, core damage frequency (CDF), and containment performance in a uniform, structured way. The information contained in the various files is based on data contained in the IPE submittals. The information extracted from the submittals and entered into the IPE Database can be manipulated so that queries regarding individual or groups of plants can be answered using the IPE Database

Analysis of core damage frequency from internal events: Methodology guidelines: Volume 1

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Drouin, M.T.; Harper, F.T.; Camp, A.L.

1987-09-01

NUREG-1150 examines the risk to the public from a selected group of nuclear power plants. This report describes the methodology used to estimate the internal event core damage frequencies of four plants in support of NUREG-1150. In principle, this methodology is similar to methods used in past probabilistic risk assessments; however, based on past studies and using analysts that are experienced in these techniques, the analyses can be focused in certain areas. In this approach, only the most important systems and failure modes are modeled in detail. Further, the data and human reliability analyses are simplified, with emphasis on the most important components and human actions. Using these methods, an analysis can be completed in six to nine months using two to three full-time systems analysts and part-time personnel in other areas, such as data analysis and human reliability analysis. This is significantly faster and less costly than previous analyses and provides most of the insights that are obtained by the more costly studies. 82 refs., 35 figs., 27 tabs

Core damage frequency prespectives for BWR 3/4 and Westinghouse 4-loop plants based on IPE results

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dingman, S.; Camp, S.; LaChance, J.; Mary Drouin

1995-01-01

This paper discusses the core damage frequency (CDF) insights gained by analyzing the results of the Individual Plant Examinations (IPES) for two groups of plants: boiling water reactor (BWR) 3/4 plants with Reactor Core Isolation Cooling systems, and Westinghouse 4-loop plants. Wide variability was observed for the plant CDFs and for the CDFs of the contributing accident classes. On average, transients-with loss of injection, station blackout sequences, and transients with loss of decay heat removal are important contributors for the BWR 3/4 plants, while transients, station blackout sequences, and loss-of-coolant accidents are important for the Westinghouse 4-loop plants. The key factors that contribute to the variability in the results are discussed. The results are often driven by plant-specific design and operational characteristics, but differences in modeling approaches are also important for some accident classes

Concept and methodology for evaluating core damage frequency considering failure correlation at multi units and sites and its application

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ebisawa, K.; Teragaki, T.; Nomura, S. [Former Incorporated Administrative Agency, Japan Nuclear Safety Organization (Japan); Abe, H., E-mail: Hiroshi_abe@nsr.go.jp [Former Incorporated Administrative Agency, Japan Nuclear Safety Organization (Japan); Shigemori, M.; Shimomoto, M. [Mizuho Information & Research Institute, 2-3, Kanda-Nishikicho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo (Japan)

2015-07-15

Highlights: • We develop a method to evaluate CDF considering failure correlation at multi units. • We develop a procedure to evaluate correlation coefficient between multi components. • We evaluate CDF at two different BWR units using correlation coefficients. • We confirm the validity of method and correlation coefficient through the evaluation. - Abstract: The Tohoku earthquake (Mw9.0) occurred on March 11, 2011 and caused a large tsunami. The Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant with six units were overwhelmed by the tsunami and core damage occurred. Authors proposed the concept and method for evaluating core damage frequency (CDF) considering failure correlation at the multi units and sites. Based on the above method, one of authors developed the procedure for evaluating the failure correlation coefficient and response correlation coefficient between the multi components under the strong seismic motion. These method and failure correlation coefficients were applied to two different BWR units and their CDF was evaluated by seismic probabilistic risk assessment technology. Through this quantitative evaluation, the validity of the method and failure correlation coefficient was confirmed.

Concept and methodology for evaluating core damage frequency considering failure correlation at multi units and sites and its application

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ebisawa, K.; Teragaki, T.; Nomura, S.; Abe, H.; Shigemori, M.; Shimomoto, M.

2015-01-01

Highlights: • We develop a method to evaluate CDF considering failure correlation at multi units. • We develop a procedure to evaluate correlation coefficient between multi components. • We evaluate CDF at two different BWR units using correlation coefficients. • We confirm the validity of method and correlation coefficient through the evaluation. - Abstract: The Tohoku earthquake (Mw9.0) occurred on March 11, 2011 and caused a large tsunami. The Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant with six units were overwhelmed by the tsunami and core damage occurred. Authors proposed the concept and method for evaluating core damage frequency (CDF) considering failure correlation at the multi units and sites. Based on the above method, one of authors developed the procedure for evaluating the failure correlation coefficient and response correlation coefficient between the multi components under the strong seismic motion. These method and failure correlation coefficients were applied to two different BWR units and their CDF was evaluated by seismic probabilistic risk assessment technology. Through this quantitative evaluation, the validity of the method and failure correlation coefficient was confirmed

Analysis and research status of severe core damage accidents

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1984-03-01

The Severe Core Damage Research and Analysis Task Force was established in Nuclear Safety Research Center, Tokai Research Establishment, JAERI, in May, 1982 to make a quantitative analysis on the issues related with the severe core damage accident and also to survey the present status of the research and provide the required research subjects on the severe core damage accident. This report summarizes the results of the works performed by the Task Force during last one and half years. The main subjects investigated are as follows; (1) Discussion on the purposes and necessities of severe core damage accident research, (2) proposal of phenomenological research subjects required in Japan, (3) analysis of severe core damage accidents and identification of risk dominant accident sequences, (4) investigation of significant physical phenomena in severe core damage accidents, and (5) survey of the research status. (author)

IPE Data Base: Plant design, core damage frequency and containment performance information

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lehner, J.; Lin, C.C.; Pratt, W.T.; Su, T.; Danziger, L.

1995-01-01

This data base stores data obtained from the Individual Plant Examinations (IPEs) which licensees of nuclear power plants have conducted in response to NRC's Generic Letter GL88-20. The IPE Data Base is a collection of linked files which store information about plant design, core damage frequency, and containment performance in a uniform, structured way. The information contined in the various files is based on data contained in the IPE submittals. The information extracted from the submittals and entered into the IPE Data Base can be maniulated so that queries regarding individual or groups of plants can be answered using the IPE Data Base. The IPE Data Base supports detailed inquiries into the characteristics of individual plants or classes of plants. Progress has been made on the IPE Data Base and it is largely complete. Recent focus has been the development of a user friendly version which is menu driven and allows the user to ask queries of varying complexity easily, without the need to become familiar with particular data base formats or conventions such as those of DBase IV or Microsoft Access. The user can obtain the information he desired by quickly moving through a series of on-screen menus and ''clicking'' on appropriate choices. In this way even a first time user can benefit from the large amount of information stored in the IPE Data Base without the need of a learning period

The contribution to site core damage frequency from independent occurrences of initiators in two or more units: How low is it?

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kim, Dong-San; Park, Jin Hee; Lim, Ho Gon [Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

2016-10-15

Stutzke estimated the site risk by summing the contribution from common cause initiators and the contribution from single-unit initiators. He considered some kinds of multi-unit accident sequences caused by single-unit initiators. However, the contribution from independent occurrences of initiators in two or more units at a site was not taken into account. The purpose of this study is to estimate the contribution to site core damage frequency (CDF) from simultaneous occurrences of independent initiators in two or more units at the same site. Some assumptions and methods used in this analysis are firstly described, and the results and conclusions of the analysis are described. In this study, the contribution to site core damage frequency (CDF) from simultaneous occurrences of independent initiators in two or more units at the same site was estimated. A Korean six-unit site was selected as the reference site and the at-power internal events Level 1 PSA model for an OPR1000 unit at the reference site was used as the base model, and was modified to deal with some major dependencies between units at the site. Specifically, the availability of the AAC D/G, dependencies between offsite power recovery actions in different unis, and inter-unit CCF modeling for risk-significant components such as diesel generators were taken into account. As a result, the sum of dual-unit CDF due to independent occurrences of initiators in two units at the reference site was estimated to be sufficiently low to be neglected.

TMI-2 core damage: a summary of present knowledge

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Owen, D.E.; Mason, R.E.; Meininger, R.D.; Franz, W.A.

1983-01-01

Extensive fuel damage (oxidation and fragmentation) has occurred and the top approx. 1.5 m of the center portion of the TMI-2 core has relocated. The fuel fragmentation extends outward to slightly beyond one-half the core radius in the direction examined by the CCTV camera. While the radial extent of core fragmentation in other directions was not directly observed, control and spider drop data and in-core instrument data suggest that the core void is roughly symmetrical, although there are a few indications of severe fuel damage extending to the core periphery. The core material fragmented into a broad range of particle sizes, extending down to a few microns. APSR movement data, the observation of damaged fuel assemblies hanging unsupported from the bottom of the reactor upper plenum structure, and the observation of once-molten stainless steel immediately above the active core indicate high temperatures (up to at least 1720 K) extended to the very top of the core. The relative lack of damage to the underside of the plenum structure implies a sharp temperature demarcation at the core/plenum interface. Filter debris and leadscrew deposit analyses indicate extensive high temperature core materials interaction, melting of the Ag-In-Cd control material, and transport of particulate control material to the plenum and out of the vessel

Evaluation of potential severe accidents during low power and shutdown operations at Grand Gulf, Unit 1: Analysis of core damage frequency from internally induced flooding events for Plant Operational State 5 during a refueling outage. Volume 4

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dandini, V.; Staple, B.; Kirk, H.; Whitehead, D.; Forester, J.

1994-07-01

An estimate of the contribution of internal flooding to the mean core damage frequency at the Grand Gulf Nuclear Station was calculated for Plant Operational State 5 during a refueling outage. Pursuant to this objective, flood zones and sources were identified and flood volumes were calculated. Equipment necessary for the maintenance of plant safety was identified and its vulnerability to flooding was determined. Event trees and fault trees were modified or developed as required, and PRA quantification was performed using the IRRAS code. The mean core damage frequency estimate for GGNS during POS 5 was found to be 2.3 E-8 per year

Calculation of Core Damage Frequency for the Change of the Common Cause Failure Parameters According to the Testing Strategies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kang, Dae Il; Kim, Kil You; Jin, Young Ho; Kim, Tae Woon

2011-01-01

Common cause failure (CCF) probabilities are differently estimated according to testing strategies. There are two representative testing schemes; staggered testing and non-staggered testing schemes. For the cases where trains or channels of standby safety systems consisting of more than two redundant components are tested in a staggered manner, the standby safety components within a train can be tested simultaneously or consecutively. In this case, mixed testing scheme, staggered and non-staggered testing schemes, are used for testing the components. Kang et al. derived the formulas for the estimations of the CCF probabilities of the components under the mixed testing scheme. This paper presents the sensitivity study results on the core damage frequency (CDF) of the SMART (System-integrated Modular Advanced Reactor) for the changes of the CCF parameters according to the testing strategies

Evaluation of potential severe accidents during low power and shutdown operations at Surry, Unit 1. Volume 5: Analysis of core damage frequency from seismic events during mid-loop operations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Budnitz, R.J.; Davis, P.R.; Ravindra, M.K.; Tong, W.H.

1994-08-01

In 1989 the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) initiated an extensive program to examine carefully the potential risks during low-power and shutdown operations. The program included two parallel projects, one at Brookhaven National Laboratory studying a pressurized water reactor (Surry Unit 1) and the other at Sandia National Laboratories studying a boiling water reactor (Grand Gulf). Both the Brookhaven and Sandia projects have examined only accidents initiated by internal plant faults--so-called ''internal initiators.'' This project, which has explored the likelihood of seismic-initiated core damage accidents during refueling shutdown conditions, is complementary to the internal-initiator analyses at Brookhaven and Sandia. This report covers the seismic analysis at Surry Unit 1. All of the many systems modeling assumptions, component non-seismic failure rates, and human error rates that were used in the internal-initiator study at Surry have been adopted here, so that the results of the two studies can be as comparable as possible. Both the Brookhaven study and this study examine only two shutdown plant operating states (POSs) during refueling outages at Surry, called POS 6 and POS 10, which represent mid-loop operation before and after refueling, respectively. This analysis has been limited to work analogous to a level-1 seismic PRA, in which estimates have been developed for the core-damage frequency from seismic events during POSs 6 and 10. The results of the analysis are that the core-damage frequency of earthquake-initiated accidents during refueling outages in POS 6 and POS 10 is found to be low in absolute terms, less than 10 -6 /year

Present status and needs of research on severe core damage

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1982-05-01

The needs for research on severe core damage accident have been emphasized recently, in particular, since TMI-2 accident. The Severe Core Damage Research Task Force was established by the Divisions of Reactor Safety and Reactor Safety Evaluation to evaluate individual phenomenon, to survey the present status of research and to provide the recommended research subjects on severe accidents. This report describes the accident phenomena involving some analytical results, status of research and recommended research subjects on severe core damage accidents, divided into accident sequence, fuel damage, and molten material behavior, fission product behavior, hydrogen generation and combustion, steam explosion and containment integrity. (author)

Evaluation of potential severe accidents during low power and shutdown operations at Grand Gulf, Unit 1: Analysis of core damage frequency from internal fire events for Plant Operational State 5 during a refueling outage. Volume 3

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lambright, J.; Yakle, J.

1994-07-01

This report, Volume 3, presents the details of the analysis of core damage frequency due to fire during shutdown Plant Operational State 5 at the Grand Gulf Nuclear Station. Insights from previous fire analyses (Peach Bottom, Surry, LaSalle) were used to the greatest extent possible in this analysis. The fire analysis was fully integrated utilizing the same event trees and fault trees that were used in the internal events analysis. In assessing shutdown risk due to fire at Grand Gulf, a detailed screening was performed which included the following elements: (a) Computer-aided vital area analysis; (b) Plant inspections; (c) Credit for automatic fire protection systems; (d) Recovery of random failures; (e) Detailed fire propagation modeling. This screening process revealed that all plant areas had a negligible (<1.0E-8 per year) contribution to fire-induced core damage frequency

Estimative of core damage frequency in IPEN's IEA-R1 research reactor (PSA level 1) due to the initiating event of loss of coolant caused by large rupture in the pipe of the primary circuit

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hirata, Daniel Massami

2009-01-01

This work applies the methodology of probabilistic safety assessment level 1 to the research reactor IEA-R1 IPEN-CNEN/SP. Two categories of identified initiating events of accidents in the reactor are studied: loss of flow and loss of primary coolant. Among the initiating events, blockage of flow channel and loss of cooling fluid by major pipe rupture in the primary circuit are chosen for a detailed analysis. The event tree technique is used to analyze the evolution of the accident, including the actuation or the fail of actuation of the safety systems and the reactor damages. Using the fault tree the reliability of the following reactor safety systems is evaluated: reactor shutdown system, isolation of the reactor pool, emergency core cooling system (ECCS) and the electric system. Estimative for the frequency of damage to the reactor core and the probability of failure of the analyzed systems are calculated. The estimated values for the frequencies of core damage are within the expected margins and are of the same order of magnitude as those found for similar reactors. The reliability of the reactor shutdown system, isolation of the reactor pool and ECCS are satisfactory for the conditions these systems are required. However, for the electric system it is suggested an upgrade to increase its reliability. (author)

An examination of impact damage in glass-phenolic and aluminum honeycomb core composite panels

Science.gov (United States)

Nettles, A. T.; Lance, D. G.; Hodge, A. J.

1990-01-01

An examination of low velocity impact damage to glass-phenolic and aluminum core honeycomb sandwich panels with carbon-epoxy facesheets is presented. An instrumented drop weight impact test apparatus was utilized to inflict damage at energy ranges between 0.7 and 4.2 joules. Specimens were checked for extent of damage by cross sectional examination. The effect of core damage was assessed by subjecting impact-damaged beams to four-point bend tests. Skin-only specimens (facings not bonded to honeycomb) were also tested for comparison purposes. Results show that core buckling is the first damage mode, followed by delaminations in the facings, matrix cracking, and finally fiber breakage. The aluminum honeycomb panels exhibited a larger core damage zone and more facing delaminations than the glass-phenolic core, but could withstand more shear stress when damaged than the glass-phenolic core specimens.

Precursors to potential severe core damage accidents: 1992, A status report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cox, D.F.; Cletcher, J.W.; Copinger, D.A.; Cross-Dial, A.E.; Morris, R.H.; Vanden Heuvel, L.N.; Dolan, B.W.; Jansen, J.M.; Minarick, J.W.; Lau, W.; Salyer, W.D.

1993-12-01

Twenty-seven operational events with conditional probabilities of subsequent severe core damage of 1.0 x 10E-06 or higher occurring at commercial light-water reactors during 1992 are considered to be precursors to potential core damage. These are described along with associated significance estimates, categorization, and subsequent analyses. The report discusses (1) the general rationale for this study, (2) the selection and documentation of events as precursors, (3) the estimation and use of conditional probabilities of subsequent severe core damage to rank precursor events, and (4) the plant models used in the analysis process

Severe core damage experiments and analysis for CANDU applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mathew, P.M.; White, A.J.; Snell, V.G.; Bonechi, M.

2003-01-01

AECL uses the MAAP CANDU code to calculate the progression of a severe core damage accident in a CANDU reactor to support Level 2 Probabilistic Safety Assessment and Severe Accident Management activities. Experimental data are required to ensure that the core damage models used in MAAP CANDU code are adequate. In SMiRT 16, details of single channel experiments were presented to elucidate the mechanisms of core debris formation. This paper presents the progress made in severe core damage experiments since then using single channels in an inert atmosphere and results of the model development work to support the experiments. The core disassembly experiments are conducted with one-fifth scale channels made of Zr-2.5wt%Nb containing twelve simulated fuel bundles in an inert atmosphere. The reference fuel channel geometry consists of a pressure tube/calandria tube composite, with the pressure tube ballooned into circumferential contact with the calandria tube. Experimental results from single channel tests showed the development of time-dependent sag when the reference channel temperature exceeded 850 degC. The test results also showed significant strain localization in the gap at the bundle junctions along the bottom side of the channel, thus suggesting creep to be the main deformation mechanism for debris formation. An ABAQUS finite element model using two-dimensional beam elements with circular cross-section was developed to explain the experimental findings. A comparison of the calculated central sag (at mid-span), the axial displacement at the free end of the channel and the post-test sag profile showed good agreement with the experiments, when strain localization was included in the model, suggesting such a simple modelling approach would be adequate to explain the test findings. The results of the tests are important not only in the context of the validation of the analytical tools and models adopted by AECL for the severe accident analysis of CANDU reactors but

Precursors to potential severe core damage accidents. A status report, 1982--1983

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Forester, J.A.; Mitchell, D.B.; Whitehead, D.W. [and others

1997-04-01

This study is a continuation of earlier work that evaluated 1969-1981 and 1984-1994 events affecting commercial light-water reactors. One-hundred nine operational events that affected 51 reactors during 1982 and 1983 and that are considered to be precursors to potential severe core damage are described. All these events had conditional probabilities of subsequent severe core damage greater than or equal to 1.0 x 10{sup {minus}6}. These events were identified by first computer screening the 1982-83 licensee event reports from commercial light-water reactors to select events that could be precursors to core damage. Candidates underwent engineering evaluation that identified, analyzed, and documented the precursors. This report discusses the general rationale for the study, the selection and documentation of events as precursors, and the estimation of conditional probabilities of subsequent severe core damage for the events.

Precursors to potential severe core damage accidents. A status report, 1982--1983

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Forester, J.A.; Mitchell, D.B.; Whitehead, D.W.

1997-04-01

This study is a continuation of earlier work that evaluated 1969-1981 and 1984-1994 events affecting commercial light-water reactors. One-hundred nine operational events that affected 51 reactors during 1982 and 1983 and that are considered to be precursors to potential severe core damage are described. All these events had conditional probabilities of subsequent severe core damage greater than or equal to 1.0 x 10 -6 . These events were identified by first computer screening the 1982-83 licensee event reports from commercial light-water reactors to select events that could be precursors to core damage. Candidates underwent engineering evaluation that identified, analyzed, and documented the precursors. This report discusses the general rationale for the study, the selection and documentation of events as precursors, and the estimation of conditional probabilities of subsequent severe core damage for the events

Status of the TMI-2 core: a review of damage assessments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Croucher, D.W.

1981-01-01

Assessments of the damage within the core of the Three Mile Island Unit 2 reactor, performed by reconstructing the transient thermal-hydraulic sequence of events, estimating the amount of hydrogen generation, and evaluating the amount of fission products released, are reviewed and summarized. Minimum and maximum bounds of damage to the core are identified

Evaluation of potential severe accidents during low power and shutdown operations at Grand Gulf, Unit 1. Volume 5: Analysis of core damage frequency from seismic events for plant operational state 5 during a refueling outage

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Budnitz, R.J.; Davis, P.R.; Ravindra, M.K.; Tong, W.H.

1994-08-01

In 1989 the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) initiated an extensive program to examine carefully the potential risks during low-power and shutdown operations. The program included two parallel projects, one at Sandia National Laboratories studying a boiling water reactor (Grand Gulf), and the other at Brookhaven National Laboratory studying a pressurized water reactor (Surry Unit 1). Both the Sandia and Brookhaven projects have examined only accidents initiated by internal plant faults---so-called ''internal initiators.'' This project, which has explored the likelihood of seismic-initiated core damage accidents during refueling outage conditions, is complementary to the internal-initiator analyses at Brookhaven and Sandia. This report covers the seismic analysis at Grand Gulf. All of the many systems modeling assumptions, component non-seismic failure rates, and human effort rates that were used in the internal-initiator study at Grand Gulf have been adopted here, so that the results of the study can be as comparable as possible. Both the Sandia study and this study examine only one shutdown plant operating state (POS) at Grand Gulf, namely POS 5 representing cold shutdown during a refueling outage. This analysis has been limited to work analogous to a level-1 seismic PRA, in which estimates have been developed for the core-damage frequency from seismic events during POS 5. The results of the analysis are that the core-damage frequency for earthquake-initiated accidents during refueling outages in POS 5 is found to be quite low in absolute terms, less than 10 -7 /year

Review of the Oconee-3 probabilistic risk assessment: external events, core damage frequency. Volume 2

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hanan, N.A.; Ilberg, D.; Xue, D.; Youngblood, R.; Reed, J.W.; McCann, M.; Talwani, T.; Wreathall, J.; Kurth, P.D.; Bandyopadhyay, K.

1986-03-01

A review of the Oconee-3 Probabilistic Risk Assessment (OPRA) was conducted with the broad objective of evaluating qualitatively and quantitatively (as much as possible) the OPRA assessment of the important sequences that are ''externally'' generated and lead to core damage. The review included a technical assessment of the assumptions and methods used in the OPRA within its stated objective and with the limited information available. Within this scope, BNL performed a detailed reevaluation of the accident sequences generated by internal floods and earthquakes and a less detailed review (in some cases a scoping review) for the accident sequences generated by fires, tornadoes, external floods, and aircraft impact. 12 refs., 24 figs., 31 tabs.

Review of the Oconee-3 probabilistic risk assessment: external events, core damage frequency. Volume 2

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hanan, N.A.; Ilberg, D.; Xue, D.

1986-03-01

A review of the Oconee-3 Probabilistic Risk Assessment (OPRA) was conducted with the broad objective of evaluating qualitatively and quantitatively (as much as possible) the OPRA assessment of the important sequences that are ''externally'' generated and lead to core damage. The review included a technical assessment of the assumptions and methods used in the OPRA within its stated objective and with the limited information available. Within this scope, BNL performed a detailed reevaluation of the accident sequences generated by internal floods and earthquakes and a less detailed review (in some cases a scoping review) for the accident sequences generated by fires, tornadoes, external floods, and aircraft impact. 12 refs., 24 figs., 31 tabs

Evaluation of potential severe accidents during low power and shutdown operations at Surry, Unit 1: Analysis of core damage frequency from internal fires during mid-loop operations. Volume 3, Part 1, Main report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Musicki, Z.; Chu, T.L.; Yang, J.; Ho, V.; Hou, Y.M.; Lin, J.; Siu, N.

1994-07-01

During l989, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) initiated an extensive program to carefully examine the potential risks during low power and shutdown operations. The program includes two parallel projects being performed by Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) and Sandia National Laboratories (SNL). Two plants, Surry (pressurized water reactor) and Grand Gulf (boiling water reactor), were selected as the plants to be studied. The objectives of the program are to assess the risks of severe accidents initiated during plant operational states other than fun power operation and to compare the estimated core damage frequencies, important accident sequences and other qualitative and quantitative results with those accidents initiated during full power operation as assessed in NUREG-1150. The objective of this report is to document the approach utilized in ' the Surry plant and discuss the results obtained. A parallel report for the Grand Gulf plant is prepared by SNL. This study shows that the core-damage frequency during mid-loop operation at the Surry plant is comparable to that of power operation. We recognize that there is very large uncertainty in the human error probabilities in this study. This study identified that only a few. procedures are available for mitigating accidents that may occur during shutdown. Procedures written specifically for shutdown accidents would be useful

Modeling of reflood of severely damaged reactor core

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bachrata, A.

2012-01-01

The TMI-2 accident and recently Fukushima accident demonstrated that the nuclear safety philosophy has to cover accident sequences involving massive core melt in order to develop reliable mitigation strategies for both, existing and advanced reactors. Although severe accidents are low likelihood and might be caused only by multiple failures, accident management is implemented for controlling their course and mitigating their consequences. In case of severe accident, the fuel rods may be severely damaged and oxidized. Finally, they collapse and form a debris bed on core support plate. Removal of decay heat from a damaged core is a challenging issue because of the difficulty for water to penetrate inside a porous medium. The reflooding (injection of water into core) may be applied only if the availability of safety injection is recovered during accident. If the injection becomes available only in the late phase of accident, water will enter a core configuration that will differ from original rod bundle geometry and will resemble to the severe damaged core observed in TMI-2. The higher temperatures and smaller hydraulic diameters in a porous medium make the coolability more difficult than for intact fuel rods under typical loss of coolant accident conditions. The modeling of this kind of hydraulic and heat transfer is a one of key objectives of this. At IRSN, part of the studies is realized using an European thermo-hydraulic computer code for severe accident analysis ICARE-CATHARE. The objective of this thesis is to develop a 3D reflood model (implemented into ICARE-CATHARE) that is able to treat different configurations of degraded core in a case of severe accident. The proposed model is characterized by treating of non-equilibrium thermal between the solid, liquid and gas phase. It includes also two momentum balance equations. The model is based on a previously developed model but is improved in order to take into account intense boiling regimes (in particular

Multi-scale fracture damage associated with underground chemical explosions

Science.gov (United States)

Swanson, E. M.; Sussman, A. J.; Wilson, J. E.; Townsend, M. J.; Prothro, L. B.; Gang, H. E.

2018-05-01

Understanding rock damage induced by explosions is critical for a number of applications including the monitoring and verification of underground nuclear explosions, mine safety issues, and modeling fluid flow through fractured rock. We use core observations, televiewer logs, and thin section observations to investigate fracture damage associated with two successive underground chemical explosions (SPE2 and SPE3) in granitic rock at both the mesoscale and microscale. We compare the frequency and orientations of core-scale fractures, and the frequency of microfractures, between a pre-experiment core and three post-experiment cores. Natural fault zones and explosion-induced fractures in the vicinity of the explosive source are readily apparent in recovered core and in thin sections. Damage from faults and explosions is not always apparent in fracture frequency plots from televiewer logs, although orientation data from these logs suggests explosion-induced fracturing may not align with the pre-existing fracture sets. Core-scale observations indicate the extent of explosion-induced damage is 10.0 m after SPE2 and 6.8 m after SPE3, despite both a similar size and location for both explosions. At the microscale, damage is observed to a range distance of 10.2 ± 0.9 m after SPE2, and 16.6 ± 0.9 and 11.2 ± 0.6 in two different cores collected after SPE3. Additional explosion-induced damage, interpreted to be the result of spalling, is readily apparent near the surface, but only in the microfracture data. This depth extent and intensity of damage in the near-surface region also increased after an additional explosion. This study highlights the importance of evaluating structural damage at multiple scales for a more complete characterization of the damage, and particularly shows the importance of microscale observations for identifying spallation-induced damage.

Estimative of core damage frequency in IPEN'S IEA-R1 research reactor due to the initiating event of loss of coolant caused by large rupture in the pipe of the primary circuit

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hirata, Daniel Massami; Sabundjian, Gaiane; Cabral, Eduardo Lobo Lustosa

2009-01-01

The National Commission of Nuclear Energy (CNEN), which is the Brazilian nuclear regulatory commission, imposes safety and licensing standards in order to ensure that the nuclear power plants operate in a safe way. For licensing a nuclear reactor one of the demands of CNEN is the simulation of some accidents and thermalhydraulic transients considered as design base to verify the integrity of the plant when submitted to adverse conditions. The accidents that must be simulated are those that present large probability to occur or those that can cause more serious consequences. According to the FSAR (Final Safety Analysis Report) the initiating event that can cause the largest damage in the core, of the IEA-R1 research reactor at IPEN-CNEN/SP, is the LOCA (Loss of Coolant Accident). The objective of this paper is estimate the frequency of the IEA-R1 core damage, caused by this initiating event. In this paper we analyze the accident evolution and performance of the systems which should mitigate this event: the Emergency Coolant Core System (ECCS) and the isolated pool system. They will be analyzed by means of the event tree. In this work the reliability of these systems are also quantified using the fault tree. (author)

Damage Detection Based on Cross-Term Extraction from Bilinear Time-Frequency Distributions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ma Yuchao

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Abundant damage information is implicated in the bilinear time-frequency distribution of structural dynamic signals, which could provide effective support for structural damage identification. Signal time-frequency analysis methods are reviewed, and the characters of linear time-frequency distribution and bilinear time-frequency distribution typically represented by the Wigner-Ville distribution are compared. The existence of the cross-term and its application in structural damage detection are demonstrated. A method of extracting the dominant term is proposed, which combines the short-time Fourier spectrum and Wigner-Ville distribution; then two-dimensional time-frequency transformation matrix is constructed and the complete cross-term is extracted finally. The distribution character of which could be applied to the structural damage identification. Through theoretical analysis, model experiment and numerical simulation of the girder structure, the change rate of cross-term amplitude is validated to identify the damage location and degree. The effectiveness of the cross-term of bilinear time-frequency distribution for damage detection is confirmed and the analytical method of damage identification used in structural engineering is available.

Core damage vulnerability due to the loss of ESW [essential service water] systems at multiplant sites: An assessment and options

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kohut, P.; Musicki, Z.; Fitzpatrick, R.

1989-01-01

The main objective of this study is to establish the core damage vulnerability caused by the failure of the ESW systems in multiplant units that have only two sw pumps per unit with crosstie capability. Design and operating data have been surveyed to derive system failure frequency. A core damage model is constructed including operating configurations, specific recovery actions, and time and leak rate dependent RCP seal LOCA model. The estimated CDF SW = 2.55 x 10 -4 /yr is significant indicating the potential vulnerability of this particular SW design arrangement. A number of different potential improvements have been considered. The addition of a swing pump serving both units is shown to have the most significant CDF reduction potential (∼50%) combined with advantageous cost/benefit aspects. 2 refs., 2 tabs

Evaluation of potential severe accidents during low power and shutdown operations at Surry, Unit 1: Analysis of core damage frequency from internal events during mid-loop operations, Appendices A--D. Volume 2, Part 2

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chu, T.L.; Musicki, Z.; Kohut, P.

1994-06-01

During 1989, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) initiated an extensive program to carefully examine the Potential risks during low Power and shutdown operations. The program includes two parallel projects being performed by Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) and Sandia National Laboratories (SNL). Two plants, Surry (pressurized water reactor) and Grand Gulf (boiling water reactor), were selected as the Plants to be studied. The objectives of the program are to assess the risks of severe accidents initiated during plant operational states other than full power operation and to compare the estimated core damage frequencies, important accident sequences and other qualitative and quantitative results with those accidents initiated during full power operation as assessed in NUREG-1150. The objective of this report is to document the approach utilized in the Surry plant and discuss the results obtained. A parallel report for the Grand Gulf plant is prepared by SNL. This study shows that the core-damage frequency during mid-loop operation at the Surry plant is comparable to that of power operation. We recognize that there is very large uncertainty in the human error probabilities in this study. This study identified that only a few procedures are available for mitigating accidents that may occur during shutdown. Procedures written specifically for shutdown accidents would be useful. This document, Volume 2, Pt. 2 provides appendices A through D of this report

Evaluation of potential severe accidents during low power and shutdown operations at Surry, Unit 1: Analysis of core damage frequency from internal events during mid-loop operations, Appendices A--D. Volume 2, Part 2

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Chu, T.L.; Musicki, Z.; Kohut, P. [Brookhaven National Lab., Upton, NY (United States)] [and others

1994-06-01

During 1989, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) initiated an extensive program to carefully examine the Potential risks during low Power and shutdown operations. The program includes two parallel projects being performed by Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) and Sandia National Laboratories (SNL). Two plants, Surry (pressurized water reactor) and Grand Gulf (boiling water reactor), were selected as the Plants to be studied. The objectives of the program are to assess the risks of severe accidents initiated during plant operational states other than full power operation and to compare the estimated core damage frequencies, important accident sequences and other qualitative and quantitative results with those accidents initiated during full power operation as assessed in NUREG-1150. The objective of this report is to document the approach utilized in the Surry plant and discuss the results obtained. A parallel report for the Grand Gulf plant is prepared by SNL. This study shows that the core-damage frequency during mid-loop operation at the Surry plant is comparable to that of power operation. We recognize that there is very large uncertainty in the human error probabilities in this study. This study identified that only a few procedures are available for mitigating accidents that may occur during shutdown. Procedures written specifically for shutdown accidents would be useful. This document, Volume 2, Pt. 2 provides appendices A through D of this report.

Calculation of core loss and copper loss in amorphous/nanocrystalline core-based high-frequency transformer

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xiaojing Liu

2016-05-01

Full Text Available Amorphous and nanocrystalline alloys are now widely used for the cores of high-frequency transformers, and Litz-wire is commonly used as the windings, while it is difficult to calculate the resistance accurately. In order to design a high-frequency transformer, it is important to accurately calculate the core loss and copper loss. To calculate the core loss accurately, the additional core loss by the effect of end stripe should be considered. It is difficult to simulate the whole stripes in the core due to the limit of computation, so a scale down model with 5 stripes of amorphous alloy is simulated by the 2D finite element method (FEM. An analytical model is presented to calculate the copper loss in the Litz-wire, and the results are compared with the calculations by FEM.

Procedures for the external event core damage frequency analyses for NUREG-1150

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bohn, M.P.; Lambright, J.A.

1990-11-01

This report presents methods which can be used to perform the assessment of risk due to external events at nuclear power plants. These methods were used to perform the external events risk assessments for the Surry and Peach Bottom nuclear power plants as part of the NRC-sponsored NUREG-1150 risk assessments. These methods apply to the full range of hazards such as earthquakes, fires, floods, etc. which are collectively known as external events. The methods described in this report have been developed under NRC sponsorship and represent, in many cases, both advancements and simplifications over techniques that have been used in past years. They also include the most up-to-date data bases on equipment seismic fragilities, fire occurrence frequencies and fire damageability thresholds. The methods described here are based on making full utilization of the power plant systems logic models developed in the internal events analyses. By making full use of the internal events models one obtains an external event analysis that is consistent both in nomenclature and in level of detail with the internal events analyses, and in addition, automatically includes all the appropriate random and tests/maintenance unavailabilities as appropriate. 50 refs., 9 figs., 11 tabs

Field and laboratory investigations of coring-induced damage in core recovered from Marker Bed 139 at the waste isolation pilot plant underground facility

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Holcomb, D.J.; Zeuch, D.H.; Morin, K.; Hardy, R.; Tormey, T.V.

1995-09-01

A combined laboratory and field investigation was carried out to determine the extent of coring-induced damage done to samples cored from Marker Bed 139 at the WIPP site. Coring-induced damage, if present, has the potential to significantly change the properties of the material used for laboratory testing relative to the in situ material properties, resulting in misleading conclusions. In particular, connected, crack-like damage could make the permeability of cored samples orders of magnitude greater than the in situ permeabilities. Our approach compared in situ velocity and resistivity measurements with laboratory measurements of the same properties. Differences between in situ and laboratory results could be attributed to differences in the porosity due to cracks. The question of the origin of the changes could not be answered directly from the results of the measurements. Pre-existing cracks, held closed by the in situ stress, could open when the core was cut free, or new cracks could be generated by coring-induced damage. We used core from closely spaced boreholes at three orientations (0 degree, ±45 degrees relative to vertical) to address the origin of cracks. The absolute orientation of pre-existing cracks would be constant, independent of the borehole orientation. In contrast, cracks induced by coring were expected to show an orientation dependent on that of the source borehole

Field and laboratory investigations of coring-induced damage in core recovered from Marker Bed 139 at the waste isolation pilot plant underground facility

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Holcomb, D.J.; Zeuch, D.H.; Morin, K.; Hardy, R.; Tormey, T.V.

1995-09-01

A combined laboratory and field investigation was carried out to determine the extent of coring-induced damage done to samples cored from Marker Bed 139 at the WIPP site. Coring-induced damage, if present, has the potential to significantly change the properties of the material used for laboratory testing relative to the in situ material properties, resulting in misleading conclusions. In particular, connected, crack-like damage could make the permeability of cored samples orders of magnitude greater than the in situ permeabilities. Our approach compared in situ velocity and resistivity measurements with laboratory measurements of the same properties. Differences between in situ and laboratory results could be attributed to differences in the porosity due to cracks. The question of the origin of the changes could not be answered directly from the results of the measurements. Pre-existing cracks, held closed by the in situ stress, could open when the core was cut free, or new cracks could be generated by coring-induced damage. We used core from closely spaced boreholes at three orientations (0{degree}, {plus_minus}45{degrees} relative to vertical) to address the origin of cracks. The absolute orientation of pre-existing cracks would be constant, independent of the borehole orientation. In contrast, cracks induced by coring were expected to show an orientation dependent on that of the source borehole.

Evaluation of potential severe accidents during low power and shutdown operations at Surry, Unit 1: Analysis of core damage frequency from internal events during mid-loop operations, Main report (Chapters 7--12). Volume 2, Part 1B

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chu, T.L.; Musicki, Z.; Kohut, P.

1994-06-01

During 1989, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) initiated an extensive program to carefully examine the potential risks during low power and shutdown operations. The program includes two parallel projects being performed by Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) and Sandia National Laboratories (SNL). Two plants, Surry (pressurized water reactor) and Grand Gulf (boiling water reactor), were selected as the plants to be studied. The objectives of the program are to assess the risks of severe accidents initiated during plant operational states other than full power operation and to compare the estimated core damage frequencies, important accident sequences and other qualitative and quantitative results with those accidents initiated during full power operation as assessed in NUREG-1150. The objective of this report is to document the approach utilized in the Surry plant and discuss the results obtained. A parallel report for the Grand Gulf plant is prepared by SNL. This study shows that the core-damage frequency during mid-loop operation at the Surry plant is comparable to that of power operation. We recognize that there is very large uncertainty in the human error probabilities in this study. This study identified that only a few procedures are available for mitigating accidents that may occur during shutdown. Procedures written specific shutdown accidents would be useful

SCDAP: a light water reactor computer code for severe core damage analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Marino, G.P.; Allison, C.M.; Majumdar, D.

1982-01-01

Development of the first code version (MODO) of the Severe Core Damage Analysis Package (SCDAP) computer code is described, and calculations made with SCDAP/MODO are presented. The objective of this computer code development program is to develop a capability for analyzing severe disruption of a light water reactor core, including fuel and cladding liquefaction, flow, and freezing; fission product release; hydrogen generation; quenched-induced fragmentation; coolability of the resulting geometry; and ultimately vessel failure due to vessel-melt interaction. SCDAP will be used to identify the phenomena which control core behavior during a severe accident, to help quantify uncertainties in risk assessment analysis, and to support planning and evaluation of severe fuel damage experiments and data. SCDAP/MODO addresses the behavior of a single fuel bundle. Future versions will be developed with capabilities for core-wide and vessel-melt interaction analysis

Re criticality assessment following reactor core damage in Fukushima unit 2

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jeong, Hae Sun; Song, Jin Ho; Park, Chang Je; Ha, Kwang Soon; Song, Yong Mann; Ryu, Eun Hyun

2012-01-01

Following the severe core damage accident at the Fukushima nuclear power plants (NPPs), many researchers have studied a possible Re criticality caused by core melting or corium. However, no one can accurately examine the internal conditions of the reactor vessel, and thus there have been different opinions from some organizations depending on their assumption and analysis methods. If there is a potential Re criticality in the reactor vessel, some counter plans for the accident management should be established to prevent and mitigate re criticality, and to return the plant to a safe and stable state. In this study, the criticality level following a severe core damage accident was first analyzed using the MCNPX 2.6.0 code. Based on this result, practical strategies in terms of accident management were obtained by charging soluble boron (H 3B O 3) into re flooded water

Precursors to potential severe core damage accidents: 1995 A status report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Belles, R.J.; Cletcher, J.W.; Copinger, D.A.

1997-04-01

Ten operational events that affected 10 commercial light-water reactors during 1995 and that are considered to be precursors to potential severe core damage are described. All these events had conditional probabilities of subsequent severe core damage greater than or equal to 1.0 x 10 -6 . These events were identified by first computer-screening the 1995 licensee event reports from commercial light-water reactors to identify those events that could potentially be precursors. Candidate precursors were selected and evaluated in a process similar to that used in previous assessments. Selected events underwent engineering evaluation that identified, analyzed, and documented the precursors. Other events designated by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) also underwent a similar evaluation. Finally, documented precursors were submitted for review by licensees and NRC headquarters and regional offices to ensure the plant design and its response to the precursor were correctly characterized. This study is a continuation of earlier work, which evaluated 1969-1981 and 1984-1994 events. The report discusses the general rationale for this study, the selection and documentation of events as precursors, and the estimation of conditional probabilities of subsequent severe core damage for the events

Precursors to potential severe core damage accidents: 1995 A status report

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Belles, R.J.; Cletcher, J.W.; Copinger, D.A. [and others

1997-04-01

Ten operational events that affected 10 commercial light-water reactors during 1995 and that are considered to be precursors to potential severe core damage are described. All these events had conditional probabilities of subsequent severe core damage greater than or equal to 1.0 x 10{sup {minus}6}. These events were identified by first computer-screening the 1995 licensee event reports from commercial light-water reactors to identify those events that could potentially be precursors. Candidate precursors were selected and evaluated in a process similar to that used in previous assessments. Selected events underwent engineering evaluation that identified, analyzed, and documented the precursors. Other events designated by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) also underwent a similar evaluation. Finally, documented precursors were submitted for review by licensees and NRC headquarters and regional offices to ensure the plant design and its response to the precursor were correctly characterized. This study is a continuation of earlier work, which evaluated 1969-1981 and 1984-1994 events. The report discusses the general rationale for this study, the selection and documentation of events as precursors, and the estimation of conditional probabilities of subsequent severe core damage for the events.

Management of radioactive waste from a major core damage in a BWR power plant

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Elkert, J.; Christensen, H.; Torstenfelt, B.

1990-01-01

Large amounts of fission products would be released in case of a major core damage in a nuclear power reactor. In this theoretical study the core damage is caused by a loss of coolant accident followed by a complete loss of all electric power for about 30 minutes resulting in the release of 10% of the core inventory of noble gases. A second case has also been briefly studied, in which the corresponding core damage is supposed to be created merely by the complete loss of electric power during a limited time period. It appears from the study that the radioactive waste generated as a consequence of an accident of the extent can be managed in the reference reactor with only minor modifications required in the waste plant. The detailed results of the study are reactor specific, but many of the findings and recommendations are generally applicable. (author) 28 refs

Enhanced statistical damage identification using frequency-shift information with tunable piezoelectric transducer circuitry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhao, J; Tang, J; Wang, K W

2008-01-01

The frequency-shift-based damage detection method entertains advantages such as global detection capability and easy implementation, but also suffers from drawbacks that include low detection accuracy and sensitivity and the difficulty in identifying damage using a small number of measurable frequencies. Moreover, the damage detection/identification performance is inevitably affected by the uncertainty/variations in the baseline model. In this research, we investigate an enhanced statistical damage identification method using the tunable piezoelectric transducer circuitry. The tunable piezoelectric transducer circuitry can lead to much enriched information on frequency shift (before and after damage occurrence). The circuitry elements, meanwhile, can be directly and accurately measured and thus can be considered uncertainty-free. A statistical damage identification algorithm is formulated which can identify both the mean and variance of the elemental property change. Our analysis indicates that the integration of the tunable piezoelectric transducer circuitry can significantly enhance the robustness of the frequency-shift-based damage identification approach under uncertainty and noise

Evaluation of potential severe accidents during low power and shutdown operations at Surry, Unit 1: Analysis of core damage frequency from internal events during mid-loop operations, Appendices E (Sections E.1--E.8). Volume 2, Part 3A

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chu, T.L.; Musicki, Z.; Kohut, P.

1994-06-01

During 1989, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) initiated an extensive program to carefully examine the potential risks during low power and shutdown operations. The program includes two parallel projects being performed by Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) and Sandia National Laboratories (SNL). Two plants, Surry (pressurized water reactor) and Grand Gulf (boiling water reactor), were selected as the plants to be studied. The objectives of the program are to assess the risks of severe accidents initiated during plant operational states other than full power operation and to compare the estimated core damage frequencies, important accident sequences and other qualitative and quantitative results with those accidents initiated during full power operation as assessed in NUREG-1150. The objective of this report is to document the approach utilized in the Surry plant and discuss the results obtained. A parallel report for the Grand Gulf plant is prepared by SNL. This study shows that the core-damage frequency during mid-loop operation at the Surry plant is comparable to that of power operation. The authors recognize that there is very large uncertainty in the human error probabilities in this study. This study identified that only a few procedures are available for mitigating accidents that may occur during shutdown. Procedures written specifically for shutdown accidents would be useful

Evaluation of potential severe accidents during low power and shutdown operations at Surry, Unit 1: Analysis of core damage frequency from internal events during mid-loop operations, Main report (Chapters 1--6). Volume 2, Part 1A

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chu, T.L.; Musicki, Z.; Kohut, P.

1992-06-01

During 1989, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) initiated an extensive program to carefully examine the potential risks during low power and shutdown operations. The program includes two parallel projects being performed by Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) and Sandia National Laboratories (SNL). Two plants, Surry (pressurized water reactor) and Grand Gulf (boiling water reactor), were selected as the plants to be studied. The objectives of the program are to assess the risks of severe accidents initiated during plant operational states other than full power operation and to compare the estimated core damage frequencies, important accident sequences and other qualitative and quantitative results with those accidents initiated during full power operation as assessed in NUREG-1150. The objective of this report is to document the approach utilized in the Surry plant and discuss the results obtained. A parallel report for the Grand Gulf plant is prepared by SNL. This study shows that the core-damage frequency during mid-loop operation at the Surry plant is comparable to that of power operation. We recognize that there is very large uncertainty in the human error probabilities in this study. This study identified that only a few procedures are available for mitigating accidents that may occur during shutdown written specifically for shutdown accidents would be useful. This document presents Chapters 1--6 of the report

Application of precursor methodology in initiating frequency estimates

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kohut, P.; Fitzpatrick, R.G.

1991-01-01

The precursor methodology developed in recent years provides a consistent technique to identify important accident sequence precursors. It relies on operational events (extracting information from actual experience) and infers core damage scenarios based on expected safety system responses. The ranking or categorization of each precursor is determined by considering the full spectrum of potential core damage sequences. The methodology estimates the frequency of severe core damage based on the approach suggested by Apostolakis and Mosleh, which may lead to a potential overestimation of the severe-accident sequence frequency due to the inherent dependencies between the safety systems and the initiating events. The methodology is an encompassing attempt to incorporate most of the operating information available from nuclear power plants and is an attractive tool from the point of view of risk management. In this paper, a further extension of this methodology is discussed with regard to the treatment of initiating frequency of the accident sequences

Extraction of artificial boundary frequencies for damage identification

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mao Lei; Lu Yong, E-mail: yong.lu@ed.ac.uk [Institute for Infrastructure and Environment, Joint Research Institute for Civil and Environmental Engineering (ERP), School of Engineering, University of Edinburgh, The Kings Buildings, Edinburgh EH9 3JL (United Kingdom)

2011-07-19

This paper introduces some recent progress in a study which is aimed at incorporating the so-called artificial boundary condition (ABC) frequencies for damage identification. The ABC frequencies are those corresponding to the natural frequencies of the system with additional pin supports, but may be extracted from specially configured incomplete frequency response function matrix of the original structure without the need of physically imposing the additional supports. A particular focus of this paper is placed on the actual extraction of such frequencies from physical experiments and the associated data processing and analysis. Results will demonstrate that it is possible to extract the first few ABC frequencies for a variety of boundary conditions with 1-2 artificial pin supports in a beam or a slab structure.

Extraction of artificial boundary frequencies for damage identification

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mao Lei; Lu Yong

2011-01-01

This paper introduces some recent progress in a study which is aimed at incorporating the so-called artificial boundary condition (ABC) frequencies for damage identification. The ABC frequencies are those corresponding to the natural frequencies of the system with additional pin supports, but may be extracted from specially configured incomplete frequency response function matrix of the original structure without the need of physically imposing the additional supports. A particular focus of this paper is placed on the actual extraction of such frequencies from physical experiments and the associated data processing and analysis. Results will demonstrate that it is possible to extract the first few ABC frequencies for a variety of boundary conditions with 1-2 artificial pin supports in a beam or a slab structure.

Monitoring of corrosion damage using high-frequency guided ultrasonic waves

Science.gov (United States)

Chew, D.; Fromme, P.

2015-03-01

Due to adverse environmental conditions corrosion can develop during the life cycle of industrial structures, e.g., offshore oil platforms, ships, and desalination plants. Both pitting corrosion and generalized corrosion leading to wall thickness loss can cause the degradation of the integrity and load bearing capacity of the structure. Structural health monitoring of corrosion damage in difficult to access areas can in principle be achieved using high frequency guided waves propagating along the structure from accessible areas. Using standard ultrasonic transducers with single sided access to the structure, high frequency guided wave modes were generated that penetrate through the complete thickness of the structure. Wall thickness reduction was induced using accelerated corrosion in a salt water bath. The corrosion damage was monitored based on the effect on the wave propagation and interference of the different modes. The change in the wave interference was quantified based on an analysis in the frequency domain (Fourier transform) and was found to match well with theoretical predictions for the wall thickness loss. High frequency guided waves have the potential for corrosion damage monitoring at critical and difficult to access locations from a stand-off distance.

Analysis of severe core damage accident progression for the heavy water reactor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tong Lili; Yuan Kai; Yuan Jingtian; Cao Xuewu

2010-01-01

In this study, the severe accident progression analysis of generic Canadian deuterium uranium reactor 6 was preliminarily provided using an integrated severe accident analysis code. The selected accident sequences were multiple steam generator tube rupture and large break loss-of-coolant accidents because these led to severe core damage with an assumed unavailability for several critical safety systems. The progressions of severe accident included a set of failed safety systems normally operated at full power, and initiative events led to primary heat transport system inventory blow-down or boil off. The core heat-up and melting, steam generator response,fuel channel and calandria vessel failure were analyzed. The results showed that the progression of a severe core damage accident induced by steam generator tube rupture or large break loss-of-coolant accidents in a CANDU reactor was slow due to heat sinks in the calandria vessel and vault. (authors)

TMI-2 reactor-vessel head removal and damaged-core-removal planning

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Logan, J.A.; Hultman, C.W.; Lewis, T.J.

1982-01-01

A major milestone in the cleanup and recovery effort at TMI-2 will be the removal of the reactor vessel closure head, planum, and damaged core fuel material. The data collected during these operations will provide the nuclear power industry with valuable information on the effects of high-temperature-dissociated coolant on fuel cladding, fuel materials, fuel support structural materials, neutron absorber material, and other materials used in reactor structural support components and drive mechanisms. In addition, examination of these materials will also be used to determine accident time-temperature histories in various regions of the core. Procedures for removing the reactor vessel head and reactor core are presented

Precursors to potential severe core damage accidents: 1996. A status report. Volume 25

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Belles, R.J.; Cletcher, J.W.; Copinger, D.A.; Muhlheim, M.D.; Dolan, B.W.; Minarick, J.W.

1997-12-01

This report describes the 14 operational events in 1996 that affected 13 commercial light-water reactors and that are considered to be precursors to potential severe core damage accidents. All these events had conditional probabilities of subsequent severe core damage greater than or equal to 1.0 x 10 -6 . These events were identified by first computer-screening the 1996 licensee event reports from commercial light-water reactors to identify those events that could potentially be precursors. Candidate precursors were selected and evaluated in a process similar to that used in previous assessments. Selected events underwent engineering evaluation that identified, analyzed, and documented the precursors. Other events designated by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) also underwent a similar evaluation. Finally, documented precursors were submitted for review by licensees and NRC headquarters and regional offices to ensure the plant design and its response to the precursor were correctly characterized. This study is a continuation of earlier work, which evaluated 1969--1995 events. The report discusses the general rationale for this study, the selection and documentation of events as precursors, and the estimation of conditional probabilities of subsequent severe core damage for the events

Precursors to potential severe core damage accidents: 1997 - A status report. Volume 26

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Belles, R.J.; Cletcher, J.W.; Copinger, D.A.; Muhlheim, M.D.; Dolan, B.W.; Minarick, J.W.

1998-11-01

This report describes the five operational events in 1997 that affected five commercial light-water reactors (LWRs) and that are considered to be precursors to potential severe core damage accidents. All these events had conditional probabilities of subsequent severe core damage greater than or equal to 1.0 x 10 -6 . These events were identified by first computer-screening the 1997 licensee event reports from commercial LWRs to identify those events that could be precursors. Candidate precursors were selected and evaluated in a process similar to that used in previous assessments. Selected events underwent engineering evaluation that identified, analyzed, and documented the precursors. Other events designated by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) also underwent a similar evaluation. Finally, documented precursors were submitted for review by licensees and NRC headquarters to ensure that the plant design and its response to the precursor were correctly characterized. This study is a continuation of earlier work, which evaluated 1969--1996 events. The report discusses the general rationale for this study, the selection and documentation of events as precursors, and the estimation of conditional probabilities of subsequent severe core damage for the events

Analysis of core damage frequency from internal events: Expert judgment elicitation. Part 1: Expert panel results. Part 2: Project staff results

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wheeler, T A; Cramond, W R [Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, NM (United States); Hora, S C [University of Hawii at Hilo (United States); Unwin, S D [Brookhaven National Laboratory (United States)

1989-04-01

Quantitative modeling techniques have limitations as to the resolution of important issues in probabilistic risk assessment (PRA). Not all issues can be resolved via the existing set of methods such as fault trees, event trees, statistical analyses, data collection, and computer simulation. Therefore, an expert judgment process was developed to address issues perceived as important to risk in the NUREG-1150 analysis but which could not be resolved with existing techniques. This process was applied to several issues that could significantly affect the internal event core damage frequencies of the PRAs performed on six light water reactors. Detailed descriptions of these issues and the results of the expert judgment elicitation are reported here, as well as an explanation of the methodology used and the procedure followed in performing the overall elicitation task. The process is time-consuming and expensive. However, the results are very useful, and represent an improvement over the draft NUREG-1150 analysis in the areas of expert selection, elicitation training, issue selection and presentation, elicitation of judgment and aggregation of results. The results are presented in two parts. Part documents the expert panel elicitations, where the most important issues were presented to a panel of experts convened from throughout the nuclear power risk assessment community. Part 2 documents the process by which the project staff performed expert judgment on other important issues, using the project staff as panel members. (author)

Frequency stabilization of a 2.05 μm laser using hollow-core fiber CO2 frequency reference cell

Science.gov (United States)

Meras, Patrick; Poberezhskiy, Ilya Y.; Chang, Daniel H.; Spiers, Gary D.

2010-04-01

We have designed and built a hollow-core fiber frequency reference cell, filled it with CO2, and used it to demonstrate frequency stabilization of a 2.05 μm Tm:Ho:YLF laser using frequency modulation (FM) spectroscopy technique. The frequency reference cell is housed in a compact and robust hermetic package that contains a several meter long hollow-core photonic crystal fiber optically coupled to index-guiding fibers with a fusion splice on one end and a mechanical splice on the other end. The package has connectorized fiber pigtails and a valve used to evacuate, refill it, or adjust the gas pressure. We have demonstrated laser frequency standard deviation decreasing from >450MHz (free-running) to laser wavelength is of particular interest for spectroscopic instruments due to the presence of many CO2 and H20 absorption lines in its vicinity. To our knowledge, this is the first reported demonstration of laser frequency stabilization at this wavelength using a hollow-core fiber reference cell. This approach enables all-fiber implementation of the optical portion of laser frequency stabilization system, thus making it dramatically more lightweight, compact, and robust than the traditional free-space version that utilizes glass or metal gas cells. It can also provide much longer interaction length of light with gas and does not require any alignment. The demonstrated frequency reference cell is particularly attractive for use in aircraft and space coherent lidar instruments for measuring atmospheric CO2 profile.

Prediction of high frequency core loss for electrical steel using the data provided by manufacturer

Science.gov (United States)

Roy, Rakesh; Dalal, Ankit; Kumar, Praveen

2016-07-01

This paper describes a technique to determine the core loss data, at high frequencies, using the loss data provided by the lamination manufacturer. Steinmetz equation is used in this proposed method to determine core loss at high frequency. This Steinmetz equation consists of static hysteresis and eddy current loss. The presented technique considers the coefficients of Steinmetz equation as variable with frequency and peak magnetic flux density. The high frequency core loss data, predicted using this model is compared with the catalogue data given by manufacturer and very good accuracy has been obtained for a wide range of frequency.

Fabrication of 3D Air-core MEMS Inductors for High Frequency Power Electronic Applications

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lê Thanh, Hoà; Mizushima, Io; Nour, Yasser

2018-01-01

footprints have an inductance from 34.2 to 44.6 nH and a quality factor from 10 to 13 at frequencies ranging from 30 to 72 MHz. The air-core inductors show threefold lower parasitic capacitance and up to a 140% higher-quality factor and a 230% higher-operation frequency than silicon-core inductors. A 33 MHz...... boost converter mounted with an air-core toroidal inductor achieves an efficiency of 68.2%, which is better than converters mounted with a Si-core inductor (64.1%). Our inductors show good thermal cycling stability, and they are mechanically stable after vibration and 2-m-drop tests.......We report a fabrication technology for 3D air-core inductors for small footprint and very-high-frequency power conversions. Our process is scalable and highly generic for fabricating inductors with a wide range of geometries and core shapes. We demonstrate spiral, solenoid, and toroidal inductors...

Precursors to potential severe core damage accidents: 1992, A status report. Volume 17, Main report and Appendix A

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Cox, D.F.; Cletcher, J.W.; Copinger, D.A.; Cross-Dial, A.E.; Morris, R.H.; Vanden Heuvel, L.N. [Oak Ridge National Lab., TN (United States); Dolan, B.W.; Jansen, J.M.; Minarick, J.W. [Science Applications International Corp., Oak Ridge, TN (United States); Lau, W.; Salyer, W.D. [Reliability and Performance Associates (United States)

1993-12-01

Twenty-seven operational events with conditional probabilities of subsequent severe core damage of 1.0 {times} 10E-06 or higher occurring at commercial light-water reactors during 1992 are considered to be precursors to potential core damage. These are described along with associated significance estimates, categorization, and subsequent analyses. The report discusses (1) the general rationale for this study, (2) the selection and documentation of events as precursors, (3) the estimation and use of conditional probabilities of subsequent severe core damage to rank precursor events, and (4) the plant models used in the analysis process.

Prediction of high frequency core loss for electrical steel using the data provided by manufacturer

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Roy, Rakesh [National Institute of Technology Meghalaya, Shillong (India); Dalal, Ankit; Kumar, Praveen [Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati, Assam (India)

2016-07-15

This paper describes a technique to determine the core loss data, at high frequencies, using the loss data provided by the lamination manufacturer. Steinmetz equation is used in this proposed method to determine core loss at high frequency. This Steinmetz equation consists of static hysteresis and eddy current loss. The presented technique considers the coefficients of Steinmetz equation as variable with frequency and peak magnetic flux density. The high frequency core loss data, predicted using this model is compared with the catalogue data given by manufacturer and very good accuracy has been obtained for a wide range of frequency. - Highlights: • A curve fitting algorithm is proposed to predict core loss at high frequency. • The loss data given by the steel manufacturers are used in curve fitting algorithm. • The algorithm is tested on nine different material’s data set given by the manufacturer.

Prediction of high frequency core loss for electrical steel using the data provided by manufacturer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Roy, Rakesh; Dalal, Ankit; Kumar, Praveen

2016-01-01

This paper describes a technique to determine the core loss data, at high frequencies, using the loss data provided by the lamination manufacturer. Steinmetz equation is used in this proposed method to determine core loss at high frequency. This Steinmetz equation consists of static hysteresis and eddy current loss. The presented technique considers the coefficients of Steinmetz equation as variable with frequency and peak magnetic flux density. The high frequency core loss data, predicted using this model is compared with the catalogue data given by manufacturer and very good accuracy has been obtained for a wide range of frequency. - Highlights: • A curve fitting algorithm is proposed to predict core loss at high frequency. • The loss data given by the steel manufacturers are used in curve fitting algorithm. • The algorithm is tested on nine different material’s data set given by the manufacturer.

Effect of low velocity impact damage on the natural frequency of composite plates

Science.gov (United States)

Chok, E. Y. L.; Majid, D. L. A. A.; Harmin, M. Y.

2017-12-01

Biodegradable natural fibers have been suggested to replace the hazardous synthetic fibers in many aerospace applications. However, this notion has been limited due to their low mechanical properties, which leads to the idea of hybridizing the two materials. Many aircraft components such as radome, aft body and wing are highly susceptible to low velocity impact damage while in-service. The damages degrade the structural integrity of the components and change their dynamic characteristics. In worst case scenario, the changes can lead to resonance, which is an excessive vibration. This research is conducted to study the dynamic characteristic changes of low velocity impact damaged hybrid composites that is designed for aircraft radome applications. Three materials, which are glass fiber, kenaf fiber and kenaf/glass fiber hybrid composites, have been impacted with 3J, 6J and 9J of energy. Cantilevered and also vertically clamped boundary conditions are used and the natural frequencies are extracted for each of the specimens. The obtained results show that natural frequency decreases with increasing impact level. Cantilevered condition is found to induce lower modes due to the gravitational pull. To eliminate mass and geometrical effects, normalized modes are computed. Among the three materials considered, glass fiber composites have displayed the highest normalized frequency that reflects on its higher stiffness compared to the other two materials. As the damage level is increased, glass fiber composites have shown the highest frequency reduction to a maximum of 35% while kenaf composites have the least frequency reduction in the range of 1 - 18%. Thus, kenaf fiber is taken to be helpful in stalling the damage progression and reducing the effect of damage. This has been proven when the percentage frequency decrement shown by kenaf/glass fiber composite lies between glass fiber and kenaf fiber composites.

A backward method to estimate the Dai-ichi reactor core damage using radiation exposure in the environment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

PM Udiyani; S Kuntjoro; S Widodo

2016-01-01

The Fukushima accident resulted in the melting of the reactor core due to loss of supply of coolant when the reactor stopped from operating conditions. The earthquake and tsunami caused loss of electricity due to the flooding that occurred in the reactor. The absence of the coolant supply after reactor shutdown resulted in heat accumulation, causing the temperature of the fuel to rise beyond its melting point. In the early stages of the accident, operator could not determine the severity of the accident and the percentage of the reactor core damaged. The available data was based on the radiation exposure in the environment that was reported by the authorities. The aim of this paper is to determine the severity of the conditions in the reactor core based on the radiation doses measured in the environment. The method is performed by backward counting based on the measuring radiation exposure and radionuclides releases source term. The calculation was performed by using the PC-COSYMA code. The results showed that the core damage fraction at Dai-ichi Unit 1 was 70%, and the resulting individual effective dose in the exclusion area is 401 mSv, while the core damage fraction at Unit 2 was 30%, and the resulting individual effective dose was 9.1 mSv, while for Unit 3, the core damage fraction was 25% for an individual effective dose of 92.2 mSv. The differences between the results of the calculation for estimation of core damage proposed in this paper with the previously reported results is probably caused by the applied model for assessment, differences in postulations and assumptions, and the incompleteness of the input data. This difference could be reduced by performing calculations and simulations for more varied assumptions and postulations. (author)

Detection of Fatigue Damage by Using High Frequency Nonlinear Laser Ultrasonic Signals

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Park, Seung Kyu; Park, Nak Kyu; Baik, Sung Hoon; Cheong, Yong Moo; Cha, Byung Heon

2012-01-01

The detection of fatigue damage for the components of a nuclear power plant is one of key techniques to prevent a catastrophic accident and the subsequent severe losses. Specifically, it is preferred to detect at an early stage of the fatigue damage. If the fatigue damage that is in danger of growing into a fracture is accurately detected, an appropriate treatment could be carried out to improve the condition. Although most engineers and designers take precautions against fatigue, some breakdowns of nuclear power plant components still occur due to fatigue damage. It is considered that ultrasound testing technique is the most promising method to detect the fatigue damage in many nondestructive testing methods. Laser ultrasound has attracted attention as a noncontact testing technique. Especially, laser ultrasonic signal has wide band frequency spectrum which can provide more accurate information for a testing material. The conventional linear ultrasonic technique is sensitive to gross defects or opened cracks whereas it is less sensitive to evenly distributed micro-cracks or degradation. An alternative technique to overcome this limitation is nonlinear ultrasound. The principal difference between linear and nonlinear technique is that in the latter the existence and characteristics of defects are often related to an acoustic signal whose frequency differs from that of the input signal. This is related to the radiation and propagation of finite amplitude, especially high power, ultrasound and its interaction with discontinuities, such as cracks, interfaces and voids. Since material failure or degradation is usually preceded by some kind of nonlinear mechanical behavior before significant plastic deformation or material damage occurs. The presence of nonlinear terms in the wave equation causes intense acoustic waves to generate new waves at frequencies which are multiples of the initial sound wave frequency. The nonlinear effect can exert a strong effect on the

Visualization of Heat Transfer and Core Damage With RGUI 1.5

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mesina, George L.

2002-01-01

Graphical User Interfaces (GUI) have become an integral and essential part of computer software. In the ever-changing world of computing, they provide the user with a valuable means to learn, understand, and use the application software while also helping applications adapt to and span different computing paradigms, such as different operating systems. For these reasons, GUI development for nuclear plant analysis programs has been ongoing for a decade and a half and much progress has been made. With the development of codes such as RELAP5-3D [1] and SCDAP/RELAP5 that have multi-dimensional modeling capability, it has become necessary to represent three-dimensional, calculated data. The RELAP5-3D Graphical User Interface (RGUI) [4] was designed specifically for this purpose. It reduces the difficulty of analyzing complex three-dimensional models and enhances the analysts' ability to recognize plant behavior visually. Previous versions of RGUI [5] focused on visualizing reactor coolant behavior during a simulated transient or accident. Recent work has extended RGUI to display two other phenomena, heat transfer and core damage. Heat transfer is depicted through the visualization of RELAP5-3D heat structures. Core damage is visualized by displaying fuel rods and other core structures in a reactor vessel screen. Conditions within the core are displayed via numerical results and color maps. These new features of RGUI 1.5 are described and illustrated. (authors)

Effects of methodic deficiencies on the quantification of core meltdown frequency

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hahn, L.

1984-01-01

The application of sequence of events and fault tree analyses for the assessment of the core meltdown frequency raises problems, most of which can be classified under: - Completeness and representativeness of sequences and cuases of events - Modelling of conditional outages (common-mode outages) - Modelling of human behaviour - Reliability data and models. All of the weak points of the German Risk Study related to these problems which are mentioned by the Ecological Institute show a tendency to underestimate the core meltdown frequency by a factor at least 6. (RF) [de

Characterization of the Fault Core and Damage Zone of the Borrego Fault, 2010 M7.2 Rupture

Science.gov (United States)

Dorsey, M. T.; Rockwell, T. K.; Girty, G.; Ostermeijer, G.; Mitchell, T. M.; Fletcher, J. M.

2017-12-01

We collected a continuous sample of the fault core and 23 samples of the damage zone out to 52 m across the rupture trace of the 2010 M7.2 El Mayor-Cucapa earthquake to characterize the physical damage and chemical transformations associated with this active seismic source. In addition to quantifying fracture intensity from macroscopic analysis, we cut a continuous thin section through the fault core and from various samples in the damage zone, and ran each sample for XRD analyses for clay mineralogy, XRF for bulk geochemical analyses, and bulk and grain density from which porosity and volumetric strain were derived. The parent rock is a hydrothermally-altered biotite tonalite, with biotite partially altered to chlorite. The presence of epidote with chlorite suggests that these rocks were subjected to relatively high temperatures of 300-400° C. Adjacent to the outermost damage zone is a chaotic breccia zone with distinct chemical and physical characteristics, indicating possible connection to an ancestral fault to the southwest. The damage zone consists of an outer zone of protocataclasite, which grades inward towards mesocataclasite with seams of ultracataclasite. The fault core is anomalous in that it is largely composed of a sliver of marble that has been translated along the fault, so direct comparison with the damage zone is impaired. From collected data, we observe that chloritization increases into the breccia and damage zones, as does the presence of illite. Porosity reaches maximum values in the damage zone adjacent to the core, and closely follows trends in fracture intensity. Statistically significant gains in Mg, Na, K, Mn, and total bulk mass occurred within the inner damage zone, with losses of Ca and P mass, which led to the formation of chlorite and albite. The outer damage zone displays gains in Mg and Na mass with losses in Ca and P mass. The breccia zone shows gains in mass of Mg and Mn and loss in total bulk mass. A gain in LOI in both the

Helicopter rotor blade frequency evolution with damage growth and signal processing

Science.gov (United States)

Roy, Niranjan; Ganguli, Ranjan

2005-05-01

Structural damage in materials evolves over time due to growth of fatigue cracks in homogenous materials and a complicated process of matrix cracking, delamination, fiber breakage and fiber matrix debonding in composite materials. In this study, a finite element model of the helicopter rotor blade is used to analyze the effect of damage growth on the modal frequencies in a qualitative manner. Phenomenological models of material degradation for homogenous and composite materials are used. Results show that damage can be detected by monitoring changes in lower as well as higher mode flap (out-of-plane bending), lag (in-plane bending) and torsion rotating frequencies, especially for composite materials where the onset of the last stage of damage of fiber breakage is most critical. Curve fits are also proposed for mathematical modeling of the relationship between rotating frequencies and cycles. Finally, since operational data are noisy and also contaminated with outliers, denoising algorithms based on recursive median filters and radial basis function neural networks and wavelets are studied and compared with a moving average filter using simulated data for improved health-monitoring application. A novel recursive median filter is designed using integer programming through genetic algorithm and is found to have comparable performance to neural networks with much less complexity and is better than wavelet denoising for outlier removal. This filter is proposed as a tool for denoising time series of damage indicators.

Analysis of Fatigue Life of PMMA at Different Frequencies Based on a New Damage Mechanics Model

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Aifeng Huang

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Low-cycle fatigue tests at different frequencies and creep tests under different stress levels of Plexiglas Resist 45 were conducted. Correspondingly, the creep fracture time, S-N curves, cyclic creep, and hysteresis loop were obtained. These results showed that the fatigue life increases with frequency at low frequency domain. After analysis, it was found that fatigue life is dependent on the load rate and is affected by the creep damage. In addition, a new continuum damage mechanics (CDM model was established to analyze creep-fatigue life, where the damage increment nonlinear summation rule was proposed and the frequency modification was made on the fatigue damage evolution equation. Differential evolution (DE algorithm was employed to determine the parameters within the model. The proposed model described fatigue life under different frequencies, and the calculated results agreed well with the experimental results.

Use of Time- and Frequency-Domain Approaches for Damage Detection in Civil Engineering Structures

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

V. H. Nguyen

2014-01-01

Full Text Available The aim of this paper is to apply both time- and frequency-domain-based approaches on real-life civil engineering structures and to assess their capability for damage detection. The methodology is based on Principal Component Analysis of the Hankel matrix built from output-only measurements and of Frequency Response Functions. Damage detection is performed using the concept of subspace angles between a current (possibly damaged state and a reference (undamaged state. The first structure is the Champangshiehl Bridge located in Luxembourg. Several damage levels were intentionally created by cutting a growing number of prestressed tendons and vibration data were acquired by the University of Luxembourg for each damaged state. The second example consists in reinforced and prestressed concrete panels. Successive damages were introduced in the panels by loading heavy weights and by cutting steel wires. The illustrations show different consequences in damage identification by the considered techniques.

Identification of characteristic frequencies of damaged railway tracks using field hammer test measurements

Science.gov (United States)

Oregui, M.; Li, Z.; Dollevoet, R.

2015-03-01

In this paper, the feasibility of the Frequency Response Function (FRF)-based statistical method to identify the characteristic frequencies of railway track defects is studied. The method compares a damaged track state to a healthy state based on non-destructive field hammer test measurements. First, a study is carried out to investigate the repeatability of hammer tests in railway tracks. By changing the excitation and measurement locations it is shown that the variability introduced by the test process is negligible. Second, following the concepts of control charts employed in process monitoring, a method to define an approximate healthy state is introduced by using hammer test measurements at locations without visual damage. Then, the feasibility study includes an investigation into squats (i.e. a major type of rail surface defect) of varying severity. The identified frequency ranges related to squats agree with those found in an extensively validated vehicle-borne detection system. Therefore, the FRF-based statistical method in combination with the non-destructive hammer test measurements has the potential to be employed to identify the characteristic frequencies of damaged conditions in railway tracks in the frequency range of 300-3000 Hz.

Survival of extensively damaged endodontically treated incisors restored with different types of posts-and-core foundation restoration material.

Science.gov (United States)

Lazari, Priscilla Cardoso; de Carvalho, Marco Aurélio; Del Bel Cury, Altair A; Magne, Pascal

2018-05-01

Which post-and-core combination will best improve the performance of extensively damaged endodontically treated incisors without a ferrule is still unclear. The purpose of this in vitro study was to investigate the restoration of extensively damaged endodontically treated incisors without a ferrule using glass-ceramic crowns bonded to various composite resin foundation restorations and 2 types of posts. Sixty decoronated endodontically treated bovine incisors without a ferrule were divided into 4 groups and restored with various post-and-core foundation restorations. NfPfB=no-ferrule (Nf) with glass-fiber post (Pf) and bulk-fill resin foundation restoration (B); NfPfP=no-ferrule (Nf) with glass-fiber post (Pf) and dual-polymerized composite resin core foundation restoration (P); NfPt=no-ferrule (Nf) with titanium post (Pt) and resin core foundation restoration; and NfPtB=no-ferrule (Nf) with titanium post (Pt) and bulk-fill resin core foundation restoration (B). Two additional groups from previously published data from the same authors (FPf=2mm of ferrule (F) and glass-fiber post (Pf) and composite resin core foundation restoration; and NfPf=no-ferrule (Nf) with glass-fiber post (Pf) and composite resin core foundation restoration), which were tested concomitantly and using the same experimental arrangement, were included for comparison. All teeth were prepared to receive bonded glass-ceramic crowns luted with dual-polymerized resin cement and were subjected to accelerated fatigue testing under submerged conditions at room temperature. Cyclic isometric loading was applied to the incisal edge at an angle of 30 degrees with a frequency of 5 Hz, beginning with a load of 100 N (5000 cycles). A 100-N load increase was applied every 15000 cycles. The specimens were loaded until failure or to a maximum of 1000 N (140000 cycles). The 6 groups (4 groups from the present study and 2 groups from the previously published study) were compared using the Kaplan-Meier survival

Exfoliated BN shell-based high-frequency magnetic core-shell materials.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Wei; Patel, Ketan; Ren, Shenqiang

2017-09-14

The miniaturization of electric machines demands high frequency magnetic materials with large magnetic-flux density and low energy loss to achieve a decreased dimension of high rotational speed motors. Herein, we report a solution-processed high frequency magnetic composite (containing a nanometal FeCo core and a boron nitride (BN) shell) that simultaneously exhibits high electrical resistivity and magnetic permeability. The frequency dependent complex initial permeability and the mechanical robustness of nanocomposites are intensely dependent on the content of BN insulating phase. The results shown here suggest that insulating magnetic nanocomposites have potential for application in next-generation high-frequency electric machines with large electrical resistivity and permeability.

Applicability of PRISM PRA Methodology to the Level II Probabilistic Safety Analysis of KALIMER-600 (I) (Core Damage Event Tree Analysis Part)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Park, S. Y.; Kim, T. W.; Ha, K. S.; Lee, B. Y.

2009-03-01

The Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI) has been developing liquid metal reactor (LMR) design technologies under a National Nuclear R and D Program. Nevertheless, there is no experience of the PSA domestically for a fast reactor with the metal fuel. Therefore, the objective of this study is to establish the methodologies of risk assessment for the reference design of KALIMER-600 reactor. An applicability of the PSA of the PRISM plant to the KALIMER-600 has been studied. The study is confined to a core damage event tree analysis which is a part of a level 2 PSA. Assuming that the accident types, which can be developed from level 1 PSA, are same as the PRISM PRA, core damage categories are defined and core damage event trees are developed for the KALIMER-600 reactor. Fission product release fractions of the core damage categories and branch probabilities of the core damage event trees are referred from the PRISM PRA temporarily. Plant specific data will be used during the detail analysis

Preparations to load, transport, receive, and store the damaged TMI-2 [Three Mile Island] reactor core

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Reno, H.W.; Schmitt, R.C.; Quinn, G.J.; Ayers, A.L. Jr.; Lilburn, B.J. Jr.; Uhl, D.L.

1986-03-01

The March 1979 incident at the Three Mile Island Nuclear Power Station (TMI) which damaged the core of the Unit 2 reactor resulted in numerous scientific and technical challenges. Some of those challenges involve removing, packaging, and transporting the core debris to the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory (INEL) for storage, examination, and preparation for final disposal. This paper highlights preparations for transporting the core debris from TMI to INEL and receiving and storing that material at INEL. Issues discussed include interfacing of equipment and facilities at TMI, loading operations, transportation activities using a newly designed cask, receiving and storing operations at INEL, and criticality control during storage. Key to the transportation effort was designing, testing, fabricating, and licensing two rail casks which individually provide double containment of the damaged fuel. 27 figs

Drilling induced damage of core samples. Evidences from laboratory testing and numerical modelling

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lanaro, Flavio

2008-01-01

Extensive sample testing in uniaxial and Brazilian test conditions were carried out for the Shobasama and MIU Research Laboratory Site (Gifu Pref., Japan). The compressive and tensile strength of the samples was observed to be negatively correlated to the in-situ stress components. Such correlation was interpreted as stress-release induced sample damage. Similar stress conditions were then numerically simulated by means of the BEM-DDM code FRACOD 2D in plane strain conditions. This method allows for explicitly consider the influence of newly initiated or propagating fractures on the stress field and deformation of the core during drilling process. The models show that already at moderate stress levels some fracturing of the core during drilling might occur leading to reduced laboratory strength of the samples. Sample damage maps were produced independently from the laboratory test results and from the numerical models and show good agreement with each other. (author)

Sensitivity Analysis of Core Damage by Loss of Auxiliary Feed Water during the Extended Loss of All AC Power

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jeon, Woo Jae; Chung, Soon Il; Hwang, Su Hyun; Lee, Kyung Jin; Lee, Byung Chul [FNC Tech., Yongin (Korea, Republic of); Yun, Duk Joo; Lee, Seung Chan [Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power Co. Ltd., Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

2015-10-15

In this study, the reactor core damage time for OPR1000 type Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) was analyzed to develop a strategy to handle ELAP and to apply to the EOP. The reactor core damage time in the ELAP condition was calculated according to the time of Auxiliary Feedwater (AFW) loss. Fukushima accident was caused by long hours of Station Black Out (SBO) caused by natural disaster beyond Design Based Accident (DBA) criteria. It led to the reactor core damage. After the accident, the regulatory authorities of each country (Japan, US, EU, IAEA, and etc.) recommended developing the necessary systems and strategies in order to cover up the Extended Loss of All AC Power (ELAP) such as one occurred in the Fukushima accident. And the need of procedure or guideline to cope with ELAP has been raised through the stress test for Wolsong Nuclear Power Plant unit 1. Current Emergency Operating Procedures (EOP) used in domestic nuclear power plant are seemed to be insufficient to cope with ELAP. Therefore, it has been required to be improved. As the result, the time of AFW loss in the ELAP condition influences greatly on core damage time.

Precursors to potential severe core damage accidents: 1994, a status report. Volume 22: Appendix I

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Belles, R.J.; Cletcher, J.W.; Copinger, D.A.; Vanden Heuvel, L.N.; Dolan, B.W.; Minarick, J.W.

1995-12-01

Nine operational events that affected eleven commercial light-water reactors (LWRs) during 1994 and that are considered to be precursors to potential severe core damage are described. All these events had conditional probabilities of subsequent severe core damage greater than or equal to 1.0 x 10 -6 . These events were identified by computer-screening the 1994 licensee event reports from commercial LWRs to identify those that could be potential precursors. Candidate precursors were then selected and evaluated in a process similar to that used in previous assessments. Selected events underwent engineering evaluation that identified, analyzed, and documented the precursors. Other events designated by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) also underwent a similar evaluation. Finally, documented precursors were submitted for review by licensees and NRC headquarters and regional offices to ensure that the plant design and its response to the precursor were correctly characterized. This study is a continuation of earlier work, which evaluated 1969--1981 and 1984--1993 events. The report discusses the general rationale for this study, the selection and documentation of events as precursors, and the estimation of conditional probabilities of subsequent severe core damage for events. This document is bound in two volumes: Vol. 21 contains the main report and Appendices A--H; Vol. 22 contains Appendix 1

Precursors to potential severe core damage accidents: 1994, a status report. Volume 22: Appendix I

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Belles, R.J.; Cletcher, J.W.; Copinger, D.A.; Vanden Heuvel, L.N. [Oak Ridge National Lab., TN (United States); Dolan, B.W.; Minarick, J.W. [Oak Ridge National Lab., TN (United States)]|[Science Applications International Corp., Oak Ridge, TN (United States)

1995-12-01

Nine operational events that affected eleven commercial light-water reactors (LWRs) during 1994 and that are considered to be precursors to potential severe core damage are described. All these events had conditional probabilities of subsequent severe core damage greater than or equal to 1.0 {times} 10{sup {minus}6}. These events were identified by computer-screening the 1994 licensee event reports from commercial LWRs to identify those that could be potential precursors. Candidate precursors were then selected and evaluated in a process similar to that used in previous assessments. Selected events underwent engineering evaluation that identified, analyzed, and documented the precursors. Other events designated by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) also underwent a similar evaluation. Finally, documented precursors were submitted for review by licensees and NRC headquarters and regional offices to ensure that the plant design and its response to the precursor were correctly characterized. This study is a continuation of earlier work, which evaluated 1969--1981 and 1984--1993 events. The report discusses the general rationale for this study, the selection and documentation of events as precursors, and the estimation of conditional probabilities of subsequent severe core damage for events. This document is bound in two volumes: Vol. 21 contains the main report and Appendices A--H; Vol. 22 contains Appendix 1.

Size-related variation in arm damage frequency in the crown-of-thorns sea star, Acanthaster planci

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jairo Rivera-Posada

2014-03-01

Full Text Available Objective: To examine variation in the frequency of arm damage in different sizes of Acanthaster planci (A. planci, assess how this damage is inflicted by fish predators, and infer the potential role of predation in population regulation. Methods: Diameters of A. planci collected from three sites in the Philippines were measured and arm damage frequency and severity was assessed. Frequency of arm damage was compared between sizes. Feeding behavior of fish predators was also observed in the laboratory. Results: This study demonstrates that sublethal predation by triggerfishes on A. planci result in extensive arm damage. Overall, 60% of A. planci sampled across all sites had sublethal injuries. The frequency of individuals with missing or regenerating arms was highest in medium-sized young adults (11-20 cm, which coincides with the phase where A. planci shift from cryptic to exposed daytime feeding. Conclusions: The high incidence of arm damage within intermediate-sized sea stars indicates that predators exercise some level of regulation on A. planci populations at a local scale. Identification and protection of putative predators that target the most vulnerable life history stages of A. planci are essential in developing population control strategies and reverse sustained declines in coral cover.

Shell model in-water frequencies of the core barrel

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Takeuchi, K.; De Santo, D.F.

1980-01-01

Natural frequencies of a 1/24th-scale core barrel/vessel model in air and in water are measured by determining frequency responses to applied forces. The measured data are analyzed by the use of the one-dimensional fluid-structure computer code, MULTIFLEX, developed to calculate the hydraulic force. The fluid-structure interaction in the downcomer annulus is computed with a one-dimensional network model formed to be equivalent to two-dimensional fluid-structure interaction. The structural model incorporated in MULTIFLEX is substantially simpler than that necessary for structural analyses. Proposed for computation of structural dynamics is the projector method than can deal with the beam mode by modal analysis and the other shell modes by a direct integration method. Computed in-air and in-water frequencies agree fairly well with the experimental data, verifying the above MULTIFLEX technique

Evaluation of potential severe accidents during low power and shutdown operations at Surry, Unit-1: Analysis of core damage frequency from internal events during mid-loop operations. Appendix I, Volume 2, Part 5

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Chu, T.L.; Musicki, Z.; Kohut, P.; Yang, J.; Bozoki, G.; Hsu, C.J.; Diamond, D.J. [Brookhaven National Lab., Upton, NY (United States); Bley, D.; Johnson, D. [PLG Inc., Newport Beach, CA (United States); Holmes, B. [AEA Technology, Dorset (United Kingdom)] [and others

1994-06-01

Traditionally, probabilistic risk assessments (PRA) of severe accidents in nuclear power plants have considered initiating events potentially occurring only during full power operation. Some previous screening analyses that were performed for other modes of operation suggested that risks during those modes were small relative to full power operation. However, more recent studies and operational experience have implied that accidents during low power and shutdown could be significant contributors to risk. During 1989, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) initiated an extensive program to carefully examine the potential risks during low power and shutdown operations. The program includes two parallel projects being performed by Brookhaven National Lab. (BNL) and Sandia National Labs. (SNL). Two plants, Surry (pressurized water reactor) and Grand Gulf (boiling water reactor), were selected as the plants to be studied. The objectives of the program are to assess the risks of severe accidents initiated during plant operational states other than full power operation and to compare the estimated core damage frequencies, important accident sequences and other qualitative and quantitative results with those accidents initiated during full power operation as assessed in NUREG-1150. The objective of this volume of the report is to document the approach utilized in the level-1 internal events PRA for the Surry plant, and discuss the results obtained. A phased approach was used in the level-1 program. In phase 1, which was completed in Fall 1991, a coarse screening analysis examining accidents initiated by internal events (including internal fire and flood) was performed for all plant operational states (POSs). The objective of the phase 1 study was to identify potential vulnerable plant configurations, to characterize (on a high, medium, or low basis) the potential core damage accident scenarios, and to provide a foundation for a detailed phase 2 analysis.

Evaluation of potential severe accidents during low power and shutdown operations at Surry, Unit-1: Analysis of core damage frequency from internal events during mid-loop operations. Appendix I, Volume 2, Part 5

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chu, T.L.; Musicki, Z.; Kohut, P.; Yang, J.; Bozoki, G.; Hsu, C.J.; Diamond, D.J.; Bley, D.; Johnson, D.; Holmes, B.

1994-06-01

Traditionally, probabilistic risk assessments (PRA) of severe accidents in nuclear power plants have considered initiating events potentially occurring only during full power operation. Some previous screening analyses that were performed for other modes of operation suggested that risks during those modes were small relative to full power operation. However, more recent studies and operational experience have implied that accidents during low power and shutdown could be significant contributors to risk. During 1989, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) initiated an extensive program to carefully examine the potential risks during low power and shutdown operations. The program includes two parallel projects being performed by Brookhaven National Lab. (BNL) and Sandia National Labs. (SNL). Two plants, Surry (pressurized water reactor) and Grand Gulf (boiling water reactor), were selected as the plants to be studied. The objectives of the program are to assess the risks of severe accidents initiated during plant operational states other than full power operation and to compare the estimated core damage frequencies, important accident sequences and other qualitative and quantitative results with those accidents initiated during full power operation as assessed in NUREG-1150. The objective of this volume of the report is to document the approach utilized in the level-1 internal events PRA for the Surry plant, and discuss the results obtained. A phased approach was used in the level-1 program. In phase 1, which was completed in Fall 1991, a coarse screening analysis examining accidents initiated by internal events (including internal fire and flood) was performed for all plant operational states (POSs). The objective of the phase 1 study was to identify potential vulnerable plant configurations, to characterize (on a high, medium, or low basis) the potential core damage accident scenarios, and to provide a foundation for a detailed phase 2 analysis

First evaluation of low frequency noise measurements of in core detector signals in the measuring assembly Rheinsberg

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Collatz, S.

1982-01-01

Reactor noise spectra of in core neutron detectors are measured in the low frequency range (0.03 Hz to 1 Hz) and evaluated. The increase of the effective noise signal value is due to pressure oscillations or oscillations of special steam volume portions. Thus boiling monitoring of reactor cores in PWR type reactors may be possible, if the low frequency noise of the whole set of in core detectors is taken into account

Microfabricated Air-core Toroidal Inductor In Very High Frequency Power Converters

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lê Thanh, Hoà; Nour, Yasser; Han, Anpan

2018-01-01

Miniaturization of power supplies is required for future intelligent electronic systems e.g. internet of things devices. Inductors play an essential role, and they are by far the most bulky and expensive components in power supplies. This paper presents a miniaturized microelectromechanical systems...... (MEMS) inductor and its performance in a very high frequency (VHF) power converter. The MEMS inductor is a siliconembedded air-core toroidal inductor, and it is constructed with through-silicon vias, suspended copper windings, silicon fixtures, and a silicon support die. The air-core inductors...

Natural Frequencies Evaluation on Partially Damaged Building using Ambient Vibration Technique

Science.gov (United States)

Kamarudin, A. F.; Zainal Abidin, M. H.; Daud, M. E.; Noh, M. S. Md; Madun, A.; Ibrahim, A.; Matarul, J.; Mokhatar, S. N.

2018-04-01

Severe damages observed on the school blocks, roads, retaining walls and drainage within the compound of SMK Kundasang Sabah possibly due to the ground movements triggered by the Ranau earthquake in 1991. Ambient vibration measurements were carried on the remaining demolished 3-storey building which partially damaged in order to measure the predominant building frequencies using tri-axial 1 Hz seismometer sensors. Popular methods of Horizontal-to-vertical spectral ratios (HVSR) and Fourier amplitude spectra (FAS) were used to compute the ambient vibration wave fields of each building axes (Transverse or North-South (NS), Longitudinal or East-West (EW) and vertical) into Fourier spectra. Two main modes of translation and torsion were observed from the peaks frequencies obtained at 2.99 to 3.10 Hz (1st mode), 4.85 Hz (2nd mode) and 5.63 to 5.85 Hz (3rd mode). The building experiencing translation modes of bending and shear in the NS and EW directions. It could be seen when the amplitudes tends to increase when the floor are increased. Meanwhile, the torsional bending mode is expected to occur when the deformation amplitudes are found to be increasing horizontally, when moving into partially structural damaged section located on the East wing of building.

Anisotropic nanolaminated CoNiFe cores integrated into microinductors for high-frequency dc–dc power conversion

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Jooncheol; Kim, Minsoo; Herrault, Florian; Kim, Jung-Kwun; Allen, Mark G

2015-01-01

This paper presents a rectangular, anisotropic nanolaminated CoNiFe core that possesses a magnetically hard axis in the long geometric axis direction. Previously, we have developed nanolaminated cores comprising tens to hundreds of layers of 300–1000 nm thick metallic alloys (i.e. Ni 80 Fe 20 or Co 44 Ni 37 Fe 19 ) based on sequential electrodeposition, demonstrating suppressed eddy-current losses at MHz frequencies. In this work, magnetic anisotropy was induced to the nanolaminated CoNiFe cores by applying an external magnetic field (50–100 mT) during CoNiFe film electrodeposition. The fabricated cores comprised tens to hundreds of layers of 500–1000 nm thick CoNiFe laminations that have the hard-axis magnetic property. Packaged in a 22-turn solenoid test inductor, the anisotropic core showed 10% increased effective permeability and 25% reduced core power losses at MHz operation frequency, compared to an isotropic core of the identical geometry. Operating the anisotropic nanolaminated CoNiFe core in a step-down dc–dc converter (15 V input to 5 V output) demonstrated 81% converter efficiency at a switching frequency of 1.1 MHz and output power of 6.5 W. A solenoid microinductor with microfabricated windings integrated with the anisotropic nanolaminated CoNiFe core was fabricated, demonstrating a constant inductance of 600 nH up to 10 MHz and peak quality factor exceeding 20 at 4 MHz. The performance of the microinductor with the anisotropic nanolaminated CoNiFe core is compared with other previously reported microinductors. (fast track communication)

Modeling and analysis framework for core damage propagation during flow-blockage-initiated accidents in the advanced neutron source reactor at Oak Ridge National Laboratory

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kim, S.H.; Taleyarkhan, R.P.; Navarro-Valenti, S.; Georgevich, V. [Oak Ridge National Lab., TN (United States)

1995-09-01

This paper describes modeling and analysis to evaluate the extent of core damage during flow blockage events in the Advanced Neutron Source (ANS) reactor planned to be built at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). Damage propagation is postulated to occur from thermal conduction between damaged and undamaged plates due to direct thermal contact. Such direct thermal contact may occur because of fuel plate swelling during fission product vapor release or plate buckling. Complex phenomena of damage propagation were modeled using a one-dimensional heat transfer model. A scoping study was conducted to learn what parameters are important for core damage propagation, and to obtain initial estimates of core melt mass for addressing recriticality and steam explosion events. The study included investigating the effect of the plate contact area, the convective heat transfer coefficient, thermal conductivity upon fuel swelling, and the initial temperature of the plate being contacted by the damaged plate. Also, the side support plates were modeled to account for their effects on damage propagation. The results provide useful insights into how various uncertain parameters affect damage propagation.

Structural Damage Detection Using Changes in Natural Frequencies: Theory and Applications

Science.gov (United States)

He, K.; Zhu, W. D.

2011-07-01

A vibration-based method that uses changes in natural frequencies of a structure to detect damage has advantages over conventional nondestructive tests in detecting various types of damage, including loosening of bolted joints, using minimum measurement data. Two major challenges associated with applications of the vibration-based damage detection method to engineering structures are addressed: accurate modeling of structures and the development of a robust inverse algorithm to detect damage, which are defined as the forward and inverse problems, respectively. To resolve the forward problem, new physics-based finite element modeling techniques are developed for fillets in thin-walled beams and for bolted joints, so that complex structures can be accurately modeled with a reasonable model size. To resolve the inverse problem, a logistical function transformation is introduced to convert the constrained optimization problem to an unconstrained one, and a robust iterative algorithm using a trust-region method, called the Levenberg-Marquardt method, is developed to accurately detect the locations and extent of damage. The new methodology can ensure global convergence of the iterative algorithm in solving under-determined system equations and deal with damage detection problems with relatively large modeling error and measurement noise. The vibration-based damage detection method is applied to various structures including lightning masts, a space frame structure and one of its components, and a pipeline. The exact locations and extent of damage can be detected in the numerical simulation where there is no modeling error and measurement noise. The locations and extent of damage can be successfully detected in experimental damage detection.

Structural Damage Detection Using Changes in Natural Frequencies: Theory and Applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

He, K; Zhu, W D

2011-01-01

A vibration-based method that uses changes in natural frequencies of a structure to detect damage has advantages over conventional nondestructive tests in detecting various types of damage, including loosening of bolted joints, using minimum measurement data. Two major challenges associated with applications of the vibration-based damage detection method to engineering structures are addressed: accurate modeling of structures and the development of a robust inverse algorithm to detect damage, which are defined as the forward and inverse problems, respectively. To resolve the forward problem, new physics-based finite element modeling techniques are developed for fillets in thin-walled beams and for bolted joints, so that complex structures can be accurately modeled with a reasonable model size. To resolve the inverse problem, a logistical function transformation is introduced to convert the constrained optimization problem to an unconstrained one, and a robust iterative algorithm using a trust-region method, called the Levenberg-Marquardt method, is developed to accurately detect the locations and extent of damage. The new methodology can ensure global convergence of the iterative algorithm in solving under-determined system equations and deal with damage detection problems with relatively large modeling error and measurement noise. The vibration-based damage detection method is applied to various structures including lightning masts, a space frame structure and one of its components, and a pipeline. The exact locations and extent of damage can be detected in the numerical simulation where there is no modeling error and measurement noise. The locations and extent of damage can be successfully detected in experimental damage detection.

A core hSSB1–INTS complex participates in the DNA damage response

OpenAIRE

Zhang, Feng; Ma, Teng; Yu, Xiaochun

2013-01-01

Human single-stranded DNA-binding protein 1 (hSSB1) plays an important role in the DNA damage response and the maintenance of genomic stability. It has been shown that the core hSSB1 complex contains hSSB1, INTS3 and C9orf80. Using protein affinity purification, we have identified integrator complex subunit 6 (INTS6) as a major subunit of the core hSSB1 complex. INTS6 forms a stable complex with INTS3 and hSSB1 both in vitro and in vivo. In this complex, INTS6 directly interacts with INTS3. I...

Whole-core damage analysis of EBR-II driver fuel elements following SHRT program

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chang, L.K.; Koenig, J.F.; Porter, D.L.

1987-01-01

In the Shutdown Heat Removal Testing (SHRT) program in EBR-II, fuel element cladding temperatures of some driver subassemblies were predicted to exceed temperatures at which cladding breach may occur. A whole-core thermal analysis of driver subassemblies was performed to determine the cladding temperatures of fuel elemnts, and these temperatures were used for fuel element damage calculation. The accumulated cladding damage of fuel element was found to be very small and fuel element failure resulting from SHRT transients is unlikely. No element breach was noted during the SHRT transients. The reactor was immediately restarted after the most severe SHRT transient had been completed and no driver fuel breach has been noted to date. (orig.)

Study of cumulative fatigue damage detection for used parts with nonlinear output frequency response functions based on NARMAX modelling

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, Honglan; Mao, Hanying; Mao, Hanling; Zheng, Weixue; Huang, Zhenfeng; Li, Xinxin; Wang, Xianghong

2017-12-01

Cumulative fatigue damage detection for used parts plays a key role in the process of remanufacturing engineering and is related to the service safety of the remanufactured parts. In light of the nonlinear properties of used parts caused by cumulative fatigue damage, the based nonlinear output frequency response functions detection approach offers a breakthrough to solve this key problem. First, a modified PSO-adaptive lasso algorithm is introduced to improve the accuracy of the NARMAX model under impulse hammer excitation, and then, an effective new algorithm is derived to estimate the nonlinear output frequency response functions under rectangular pulse excitation, and a based nonlinear output frequency response functions index is introduced to detect the cumulative fatigue damage in used parts. Then, a novel damage detection approach that integrates the NARMAX model and the rectangular pulse is proposed for nonlinear output frequency response functions identification and cumulative fatigue damage detection of used parts. Finally, experimental studies of fatigued plate specimens and used connecting rod parts are conducted to verify the validity of the novel approach. The obtained results reveal that the new approach can detect cumulative fatigue damages of used parts effectively and efficiently and that the various values of the based nonlinear output frequency response functions index can be used to detect the different fatigue damages or working time. Since the proposed new approach can extract nonlinear properties of systems by only a single excitation of the inspected system, it shows great promise for use in remanufacturing engineering applications.

Polymer Magnetic Composite Core Based Microcoils and Microtransformers for Very High Frequency Power Applications

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Saravana Guru Mariappan

2016-04-01

Full Text Available We present a rapid prototyping and a cost effective fabrication process on batch fabricated wafer-level micro inductive components with polymer magnetic composite (PMC cores. The new PMC cores provide a possibility to bridge the gap between the non-magnetic and magnetic core inductive devices in terms of both the operating frequency and electrical performance. An optimized fabrication process of molding, casting, and demolding which uses teflon for the molding tool is presented. High permeability NiFeZn powder was mixed with Araldite epoxy to form high resistive PMC cores. Cylindrical PMC cores having a footprint of 0.79 mm 2 were fabricated with varying percentage of the magnetic powder on FR4 substrates. The core influence on the electrical performance of the inductive elements is discussed. Inductor chips having a solenoidal coil as well as transformer chips with primary and secondary coils wound around each other have been fabricated and evaluated. A core with 65% powder equipped with a solenoid made out of 25 µm thick insulated Au wire having 30 turns, yielded a constant inductance value of 2 µH up to the frequency of 50 MHz and a peak quality factor of 13. A 1:1 transformer with similar PMC core and solenoidal coils having 10 turns yielded a maximum efficiency of 84% and a coupling factor of 96%. In order to protect the solenoids and to increase the mechanical robustness and handling of the chips, a novel process was developed to encapsulate the components with an epoxy based magnetic composite. The effect on the electrical performance through the magnetic composite encapsulation is reported as well.

Controlled fabrication of multi-core alginate microcapsules.

Science.gov (United States)

Eqbal, Md Danish; Gundabala, Venkat

2017-12-01

In this work, we present a robust microfluidic platform for controlled and complete on-chip generation of alginate microcapsules with single and double liquid cores. A combined Coflow and T-junction configuration implemented in a hybrid glass-PDMS (Polydimethylsiloxane) device is used for the generation of microcapsules with oil as liquid core. Frequency matching of oil-alginate double emulsion generation with that of aqueous Calcium chloride droplet generation allows for controlled merging of the two, resulting in reliable production of microcapsules. Confocal imaging of microcapsule cross-section reveals presence of intact liquid core. In the case of double core microcapsules, the two cores are well separated by alginate layer ensuring their long term stability. The current approach is expected to have advantages over existing techniques for liquid core microcapsule generation in terms of continuity of the process, control over core stability, and non-damage to cells when used for cell encapsulation applications. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Monitoring of corrosion damage using high-frequency guided ultrasonic waves

OpenAIRE

Chew, D.; Fromme, P.

2014-01-01

Due to adverse environmental conditions corrosion can develop during the life cycle of industrial structures, e.g., offshore oil platforms, ships, and desalination plants. Both pitting corrosion and generalized corrosion leading to wall thickness loss can cause the degradation of the integrity and load bearing capacity of the structure. Structural health monitoring of corrosion damage in difficult to access areas can in principle be achieved using high frequency guided waves propagating along...

Review of the SCDAP/RELAP5/MOD3.1 code structure and core T/H model before core damage

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, See Darl; Kim, Dong Ha

1998-04-01

The SCDAP/RELAP5 code has been developed for best estimate transient simulation of light water reactor coolant systems during a severe accident. The code is being developed at the INEL under the primary sponsorship of the Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research of the U.S. NRC. As The current time, the SCDAP/RELAP5/MOD3.1 code is the result of merging the RELAP5/MOD3 and SCDAP models. The code models the coupled behavior of the reactor coolant system, core, fission product released during a severe accident transient as well as large and small break loss of coolant accidents, operational transients such as anticipated transient without SCRAM, loss of offsite power, loss of feedwater, and loss of flow. Major purpose of the report is to provide information about the characteristics of SCDAP/RELAP5/MOD3.1 core T/H models for an integrated severe accident computer code being developed under the mid/long-term project. This report analyzes the overall code structure which consists of the input processor, transient controller, and plot file handler. The basic governing equations to simulate the thermohydraulics of the primary system are also described. As the focus is currently concentrated in the core, core nodalization parameters of the intact geometry and the phenomenological subroutines for the damaged core are summarized for the future usage. In addition, the numerical approach for the heat conduction model is investigated along with heat convection model. These studies could provide a foundation for input preparation and model improvement. (author). 6 refs., 3 tabs., 4 figs

Identification and Level 1 Damage Detection of the Z24 Highway Bridge by Frequency Domain Decomposition

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Brincker, Rune; Andersen, P.; Cantieni, R.

2001-01-01

A series of 15 progressive damage tests were performed on a prestressed concrete highway bridge in Switzerland. The ambient response of the bridge was recorded for each damage case with a relatively large number of sensors. Changes in frequencies, damping ratios and MAC values were determined...

FANCI Regulates Recruitment of the FA Core Complex at Sites of DNA Damage Independently of FANCD2.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Maria Castella

2015-10-01

Full Text Available The Fanconi anemia (FA-BRCA pathway mediates repair of DNA interstrand crosslinks. The FA core complex, a multi-subunit ubiquitin ligase, participates in the detection of DNA lesions and monoubiquitinates two downstream FA proteins, FANCD2 and FANCI (or the ID complex. However, the regulation of the FA core complex itself is poorly understood. Here we show that the FA core complex proteins are recruited to sites of DNA damage and form nuclear foci in S and G2 phases of the cell cycle. ATR kinase activity, an intact FA core complex and FANCM-FAAP24 were crucial for this recruitment. Surprisingly, FANCI, but not its partner FANCD2, was needed for efficient FA core complex foci formation. Monoubiquitination or ATR-dependent phosphorylation of FANCI were not required for the FA core complex recruitment, but FANCI deubiquitination by USP1 was. Additionally, BRCA1 was required for efficient FA core complex foci formation. These findings indicate that FANCI functions upstream of FA core complex recruitment independently of FANCD2, and alter the current view of the FA-BRCA pathway.

Failure Predictions for VHTR Core Components using a Probabilistic Contiuum Damage Mechanics Model

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Fok, Alex

2013-10-30

The proposed work addresses the key research need for the development of constitutive models and overall failure models for graphite and high temperature structural materials, with the long-term goal being to maximize the design life of the Next Generation Nuclear Plant (NGNP). To this end, the capability of a Continuum Damage Mechanics (CDM) model, which has been used successfully for modeling fracture of virgin graphite, will be extended as a predictive and design tool for the core components of the very high- temperature reactor (VHTR). Specifically, irradiation and environmental effects pertinent to the VHTR will be incorporated into the model to allow fracture of graphite and ceramic components under in-reactor conditions to be modeled explicitly using the finite element method. The model uses a combined stress-based and fracture mechanics-based failure criterion, so it can simulate both the initiation and propagation of cracks. Modern imaging techniques, such as x-ray computed tomography and digital image correlation, will be used during material testing to help define the baseline material damage parameters. Monte Carlo analysis will be performed to address inherent variations in material properties, the aim being to reduce the arbitrariness and uncertainties associated with the current statistical approach. The results can potentially contribute to the current development of American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) codes for the design and construction of VHTR core components.

Precursors to potential severe core damage accidents: 1994, a status report. Volume 21: Main report and appendices A--H

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Belles, R.J.; Cletcher, J.W.; Copinger, D.A.; Vanden Heuvel, L.N.; Dolan, B.W.; Minarick, J.W.

1995-12-01

Nine operational events that affected eleven commercial light-water reactors (LWRs) during 1994 and that are considered to be precursors to potential severe core damage are described. All these events had conditional probabilities of subsequent severe core damage greater than or equal to 1.0 x 10 -6 . These events were identified by computer-screening the 1994 licensee event reports from commercial LWRs to identify those that could be potential precursors. Candidate precursors were then selected and evaluated in a process similar to that used in previous assessments. Selected events underwent engineering evaluation that identified, analyzed, and documented the precursors. Other events designated by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) also underwent a similar evaluation. Finally, documented precursors were submitted for review by licensees and NRC headquarters and regional offices to ensure that the plant design and its response to the precursor were correctly characterized. This study is a continuation of earlier work, which evaluated 1969--1981 and 1984--1993 events. The report discusses the general rationale for this study, the selection and documentation of events as precursors, and the estimation of conditional probabilities of subsequent severe core damage for events. This document is bound in two volumes: Vol. 21 contains the main report and Appendices A--H; Vol. 22 contains Appendix 1

Development of high frequency spice models for ferrite core inductors and transformers

Science.gov (United States)

Muyshondt, G. Patrick; Portnoy, William M.

In this work high frequency SPICE models were developed to simulate the hysteresis and saturation effects of toroidal shaped ferrite core inductors and transformers. The models include the nonlinear, multi-valued B-H characteristic of the core material, leakage flux, stray capacitances, and core losses. The saturation effects were modeled using two diode clamping arrangements in conjunction with nonlinear dependent sources. Two possible controlling schemes were developed for the saturation switch. One of the arrangements used the current flowing through a series RC branch to control the switch, while the other used a NAND gate. The NAND gate implementation of the switch proved to be simpler and the parameters associated with it were easier to determine from the measurements and the B-H characteristics of the material. Lumped parameters were used to simulate the parasitic effects. Techniques for measuring these effects are described. The models were verified using manganese-zinc ferrite-type toroidal cores and they have general applicability to all circuit analysis codes equivalent function blocks such as multipliers, adders, and logic components.

The radiological consequences of degraded core accidents for the Sizewell PWR The impact of adopting revised frequencies of occurrence

CERN Document Server

Kelly, G N

1983-01-01

The radiological consequences of degraded core accidents postulated for the Sizewell PWR were assessed in an earlier study and the results published in NRPB-R137. Further analyses have since been made by the Central Electricity Generating Board (CEGB) of degraded core accidents which have led to a revision of their predicted frequencies of occurrence. The implications of these revised frequencies, in terms of the risk to the public from degraded core accidents, are evaluated in this report. Increases, by factors typically within the range of about 1.5 to 7, are predicted in the consequences, compared with those estimated in the earlier study. However, the predicted risk from degraded core accidents, despite these increases, remains exceedingly small.

Damage Localization of Cable-Supported Bridges Using Modal Frequency Data and Probabilistic Neural Network

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

X. T. Zhou

2014-01-01

Full Text Available This paper presents an investigation on using the probabilistic neural network (PNN for damage localization in the suspension Tsing Ma Bridge (TMB and the cable-stayed Ting Kau Bridge (TKB from simulated noisy modal data. Because the PNN approach describes measurement data in a Bayesian probabilistic framework, it is promising for structural damage detection in noisy conditions. For locating damage on the TMB deck, the main span of the TMB is divided into a number of segments, and damage to the deck members in a segment is classified as one pattern class. The characteristic ensembles (training samples for each pattern class are obtained by computing the modal frequency change ratios from a 3D finite element model (FEM when incurring damage at different members of the same segment and then corrupting the analytical results with random noise. The testing samples for damage localization are obtained in a similar way except that damage is generated at locations different from the training samples. For damage region/type identification of the TKB, a series of pattern classes are defined to depict different scenarios with damage occurring at different portions/components. Research efforts have been focused on evaluating the influence of measurement noise level on the identification accuracy.

IAEA Regional Workshop on Development and Validation of EOP/AMG for Effective Prevention/Mitigation of Severe Core Damage

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1999-01-01

Materials of the IAEA Regional Workshop contain 24 presented lectures. Authors deal with development and validation of emergency operating procedures as well as with accident management guidelines (EOP/AMG) for effective prevention and mitigation of severe core damage

Radiation damage prediction system using damage function

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tanaka, Yoshihisa; Mori, Seiji

1979-01-01

The irradiation damage analysis system using a damage function was investigated. This irradiation damage analysis system consists of the following three processes, the unfolding of a damage function, the calculation of the neutron flux spectrum of the object of damage analysis and the estimation of irradiation effect of the object of damage analysis. The damage function is calculated by applying the SAND-2 code. The ANISN and DOT3, 5 codes are used to calculate neutron flux. The neutron radiation and the allowable time of reactor operation can be estimated based on these calculations of the damage function and neutron flux. The flow diagram of the process of analyzing irradiation damage by a damage function and the flow diagram of SAND-2 code are presented, and the analytical code for estimating damage, which is determined with a damage function and a neutron spectrum, is explained. The application of the irradiation damage analysis system using a damage function was carried out to the core support structure of a fast breeder reactor for the damage estimation and the uncertainty evaluation. The fundamental analytical conditions and the analytical model for this work are presented, then the irradiation data for SUS304, the initial estimated values of a damage function, the error analysis for a damage function and the analytical results are explained concerning the computation of a damage function for 10% total elongation. Concerning the damage estimation of FBR core support structure, the standard and lower limiting values of damage, the permissible neutron flux and the allowable years of reactor operation are presented and were evaluated. (Nakai, Y.)

Geometry of the Nojima fault at Nojima-Hirabayashi, Japan - I. A simple damage structure inferred from borehole core permeability

Science.gov (United States)

Lockner, David A.; Tanaka, Hidemi; Ito, Hisao; Ikeda, Ryuji; Omura, Kentaro; Naka, Hisanobu

2009-01-01

The 1995 Kobe (Hyogo-ken Nanbu) earthquake, M = 7.2, ruptured the Nojima fault in southwest Japan. We have studied core samples taken from two scientific drillholes that crossed the fault zone SW of the epicentral region on Awaji Island. The shallower hole, drilled by the Geological Survey of Japan (GSJ), was started 75 m to the SE of the surface trace of the Nojima fault and crossed the fault at a depth of 624 m. A deeper hole, drilled by the National Research Institute for Earth Science and Disaster Prevention (NIED) was started 302 m to the SE of the fault and crossed fault strands below a depth of 1140 m. We have measured strength and matrix permeability of core samples taken from these two drillholes. We find a strong correlation between permeability and proximity to the fault zone shear axes. The half-width of the high permeability zone (approximately 15 to 25 m) is in good agreement with the fault zone width inferred from trapped seismic wave analysis and other evidence. The fault zone core or shear axis contains clays with permeabilities of approximately 0.1 to 1 microdarcy at 50 MPa effective confining pressure (10 to 30 microdarcy at in situ pressures). Within a few meters of the fault zone core, the rock is highly fractured but has sustained little net shear. Matrix permeability of this zone is approximately 30 to 60 microdarcy at 50 MPa effective confining pressure (300 to 1000 microdarcy at in situ pressures). Outside this damage zone, matrix permeability drops below 0.01 microdarcy. The clay-rich core material has the lowest strength with a coefficient of friction of approximately 0.55. Shear strength increases with distance from the shear axis. These permeability and strength observations reveal a simple fault zone structure with a relatively weak fine-grained core surrounded by a damage zone of fractured rock. In this case, the damage zone will act as a high-permeability conduit for vertical and horizontal flow in the plane of the

A comparative assessment of different frequency based damage detection in unidirectional composite plates using MFC sensors

Science.gov (United States)

de Medeiros, Ricardo; Sartorato, Murilo; Vandepitte, Dirk; Tita, Volnei

2016-11-01

The basic concept of the vibration based damage identification methods is that the dynamic behaviour of a structure can change if damage occurs. Damage in a structure can alter the structural integrity, and therefore, the physical properties like stiffness, mass and/or damping may change. The dynamic behaviour of a structure is a function of these physical properties and will, therefore, directly be affected by the damage. The dynamic behaviour can be described in terms of time, frequency and modal domain parameters. The changes in these parameters (or properties derived from these parameters) are used as indicators of damage. Hence, this work has two main objectives. The first one is to provide an overview of the structural vibration based damage identification methods. For this purpose, a fundamental description of the structural vibration based damage identification problem is given, followed by a short literature overview of the damage features, which are commonly addressed. The second objective is to create a damage identification method for detection of the damage in composite structures. To aid in this process, two basic principles are discussed, namely the effect of the potential damage case on the dynamic behaviour, and the consequences involved with the information reduction in the signal processing. Modal properties from the structural dynamic output response are obtained. In addition, experimental and computational results are presented for the application of modal analysis techniques applied to composite specimens with and without damage. The excitation of the structures is performed using an impact hammer and, for measuring the output data, accelerometers as well as piezoelectric sensors. Finite element models are developed by shell elements, and numerical results are compared to experimental data, showing good correlation for the response of the specimens in some specific frequency range. Finally, FRFs are analysed using suitable metrics, including a

Methodological aspects of core meltdown accidents frequency estimates

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Matthis, P.

1984-01-01

A survey is given of the work of the ecological institute relating to models and methods used in the German Risk Study for the assessment of core meltdown accident frequency. A statistical model used by the ecological institute for the estimation of the outage behaviour of components is taken as a comparison, which leads to the conclusion that no appropriate methods for the assessment of component reliability are available to date. Furthermore, there are no secured methods for error propagation computation. The lower limits for the ranges of reliability of components are calculated by approximation. As a result of imperfect modelling and of a number of methodical inaccuracies and neglects, the German Risk Study underestimates the ranges of component reliability by a factor of 3 to 70 (depending on the type of component). (RF) [de

Phenomena occurring in the reactor coolant system during severe core damage accidents

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Malinauskas, A.P.

1989-01-01

The reactor coolant system (RCS) of a nuclear power plant consists of the reactor pressure vessel and the piping and associated components that are required for the continuous circulation of the coolant which is used to maintain thermal equilibrium throughout the system. In the event of an accident, the RCS also serves as one of several barriers to the escape of radiotoxic material into the biosphere. In contrast to normal operating conditions, severe core damage accidents are characterized by significant temporal and spatial variations in heat and mass fluxes, and by eventual geometrical changes within the RCS. Furthermore, the difficulties in describing the system in the severe accident mode are compounded by the occurrence of chemical reactions. These reactions can influence both the thermal and the mass transport behavior of the system. In addition, behavior of the reactor vessel internals and of materials released from the core region (especially the radioactive fission products) in the course of the accident likewise become of concern to the analyst. This report addresses these concerns. 9 refs., 1 tab

Frequency Response Function Based Damage Identification for Aerospace Structures

Science.gov (United States)

Oliver, Joseph Acton

Structural health monitoring technologies continue to be pursued for aerospace structures in the interests of increased safety and, when combined with health prognosis, efficiency in life-cycle management. The current dissertation develops and validates damage identification technology as a critical component for structural health monitoring of aerospace structures and, in particular, composite unmanned aerial vehicles. The primary innovation is a statistical least-squares damage identification algorithm based in concepts of parameter estimation and model update. The algorithm uses frequency response function based residual force vectors derived from distributed vibration measurements to update a structural finite element model through statistically weighted least-squares minimization producing location and quantification of the damage, estimation uncertainty, and an updated model. Advantages compared to other approaches include robust applicability to systems which are heavily damped, large, and noisy, with a relatively low number of distributed measurement points compared to the number of analytical degrees-of-freedom of an associated analytical structural model (e.g., modal finite element model). Motivation, research objectives, and a dissertation summary are discussed in Chapter 1 followed by a literature review in Chapter 2. Chapter 3 gives background theory and the damage identification algorithm derivation followed by a study of fundamental algorithm behavior on a two degree-of-freedom mass-spring system with generalized damping. Chapter 4 investigates the impact of noise then successfully proves the algorithm against competing methods using an analytical eight degree-of-freedom mass-spring system with non-proportional structural damping. Chapter 5 extends use of the algorithm to finite element models, including solutions for numerical issues, approaches for modeling damping approximately in reduced coordinates, and analytical validation using a composite

Off-resonance frequency operation for power transfer in a loosely coupled air core transformer

Science.gov (United States)

Scudiere, Matthew B

2012-11-13

A power transmission system includes a loosely coupled air core transformer having a resonance frequency determined by a product of inductance and capacitance of a primary circuit including a primary coil. A secondary circuit is configured to have a substantially same product of inductance and capacitance. A back EMF generating device (e.g., a battery), which generates a back EMF with power transfer, is attached to the secondary circuit. Once the load power of the back EMF generating device exceeds a certain threshold level, which depends on the system parameters, the power transfer can be achieved at higher transfer efficiency if performed at an operating frequency less than the resonance frequency, which can be from 50% to 95% of the resonance frequency.

Frequency domain fatigue damage estimation methods suitable for deterministic load spectra

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Henderson, A.R.; Patel, M.H. [University Coll., Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, London (United Kingdom)

2000-07-01

The evaluation of fatigue damage due to load spectra, directly in the frequency domain, is a complex phenomena but with the benefit of significant computation time savings. Various formulae have been suggested but have usually relating to a specific application only. The Dirlik method is the exception and is applicable to general cases of continuous stochastic spectra. This paper describes three approaches for evaluating discrete deterministic load spectra generated by the floating wind turbine model developed the UCL/RAL research project. (Author)

Frequency of damage by external explosion hazards based on geographical information

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Becker, Guenter; Camarinopoulos, Alexis; Theodora, Karali; Camarinopoulos, Leonidas; Schubert, B.

2013-01-01

External explosions can significantly contribute to risk of damage for industrial plants. External explosions may origin from other plants in the neighbourhood, which store and operate with explosive substances, or from transport of such substances on road, rail, or water. If deflagration is involved, ignition will not necessarily occur at the place of the accident, but a cloud of a combustible gas-air mixture may develop, which will ignite at some distance depending on wind velocity. A probabilistic model has been developed to calculate frequencies of damage based on numerical integration or on Monte Carlo simulation. Geographical information systems provide map material for sites, roads, rail and rivers on a computer. Data has been collected and applied for a nuclear power plant in Germany as an example. The method, however, can be used for any type of plant subject to external explosion hazards. (orig.)

Frequency of damage by external explosion hazards based on geographical information

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Becker, Guenter [Risa Sicherheitsanalysen GmbH, Berlin-Charlottenburg (Germany); Camarinopoulos, Alexis; Theodora, Karali [Environment Reliability and Risk Analysis (ERRA), Athens (Greece); Camarinopoulos, Leonidas [Piraeus Univ. (Greece); Schubert, B. [VENE, Hamburg (Germany)

2013-05-15

External explosions can significantly contribute to risk of damage for industrial plants. External explosions may origin from other plants in the neighbourhood, which store and operate with explosive substances, or from transport of such substances on road, rail, or water. If deflagration is involved, ignition will not necessarily occur at the place of the accident, but a cloud of a combustible gas-air mixture may develop, which will ignite at some distance depending on wind velocity. A probabilistic model has been developed to calculate frequencies of damage based on numerical integration or on Monte Carlo simulation. Geographical information systems provide map material for sites, roads, rail and rivers on a computer. Data has been collected and applied for a nuclear power plant in Germany as an example. The method, however, can be used for any type of plant subject to external explosion hazards. (orig.)

Response-only method for damage detection of beam-like structures using high accuracy frequencies with auxiliary mass spatial probing

Science.gov (United States)

Zhong, Shuncong; Oyadiji, S. Olutunde; Ding, Kang

2008-04-01

This paper proposes a new approach based on auxiliary mass spatial probing using spectral centre correction method (SCCM), to provide a simple solution for damage detection by just using the response time history of beam-like structures. The natural frequencies of a damaged beam with a traversing auxiliary mass change due to change in the inertia of the beam as the auxiliary mass is traversed along the beam, as well as the point-to-point variations in the flexibility of the beam. Therefore the auxiliary mass can enhance the effects of the crack on the dynamics of the beam and, therefore, facilitate the identification and location of damage in the beam. That is, the auxiliary mass can be used to probe the dynamic characteristic of the beam by traversing the mass from one end of the beam to the other. However, it is impossible to obtain accurate modal frequencies by the direct operation of the fast Fourier transform (FFT) of the response data of the structure because the frequency spectrum can be only calculated from limited sampled time data which results in the well-known leakage effect. SCCM is identical to the energy centrobaric correction method (ECCM) which is a practical and effective method used in rotating mechanical fault diagnosis and which resolves the shortcoming of FFT and can provide high accuracy estimate of frequency, amplitude and phase. In the present work, the modal responses of damaged simply supported beams with auxiliary mass are computed using the finite element method (FEM). The graphical plots of the natural frequencies calculated by SCCM versus axial location of auxiliary mass are obtained. However, it is difficult to locate the crack directly from the curve of natural frequencies. A simple and fast method, the derivatives of natural frequency curve, is proposed in the paper which can provide crack information for damage detection of beam-like structures. The efficiency and practicability of the proposed method is illustrated via numerical

Recreational stimulants, herbal, and spice cannabis: The core psychobiological processes that underlie their damaging effects.

Science.gov (United States)

Parrott, Andrew C; Hayley, Amie C; Downey, Luke A

2017-05-01

Recreational drugs are taken for their positive mood effects, yet their regular usage damages well-being. The psychobiological mechanisms underlying these damaging effects will be debated. The empirical literature on recreational cannabinoids and stimulant drugs is reviewed. A theoretical explanation for how they cause similar types of damage is outlined. All psychoactive drugs cause moods and psychological states to fluctuate. The acute mood gains underlie their recreational usage, while the mood deficits on withdrawal explain their addictiveness. Cyclical mood changes are found with every central nervous system stimulant and also occur with cannabis. These mood state changes provide a surface index for more profound psychobiological fluctuations. Homeostatic balance is altered, with repetitive disturbances of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, and disrupted cortisol-neurohormonal secretions. Hence, these drugs cause increased stress, disturbed sleep, neurocognitive impairments, altered brain activity, and psychiatric vulnerability. Equivalent deficits occur with novel psychoactive stimulants such as mephedrone and artificial "spice" cannabinoids. These psychobiological fluctuations underlie drug dependency and make cessation difficult. Psychobiological stability and homeostatic balance are optimally restored by quitting psychoactive drugs. Recreational stimulants such as cocaine or MDMA (3.4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine) and sedative drugs such as cannabis damage human homeostasis and well-being through similar core psychobiological mechanisms. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Stabilized soliton self-frequency shift and 0.1- PHz sideband generation in a photonic-crystal fiber with an air-hole-modified core.

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Bo-Wen; Hu, Ming-Lie; Fang, Xiao-Hui; Li, Yan-Feng; Chai, Lu; Wang, Ching-Yue; Tong, Weijun; Luo, Jie; Voronin, Aleksandr A; Zheltikov, Aleksei M

2008-09-15

Fiber dispersion and nonlinearity management strategy based on a modification of a photonic-crystal fiber (PCF) core with an air hole is shown to facilitate optimization of PCF components for a stable soliton frequency shift and subpetahertz sideband generation through four-wave mixing. Spectral recoil of an optical soliton by a red-shifted dispersive wave, generated through a soliton instability induced by high-order fiber dispersion, is shown to stabilize the soliton self-frequency shift in a highly nonlinear PCF with an air-hole-modified core relative to pump power variations. A fiber with a 2.3-microm-diameter core modified with a 0.9-microm-diameter air hole is used to demonstrate a robust soliton self-frequency shift of unamplified 50-fs Ti: sapphire laser pulses to a central wavelength of about 960 nm, which remains insensitive to variations in the pump pulse energy within the range from 60 to at least 100 pJ. In this regime of frequency shifting, intense high- and low-frequency branches of dispersive wave radiation are simultaneously observed in the spectrum of PCF output. An air-hole-modified-core PCF with appropriate dispersion and nonlinearity parameters is shown to provide efficient four-wave mixing, giving rise to Stokes and anti-Stokes sidebands whose frequency shift relative to the pump wavelength falls within the subpetahertz range, thus offering an attractive source for nonlinear Raman microspectroscopy.

Unusual polarity-dependent patterns in a bent-core nematic liquid crystal under low-frequency ac field.

Science.gov (United States)

Xiang, Ying; Zhou, Meng-jie; Xu, Ming-Ya; Salamon, Péter; Éber, Nándor; Buka, Ágnes

2015-04-01

Electric-field-induced patterns of diverse morphology have been observed over a wide frequency range in a recently synthesized bent-core nematic (BCN) liquid crystal. At low frequencies (up to ∼25 Hz), the BCN exhibited unusual polarity-dependent patterns. When the amplitude of the ac field was enhanced, these two time-asymmetrical patterns turned into time-symmetrical prewavylike stripes. At ac frequencies in the middle-frequency range (∼50-3000 Hz), zigzag patterns were detected whose obliqueness varied with the frequency. Finally, if the frequency was increased above 3 kHz, the zigzag pattern was replaced by another, prewavylike pattern, whose threshold voltage depended on the frequency; however, the wave vector did not. For a more complete characterization, material parameters such as elastic constants, dielectric permittivities, and the anisotropy of the diamagnetic susceptibility were also determined.

Frequency of damage by external hazards based on geographical information

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Becker, G. [RISA Sicherheitsanalysen GmbH, Berlin (Germany); Camarinopoulos, A.; Karali, T. [ERRA, Athens (Greece); Camarinopoulos, L. [Piraeus Univ. (Greece); Schubert, B. [VENE, Hamburg (Germany)

2013-07-01

External explosions can significantly contribute to risk of damage for industrial plants. External explosions may origin from other plants in the neighborhood, which store and operate with explosive substances, or from transport of such substances on road, rail, or water. In all cases, some accident is a necessary condition for a hazard. Another probabilistic element is the probability of ignition. If transport causes the explosion, the location of the accident will influence the consequences. If deflagration is involved, ignition will not necessarily occur at the place of the accident, but a cloud of a combustible gas-air mixture may develop, which will ignite at some distance depending on wind velocity. In order to avoid unnecessarily pessimistic approaches, geographical information can be used in addition to local weather statistics. Geographical information systems provide map material for sites, roads, rail and rivers on a computer. This information can be used to find frequencies of damage based on numerical integration or on Monte Carlo simulation. A probabilistic model has been developed. It is based on: - A joint probability density function for wind direction and wind speed, which has been estimated from local weather statistics, - Frequency of hazards for neighboring plants and various types of traffic, - Statistics on the amounts and types of explosive materials, - The model has been implemented using one numerical integrations method and two variants of Monte Carlo method. Data has been collected and applied for a nuclear power plant in Northern Germany as an example. The method, however, can be used for any type of plant subject to external explosion hazards. In its present form, it makes use of design criteria specific for nuclear power plants, but these could be replaced by different criteria. (orig.)

Frequency of damage by external hazards based on geographical information

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Becker, G.; Camarinopoulos, A.; Karali, T.; Camarinopoulos, L.; Schubert, B.

2013-01-01

External explosions can significantly contribute to risk of damage for industrial plants. External explosions may origin from other plants in the neighborhood, which store and operate with explosive substances, or from transport of such substances on road, rail, or water. In all cases, some accident is a necessary condition for a hazard. Another probabilistic element is the probability of ignition. If transport causes the explosion, the location of the accident will influence the consequences. If deflagration is involved, ignition will not necessarily occur at the place of the accident, but a cloud of a combustible gas-air mixture may develop, which will ignite at some distance depending on wind velocity. In order to avoid unnecessarily pessimistic approaches, geographical information can be used in addition to local weather statistics. Geographical information systems provide map material for sites, roads, rail and rivers on a computer. This information can be used to find frequencies of damage based on numerical integration or on Monte Carlo simulation. A probabilistic model has been developed. It is based on: - A joint probability density function for wind direction and wind speed, which has been estimated from local weather statistics, - Frequency of hazards for neighboring plants and various types of traffic, - Statistics on the amounts and types of explosive materials, - The model has been implemented using one numerical integrations method and two variants of Monte Carlo method. Data has been collected and applied for a nuclear power plant in Northern Germany as an example. The method, however, can be used for any type of plant subject to external explosion hazards. In its present form, it makes use of design criteria specific for nuclear power plants, but these could be replaced by different criteria. (orig.)

Extremely low-frequency magnetic fields can impair spermatogenesis recovery after reversible testicular damage induced by heat.

Science.gov (United States)

Tenorio, Bruno Mendes; Ferreira Filho, Moisés Bonifacio Alves; Jimenez, George Chaves; de Morais, Rosana Nogueira; Peixoto, Christina Alves; Nogueira, Romildo de Albuquerque; da Silva Junior, Valdemiro Amaro

2014-06-01

Male infertility is often related to reproductive age couples experiencing fertility-related issues. Men may have fertility problems associated with reversible testicular damage. Considering that men have been increasingly exposed to extremely low-frequency magnetic fields generated by the production, distribution and use of electricity, this study analyzed whether 60 Hz and 1 mT magnetic field exposure may impair spermatogenesis recovery after reversible testicular damage induced by heat shock using rats as an experimental model. Adult male rats were subjected to a single testicular heat shock (HS, 43 °C for 12 min) and then exposed to the magnetic field for 15, 30 and 60 d after HS. Magnetic field exposure during the spermatogenesis recovery induced changes in testis components volume, cell ultrastructure and histomorphometrical parameters. Control animals had a reestablished and active spermatogenesis at 60 d after heat shock, while animals exposed to magnetic field still showed extensive testicular degeneration. Magnetic field exposure did not change the plasma testosterone. In conclusion, extremely low-frequency magnetic field may be harmful to fertility recovery in males affected by reversible testicular damage.

Simplified approach for estimating large early release frequency

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pratt, W.T.; Mubayi, V.; Nourbakhsh, H.; Brown, T.; Gregory, J.

1998-04-01

The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) Policy Statement related to Probabilistic Risk Analysis (PRA) encourages greater use of PRA techniques to improve safety decision-making and enhance regulatory efficiency. One activity in response to this policy statement is the use of PRA in support of decisions related to modifying a plant's current licensing basis (CLB). Risk metrics such as core damage frequency (CDF) and Large Early Release Frequency (LERF) are recommended for use in making risk-informed regulatory decisions and also for establishing acceptance guidelines. This paper describes a simplified approach for estimating LERF, and changes in LERF resulting from changes to a plant's CLB

Metabolite Damage and Metabolite Damage Control in Plants

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hanson, Andrew D. [Horticultural Sciences Department and; Henry, Christopher S. [Mathematics and Computer Science Division, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, Illinois 60439, email:; Computation Institute, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60637; Fiehn, Oliver [Genome Center, University of California, Davis, California 95616, email:; de Crécy-Lagard, Valérie [Microbiology and Cell Science Department, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida 32611, email: ,

2016-04-29

It is increasingly clear that (a) many metabolites undergo spontaneous or enzyme-catalyzed side reactions in vivo, (b) the damaged metabolites formed by these reactions can be harmful, and (c) organisms have biochemical systems that limit the buildup of damaged metabolites. These damage-control systems either return a damaged molecule to its pristine state (metabolite repair) or convert harmful molecules to harmless ones (damage preemption). Because all organisms share a core set of metabolites that suffer the same chemical and enzymatic damage reactions, certain damage-control systems are widely conserved across the kingdoms of life. Relatively few damage reactions and damage-control systems are well known. Uncovering new damage reactions and identifying the corresponding damaged metabolites, damage-control genes, and enzymes demands a coordinated mix of chemistry, metabolomics, cheminformatics, biochemistry, and comparative genomics. This review illustrates the above points using examples from plants, which are at least as prone to metabolite damage as other organisms.

On-line structural damage localization and quantification using wireless sensors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hsu, Ting-Yu; Huang, Shieh-Kung; Lu, Kung-Chung; Loh, Chin-Hsiung; Wang, Yang; Lynch, Jerome Peter

2011-01-01

In this paper, a wireless sensing system is designed to realize on-line damage localization and quantification of a structure using a frequency response function change method (FRFCM). Data interrogation algorithms are embedded in the computational core of the wireless sensing units to extract the necessary structural features, i.e. the frequency spectrum segments around eigenfrequencies, automatically from measured structural response for the FRFCM. Instead of the raw time history of the structural response, the extracted compact structural features are transmitted to the host computer. As a result, with less data transmitted from the wireless sensors, the energy consumed by the wireless transmission is reduced. To validate the performance of the proposed wireless sensing system, a six-story steel building with replaceable bracings in each story is instrumented with the wireless sensors for on-line damage detection during shaking table tests. The accuracy of the damage detection results using the wireless sensing system is verified through comparison with the results calculated from data recorded of a traditional wired monitoring system. The results demonstrate that, by taking advantage of collocated computing resources in wireless sensors, the proposed wireless sensing system can locate and quantify damage with acceptable accuracy and moderate energy efficiency

Managing water addition to a degraded core

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kuan, P.; Hanson, D.J.; Odar, F.

1992-01-01

In this paper the authors present information that can be used in severe accident management by providing an improved understanding of the effects of water addition to a degraded core. This improved understanding is developed using a diagram showing a sequence of core damage states. Whenever possible, a temperature and a time after accident initiation are estimated for each damage state in the sequence diagram. This diagram can be used to anticipate the evolution of events during an accident. Possible responses of plant instruments are described to identify these damage states and the effects of water addition. The rate and amount of water addition needed (a) to remove energy from the core, (b) to stabilize the core or (c) to not adversely affect the damage progression, are estimated. Analysis of the capability to remove energy from large cohesive and particulate debris beds indicates that these beds may not be stabilized in the core region and they may partially relocate to the lower plenum of the reactor vessel

Assessment of damage potential to the TMI-2 lower head due to thermal attack by core debris

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cronenberg, A.W.; Behling, S.R.; Broughton, J.M.

1986-06-01

Camera inspection of the Three Mile Island Unit 2 (TMI-2) inlet plenum region has shown that approximately 10 to 20 percent of the core material loading may have relocated to the lower plenum. Although vessel integrity was maintained, a question of primary concern is ''how close to vessel failure'' did this accident come. This report summarizes the results of thermal analyses aimed at assessing damage potential to the TMI-2 lower head and attached instrument penetration tubes due to thermal attack by hot core debris. Results indicate that the instrument penetration nozzles could have experienced melt failure at localized hot spot regions, with attendant debris drainage and plugging of the instrument lead tubes. However, only minor direct thermal attack of the vessel liner is predicted

Structural, magnetic characterization (dependencies of coercivity and loss with the frequency) of magnetic cores based in Finemet

Science.gov (United States)

Osinalde, M.; Infante, P.; Domínguez, L.; Blanco, J. M.; del Val, J. J.; Chizhik, A.; González, J.

2017-12-01

We report changes of coercivity, induced magnetic anisotropy, magneto-optical domain structure and frequency dependencies of coercivity and energy loss (up to 10 MHz) associated with the structural modifications produced by thermal treatments under applied magnetic field (field annealing) in toroidal wound cores of Fe73.5Cu1Nb3Si15.5B7 amorphous alloy. The thermal treatment (535 °C, 1 h) leads to the typical nanocrystalline structure of α-Fe(Si) nanograins (60-65% relative volume, 10-20 nm average grain size embedded in a residual amorphous matrix, while the magnetic field with the possibility to be applied in two directions to the toroidal core axis, that is in transverse (which is equivalent to the transverse direction of the ribbon) or longitudinal (equivalent to the longitudinal direction of the ribbon), develops a macroscopic uniaxial magnetic anisotropy in the transverse (around 245 J/m3) or longitudinal (around 85 J/m3) direction of the ribbon, respectively. It is remarkable the quasi-unhysteretic character of the cores with these two kinds of field annealing as comparing with that of the as-quenched one. Magneto-optical study by Kerr-effect of the ribbons provides useful information on the domain structure of the surface in agreement with the direction and intensity of the induced magnetic anisotropy. This induced uniaxial magnetic anisotropy plays a very important role on the Hc(f) and EL(f) curves, (f: frequency), being drastic the presence and direction of the induced magnetic anisotropy. In addition, these frequency dependencies show a significant change at the frequency around 100 Hz.

Consequence analysis of core damage states following severe accidents for the CANDU reactor design

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wahba, N.N.; Kim, Y.T.; Lie, S.G.

1997-01-01

The analytical methodology used to evaluate severe accident sequences is described. The relevant thermal-mechanical phenomena and the mathematical approach used in calculating the timing of the accident progression and source term estimate are summarized. The postulated sever accidents analyzed, in general, mainly differ in the timing to reach and progress through each defined c ore damage state . This paper presents the methodology and results of the timing and steam discharge calculations as well as source term estimate out of containment for accident sequences classified as potentially leading to core disassembly following a small break loss-of-coolant accident (LOCA) scenario as a specific example. (author)

Flexural fatigue failures and lives of Eco-Core sandwich beams

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hossain, Mohammad Mynul; Shivakumar, Kunigal

2014-01-01

Highlights: • Eco-Core sandwich beam is flexural fatigue tested to study its fatigue response. • The core showed three failure types: damage onset, progression and final failure. • These failures were found to be represented by 1%, 5% and 7% change in compliance. • The fatigue stress-life (S–N) relationship follows a power low, σ max /σ ct = A o N α . • The fatigue failure was by multiple vertical cracks followed by 45° shear failure. - Abstract: Eco-Core is a class of syntactic foam made from small volume of high char yield binder and large volume of a class of flyash for fire resistance application. Very little or no flexural fatigue data of this class of core material is reported in the open literature. This paper presents a flexural fatigue response of Eco-Core in a glass/vinyl ester composite face sheet sandwich beam. A four-point loaded flexural test specimen was designed and tested in static and fatigue loadings to cause tension failure in the core. The fatigue test was conducted at maximum cyclic stress (σ max ) ranged from 0.7σ ct to 0.9σ ct , where σ ct is the static flexural strength of the core. The sinusoidal loading frequency of 2 Hz with the stress ratio of 0.1 was used. Flexural fatigue failure modes of Eco-Core sandwich beam were classified: damage onset (single tension crack), damage progression (multiple tension cracks) and ultimate failure (a combination of tension and shear). These failures were characterized by 1%, 5% and 7% changes in compliance that corresponds to N 1% , N 5% and N 7% lives. The fatigue stress-life (S–N) relationship was found to follow the well-known power law equation, σ max /σ ct = A o N α . The constants A o and α were established for all three types of failures. The endurance limit was established based on 1 million cycles limit and it was found to be 0.65σ ct , 0.70σ ct and 0.71σ ct , respectively for the three modes of failure. Flexural fatigue and static failure modes of Eco-Core sandwich

Comparison of computer codes relative to the aerosol behavior in the reactor containment building during severe core damage accidents in a PWR

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fermandjian, J.; Bunz, H.; Dunbar, I.; Gauvain, J.; Ricchena, R.

1986-01-01

The present study concerns a comparative exercise, performed within the framework of the Commission of the European Communities, of the computer codes (AEROSIM-M, UK; AEROSOLS/B1, France; CORRAL-2, CEC and NAUA Mod5, Germany) used in order to assess the aerosol behavior in the reactor containment building during severe core damage accidents in a PWR. Topics considered in this paper include aerosols, containment buildings, reactor safety, fission product release, reactor cores, meltdown, and monitoring

Optimized core loading sequence for Ukraine WWER-1000 reactors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dye, M.; Shah, H.

2015-01-01

Fuel Assemblies (WFAs) experienced mechanical damage of the grids during loading at both South Ukraine 2 (SU2) and South Ukraine 3 (SU3). The grids were damaged due to high lateral loads exceeding their strength limit. The high lateral loads were caused by a combination of distortion and stiffness of the mixed core fuel assemblies and significant fuel assembly-to-fuel assembly interaction combined with the core loading sequence being used. To prevent damage of the WFA grids during core loading, Westinghouse has developed a loading sequence technique and loading aides (smooth sided dummies and top nozzle loading guides) designed to minimize fuel assembly-to-fuel assembly interaction while maximizing the potential for successful loading (i.e., no fuel assembly damage and minimized loading time). The loading sequence technique accounts for cycle-specific core loading patterns and is based on previous Westinghouse WWER core loading experience and fundamental principles. The loading aids are developed to “open-up” the target core location or to provide guidance into a target core location. The Westinghouse optimized core loading sequence and smooth sided dummies were utilized during the successful loading of SU3 Cycle 25 mixed core in March 2015, with no instances of fuel assembly damage and yet still provided considerable time savings relative to the 2012 and 2013 SU3 reload campaigns. (authors)

Method of determination of thermo-acoustic coolant instability boundaries in reactor core at NPPs with WWER

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Skalozubov, Volodymyr; Kolykhanov, Viktor; Kovryzhkin, Yuriy

2007-01-01

The regulatory body of Ukraine, the National Atomic Energy Company and the Scientific and Production Centre have led team-works concerned with previously unstudied factors or phenomena affecting reactor safety. As a result it is determined that the thermo-acoustic coolant instability conditions can appear in the core at definite operating WWER regimes. Considerable cyclic dynamic loads affect fuel claddings over thermo-acoustic pressure oscillations. These loads can result in inadmissible cassette design damage and containment damage. Taking into account calculation and experimental research authors submit a method of on-line assessment of WWER core state concerning thermo-acoustic coolant instability. According to this method, the thermo-acoustic coolant instability appearance conditions can be estimated using normal registered parameters (pressure, temperature, heat demand etc.). At operative modes, a WWER-1000 core is stable to tracheotomies oscillations, but reduction of coolant discharge through the core for some times can result in thermo-acoustic coolant instability. Thermo-acoustic instability appears at separate transitional modes concerned with reactor scram and unloading/loading at all power units. When thermo-acoustic instability begins in transitional modes, core elements are under influence of high-frequency coolant pressure pulsations for a long time (tens of hours)

Error Analysis of High Frequency Core Loss Measurement for Low-Permeability Low-Loss Magnetic Cores

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Niroumand, Farideh Javidi; Nymand, Morten

2016-01-01

in magnetic cores is B-H loop measurement where two windings are placed on the core under test. However, this method is highly vulnerable to phase shift error, especially for low-permeability, low-loss cores. Due to soft saturation and very low core loss, low-permeability low-loss magnetic cores are favorable...... in many of the high-efficiency high power-density power converters. Magnetic powder cores, among the low-permeability low-loss cores, are very attractive since they possess lower magnetic losses in compared to gapped ferrites. This paper presents an analytical study of the phase shift error in the core...... loss measuring of low-permeability, low-loss magnetic cores. Furthermore, the susceptibility of this measurement approach has been analytically investigated under different excitations. It has been shown that this method, under square-wave excitation, is more accurate compared to sinusoidal excitation...

[Pulse-modulated Electromagnetic Radiation of Extremely High Frequencies Protects Cellular DNA against Damaging Effect of Physico-Chemical Factors in vitro].

Science.gov (United States)

Gapeyev, A B; Lukyanova, N A

2015-01-01

Using a comet assay technique, we investigated protective effects of. extremely high frequency electromagnetic radiation in combination with the damaging effect of X-ray irradiation, the effect of damaging agents hydrogen peroxide and methyl methanesulfonate on DNA in mouse whole blood leukocytes. It was shown that the preliminary exposure of the cells to low intensity pulse-modulated electromagnetic radiation (42.2 GHz, 0.1 mW/cm2, 20-min exposure, modulation frequencies of 1 and 16 Hz) caused protective effects decreasing the DNA damage by 20-45%. The efficacy of pulse-modulated electromagnetic radiation depended on the type of genotoxic agent and increased in a row methyl methanesulfonate--X-rays--hydrogen peroxide. Continuous electromagnetic radiation was ineffective. The mechanisms of protective effects may be connected with an induction of the adaptive response by nanomolar concentrations of reactive oxygen species formed by pulse-modulated electromagnetic radiation.

Evaluation of potential severe accidents during low power and shutdown operations at Surry, Unit-1: Analysis of core damage frequency from internal events during mid-loop operations. Appendices F-H, Volume 2, Part 4

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chu, T.L.; Musicki, Z.; Kohut, P.; Yang, J.; Bozoki, G.; Hsu, C.J.; Diamond, D.J.; Bley, D.; Johnson, D.; Holmes, B.

1994-06-01

Traditionally, probabilistic risk assessments (PRA) of severe accidents in nuclear power plants have considered initiating events potentially occurring only during full power operation. Some previous screening analyses that were performed for other modes of operation suggested that risks during those modes were small relative to full power operation. However, more recent studies and operational experience have implied that accidents during low power and shutdown could be significant contributors to risk. Two plants, Surry (pressurized water reactor) and Grand Gulf (boiling water reactor), were selected as the plants to be studied. The objectives of the program are to assess the risks of severe accidents initiated during plant operational states other than full power operation and to compare the estimated core damage frequencies, important accident sequences and other qualitative and quantitative results with those accidents initiated during full power operation as assessed in NUREG-1150. The scope of the program includes that of a level-3 PRA. In phase 2, mid-loop operation was selected as the plant configuration to be analyzed based on the results of the phase 1 study. The objective of the phase 2 study is to perform a detailed analysis of the potential accident scenarios that may occur during mid-loop operation, and compare the results with those of NUREG-1150. The scope of the level-1 study includes plant damage state analysis, and uncertainty analysis. Volume 1 summarizes the results of the study. Internal events analysis is documented in Volume 2. It also contains an appendix that documents the part of the phase 1 study that has to do with POSs other than mid-loop operation. Internal fire and internal flood analyses are documented in Volumes 3 and 4. A separate study on seismic analysis, documented in Volume 5, was performed for the NRC by Future Resources Associates, Inc. Volume 6 documents the accident progression, source terms, and consequence analysis

Damage detection in composite materials using Lamb wave methods

Science.gov (United States)

Kessler, Seth S.; Spearing, S. Mark; Soutis, Constantinos

2002-04-01

Cost-effective and reliable damage detection is critical for the utilization of composite materials. This paper presents part of an experimental and analytical survey of candidate methods for in situ damage detection of composite materials. Experimental results are presented for the application of Lamb wave techniques to quasi-isotropic graphite/epoxy test specimens containing representative damage modes, including delamination, transverse ply cracks and through-holes. Linear wave scans were performed on narrow laminated specimens and sandwich beams with various cores by monitoring the transmitted waves with piezoceramic sensors. Optimal actuator and sensor configurations were devised through experimentation, and various types of driving signal were explored. These experiments provided a procedure capable of easily and accurately determining the time of flight of a Lamb wave pulse between an actuator and sensor. Lamb wave techniques provide more information about damage presence and severity than previously tested methods (frequency response techniques), and provide the possibility of determining damage location due to their local response nature. These methods may prove suitable for structural health monitoring applications since they travel long distances and can be applied with conformable piezoelectric actuators and sensors that require little power.

Structural Damage Detection using Frequency Response Function Index and Surrogate Model Based on Optimized Extreme Learning Machine Algorithm

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

R. Ghiasi

2017-09-01

Full Text Available Utilizing surrogate models based on artificial intelligence methods for detecting structural damages has attracted the attention of many researchers in recent decades. In this study, a new kernel based on Littlewood-Paley Wavelet (LPW is proposed for Extreme Learning Machine (ELM algorithm to improve the accuracy of detecting multiple damages in structural systems.  ELM is used as metamodel (surrogate model of exact finite element analysis of structures in order to efficiently reduce the computational cost through updating process. In the proposed two-step method, first a damage index, based on Frequency Response Function (FRF of the structure, is used to identify the location of damages. In the second step, the severity of damages in identified elements is detected using ELM. In order to evaluate the efficacy of ELM, the results obtained from the proposed kernel were compared with other kernels proposed for ELM as well as Least Square Support Vector Machine algorithm. The solved numerical problems indicated that ELM algorithm accuracy in detecting structural damages is increased drastically in case of using LPW kernel.

Ultrasound guided core biopsy of suspicious mammographic calcifications using high frequency and power Doppler ultrasound

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Teh, W.L.; Wilson, A.R.M; Evans, A.J.; Burrell, H.; Pinder, S.E.; Ellis, I.O.

2000-01-01

AIM: The pre-operative diagnosis of suspicious mammographic microcalcifications usually requires stereotactic needle biopsy. The aim of this study was to evaluate if high frequency 13 MHz ultrasound (HFUS) and power Doppler (PD) can aid visualization and biopsy of microcalcifications. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Forty-four consecutive patients presenting with microcalcifications without associated mammographic or palpable masses were examined with HFUS and PD. Ultrasound-guided core biopsy (USCB) was performed where possible. Stereotactic biopsy was carried out when US-guided biopsy was unsuccessful. Surgery was performed if a diagnosis of malignancy was made on core biopsy or if the repeat core biopsy was non-diagnostic. RESULTS: Forty-one patients (93%) had ultrasound abnormalities corresponding to mammographic calcification. USCB was performed on 37 patients. In 29/37, USCB obtained a definitive result (78.4%). USCB was non-diagnostic in 4/9 benign (44.4%) and 4/28 (14.3%) malignant lesions biopsied. The complete and absolute sensitivities for malignancy using USCB were 85.7% (24/28) and 81% (23/28), respectively. USCB correctly identified invasive disease in 12/23 (52.2%) cases. There was no significant difference in the presence of abnormal flow on PD between benign and malignant lesions. However, abnormal PD vascularity was present in 43.5% of invasive cancer and was useful in directing successful biopsy in eight cases. CONCLUSION: The combination of high frequency US with PD is useful in the detection and guidance of successful needle biopsy of microcalcifications particularly where there is an invasive focus within larger areas of DCIS. Teh, W.L. (2000)

Estimation of irradiation-induced material damage measure of FCM fuel in LWR core

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, Kyung-Hoon; Lee, Chungchan; Park, Sang-Yoon; Cho, Jin-Young; Chang, Jonghwa; Lee, Won Jae

2014-01-01

An irradiation-induced material damage measure on tri-isotropic (TRISO) multi-coating layers of fully ceramic micro-encapsulated (FCM) fuel to replace conventional uranium dioxide (UO 2 ) fuel for existing light water reactors (LWRs) has been estimated using a displacement per atom (DPA) cross section for a FCM fuel performance analysis. The DPA cross sections in 47 and 190 energy groups for both silicon carbide (SiC) and graphite are generated based on the molecular dynamics simulation by SRIM/TRIM. For the selected FCM fuel assembly design with FeCrAl cladding, a core depletion analysis was carried out using the DeCART2D/MASTER code system with the prepared DPA cross sections to evaluate the irradiation effect in the Korean OPR-1000. The DPA of the SiC and IPyC coating layers is estimated by comparing the discharge burnup obtained from the MASTER calculation with the burnup-dependent DPA for each coating layer calculated using DeCART2D. The results show that low uranium loading and hardened neutron spectrum compared to that of high temperature gas-cooled reactor (HTGR) result in high discharge burnup and high fast neutron fluence. In conclusion, it can be seen that the irradiation-induced material damage measure is noticeably increased under LWR operating conditions compared to HTGRs. (author)

Fe-based nanocrystalline powder cores with ultra-low core loss

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wang, Xiangyue, E-mail: wangxiangyue1986@163.com [China Iron and Steel Research Institute Group, Beijing 100081 (China); Center of Advanced Technology and Materials Co., Ltd., Beijing 100081 (China); Lu, Zhichao; Lu, Caowei; Li, Deren [China Iron and Steel Research Institute Group, Beijing 100081 (China); Center of Advanced Technology and Materials Co., Ltd., Beijing 100081 (China)

2013-12-15

Melt-spun amorphous Fe{sub 73.5}Cu{sub 1}Nb{sub 3}Si{sub 15.5}B{sub 7} alloy strip was crushed to make flake-shaped fine powders. The passivated powders by phosphoric acid were mixed with organic and inorganic binder, followed by cold compaction to form toroid-shaped bonded powder-metallurgical magnets. The powder cores were heat-treated to crystallize the amorphous structure and to control the nano-grain structure. Well-coated phosphate-oxide insulation layer on the powder surface decreased the the core loss with the insulation of each powder. FeCuNbSiB nanocrystalline alloy powder core prepared from the powder having phosphate-oxide layer exhibits a stable permeability up to high frequency range over 2 MHz. Especially, the core loss could be reduced remarkably. At the other hand, the softened inorganic binder in the annealing process could effectively improve the intensity of powder cores. - Highlights: • Fe-based nanocrystalline powder cores were prepared with low core loss. • Well-coated phosphate-oxide insulation layer on the powder surface decreased the core loss. • Fe-based nanocrystalline powder cores exhibited a stable permeability up to high frequency range over 2 MHz. • The softened inorganic binder in the annealing process could effectively improve the intensity of powder cores.

Tailoring Sandwich Face/Core Interfaces for Improved Damage Tolerance

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lundsgaard-Larsen, Christian; Berggreen, Christian; Carlsson, Leif A.

2010-01-01

A face/core debond in a sandwich structure may propagate in the interface or kink into either the face or core. It is found that certain modifications of the face/core interface region influence the kinking behavior, which is studied experimentally in the present paper. A sandwich double cantilever....... The transition points where the crack kinks are identified and the influence of four various interface design modifications on the propagation path and fracture resistance are investigated....

Modeling and analysis framework for core damage propagation during flow-blockage-initiated accidents in the Advanced Neutron Source reactor at Oak Ridge National Laboratory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, S.H.; Taleyarkhan, R.P.; Navarro-Valenti, S.; Georgevich, V.

1995-01-01

This paper describes modeling and analysis to evaluate the extent of core damage during flow blockage events in the Advanced Neutron Source (ANS) reactor planned to be built at ORNL. Damage propagation is postulated to occur from thermal conduction between dmaged and undamaged plates due to direct thermal contact. Such direct thermal contact may occur beause of fuel plate swelling during fission product vapor release or plate buckling. Complex phenomena of damage propagation were modeled using a one-dimensional heat transfer model. A parametric study was done for several uncertain variables. The study included investigating effects of plate contact area, convective heat transfer coefficient, thermal conductivity on fuel swelling, and initial temperature of the plate being contacted by the damaged plate. Also, the side support plates were modeled to account for their effects of damage propagation. Results provide useful insights into how variouss uncertain parameters affect damage propagation

Tuned Chamber Core Panel Acoustic Test Results

Science.gov (United States)

Schiller, Noah H.; Allen, Albert R.

2016-01-01

This report documents acoustic testing of tuned chamber core panels, which can be used to supplement the low-frequency performance of conventional acoustic treatment. The tuned chamber core concept incorporates low-frequency noise control directly within the primary structure and is applicable to sandwich constructions with a directional core, including corrugated-, truss-, and fluted-core designs. These types of sandwich structures have long, hollow channels (or chambers) in the core. By adding small holes through one of the facesheets, the hollow chambers can be utilized as an array of low-frequency acoustic resonators. These resonators can then be used to attenuate low-frequency noise (below 400 Hz) inside a vehicle compartment without increasing the weight or size of the structure. The results of this test program demonstrate that the tuned chamber core concept is effective when used in isolation or combined with acoustic foam treatments. Specifically, an array of acoustic resonators integrated within the core of the panels was shown to improve both the low-frequency absorption and transmission loss of the structure in targeted one-third octave bands.

Portable optical frequency standard based on sealed gas-filled hollow-core fiber using a novel encapsulation technique

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Triches, Marco; Brusch, Anders; Hald, Jan

2015-01-01

A portable stand-alone optical frequency standard based on a gas-filled hollow-core photonic crystal fiber is developed to stabilize a fiber laser to the 13C2H2 P(16) (ν1 + ν3) transition at 1542 nm using saturated absorption. A novel encapsulation technique is developed to permanently seal...

NDE of Damage in Aircraft Flight Control Surfaces

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hsu, David K.; Barnard, Daniel J.; Dayal, Vinay

2007-01-01

Flight control surfaces on an aircraft, such as ailerons, flaps, spoilers and rudders, are typically adhesively bonded composite or aluminum honeycomb sandwich structures. These components can suffer from damage caused by hail stone, runway debris, or dropped tools during maintenance. On composites, low velocity impact damages can escape visual inspection, whereas on aluminum honeycomb sandwich, budding failure of the honeycomb core may or may not be accompanied by a disbond. This paper reports a study of the damage morphology in such structures and the NDE methods for detecting and characterizing them. Impact damages or overload failures in composite sandwiches with Nomex or fiberglass core tend to be a fracture or crinkle or the honeycomb cell wall located a distance below the facesheet-to-core bondline. The damage in aluminum honeycomb is usually a buckling failure, propagating from the top skin downward. The NDE methods used in this work for mapping out these damages were: air-coupled ultrasonic scan, and imaging by computer aided tap tester. Representative results obtained from the field will be shown

Probabilistic safety assessment of the Fugen NPS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sotsu, Masutake; Iguchi, Yukihiro; Mizuno, Kouichi; Sato, Shinichirou; Shimizu, Miwako

1999-01-01

We performed a probabilistic safety assessment (PSA) on the Fugen NPS. The main topic of assessment was internal factors. We assessment core damage frequency (level 1 PSA) and containment damage frequency (level 2 PSA) during rated operation, and core damage frequency during shutdown (PSA during shutdowns). Our assessment showed that the core damage frequency of Fugen is well below the IAEA criteria for existing plants, that the conditional containment damage during shutdown is almost the target value of 0.1, and that the core damage frequency during shutdown is almost the same as that assessed during operation. These results confirm that the Fugen plant maintains a sufficient safety margin during shutdowns for regular inspections and for refueling. We developed and verified the effectiveness of an accident management plan incorporating the results of the assessment. (author)

Finite Element Modelling and Analysis of Damage Detection Methodology in Piezo Electric Sensor and Actuator Integrated Sandwich Cantilever Beam

Science.gov (United States)

Pradeep, K. R.; Thomas, A. M.; Basker, V. T.

2018-03-01

Structural health monitoring (SHM) is an essential component of futuristic civil, mechanical and aerospace structures. It detects the damages in system or give warning about the degradation of structure by evaluating performance parameters. This is achieved by the integration of sensors and actuators into the structure. Study of damage detection process in piezoelectric sensor and actuator integrated sandwich cantilever beam is carried out in this paper. Possible skin-core debond at the root of the cantilever beam is simulated and compared with undamaged case. The beam is actuated using piezoelectric actuators and performance differences are evaluated using Polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) sensors. The methodology utilized is the voltage/strain response of the damaged versus undamaged beam against transient actuation. Finite element model of piezo-beam is simulated in ANSYSTM using 8 noded coupled field element, with nodal degrees of freedoms are translations in the x, y directions and voltage. An aluminium sandwich beam with a length of 800mm, thickness of core 22.86mm and thickness of skin 0.3mm is considered. Skin-core debond is simulated in the model as unmerged nodes. Reduction in the fundamental frequency of the damaged beam is found to be negligible. But the voltage response of the PVDF sensor under transient excitation shows significantly visible change indicating the debond. Piezo electric based damage detection system is an effective tool for the damage detection of aerospace and civil structural system having inaccessible/critical locations and enables online monitoring possibilities as the power requirement is minimal.

Reference accident (Core disruption accident - safety analysis detailed report no. 11)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

1988-01-15

The PEC safety analysis led to the conclusion that all credible sequences (incident sequences characterized by a frequency of occurrence above 10/sup minus 7/ events per year) are limited to the design basis conditions of components of the plant protection systems, and that none of them leads to a release of mechanical energy or to an extensive damage of the core and primary containment structures event in the case of failure to scram. Nevertheless, as is done in other countries for similar reactors, some events beyond the limits of credibility were considered for the PEC reactor. These were defined on a absolutely hypothetical basis that involves severe core disruption and dynamic loading of primary containment boundary. A series of containments, each having a different role, was designed to mitigate the radiological effects of a postulated core disruptive accident. The final aim was to demonstrate that residual heat can be removed and that the release of radioactivity to the environment is within acceptable limits.

Comparison of computer codes relative to the aerosol behavior in the reactor containment building during severe core damage accidents in a PWR

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fermandjian, J.; Dunbar, I.; Gauvain, J.; Ricchena, R.

1986-02-01

The present study concerns a comparative exercise, performed within the framework of the Commission of the European Communities, of the computer codes (AEROSISM-M, UK; AEROSOLS/BI, France; CORRAL-2, CEC and NAUA Mod5, Germany) used in order to assess the aerosol behavior in the reactor containment building during severe core damage accidents in a PWR

Support tube of in-core instruments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Suzumura, Takeshi; Saito, Shozo; Yasuda, Tetsuo; Shirosaki, Kiyotaka.

1975-01-01

Object: To permit satisfactory output measurement by preventing the bending of a in-core instrument tube within a reactor due to vibrations by means of a spring and thereby preventing mechanical damage of an adjacent fuel channel box. Structure: At a corner of a channel box of a fuel assembly, a in-core instrument tube is arranged along a channel box and has its surface provided with a plurality of removable leaf springs arranged in the direction of axis of the in-core instrument tube and each having an arcular tip. Thus, when the in-core instrument tube is inserted into the reactor, the arcular tip portions of the leaf springs are brought into plane contact with the corner of the channel box so that the in-core instrument tube is elastically supported on the channel box. Thus, there is no possibility of causing damage to the adjacent fuel channel box. (Kamimura, M.)

Role of Macronutrients and Micronutrients in DNA Damage: Results From a Food Frequency Questionnaire

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Carina Ladeira

2017-02-01

Full Text Available The links between diet and genomic instability have been under investigation for several decades, and evidence suggests a significant causal or preventive role for various dietary factors. This study investigates the influence of macronutrients (calories, protein, and glucides and micronutrients, such as vitamins and minerals, as assessed by a food frequency questionnaire, on genotoxicity biomarkers measured by cytokinesis-blocked micronucleus assay and comet assay. The results found significant positive and negative correlations. Micronucleus frequency tends to increase with higher intake of caffeine, calcium, magnesium, zinc, and protein ( P  < .05, Spearman correlation. Calorie and omega-6 intakes are negatively correlated with DNA damage measured by the comet assay. These results are somewhat controversial because some of the correlations found are contrary to dominant views in the literature; however, we suggest that unraveling the association between diet and genetic instability requires a much better understanding of the modulating role of macronutrients and micronutrients.

New insights regarding ATWS for BWRS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Drouin, M.T.; Kolaczkowski, A.M.; LaChance, J.L.; Ferrell, W.L.

1987-01-01

Anticipated transients without scram (ATWS) accident sequences have been found in past studies to have a relatively high core damage frequency (ranging from 5.4E-6 to 3E-4 per year) that represents a significant contribution to the total core damage frequency (ranging from 7-to-33%). Results of analyses for the two boiling water reactors (BWRs) analyzed as part of NUREG/CR-4550 indicate both a lower core damage frequency (ranging from 2E-7 to 1E-6 per year) and a lower contribution to the total core damage frequency (ranging from <1-to-10%). Based on these updated analyses, newer insights on the effects of reactor power equilibration, recirculation pump trip, high and low pressure injection and high pressure seal failure coupled with a detailed accident sequence analysis have resulted in lowering the significance of ATWS to core damage frequency

Thermal interaction of core melt debris with the TMI-2 baffle, core-former, and lower head structures

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cronenberg, A.W.; Tolman, E.L.

1987-09-01

Recent inspection of the TMI-2 core-former baffle walls (vertical), former plates (horizontal), and lower plenum has been conducted to assess potential damage to these structures. Video observations show evidence of localized melt failure of the baffle walls, whereas fiberoptics data indicate the presence of resolidified debris on the former plates. Lower plenum inspection also confirms the presence of 20 tons or more of core debris in the lower plenum. These data indicate massive core melt relocation and the potential for melt attack on vessel structural components. This report presents analyses aimed at developing an understanding of melt relocation behavior and damage progression to TMI-2 vessel components. Thermal analysis indicates melt-through of the baffle plates, but maintenance of structural integrity of the former plates and lower head. Differences in the damage of these structures is attributed largely to differences in contact time with melt debris and pressure of water. 29 refs., 17 figs., 9 tabs

Single-Source AlGaAs Frequency Comb Transmitter for 661 Tbit/s Data Transmission in a 30-core Fiber

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hu, Hao; Da Ros, Francesco; Ye, Feihong

2016-01-01

We demonstrate an AlGaAs-on-insulator nano-waveguide-based frequency comb with high OSNR enabling a single-source to fully load a 9.6-km heterogeneous 30-core fibre with 661 Tbit/s data achieved by 30xcores, 80xWDM, 40 Gbaud, and PDM-16QAM...

TMI-2 core examination plan

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Owen, D.E.; MacDonald, P.E.; Hobbins, R.R.; Ploggr, S.A.

1982-01-01

The Three Mile Island (TMI-2) core examination is divided into four stages: (1) before removing the head; (2) before removing the plenum; (3) during defueling; and (4) offsite examinations. Core examinations recommended during the first three stages are primarily devoted to documenting the post-accident condition of the core. The detailed analysis of core damage structures will be performed during offsite examinations at government and commercial hot cell facilities. The primary objectives of these examinations are to enhance the understanding of the degraded core accident sequence, to develop the technical bases for reactor regulations, and to improve LWR design and operation

Comparison of high temperature, high frequency core loss and dynamic B-H loops of two 50 Ni-Fe crystalline alloys and an iron-based amorphous alloy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wieserman, W.R.; Schwarze, G.E.; Niedra, J.M.

1994-01-01

The availability of experimental data that characterizes the performance of soft magnetic materials for the combined conditions of high temperature and high frequency is almost non-existent. An experimental investigation was conducted over the temperature range of 23 to 300 C and frequency range of 1 to 50 kHz to determine the effects of temperature and frequency on the core loss and dynamic B-H loops of three different soft magnetic materials; an oriented-grain 50Ni-50Fe alloy, a nonoriented-grain 50Ni-50Fe alloy, and an iron-based amorphous material (Metglas 2605SC). A comparison of these materials show that the nonoriented-grain 50Ni-50Fe alloy tends to have either the lowest or next lowest core loss for all temperatures and frequencies investigated

Dense SDM (12-core × 3-mode) transmission over 527 km with 33.2-ns mode-dispersion employing low-complexity parallel MIMO frequency-domain equalization

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Shibahara, K.; Mizuno, T.; Takara, H.

We demonstrate 12-core × 3-mode dense SDM transmission over 527 km graded-index multi-core few-mode fiber without mode-dispersion management. Employing low baud rate multi-carrier signal and frequency-domain equalization enables 33.2-ns DMD compensation with low computational complexity. © 2015 OSA...

TMI-2 core debris analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cook, B.A.; Carlson, E.R.

1985-01-01

One of the ongoing examination tasks for the damaged TMI-2 reactor is analysis of samples of debris obtained from the debris bed presently at the top of the core. This paper summarizes the results reported in the TMI-2 Core Debris Grab Sample Examination and Analysis Report, which will be available early in 1986. The sampling and analysis procedures are presented, and information is provided on the key results as they relate to the present core condition, peak temperatures during the transient, temperature history, chemical interactions, and core relocation. The results are then summarized

A study on reactor core failure thresholds to safety operation of LMFBR

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kazuo, Haga; Hiroshi, Endo; Tomoko, Ishizu; Yoshihisa, Shindo

2006-01-01

Japan Nuclear Safety Organization (JNES) has been developing the methodology and computer codes for applying level-1 PSA to LMFBR. Many of our efforts have been directed to the judging conditions of reactor core damage and the time allowed to initiate the accident management. Several candidates of the reactor core failure threshold were examined to a typical proto-type LMFBR with MOX fuel based on the plant thermal-hydraulic analyses to the actual progressions leading to the core damage. The results of the present study showed that the judging condition of coolant-boundary integrity failure, 750 degree-C of the boundary temperature, is enough as the threshold of core damage to PLOHS (protected loss-of-heat sink). High-temperature fuel cladding creep failure will not take place before the coolant-boundary reaches the judging temperature and sodium boiling will not occur due to the system pressure rise. In cases of ATWS (anticipated transient without scrum) the accident progression is so fast and the reactor core damage will be inevitable even a realistic negative reactivity insertion due to the temperature rise is considered. Only in the case of ULOHS (unprotected loss-of-heat sink) a relatively long time of 11 min will be allowed till the shut-down of the reactor before the core damage. (authors)

[High-frequency rotation sensation function damage of the crista of the horizontal semicircular canal induced by gentamicin and its morphological basis.].

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Liang; He, Ming; Wang, Wu-Qing

2009-12-25

The goal of the present study was to explore high-frequency rotation sensation function damage of the crista of the horizontal semicircular canal induced by gentamicin and its morphological basis. The guinea pigs were randomly divided into four groups (group 1, 2, 3 and control group, n=20). The animals of treated groups received gentamicin subcutaneously (50 mg/kg per day) for 1 week (group 1), 2 weeks (group 2) and 3 weeks (group 3), respectively. The animals of control group were administered with equal volume of saline subcutaneously. Videonystagmography (VNG) evoked by ice water or high-frequency rotations, and vestibular evoked potential (VsEP) evoked by low- and high-frequency rotations were recorded after the administration. After VNG and VsEP were examined, the cristae of the horizontal semicircular canals were prepared for scanning and transmission electron microscopy. The results are as follows: (1) In VNG examination, after ice water stimulation, no obvious nystagmus was observed in the animals of group 3, and there was no significant difference in nystagmus frequency and duration among group 1, 2 and control group (P>0.05). After high- frequency rotations, no obvious nystagmus was yet observed in the animals of group 3. There were significant differences in the nystagmus frequency and duration of the VNG waves between the experimental group 2 and control group (P0.05). (2) In VsEP examination, there was no significant difference in the parameters of VsEP among group 1, 2 and control group (P>0.05), and VsEP was not observed in group 3 after low-frequency rotations. After high- frequency rotations, compared with control group, the latencies and amplitudes of P1 and P2 in group 2 significantly decreased (P0.05). Group 3 had no response of VsEP to high-frequency rotations. (3) Electron microscopy was used to observe the crista hair cells of the four groups. In control group, the hair cells were normal. In group 1, almost normal appearance with slight

Determination of PWR core water level using ex-core detectors signals

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bernal, Alvaro; Abarca, Agustin; Miro, Rafael; Verdu, Gumersindo

2013-01-01

The core water level provides relevant neutronic and thermalhydraulic information of the reactor such as power, k eff and cooling ability; in fact, core water level monitoring could be used to predict LOCA and cooling reduction which may deal with core damage. Although different detection equipment is used to monitor several parameters such as the power, core water level monitoring is not an evident task. However, ex-core detectors can measure the fast neutrons leaking the core and several studies demonstrate the existence of a relationship between fast neutron leakage and core water level due to the shielding effect of the water. In addition, new ex-core detectors are being developed, such as silicon carbide semiconductor radiation detectors, monitoring the neutron flux with higher accuracy and in higher temperatures conditions. Therefore, a methodology to determine this relationship has been developed based on a Monte Carlo calculation using MCNP code and applying variance reduction with adjoint functions based on the adjoint flux obtained with the discrete ordinates code TORT. (author)

Studies on WWER core diagnostics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lunin, G.L.; Mitin, V.I.; Bulavin, V.V.

1987-01-01

The reliability and safety of nuclear power plants have decisive meaning under the situation that nuclear power generation steadily increases, and among various measures aiming at ensuring the reliability and safety in the operation of nuclear power plants, the countermeasures for protecting reactor core, main process equipment and high pressure circuits from damage have the important role, and the monitoring of condition and the organization of forecast, which are carried out continuously or periodically during the operation of nuclear power stations using the diagnostic expert system specially developed for the purpose, are included in them. Such monitoring enables the early detection of mechanical damage, increase of vibration, defects caused during operation and so on in reactor cores and primary and secondary circuits, and the continuous watching of defect developments. Also boiling in a core is detected, the place of abnormality occurrence is identified, and the intensity and characteristics of boiling are determined, thus the occurrence of dangerous condition is prevented. The developments of an in-core monitoring system and noise diagnostic systems are reported. (Kako, I.)

Containment loading during severe core damage accidents

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fermandjian, J.; Evrard, J.M.; Cenerino, C.; Berthion, Y.; Carvallo, G.

1984-11-01

The objective of the article is to study the influence of the state of the reactor cavity (dry or flooded) and of the corium coolability on the thermal-hydraulics in the containment in the case of an accident sequence involving core melting and subsequent containment basemat erosion, in a 900 MWe PWR unit. Calculations are performed by using the JERICHO thermal hydraulics code

War damages and reconstruction of Peruca dam

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nonveiller, E.; Sever, Z.

1999-01-01

The paper describes the heavy damages caused by blasting in the Peruca rockfill dam in Croatia in January 1993. Complete collapse of the dam by overtopping was prevented through quick action of the dam owner by dumping clayey gravel on the lowest sections of the dam crest and opening the bottom outlet of the reservoir, thus efficiently lowering the water level. After the damages were sufficiently established and alternatives for restoration of the dam were evaluated, it was decided to construct a diaphragm wall through the damaged core in the central dam part as the impermeable dam element and to rebuild the central clay core at the dam abutments. Reconstruction works are described

Evaluation of potential severe accidents during low power and shutdown operations at Surry, Unit 1: Analysis of core damage frequency from internal events during mid-loop operations. Appendix E (Sections E.9-E.16), Volume 2, Part 3B

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chu, T.L.; Musicki, Z.; Kohut, P.; Yang, J.; Bozoki, G.; Hsu, C.J.; Diamond, D.J.; Wong, S.M.; Bley, D.; Johnson, D.

1994-06-01

Traditionally, probabilistic risk assessments (PRA) of severe accidents in nuclear power plants have considered initiating events potentially occurring only during full power operation. Some previous screening analyses that were performed for other modes of operation suggested that risks during those modes were small relative to full power operation. However, more recent studies and operational experience have implied that accidents during low power and shutdown could be significant contributors to risk. Two plants, Surry (pressurized water reactor) and Grand Gulf (boiling water reactor), were selected as the plants to be studied. The objectives of the program are to assess the risks of severe accidents initiated during plant operational states other than full power operation and to compare the estimated core damage frequencies, important accident sequences and other qualitative and quantitative results with those accidents initiated during full power operation as assessed in NUREG-1150. The scope of the program includes that of a level-3 PRA. In phase 2, mid-loop operation was selected as the plant configuration to be analyzed based on the results of the phase 1 study. The objective of the phase 2 study is to perform a detailed analysis of the potential accident scenarios that may occur during mid-loop operation, and compare the results with those of NUREG-1150. The scope of the level-1 study includes plant damage state analysis, and uncertainty analysis. Volume 1 summarizes the results of the study. Internal events analysis is documented in Volume 2. It also contains an appendix that documents the part of the phase 1 study that has to do with POSs other than mid-loop operation. Internal fire and internal flood analyses are documented in Volumes 3 and 4. A separate study on seismic analysis, documented in Volume 5, was performed for the NRC by Future Resources Associates, Inc. Volume 6 documents the accident progression, source terms, and consequence analysis

Evaluation of potential severe accidents during low power and shutdown operations at Surry, Unit 1: Analysis of core damage frequency from internal events during mid-loop operations. Appendix E (Sections E.9-E.16), Volume 2, Part 3B

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Chu, T.L.; Musicki, Z.; Kohut, P.; Yang, J.; Bozoki, G.; Hsu, C.J.; Diamond, D.J.; Wong, S.M. [Brookhaven National Lab., Upton, NY (United States); Bley, D.; Johnson, D. [PLG Inc., Newport Beach, CA (United States)] [and others

1994-06-01

Traditionally, probabilistic risk assessments (PRA) of severe accidents in nuclear power plants have considered initiating events potentially occurring only during full power operation. Some previous screening analyses that were performed for other modes of operation suggested that risks during those modes were small relative to full power operation. However, more recent studies and operational experience have implied that accidents during low power and shutdown could be significant contributors to risk. Two plants, Surry (pressurized water reactor) and Grand Gulf (boiling water reactor), were selected as the plants to be studied. The objectives of the program are to assess the risks of severe accidents initiated during plant operational states other than full power operation and to compare the estimated core damage frequencies, important accident sequences and other qualitative and quantitative results with those accidents initiated during full power operation as assessed in NUREG-1150. The scope of the program includes that of a level-3 PRA. In phase 2, mid-loop operation was selected as the plant configuration to be analyzed based on the results of the phase 1 study. The objective of the phase 2 study is to perform a detailed analysis of the potential accident scenarios that may occur during mid-loop operation, and compare the results with those of NUREG-1150. The scope of the level-1 study includes plant damage state analysis, and uncertainty analysis. Volume 1 summarizes the results of the study. Internal events analysis is documented in Volume 2. It also contains an appendix that documents the part of the phase 1 study that has to do with POSs other than mid-loop operation. Internal fire and internal flood analyses are documented in Volumes 3 and 4. A separate study on seismic analysis, documented in Volume 5, was performed for the NRC by Future Resources Associates, Inc. Volume 6 documents the accident progression, source terms, and consequence analysis.

Pulsed laser damage to optical fibers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Allison, S.W.; Gillies, G.T.; Magnuson, D.W.; Pagano, T.S.

1985-01-01

This paper describes some observations of pulsed laser damage to optical fibers with emphasis on a damage mode characterized as a linear fracture along the outer core of a fiber. Damage threshold data are presented which illustrate the effects of the focusing lens, end-surface preparation, and type of fiber. An explanation based on fiber-beam misalignment is given and is illustrated by a simple experiment and ray trace

Using NJOY99 and MCNP4B2 to Estimate the Radiation Damage Displacements per Atom per Second in Steel Within the Boiling Water Reactor Core Shroud and Vessel Wall from Reactor-Grade Mixed-Oxide/Uranium Oxide Fuel for the Nuclear Power Plant at Laguna Verde, Veracruz, Mexico

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vickers, Lisa

2003-01-01

The government of Mexico has expressed interest in utilizing the Laguna Verde boiling water reactor (BWR) nuclear power plant for the disposition of reprocessed spent uranium oxide (UOX) fuel in the form of reactor-grade mixed-oxide (MOX) fuel. MOX fuel would replace spent UOX fuel as a fraction in the core from 18 to 30% depending on the fuel loading cycle. MOX fuel is expected to increase the neutron fluence, flux, fuel centerline temperature, reactor core pressure, and yield higher energy neutrons.There is concern that a core with a fraction of MOX fuel (i.e., increased 239 Pu wt%) would increase the radiation damage displacements per atom per second (dpa-s -1 ) in steel within the core shroud and vessel wall as compared to only conventional, enriched UOX fuel in the core. The evaluation of radiation damage within the core shroud and vessel wall is a concern because of the potentially adverse affect to personnel and public safety, environment, and operating life of the reactor.The primary uniqueness of this paper is the computation of radiation damage (dpa-s -1 ) using NJOY99-processed cross sections for steel within the core shroud and vessel wall. Specifically, the unique radiation damage results are several orders of magnitude greater than results of previous works. In addition, the conclusion of this paper was that the addition of the maximum fraction of one-third MOX fuel to the LV1 BWR core did significantly increase the radiation damage in steel within the core shroud and vessel wall such that without mitigation of radiation damage by periodic thermal annealing or reduction in operating parameters such as neutron fluence, core temperature, and pressure, it posed a potentially adverse affect to the personnel and public safety, environment, and operating life of the reactor

Quanty for core level spectroscopy - excitons, resonances and band excitations in time and frequency domain

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Haverkort, Maurits W.

2016-01-01

Depending on the material and edge under consideration, core level spectra manifest themselves as local excitons with multiplets, edge singularities, resonances, or the local projected density of states. Both extremes, i.e., local excitons and non-interacting delocalized excitations are theoretically well under control. Describing the intermediate regime, where local many body interactions and band-formation are equally important is a challenge. Here we discuss how Quanty , a versatile quantum many body script language, can be used to calculate a variety of different core level spectroscopy types on solids and molecules, both in the frequency as well as the time domain. The flexible nature of Quanty allows one to choose different approximations for different edges and materials. For example, using a newly developed method merging ideas from density renormalization group and quantum chemistry [1-3], Quanty can calculate excitons, resonances and band-excitations in x-ray absorption, photoemission, x-ray emission, fluorescence yield, non-resonant inelastic x-ray scattering, resonant inelastic x-ray scattering and many more spectroscopy types. Quanty can be obtained from: http://www.quanty.org. (paper)

Repair pathways independent of the Fanconi anemia nuclear core complex play a predominant role in mitigating formaldehyde-induced DNA damage

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Noda, Taichi; Takahashi, Akihisa; Kondo, Natsuko; Mori, Eiichiro; Okamoto, Noritomo; Nakagawa, Yosuke; Ohnishi, Ken; Zdzienicka, Malgorzata Z.; Thompson, Larry H.; Helleday, Thomas; Asada, Hideo

2011-01-01

The role of the Fanconi anemia (FA) repair pathway for DNA damage induced by formaldehyde was examined in the work described here. The following cell types were used: mouse embryonic fibroblast cell lines FANCA -/- , FANCC -/- , FANCA -/- C -/- , FANCD2 -/- and their parental cells, the Chinese hamster cell lines FANCD1 mutant (mt), FANCGmt, their revertant cells, and the corresponding wild-type (wt) cells. Cell survival rates were determined with colony formation assays after formaldehyde treatment. DNA double strand breaks (DSBs) were detected with an immunocytochemical γH2AX-staining assay. Although the sensitivity of FANCA -/- , FANCC -/- and FANCA -/- C -/- cells to formaldehyde was comparable to that of proficient cells, FANCD1mt, FANCGmt and FANCD2 -/- cells were more sensitive to formaldehyde than the corresponding proficient cells. It was found that homologous recombination (HR) repair was induced by formaldehyde. In addition, γH2AX foci in FANCD1mt cells persisted for longer times than in FANCD1wt cells. These findings suggest that formaldehyde-induced DSBs are repaired by HR through the FA repair pathway which is independent of the FA nuclear core complex. -- Research highlights: → We examined to clarify the repair pathways of formaldehyde-induced DNA damage. Formaldehyde induces DNA double strand breaks (DSBs). → DSBs are repaired through the Fanconi anemia (FA) repair pathway. → This pathway is independent of the FA nuclear core complex. → We also found that homologous recombination repair was induced by formaldehyde.

Tailoring Sandwich Face/Core Interfaces for Improved Damage Tolerance

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lundsgaard-Larsen, Christian; Berggreen, Christian; Carlsson, Leif A.

2010-01-01

Various modifications of the face/core interface in foam core sandwich specimens are examined in a series of two papers. This paper constitutes part I and describes the finite element analysis of a sandwich test specimen, i.e. a DCB specimen loaded by uneven bending moments (DCB-UBM). Using...... this test almost any mode-mixity between pure mode I and mode II can be obtained. A cohesive zone model of the mixed mode fracture process involving large-scale bridging is developed. Results from the analysis are used in Part II, which describes methods and results of a series of experiments....

Band Width of Acoustic Resonance Frequency Relatively Natural Frequency of Fuel Rod Vibration

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Proskuryakov, Konstantin Nicolaevich; Moukhine, V.S.; Novikov, K.S.; Galivets, E.Yu. [MPEI - TU, 14, Krasnokazarmennaya str., Moscow, 111250 (Russian Federation)

2009-06-15

In flow induced vibrations the fluid flow is the energy source that causes vibration. Acoustic resonance in piping may lead to severe problems due to over-stressing of components or significant losses of efficiency. Steady oscillatory flow in NPP primary loop can be induced by the pulsating flow introduced by reactor circulating pump or may be set up by self-excitation. Dynamic forces generated by the turbulent flow of coolant in reactor cores cause fuel rods (FR) and fuel assembly (FA) to vibrate. Flow-induced FR and FA vibrations can generally be broken into three groups: large amplitude 'resonance type' vibrations, which can cause immediate rod failure or severe damage to the rod and its support structure, middle amplitude 'within bandwidth of resonance frequency type' vibrations responsible for more gradual wear and fatigue at the contact surface between the fuel cladding and rod support and small amplitude vibrations, 'out of bandwidth of resonance frequency type' responsible for permissible wear and fatigue at the contact surface between the fuel cladding and rod support. Ultimately, these vibration types can result in a cladding breach, and therefore must be accounted for in the thermal hydraulic design of FR and FA and reactor internals. In paper the technique of definition of quality factor (Q) of acoustic contour of the coolant is presented. The value of Q defines a range of frequencies of acoustic fluctuations of the coolant within which the resonance of oscillations of the structure and the coolant is realized. Method of evaluation of so called band width (BW) of acoustic resonance frequency is worked out and presented in the paper. BW characterises the range of the frequency of coolant pressure oscillations within which the frequency of coolant pressure oscillations matches the fuel assembly's natural frequency of vibration (its resonance frequency). Paper show the way of detuning acoustic resonance from natural

Transmission properties of hollow-core photonic bandgap fibers

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Falk, Charlotte Ijeoma; Hald, Jan; Petersen, Jan C.

2010-01-01

Variations in optical transmission of four types of hollow-core photonic bandgap fibers are measured as a function of laser frequency. These variations influence the potential accuracy of gas sensors based on molecular spectroscopy in hollow-core fibers.......Variations in optical transmission of four types of hollow-core photonic bandgap fibers are measured as a function of laser frequency. These variations influence the potential accuracy of gas sensors based on molecular spectroscopy in hollow-core fibers....

Manufacturing of Mn-Zn ferrite transformer cores

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Waqas, H.; Qureshi, A.H.; Hussain, N.; Ahmed, N.

2012-01-01

The present work is related to the development of soft ferrite transformer cores, which are extensively used in electronic devices such as switch mode power supplies, electromagnetic devices, computers, amplifiers etc. Mn-Zn Ferrite (soft ferrite) powders were prepared by conventional mixed oxide and auto combustion routes. These powders were calcined and then pressed in toroid shapes. Sintering was done at different temperatures to develop desired magnetic phase. Impedance resistance of sintered toroid cores was measured at different frequencies. Results revealed that Mn-Zn Ferrite cores synthesized by auto combustion route worked more efficiently in a high frequency range i.e. > 2MHz than the cores developed by conventional mixed oxide method. It was noticed that compact size, light weight and high impedance resistance are the prime advantages of auto combustion process which supported the performance of core in MHz frequency range. Furthermore, these compact size cores were successfully tested in linear pulse amplifier circuit of Pakistan Atomic Research Reactor-I. The fabrication of soft ferrite (Mn-Zn Ferrite) cores by different processing routes is an encouraging step towards indigenization of ferrite technology. (Orig./A.B.)

Power Burst Facility severe-fuel-damage test program

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

McCardell, R.K.; MacDonald, P.E.

1982-01-01

As a result of the Three Mile Island Unit 2 (TMI-2) accident, the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission (USNRC) has initiated a severe fuel damage research program to investigate fuel rod and core response, and fission product and hydrogen release and transport during degraded core cooling accidents. This paper presents a discussion of the expected benefits of the PBF severe fuel damage tests to the nuclear industry, a description of the first five planned experiments, the results of pretest analysis performed to predict the fuel bundle heatup for the first two experiments, and a discussion of Phase II severe fuel damage experiments. Modifications to the fission product detection system envisioned for the later experiments are also described

USNRC severe core damage assessment program

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hanson, J E [EG and G Idaho, Inc., Idaho Falls (USA); Johnston, W V; Kelber, C N [Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC (USA)

1981-01-01

The accident at the Three Mile Island nuclear power station has significantly altered the perception of the importance of beyond-design-basis accidents in licensing and safety reviews of light-water reactors in the USA. Increased consideration will be given by the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission to low-probability, high-risk core melt accidents in future licensing proceedings. To this end, the USNRC is mounting experimental and analytic methods development programs to provide the technical basis for future LWR design and licensing criteria related to class-9 accidents. The scope, objectives, and content of five major new programs addressing safety and licensing issues for beyond-design-basis accidents are reviewed and the rationale and logic for formulation of the programs is discussed.

Haloperidol-loaded lipid-core polymeric nanocapsules reduce DNA damage in blood and oxidative stress in liver and kidneys of rats

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Roversi, Katiane; Benvegnú, Dalila M.; Roversi, Karine; Trevizol, Fabíola; Vey, Luciana T.; Elias, Fabiana; Fracasso, Rafael

2015-01-01

Haloperidol (HP) nanoencapsulation improves therapeutic efficacy, prolongs the drug action time, and reduces its motor side effects. However, in a view of HP toxicity in organs like liver and kidneys in addition to the lack of knowledge regarding the toxicity of polymeric nanocapsules, our aim was to verify the influence of HP-nanoformulation on toxicity and oxidative stress markers in the liver and kidneys of rats, also observing the damage caused in the blood. For such, 28 adult male Wistar rats were designated in four experimental groups (n = 7) and treated with vehicle (C group), free haloperidol suspension (FH group), blank nanocapsules suspension (B-Nc group), and haloperidol-loaded lipid-core nanocapsules suspension (H-Nc group). The nanocapsules formulation presented the size of approximately 250 nm. All suspensions were administered to the animals (0.5 mg/kg/day-i.p.) for a period of 28 days. Our results showed that FH caused damage in the liver, evidenced by increased lipid peroxidation, plasma levels of aspartate aminotransferase, and alanine aminotransferase, as well as decreased cellular integrity and vitamin C levels. In kidneys, FH treatment caused damage to a lesser extent, observed by decreased activity of δ-aminolevulinate dehydratase (ALA-D) and levels of VIT C. In addition, FH treatment was also related to a higher DNA damage index in blood. On the other hand, animals treated with H-Nc and B-Nc did not show damage in liver, kidneys, and DNA. Our study indicates that the nanoencapsulation of haloperidol was able to prevent the sub-chronic toxicity commonly observed in liver, kidneys, and DNA, thus reflecting a pharmacological superiority in relation to free drug

Haloperidol-loaded lipid-core polymeric nanocapsules reduce DNA damage in blood and oxidative stress in liver and kidneys of rats

Science.gov (United States)

Roversi, Katiane; Benvegnú, Dalila M.; Roversi, Karine; Trevizol, Fabíola; Vey, Luciana T.; Elias, Fabiana; Fracasso, Rafael; Motta, Mariana H.; Ribeiro, Roseane F.; dos S. Hausen, Bruna; Moresco, Rafael N.; Garcia, Solange C.; da Silva, Cristiane B.; Burger, Marilise E.

2015-04-01

Haloperidol (HP) nanoencapsulation improves therapeutic efficacy, prolongs the drug action time, and reduces its motor side effects. However, in a view of HP toxicity in organs like liver and kidneys in addition to the lack of knowledge regarding the toxicity of polymeric nanocapsules, our aim was to verify the influence of HP-nanoformulation on toxicity and oxidative stress markers in the liver and kidneys of rats, also observing the damage caused in the blood. For such, 28 adult male Wistar rats were designated in four experimental groups ( n = 7) and treated with vehicle (C group), free haloperidol suspension (FH group), blank nanocapsules suspension (B-Nc group), and haloperidol-loaded lipid-core nanocapsules suspension (H-Nc group). The nanocapsules formulation presented the size of approximately 250 nm. All suspensions were administered to the animals (0.5 mg/kg/day-i.p.) for a period of 28 days. Our results showed that FH caused damage in the liver, evidenced by increased lipid peroxidation, plasma levels of aspartate aminotransferase, and alanine aminotransferase, as well as decreased cellular integrity and vitamin C levels. In kidneys, FH treatment caused damage to a lesser extent, observed by decreased activity of δ-aminolevulinate dehydratase (ALA-D) and levels of VIT C. In addition, FH treatment was also related to a higher DNA damage index in blood. On the other hand, animals treated with H-Nc and B-Nc did not show damage in liver, kidneys, and DNA. Our study indicates that the nanoencapsulation of haloperidol was able to prevent the sub-chronic toxicity commonly observed in liver, kidneys, and DNA, thus reflecting a pharmacological superiority in relation to free drug.

Haloperidol-loaded lipid-core polymeric nanocapsules reduce DNA damage in blood and oxidative stress in liver and kidneys of rats

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Roversi, Katiane, E-mail: katianeroversi@gmail.com [Universidade Federal de Santa Maria, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Farmacologia (Brazil); Benvegnú, Dalila M., E-mail: dalilabenvegnu@yahoo.com.br [Universidade Federal da Fronteira Sul (UFFS), Bioquímica e Farmacologia (Brazil); Roversi, Karine, E-mail: karineroversi-@hotmail.com [Universidade Federal de Santa Maria (UFSM), Departamento de Fisiologia e Farmacologia, Centro de Ciências da Saúde (Brazil); Trevizol, Fabíola, E-mail: fatrevizol@yahoo.com.br [Universidade Federal de Santa Maria, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Farmacologia (Brazil); Vey, Luciana T., E-mail: luciana.taschetto@hotmail.com [Universidade Federal de Santa Maria (UFSM), Departamento de Fisiologia e Farmacologia, Centro de Ciências da Saúde (Brazil); Elias, Fabiana, E-mail: fabiana.elias@uffs.edu.br [Universidade Federal da Fronteira Sul (UFFS), Bioquímica e Farmacologia (Brazil); Fracasso, Rafael, E-mail: rafael.fra@hotmail.com [Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ciências Farmacêuticas (Brazil); and others

2015-04-15

Haloperidol (HP) nanoencapsulation improves therapeutic efficacy, prolongs the drug action time, and reduces its motor side effects. However, in a view of HP toxicity in organs like liver and kidneys in addition to the lack of knowledge regarding the toxicity of polymeric nanocapsules, our aim was to verify the influence of HP-nanoformulation on toxicity and oxidative stress markers in the liver and kidneys of rats, also observing the damage caused in the blood. For such, 28 adult male Wistar rats were designated in four experimental groups (n = 7) and treated with vehicle (C group), free haloperidol suspension (FH group), blank nanocapsules suspension (B-Nc group), and haloperidol-loaded lipid-core nanocapsules suspension (H-Nc group). The nanocapsules formulation presented the size of approximately 250 nm. All suspensions were administered to the animals (0.5 mg/kg/day-i.p.) for a period of 28 days. Our results showed that FH caused damage in the liver, evidenced by increased lipid peroxidation, plasma levels of aspartate aminotransferase, and alanine aminotransferase, as well as decreased cellular integrity and vitamin C levels. In kidneys, FH treatment caused damage to a lesser extent, observed by decreased activity of δ-aminolevulinate dehydratase (ALA-D) and levels of VIT C. In addition, FH treatment was also related to a higher DNA damage index in blood. On the other hand, animals treated with H-Nc and B-Nc did not show damage in liver, kidneys, and DNA. Our study indicates that the nanoencapsulation of haloperidol was able to prevent the sub-chronic toxicity commonly observed in liver, kidneys, and DNA, thus reflecting a pharmacological superiority in relation to free drug.

Roller Bearing Monitoring by New Subspace-Based Damage Indicator

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

G. Gautier

2015-01-01

Full Text Available A frequency-band subspace-based damage identification method for fault diagnosis in roller bearings is presented. Subspace-based damage indicators are obtained by filtering the vibration data in the frequency range where damage is likely to occur, that is, around the bearing characteristic frequencies. The proposed method is validated by considering simulated data of a damaged bearing. Also, an experimental case is considered which focuses on collecting the vibration data issued from a run-to-failure test. It is shown that the proposed method can detect bearing defects and, as such, it appears to be an efficient tool for diagnosis purpose.

TMI-2 core bore acquisition summary report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tolman, E.L.; Smith, R.P.; Martin, M.R.; McCardell, R.K.; Broughton, J.M.

1986-09-01

Core bore samples were obtained from the severely damaged TMI-2 core during July and August, 1986. A description of the TMI-2 core bore drilling unit used to obtain samples; a summary and discussion of the data from the ten core bore segments which were obtained; and the initial results of analysis and evaluation of these data are presented in this report. The impact of the major findings relative to our understanding of the accident scenario is also discussed

Synthesis and properties of Pr-substituted MgZn ferrites for core materials and high frequency applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mukhtar, Muhammad Waqas; Irfan, Muhammad; Ahmad, Ishtiaq; Ali, Ihsan; Akhtar, Majid Niaz; Khan, Muhammad Azhar; Abbas, Ghazanfar; Rana, M.U.; Ali, Akbar; Ahmad, Mukhtar

2015-01-01

A series of single phase spinel ferrites having chemical formula Mg 0.5 Zn 0.5 Pr x Fe 2−x O 4 (x=0.00, 0.05, 0.10, 0.15, 0.20, 0.25) were prepared using the sol–gel technique after sintering at 700 °C. The thermal decomposition behavior of an as prepared powder was investigated by means of DTA/TGA analyses. The sintered powders were then characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscope, X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscope, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscope and vibrating sample magnetometer. X-ray diffraction patterns confirm the single phase spinel structure of prepared ferrites without the presence of any impurity phase. The value of lattice parameter (a) increases with the increase of Pr contents (x) into the spinel lattice. The grain size estimated from electron microscope images is in the range of 2.75–5.4 µm which confirms the spinel crystalline nature of the investigated samples. The saturation magnetization (M s ) decreases whereas coercivity (H c ) increases with the increase of Pr contents (x). The measured parameters suggest that these materials are favorable for high frequency applications and as core materials. - Highlights: • Pr-substituted spinel ferrites synthesized by autocombustion route have been investigated. • The average grain size was in the range of 2.75–5.4 µm estimated by SEM technique. • The (M s ) decreases whereas (H c ) increases with the increase of Pr contents (x). • These parameters are favorable for high frequency applications and as core materials

Metallic nanoshells with semiconductor cores: optical characteristics modified by core medium properties.

Science.gov (United States)

Bardhan, Rizia; Grady, Nathaniel K; Ali, Tamer; Halas, Naomi J

2010-10-26

It is well-known that the geometry of a nanoshell controls the resonance frequencies of its plasmon modes; however, the properties of the core material also strongly influence its optical properties. Here we report the synthesis of Au nanoshells with semiconductor cores of cuprous oxide and examine their optical characteristics. This material system allows us to systematically examine the role of core material on nanoshell optical properties, comparing Cu(2)O core nanoshells (ε(c) ∼ 7) to lower core dielectric constant SiO(2) core nanoshells (ε(c) = 2) and higher dielectric constant mixed valency iron oxide nanoshells (ε(c) = 12). Increasing the core dielectric constant increases nanoparticle absorption efficiency, reduces plasmon line width, and modifies plasmon energies. Modifying the core medium provides an additional means of tailoring both the near- and far-field optical properties in this unique nanoparticle system.

Repair pathways independent of the Fanconi anemia nuclear core complex play a predominant role in mitigating formaldehyde-induced DNA damage

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Noda, Taichi [Department of Biology, School of Medicine, Nara Medical University, 840 Shijo-cho, Kashihara, Nara 634-8521 (Japan); Department of Dermatology, School of Medicine, Nara Medical University, 840 Shijo-cho, Kashihara, Nara 634-8521 (Japan); Takahashi, Akihisa [Department of Biology, School of Medicine, Nara Medical University, 840 Shijo-cho, Kashihara, Nara 634-8521 (Japan); Kondo, Natsuko [Particle Radiation Oncology Research Center, Research Reactor Institute, Kyoto University, Kumatori-cho, Sennan-gun, Osaka 590-0494 (Japan); Mori, Eiichiro [Department of Biology, School of Medicine, Nara Medical University, 840 Shijo-cho, Kashihara, Nara 634-8521 (Japan); Okamoto, Noritomo [Department of Otorhinolaryngology, School of Medicine, Nara Medical University, 840 Shijo-cho, Kashihara, Nara 634-8521 (Japan); Nakagawa, Yosuke [Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, School of Medicine, Nara Medical University, 840 Shijo-cho, Kashihara, Nara 634-8521 (Japan); Ohnishi, Ken [Department of Biology, Ibaraki Prefectual University of Health Sciences, 4669-2 Ami, Ami-mati, Inasiki-gun, Ibaraki 300-0394 (Japan); Zdzienicka, Malgorzata Z. [Department of Molecular Cell Genetics, Collegium Medicum in Bydgoszcz, Nicolaus-Copernicus-University in Torun, ul. Sklodowskiej-Curie 9, 85-094 Bydgoszcz (Poland); Thompson, Larry H. [Biosciences and Biotechnology Division, L452, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, P.O. Box 808, Livermore, CA 94551-0808 (United States); Helleday, Thomas [Gray Institute for Radiation Oncology and Biology, University of Oxford, Old Road Campus Research Building, Off Roosevelt Drive, Oxford, OX3 7DQ (United Kingdom); Department of Genetics, Microbiology and Toxicology Stockholm University, SE-106 91 Stockholm (Sweden); Asada, Hideo [Department of Dermatology, School of Medicine, Nara Medical University, 840 Shijo-cho, Kashihara, Nara 634-8521 (Japan); and others

2011-01-07

The role of the Fanconi anemia (FA) repair pathway for DNA damage induced by formaldehyde was examined in the work described here. The following cell types were used: mouse embryonic fibroblast cell lines FANCA{sup -/-}, FANCC{sup -/-}, FANCA{sup -/-}C{sup -/-}, FANCD2{sup -/-} and their parental cells, the Chinese hamster cell lines FANCD1 mutant (mt), FANCGmt, their revertant cells, and the corresponding wild-type (wt) cells. Cell survival rates were determined with colony formation assays after formaldehyde treatment. DNA double strand breaks (DSBs) were detected with an immunocytochemical {gamma}H2AX-staining assay. Although the sensitivity of FANCA{sup -/-}, FANCC{sup -/-} and FANCA{sup -/-}C{sup -/-} cells to formaldehyde was comparable to that of proficient cells, FANCD1mt, FANCGmt and FANCD2{sup -/-} cells were more sensitive to formaldehyde than the corresponding proficient cells. It was found that homologous recombination (HR) repair was induced by formaldehyde. In addition, {gamma}H2AX foci in FANCD1mt cells persisted for longer times than in FANCD1wt cells. These findings suggest that formaldehyde-induced DSBs are repaired by HR through the FA repair pathway which is independent of the FA nuclear core complex. -- Research highlights: {yields} We examined to clarify the repair pathways of formaldehyde-induced DNA damage. Formaldehyde induces DNA double strand breaks (DSBs). {yields} DSBs are repaired through the Fanconi anemia (FA) repair pathway. {yields} This pathway is independent of the FA nuclear core complex. {yields} We also found that homologous recombination repair was induced by formaldehyde.

An extended sequence specificity for UV-induced DNA damage.

Science.gov (United States)

Chung, Long H; Murray, Vincent

2018-01-01

The sequence specificity of UV-induced DNA damage was determined with a higher precision and accuracy than previously reported. UV light induces two major damage adducts: cyclobutane pyrimidine dimers (CPDs) and pyrimidine(6-4)pyrimidone photoproducts (6-4PPs). Employing capillary electrophoresis with laser-induced fluorescence and taking advantages of the distinct properties of the CPDs and 6-4PPs, we studied the sequence specificity of UV-induced DNA damage in a purified DNA sequence using two approaches: end-labelling and a polymerase stop/linear amplification assay. A mitochondrial DNA sequence that contained a random nucleotide composition was employed as the target DNA sequence. With previous methodology, the UV sequence specificity was determined at a dinucleotide or trinucleotide level; however, in this paper, we have extended the UV sequence specificity to a hexanucleotide level. With the end-labelling technique (for 6-4PPs), the consensus sequence was found to be 5'-GCTC*AC (where C* is the breakage site); while with the linear amplification procedure, it was 5'-TCTT*AC. With end-labelling, the dinucleotide frequency of occurrence was highest for 5'-TC*, 5'-TT* and 5'-CC*; whereas it was 5'-TT* for linear amplification. The influence of neighbouring nucleotides on the degree of UV-induced DNA damage was also examined. The core sequences consisted of pyrimidine nucleotides 5'-CTC* and 5'-CTT* while an A at position "1" and C at position "2" enhanced UV-induced DNA damage. Crown Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Broadband polymer microstructured THz fiber coupler with downdoped cores

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nielsen, Kristian; Rasmussen, Henrik K.; Bang, Ole

2010-01-01

We demonstrate a broadband THz directional coupler based on a dual core photonic crystal fiber (PCF) design with mechanically down-doped core regions. For a center frequency of 1.3 THz we demonstrate a bandwidth of 0.65 THz.......We demonstrate a broadband THz directional coupler based on a dual core photonic crystal fiber (PCF) design with mechanically down-doped core regions. For a center frequency of 1.3 THz we demonstrate a bandwidth of 0.65 THz....

Radiation damage studies of nuclear structural materials

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Barat, P.

2012-01-01

Maximum utilization of fuel in nuclear reactors is one of the important aspects for operating them economically. The main hindrance to achieve this higher burnups of nuclear fuel for the nuclear reactors is the possibility of the failure of the metallic core components during their operation. Thus, the study of the cause of the possibility of failure of these metallic structural materials of nuclear reactors during full power operation due to radiation damage, suffered inside the reactor core, is an important field of studies bearing the basic to industrial scientific views.The variation of the microstructure of the metallic core components of the nuclear reactors due to radiation damage causes enormous variation in the structure and mechanical properties. A firm understanding of this variation of the mechanical properties with the variation of microstructure will serve as a guide for creating new, more radiation-tolerant materials. In our centre we have irradiated structural materials of Indian nuclear reactors by charged particles from accelerator to generate radiation damage and studied the some aspects of the variation of microstructure by X-ray diffraction studies. Results achieved in this regards, will be presented. (author)

Indicators of Macromolecular Oxidative Damage and Antioxidant Defence Examinees Exposed to the Radar Frequencies 1.5 - 10.9 GHz

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Marjanovic, A.M.; Flajs, D.; Pavicic, I.; Domijan, A.

2011-01-01

Radar is an object-detection system which uses microwaves (Mw). As a result of increased use of radar there is a rising concern regarding health effects of Mw radiation on human body. Living organisms are complex electrochemical systems being evolved in a relatively narrow range of well-defined environmental parameters. For life to be maintained these parameters must be kept within their normal range, since deviations can induce biochemical effects causing cell function impairment and disease. Some theories indicate connection between Mw radiation, oxidative damage as well as antioxidant defence of organism. Aim of this study was to evaluate level and damage of macromolecular structures - proteins and lipids in blood of men occupationally exposed to Mw radiation. Concentration of glutathione (GSH), a known indicator of organism antioxidant defence, was also determined. Blood samples were collected from 27 male workers occupationally exposed to radar frequencies 1.5 to 10.9 GHz. Corresponding control group (N = 8) was a part of study. Concentrations of total and oxidised proteins, protein carbonyls, and GSH were measured by spectrophotometric method, while malondialdeyde (MDA), product of lipid peroxidation, was determined by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Gained concentrations of oxidised proteins, GSH and MDA were presented in relation to total proteins. Concentration of oxidised proteins between control and exposed group of examinees did not show any significant statistical difference. However, concentration of GSH in exposed group was found considerably decreased, while concentration of MDA was found to be increased. Results indicate that Mw radiation of radar operating at frequencies 1.5 - 10.9 GHz could cause damage to proteins and lipids in addition to impairment of antioxidant defence of organism. (author)

Summary of core damage frequency from internal initiators: Peach Bottom

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kolaczkowski, A.M.; Lambright, J.A.; Cathey, N.

1986-01-01

Probabilistic risk assessments (PRA) based on internal initiators are being conducted on a number of reference plants in order to provide the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) with updated information about light water reactor risk. The results of these analyses will be used by the NRC to prepare NUREG-1150 which will examine the NRC's current perception of risk. Peach Bottom has been chosen as one of the reference plants

Validation of the mortality prediction equation for damage control ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

, preoperative lowest pH and lowest core body temperature to derive an equation for the purpose of predicting mortality in damage control surgery. It was shown to reliably predict death despite damage control surgery. The equation derivation ...

Damage detection in composites using nonlinear ultrasonically modulated thermography

Science.gov (United States)

Malfense Fierro, G.-P.; Dionysopoulos, D.; Meo, M.; Ciampa, F.

2018-03-01

This paper proposes a novel nonlinear ultrasonically stimulated thermography technique for a quick and reliable assessment of material damage in carbon fibre reinforced plastic (CFRP) composite materials. The proposed nondestructive evaluation (NDE) method requires narrow sweep ultrasonic excitation using contact piezoelectric transducers in order to identify dual excitation frequencies associated with the damage resonance. High-amplitude signals and higher harmonic generation are necessary conditions for an accurate identification of these two input frequencies. Dual periodic excitation using high- and low-frequency input signals was then performed in order to generate frictional heating at the crack location that was measured by an infrared (IR) camera. To validate this concept, an impact damaged CFRP composite panel was tested and the experimental results were compared with traditional flash thermography. A laser vibrometer was used to investigate the response of the material with dual frequency excitation. The proposed nonlinear ultrasonically modulated thermography successfully detected barely visible impact damage in CFRP composites. Hence, it can be considered as an alternative to traditional flash thermography and thermosonics by allowing repeatable detection of damage in composites.

Synthesis and properties of Pr-substituted MgZn ferrites for core materials and high frequency applications

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mukhtar, Muhammad Waqas; Irfan, Muhammad [Department of Physics, Federal Urdu University of Arts, Science and Technology, Islamabad 44000 (Pakistan); Ahmad, Ishtiaq; Ali, Ihsan [Department of Physics, Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan 60800 (Pakistan); Akhtar, Majid Niaz [Department of Physics, COMSATS Institute of Information Technology, Lahore (Pakistan); Khan, Muhammad Azhar [Department of Physics, Islamia University, Bahawalpur (Pakistan); Abbas, Ghazanfar [Department of Physics, COMSATS Institute of Information Technology, Islamabad 44000 (Pakistan); Rana, M.U. [Center of Excellence in Solid State Physics, University of the Punjab, Lahore (Pakistan); Ali, Akbar [Department of Basic Sciences, Riphah International University, Islamabad-44000 (Pakistan); Ahmad, Mukhtar, E-mail: ahmadmr25@yahoo.com [Department of Physics, COMSATS Institute of Information Technology, Islamabad 44000 (Pakistan)

2015-05-01

A series of single phase spinel ferrites having chemical formula Mg{sub 0.5}Zn{sub 0.5}Pr{sub x}Fe{sub 2−x}O{sub 4} (x=0.00, 0.05, 0.10, 0.15, 0.20, 0.25) were prepared using the sol–gel technique after sintering at 700 °C. The thermal decomposition behavior of an as prepared powder was investigated by means of DTA/TGA analyses. The sintered powders were then characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscope, X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscope, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscope and vibrating sample magnetometer. X-ray diffraction patterns confirm the single phase spinel structure of prepared ferrites without the presence of any impurity phase. The value of lattice parameter (a) increases with the increase of Pr contents (x) into the spinel lattice. The grain size estimated from electron microscope images is in the range of 2.75–5.4 µm which confirms the spinel crystalline nature of the investigated samples. The saturation magnetization (M{sub s}) decreases whereas coercivity (H{sub c}) increases with the increase of Pr contents (x). The measured parameters suggest that these materials are favorable for high frequency applications and as core materials. - Highlights: • Pr-substituted spinel ferrites synthesized by autocombustion route have been investigated. • The average grain size was in the range of 2.75–5.4 µm estimated by SEM technique. • The (M{sub s}) decreases whereas (H{sub c}) increases with the increase of Pr contents (x). • These parameters are favorable for high frequency applications and as core materials.

Coolability of severely degraded CANDU cores

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Meneley, D.A.; Blahnik, C.; Rogers, J.T.; Snell, V.G.; Mijhawan, S.

1995-07-01

Analytical and experimental studies have shown that the separately cooled moderator in a CANDU reactor provides an effective heat sink in the event of a loss-of-coolant accident (LOCA) accompanied by total failure of the emergency core cooling system (ECCS). The moderator heat sink prevents fuel melting and maintains the integrity of the fuel channels, therefore terminating this severe accident short of severe core damage. Nevertheless, there is a probability, however low, that the moderator heat sink could fail in such an accident. The pioneering work of Rogers (1984) for such a severe accident using simplified models showed that the fuel channels would fail and a bed of dry, solid debris would be formed at the bottom of the calandria which would heat up and eventually melt. However, the molten pool of core material would be retained in the calandria vessel, cooled by the independently cooled shield-tank water, and would eventually re solidify. Thus, the calandria vessel would act inherently as a core-catcher as long as the shield tank integrity is maintained. The present paper reviews subsequent work on the damage to a CANDU core under severe accident conditions and describes an empirically based mechanistic model of this process. It is shown that, for such severe accident sequences in a CANDU reactor, the end state following core disassembly consists of a porous bed of dry solid, coarse debris, irrespective of the initiating event and the core disassembly process. (author). 48 refs., 3 tabs., 18 figs

PBF severe fuel damage program: results and comparison to analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

McDonald, P.E.; Buescher, B.J.; Gruen, G.E.; Hobbins, R.R.; McCardell, R.K.

1983-01-01

The United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission has initiated a severe fuel damage research program in the Power Burst Facility (PBF) to investigate fuel rod and core response, and fission product and hydrogen release and transport under degraded core cooling accident conditions. This paper presents a description of Phase I of the PBF Severe Fuel Damage Program, discusses the results of the first experiment, and compares those results with analysis performed using the TRAC-BD1 computer code

PBF Severe Fuel-Damage Program: results and comparison to analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

MacDonald, P.E.; Buescher, B.J.; Hobbins, R.R.; McCardell, R.K.; Gruen, G.E.

1983-01-01

The United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission has initiated a severe fuel-damage research program in the Power Burst Facility (PBF) to investigate fuel-rod and core response, and fission-product and hydrogen release and transport under degraded-core-cooling accident conditions. This paper presents a description of Phase I of the PBF Severe Fuel Damage Program, discusses the results of the first experiment, and compares those results with analysis performed using the TRAC-BD1 computer code

Structural damage identification using damping: a compendium of uses and features

Science.gov (United States)

Cao, M. S.; Sha, G. G.; Gao, Y. F.; Ostachowicz, W.

2017-04-01

The vibration responses of structures under controlled or ambient excitation can be used to detect structural damage by correlating changes in structural dynamic properties extracted from responses with damage. Typical dynamic properties refer to modal parameters: natural frequencies, mode shapes, and damping. Among these parameters, natural frequencies and mode shapes have been investigated extensively for their use in damage characterization by associating damage with reduction in local stiffness of structures. In contrast, the use of damping as a dynamic property to represent structural damage has not been comprehensively elucidated, primarily due to the complexities of damping measurement and analysis. With advances in measurement technologies and analysis tools, the use of damping to identify damage is becoming a focus of increasing attention in the damage detection community. Recently, a number of studies have demonstrated that damping has greater sensitivity for characterizing damage than natural frequencies and mode shapes in various applications, but damping-based damage identification is still a research direction ‘in progress’ and is not yet well resolved. This situation calls for an overall survey of the state-of-the-art and the state-of-the-practice of using damping to detect structural damage. To this end, this study aims to provide a comprehensive survey of uses and features of applying damping in structural damage detection. First, we present various methods for damping estimation in different domains including the time domain, the frequency domain, and the time-frequency domain. Second, we investigate the features and applications of damping-based damage detection methods on the basis of two predominant infrastructure elements, reinforced concrete structures and fiber-reinforced composites. Third, we clarify the influential factors that can impair the capability of damping to characterize damage. Finally, we recommend future research directions

Coolability of severely degraded CANDU cores. Revised

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Meneley, D.A.; Blahnik, C.; Rogers, J.T.; Snell, V.G.; Nijhawan, S.

1996-01-01

Analytical and experimental studies have shown that the separately cooled moderator in a CANDU reactor provides an effective heat sink in the event of a loss-of-coolant accident (LOCA) accompanied by total failure of the emergency core cooling system (ECCS). The moderator heat sink prevents fuel melting and maintains the integrity of the fuel channels, therefore terminating this severe accident short of severe core damage. Nevertheless, there is a probability, however low, that the moderator heat sink could fail in such an accident. The pioneering work of Rogers (1984) for such a severe accident using simplified models showed that the fuel channels would fail and a bed of dry, solid debris would be formed at the bottom of the calandria which would heat up and eventually melt. However, the molten pool of core material would be retained in the calandria vessel, cooled by the independently cooled shield-tank water, and would eventually resolidify. Thus, the calandria vessel would act inherently as a 'core-catcher' as long as the shield tank integrity is maintained. The present paper reviews subsequent work on the damage to a CANDU core under severe accident conditions and describes an empirically based mechanistic model of this process. It is shown that, for such severe accident sequences in a CANDU reactor, the end state following core disassembly consists of a porous bed of dry solid, coarse debris, irrespective of the initiating event and the core disassembly process. (author)

Quality assurance in the removal and transport of the TMI-2 [Three Mile Island Unit 2] core

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hayes, G.R.; Marsden, J.F.

1988-01-01

The March 1979 accident at Three Mile Island Unit 2 (TMI-2) damaged the core of the reactor. One of the major cleanup activities involves removal of the damaged core from the reactor and transporting it from the TMI-2 site near Middletown, Pennsylvania, to the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory (INEL) near Idaho Falls, Idaho. Removal and transport of the damaged core necessitated the development of much specialized equipment. This paper focuses on the role quality assurance (QA) played in the design, fabrication, acceptance, and use of three important pieces of core debris removal and transportation equipment: (1) the core boring machine, (2) the fuel debris canisters, (3) the NuPac 125-B rail cask and handling equipment

The simultaneous measurements of core and outer core density fluctuations in L-H transition using CO2 laser collective scattering diagnostic in the EAST superconducting tokamak

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cao, G.M.; Li, Y.D.; Zhang, X.D.; Sun, P.J.; Hu, L.Q.; Li, J.G.; Wu, G.J.

2013-01-01

The H-mode is the projected basic operation scenario for the ITER tokamak. The turbulence de-correlation by the synergistic effect of zonal flow and equilibrium ExB flow shear is believed to be the reason for L-H transition, however, the detailed physical mechanism has not been identified so far. Tangential multi-channel CO 2 laser collective scattering diagnostic system (mainly k r measurement) was first installed to investigate electron density fluctuations on EAST tokamak. The measurements in a spontaneous dithering L-H transition show that in core plasma (0 < r/a < 0.5) the low-frequency fluctuations strengthen greatly before L-H transition; meanwhile in outer core plasma (0.2 < r/a < 1) the low-frequency fluctuations strengthen slightly. Bispectral analysis reveals that the coupling strength between low- and high-frequency fluctuations in both core and outer core plasma strengthens greatly before the transition, but the latter is greater than the former. The results indicate that the low-frequency fluctuations of the core and outer core plasma play active, but different, roles in the spontaneous L-H transition. (author)

Improvement of optical damage in specialty fiber at 266 nm wavelength

Science.gov (United States)

Tobisch, T.; Ohlmeyer, H.; Zimmermann, H.; Prein, S.; Kirchhof, J.; Unger, S.; Belz, M.; Klein, K.-F.

2014-02-01

Improved multimode UV-fibers with core diameters ranging from 70 to 600 μm diameter have been manufactured based on novel preform modifications and fiber processing techniques. Only E'-centers at 214 nm and NBOHC at 260 nm are generated in these fibers. A new generation of inexpensive laser-systems have entered the market and generated a multitude of new and attractive applications in the bio-life science, chemical and material processing field. However, for example pulsed 355 nm Nd:YAG lasers generate significant UV-damages in commercially available fibers. For lower wavelengths, no results on suitable multi-mode or low-mode fibers with high UV resistance at 266 nm wavelength (pulsed 4th harmonic Nd:YAG laser) have been published. In this report, double-clad fibers with 70 μm or 100 μm core diameter and a large claddingto- core ratio will be recommended. Laser-induced UV-damages will be compared between these new fiber type and traditional UV fibers with similar core sizes. Finally, experimental results will be cross compared against broadband cw deuterium lamp damage standards.

An investigation of the damaged zone created by perforating

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pucknell, J.K.; Behrmann, L.A.

1991-01-01

This paper reports on underbalance perforation flow experiments performed on reservoir and outcrop sandstones to investigate the perforation damaged zone. Cores from several different formations were perforated under reservoir conditions. After perforating, the cores were examined using CAT scans (Computer Aided tomography), thin sections and mercury porosimetry. In conjunction with these measurements, permeabilities in the damaged zone were measured using a minipermeameter and radial flow permeameter or were estimated from pore size distribution. The density and porosity of the damaged zone (at least for saturated rocks) is essentially the same as that in the undamaged rock. The damaged zone is not compacted, contrary to suggestions made in earlier work. However, the creation of this zone involves the destruction of large pores. The volume lost from these pores is replaced by microfractures created when rock grains are fractured by penetration of the shaped charge jet. This reduction in the average pore size causes a reduction in the permeability with the damaged zone. Although direct measurement of this permeability was made difficult by naturally occurring permeability variations, unambiguous measurements were obtained

Core Hunter 3: flexible core subset selection.

Science.gov (United States)

De Beukelaer, Herman; Davenport, Guy F; Fack, Veerle

2018-05-31

Core collections provide genebank curators and plant breeders a way to reduce size of their collections and populations, while minimizing impact on genetic diversity and allele frequency. Many methods have been proposed to generate core collections, often using distance metrics to quantify the similarity of two accessions, based on genetic marker data or phenotypic traits. Core Hunter is a multi-purpose core subset selection tool that uses local search algorithms to generate subsets relying on one or more metrics, including several distance metrics and allelic richness. In version 3 of Core Hunter (CH3) we have incorporated two new, improved methods for summarizing distances to quantify diversity or representativeness of the core collection. A comparison of CH3 and Core Hunter 2 (CH2) showed that these new metrics can be effectively optimized with less complex algorithms, as compared to those used in CH2. CH3 is more effective at maximizing the improved diversity metric than CH2, still ensures a high average and minimum distance, and is faster for large datasets. Using CH3, a simple stochastic hill-climber is able to find highly diverse core collections, and the more advanced parallel tempering algorithm further increases the quality of the core and further reduces variability across independent samples. We also evaluate the ability of CH3 to simultaneously maximize diversity, and either representativeness or allelic richness, and compare the results with those of the GDOpt and SimEli methods. CH3 can sample equally representative cores as GDOpt, which was specifically designed for this purpose, and is able to construct cores that are simultaneously more diverse, and either are more representative or have higher allelic richness, than those obtained by SimEli. In version 3, Core Hunter has been updated to include two new core subset selection metrics that construct cores for representativeness or diversity, with improved performance. It combines and outperforms the

Stiffness and strength degradation of damaged truss core composites

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Šiška, Filip; Tawfeeq, Arwa F.; Dlouhý, I.; Barnett, M.R.

2015-01-01

Roč. 125, JUL (2015), s. 287-294 ISSN 0263-8223 R&D Projects: GA MŠk EE2.3.20.0197 Institutional support: RVO:68081723 Keywords : Truss core composites * Finite element * Strain rate * High temperature tests Subject RIV: JI - Composite Materials Impact factor: 3.853, year: 2015

TMI-2 core examination

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hobbins, R.R.; MacDonald, P.E.; Owen, D.E.

1983-01-01

The examination of the damaged core at the Three Mile Island Unit 2 (TMI-2) reactor is structured to address the following safety issues: fission product release, transport, and deposition; core coolability; containment integrity; and recriticality during severe accidents; as well as zircaloy cladding ballooning and oxidation during so-called design basis accidents. The numbers of TMI-2 components or samples to be examined, the priority of each examination, the safety issue addressed by each examination, the principal examination techniques to be employed, and the data to be obtained and the principal uses of the data are discussed in this paper

High Power Spark Delivery System Using Hollow Core Kagome Lattice Fibers

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ciprian Dumitrache

2014-08-01

Full Text Available This study examines the use of the recently developed hollow core kagome lattice fibers for delivery of high power laser pulses. Compared to other photonic crystal fibers (PCFs, the hollow core kagome fibers have larger core diameter (~50 µm, which allows for higher energy coupling in the fiber while also maintaining high beam quality at the output (M2 = 1.25. We have conducted a study of the maximum deliverable energy versus laser pulse duration using a Nd:YAG laser at 1064 nm. Pulse energies as high as 30 mJ were transmitted for 30 ns pulse durations. This represents, to our knowledge; the highest laser pulse energy delivered using PCFs. Two fiber damage mechanisms were identified as damage at the fiber input and damage within the bulk of the fiber. Finally, we have demonstrated fiber delivered laser ignition on a single-cylinder gasoline direct injection engine.

Reactor core and passive safety systems descriptions of a next generation pressure tube reactor - mechanical aspects

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Yetisir, M.; Gaudet, M.; Rhodes, D.; Hamilton, H.; Pencer, J. [Atomic Energy of Canada Limited, Chalk River, ON (Canada)

2014-07-01

Canada has been developing a channel-type supercritical water-cooled nuclear reactor concept, often called the Canadian SCWR. The objective of this reactor concept is to meet the technology goals of the Generation IV International Forum (GIF) for the next generation nuclear reactor development, which include enhanced safety features (inherent safe operation and deploying passive safety features), improved resource utilization, sustainable fuel cycle, and greater proliferation resistance than Generation III nuclear reactors. The Canadian SCWR core concept consists of a high-pressure inlet plenum, a separate low-pressure heavy water moderator contained in a calandria vessel, and 336 pressure tubes surrounded by the moderator. The reactor uses supercritical water as a coolant, and a direct steam power cycle to generate electricity. The reactor concept incorporates advanced safety features such as passive core cooling, long-term decay heat rejection to the environment and fuel melt prevention via passive moderator cooling. These features significantly reduce core damage frequency relative to existing nuclear reactors. This paper presents a description of the design concepts for the Canadian SCWR core, reactor building layout and the plant layout. Passive safety concepts are also described that address containment and core cooling following a loss-of coolant accident, as well as long term reactor heat removal at station blackout conditions. (author)

Laboratory Mid-frequency (Kilohertz) Range Seismic Property Measurements and X-ray CT Imaging of Fractured Sandstone Cores During Supercritical CO2 Injection

Science.gov (United States)

Nakagawa, S.; Kneafsey, T. J.; Chang, C.; Harper, E.

2014-12-01

During geological sequestration of CO2, fractures are expected to play a critical role in controlling the migration of the injected fluid in reservoir rock. To detect the invasion of supercritical (sc-) CO2 and to determine its saturation, velocity and attenuation of seismic waves can be monitored. When both fractures and matrix porosity connected to the fractures are present, wave-induced dynamic poroelastic interactions between these two different types of rock porosity—high-permeability, high-compliance fractures and low-permeability, low-compliance matrix porosity—result in complex velocity and attenuation changes of compressional waves as scCO2 invades the rock. We conducted core-scale laboratory scCO2 injection experiments on small (diameter 1.5 inches, length 3.5-4 inches), medium-porosity/permeability (porosity 15%, matrix permeability 35 md) sandstone cores. During the injection, the compressional and shear (torsion) wave velocities and attenuations of the entire core were determined using our Split Hopkinson Resonant Bar (short-core resonant bar) technique in the frequency range of 1-2 kHz, and the distribution and saturation of the scCO2 determined via X-ray CT imaging using a medical CT scanner. A series of tests were conducted on (1) intact rock cores, (2) a core containing a mated, core-parallel fracture, (3) a core containing a sheared core-parallel fracture, and (4) a core containing a sheared, core-normal fracture. For intact cores and a core containing a mated sheared fracture, injections of scCO2 into an initially water-saturated sample resulted in large and continuous decreases in the compressional velocity as well as temporary increases in the attenuation. For a sheared core-parallel fracture, large attenuation was also observed, but almost no changes in the velocity occurred. In contrast, a sample containing a core-normal fracture exhibited complex behavior of compressional wave attenuation: the attenuation peaked as the leading edge of

Sub-Frequency Interval Approach in Electromechanical Impedance Technique for Concrete Structure Health Monitoring

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bahador Sabet Divsholi

2010-12-01

Full Text Available The electromechanical (EM impedance technique using piezoelectric lead zirconate titanate (PZT transducers for structural health monitoring (SHM has attracted considerable attention in various engineering fields. In the conventional EM impedance technique, the EM admittance of a PZT transducer is used as a damage indicator. Statistical analysis methods such as root mean square deviation (RMSD have been employed to associate the damage level with the changes in the EM admittance signatures, but it is difficult to determine the location of damage using such methods. This paper proposes a new approach by dividing the large frequency (30–400 kHz range into sub-frequency intervals and calculating their respective RMSD values. The RMSD of the sub-frequency intervals (RMSD-S will be used to study the severity and location of damage. An experiment is carried out on a real size concrete structure subjected to artificial damage. It is observed that damage close to the PZT changes the high frequency range RMSD-S significantly, while the damage far away from the PZT changes the RMSD-S in the low frequency range significantly. The relationship between the frequency range and the PZT sensing region is also presented. Finally, a damage identification scheme is proposed to estimate the location and severity of damage in concrete structures.

Enhanced Core Noise Modeling for Turbofan Engines

Science.gov (United States)

Stone, James R.; Krejsa, Eugene A.; Clark, Bruce J.

2011-01-01

This report describes work performed by MTC Technologies (MTCT) for NASA Glenn Research Center (GRC) under Contract NAS3-00178, Task Order No. 15. MTCT previously developed a first-generation empirical model that correlates the core/combustion noise of four GE engines, the CF6, CF34, CFM56, and GE90 for General Electric (GE) under Contract No. 200-1X-14W53048, in support of GRC Contract NAS3-01135. MTCT has demonstrated in earlier noise modeling efforts that the improvement of predictive modeling is greatly enhanced by an iterative approach, so in support of NASA's Quiet Aircraft Technology Project, GRC sponsored this effort to improve the model. Since the noise data available for correlation are total engine noise spectra, it is total engine noise that must be predicted. Since the scope of this effort was not sufficient to explore fan and turbine noise, the most meaningful comparisons must be restricted to frequencies below the blade passage frequency. Below the blade passage frequency and at relatively high power settings jet noise is expected to be the dominant source, and comparisons are shown that demonstrate the accuracy of the jet noise model recently developed by MTCT for NASA under Contract NAS3-00178, Task Order No. 10. At lower power settings the core noise became most apparent, and these data corrected for the contribution of jet noise were then used to establish the characteristics of core noise. There is clearly more than one spectral range where core noise is evident, so the spectral approach developed by von Glahn and Krejsa in 1982 wherein four spectral regions overlap, was used in the GE effort. Further analysis indicates that the two higher frequency components, which are often somewhat masked by turbomachinery noise, can be treated as one component, and it is on that basis that the current model is formulated. The frequency scaling relationships are improved and are now based on combustor and core nozzle geometries. In conjunction with the Task

Materials behaviour in PWRs core

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Barbu, A.; Massoud, J.P.

2008-01-01

Like in any industrial facility, the materials of PWR reactors are submitted to mechanical, thermal or chemical stresses during particularly long durations of operation: 40 years, and even 60 years. Materials closer to the nuclear fuel are submitted to intense bombardment of particles (mainly neutrons) coming from the nuclear reactions inside the core. In such conditions, the damages can be numerous and various: irradiation aging, thermal aging, friction wear, generalized corrosion, stress corrosion etc.. The understanding of the materials behaviour inside the cores of reactors in operation is a major concern for the nuclear industry and its long term forecast is a necessity. This article describes the main ways of materials degradation without and under irradiation, with the means used to foresee their behaviour using physics-based models. Content: 1 - structures, components and materials: structure materials, nuclear materials; 2 - main ways of degradation without irradiation: thermal aging, stress corrosion, wear; 3 - main ways of degradation under irradiation: microscopic damaging - point defects, dimensional alterations, evolution of mechanical characteristics under irradiation, irradiation-assisted stress corrosion cracking (IASCC), synergies; 4 - forecast of materials evolution under irradiation using physics-based models: primary damage - fast dynamics, primary damage annealing - slow kinetics microstructural evolution, impact of microstructural changes on the macroscopic behaviour, insight on modeling methods; 5 - materials change characterization techniques: microscopic techniques - direct defects observation, nuclear techniques using a particle beam, global measurements, mechanical characterizations; 6 - perspectives. (J.S.)

Risk of nuclear damage

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kienzl, K.

1997-01-01

Following the opening and words of welcome by Mr. Fritz Unterpertinger (unit director at the Austrian Federal Ministry for the Environment, Youth and Family; BMUJF) Mrs Helga Kromp-Kolb (professor at the Institute for Meteorology and Physics of the University of Natural Resources Science Vienna) illustrated the risks of nuclear damage in Europe by means of a nuclear risk map. She explained that even from a scientific or technical point of view the assessment of risks arising from nuclear power stations was fraught with great uncertainties. Estimates about in how far MCAs (maximum credible accident) could still be controlled by safety systems vary widely and so do assessments of the probability of a core melt. But there is wide agreement in all risk assessments conducted so far that MCAs might occur within a - from a human point of view - conceivable number of years. In this connection one has to bear in mind that the occurrence of such a major accident - whatever its probability may be - could entail immense damage and the question arises whether or not it is at all justifiable to expose the general public to such a risk. Klaus Rennings (Centre for European Economic Research, Mannheim, Germany) dealt with the economic aspects of nuclear risk assessment. He explained that there are already a number of studies available aiming to assess the risk of damage resulting from a core melt accident in economic terms. As to the probability of occurrence estimates vary widely between one incident in 3,333 and 250,000 year of reactor operation. It is assumed, however, that a nuclear accident involving a core melt in Germany would probably exceed the damage caused by the Chernobyl accident. The following speakers addressed the legal aspects of risks associated with nuclear installations. Mrs Monika Gimpel-Hinteregger (professor at the Institute for Civil Law in Graz) gave an overview on the applicable Austrian law concerning third party liability in the field of nuclear energy

TMI-2 core boring machine

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Croft, K.M.; Helbert, H.J.; Laney, W.M.

1986-01-01

An important and essential aspect of the TMI-2 defueling effort is to determine what occurred in the core region during the accident. Remote cameras and probes only portray a portion of the overall picture. What lies beneath the rubble bed and solidified sublayer is, as yet, unknown. This paper discusses the TMI-2 Core Boring Machine, which has been developed to drill into the damaged core of the TMI-2 reactor and extract stratified samples of the core. This machine, its unique support structure, positioning and leveling systems, and specially designed drill bits, combine to provide a unique mechanical system. In addition, the machine is controlled by a microprocessor; which actually controls the drilling operation, allowing relatively inexperienced operators to drill the core samples. A data acquisition system is data integral with the controlling system and collects data relative to system conditions and monitored parameters during drilling. Data obtained during the actual drilling operations are collected in a data base which will be used for actual mapping of the core region, identifying materials and stratification levels that are present

Concrete damage diagnosed using the non-classical nonlinear acoustic method

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dao, Zhou; Xiao-Zhou, Liu; Xiu-Fen, Gong; E, Nazarov V; Li, Ma

2009-01-01

It is known that the strength of concrete is seriously affected by damage and cracking. In this paper, six concrete samples under different damage levels are studied. The experimental results show a linear dependence of the resonance frequency shift on strain amplitude at the fundamental frequency, and approximate quadratic dependence of the amplitudes of the second and third harmonics on strain amplitude at the fundamental frequency as well. In addition, the amplitude of the third harmonics is shown to increase with the increase of damage level, which is even higher than that of the second harmonics in samples with higher damage levels. These are three properties of non-classical nonlinear acoustics. The nonlinear parameters increase from 10 6 to 10 8 with damage level, and are more sensitive to the damage level of the concrete than the linear parameters obtained by using traditional acoustics methods. So, this method based on non-classical nonlinear acoustics may provide a better means of non-destructive testing (NDT) of concrete and other porous materials

Trojan wavepackets in helium - by core-Rydberg interaction

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kalinski, M.; Eberly, J.H.

1996-01-01

The authors exhibit the existence of core-induced shape invariant wave packets in helium analogous to the Trojan wave packets predicted for hydrogen. They show that the core dipole moment oscillating with the Rabi frequency in the presence of a laser field will cause both radical and angular confinement of an outer Rydberg electron moving around a nearly circular orbit if the parameters of the orbit are properly chosen. They find the relation between the Rabi frequency of the core electron oscillations, laser field strength and the parameters of the Rydberg orbit of the outer electron

Core baffle for nuclear reactors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Machado, O.J.; Berringer, R.T.

1977-01-01

The invention concerns the design of the core of a LWR with a large number of fuel assemblies formed by fuel rods and kept in position by spacer grids. According to the invention, at the level of the spacer grids match plates are mounted with openings so the flow of coolant directed upwards will not be obstructed and a parallel bypass will be obtained in the space between the core barrel and the baffle plates. In case of an accident, this configuration reduces or avoids damage from overpressure reactions. (HP) [de

Development of integrated damage detection system for international America's Cup class yacht structures using a fiber optic distributed sensor

Science.gov (United States)

Akiyoshi, Shimada; Naruse, Hiroshi; Uzawa, Kyoshi; Murayama, Hideaki; Kageyama, Kazuro

2000-06-01

We constructed a new health monitoring system to detect damage using a fiber optic distributed sensor, namely a Brillouin optical time domain reflectometer (BOTDR), and installed it in International America's Cup Class (IACC) yachts, the Japanese entry in America's Cup 2000. IACC yachts are designed to be as fast as possible, so it is essential that they are lightweight and encounter minimum water resistance. Advanced composite sandwich structures, made with carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP) skins and a honeycomb core, are used to achieve the lightweight structure. Yacht structure designs push the strength of the materials to their limit and so it is important to detect highly stressed or damaged regions that might cause a catastrophic fracture. The BOTDR measures changes in the Brillouin frequency shift caused by distributed strain along one optical fiber. We undertook two experiments: a pulling test and a four point bending test on a composite beam. The former showed that no slippage occurred between the optical fiber glass and its coating. The latter confirmed that a debonding between the skin and the core of 300 mm length could be found with the BOTDR. Next we examined the effectiveness with which this system can assess the structural integrity of IACC yachts. The results show that our system has the potential for use as a damage detection system for smart structures.

Multi-parametric study of temperature and thermal damage of tumor exposed to high-frequency nanosecond-pulsed electric fields based on finite element simulation.

Science.gov (United States)

Mi, Yan; Rui, Shaoqin; Li, Chengxiang; Yao, Chenguo; Xu, Jin; Bian, Changhao; Tang, Xuefeng

2017-07-01

High-frequency nanosecond-pulsed electric fields were recently introduced for tumor or abnormal tissue ablation to solve some problems of conventional electroporation. However, it is necessary to study the thermal effects of high-field-intensity nanosecond pulses inside tissues. The multi-parametric analysis performed here is based on a finite element model of liver tissue with a tumor that has been punctured by a pair of needle electrodes. The pulse voltage used in this study ranges from 1 to 4 kV, the pulse width ranges from 50 to 500 ns, and the repetition frequency is between 100 kHz and 1 MHz. The total pulse length is 100 μs, and the pulse burst repetition frequency is 1 Hz. Blood flow and metabolic heat generation have also been considered. Results indicate that the maximum instantaneous temperature at 100 µs can reach 49 °C, with a maximum instantaneous temperature at 1 s of 40 °C, and will not cause thermal damage during single pulse bursts. By parameter fitting, we can obtain maximum instantaneous temperature at 100 µs and 1 s for any parameter values. However, higher temperatures will be achieved and may cause thermal damage when multiple pulse bursts are applied. These results provide theoretical basis of pulse parameter selection for future experimental researches.

Using CdTe/ZnSe core/shell quantum dots to detect DNA and damage to DNA

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Moulick A

2017-02-01

Full Text Available Amitava Moulick,1,2 Vedran Milosavljevic,1,2 Jana Vlachova,1,2 Robert Podgajny,3 David Hynek,1,2 Pavel Kopel,1,2 Vojtech Adam1,2 1Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Mendel University, 2Central European Institute of Technology, Brno University of Technology, Brno, Czech Republic; 3Faculty of Chemistry, Jagiellonian University, Krakow, Poland Abstract: CdTe/ZnSe core/shell quantum dot (QD, one of the strongest and most highly luminescent nanoparticles, was directly synthesized in an aqueous medium to study its individual interactions with important nucleobases (adenine, guanine, cytosine, and thymine in detail. The results obtained from the optical analyses indicated that the interactions of the QDs with different nucleobases were different, which reflected in different fluorescent emission maxima and intensities. The difference in the interaction was found due to the different chemical behavior and different sizes of the formed nanoconjugates. An electrochemical study also confirmed that the purines and pyrimidines show different interactions with the core/shell QDs. Based on these phenomena, a novel QD-based method is developed to detect the presence of the DNA, damage to DNA, and mutation. The QDs were successfully applied very easily to detect any change in the sequence (mutation of DNA. The QDs also showed their ability to detect DNAs directly from the extracts of human cancer (PC3 and normal (PNT1A cells (detection limit of 500 pM of DNA, which indicates the possibilities to use this easy assay technique to confirm the presence of living organisms in extreme environments. Keywords: nanoparticles, nucleobases, biosensor, fluorescence, mutation

Power-Energy Simulation for Multi-Core Processors in Bench-marking

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mona A. Abou-Of

2017-01-01

Full Text Available At Microarchitectural level, multi-core processor, as a complex System on Chip, has sophisticated on-chip components including cores, shared caches, interconnects and system controllers such as memory and ethernet controllers. At technological level, architects should consider the device types forecast in the International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors (ITRS. Energy simulation enables architects to study two important metrics simultaneously. Timing is a key element of the CPU performance that imposes constraints on the CPU target clock frequency. Power and the resulting heat impose more severe design constraints, such as core clustering, while semiconductor industry is providing more transistors in the die area in pace with Moore’s law. Energy simulators provide a solution for such serious challenge. Energy is modelled either by combining performance benchmarking tool with a power simulator or by an integrated framework of both performance simulator and power profiling system. This article presents and asses trade-offs between different architectures using four cores battery-powered mobile systems by running a custom-made and a standard benchmark tools. The experimental results assure the Energy/ Frequency convexity rule over a range of frequency settings on different number of enabled cores. The reported results show that increasing the number of cores has a great effect on increasing the power consumption. However, a minimum energy dissipation will occur at a lower frequency which reduces the power consumption. Despite that, increasing the number of cores will also increase the effective cores value which will reflect a better processor performance.

The mutation frequency of 8-oxo-7,8 dihydroguanine (8-oxoG) situated in a multiply damaged site: comparison of a single and two closely opposed 8-oxodG in Escherichia coli

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Malyarchuk, S.G.; Youngblood, R.C.; Landry, A.M.; Quillin, E.; Harrison, L.

2003-01-01

Full text: A multiply damaged site (MDS) is defined as >= two lesions within a distance of 10-15 base pairs (bp). MDS generated by ionizing radiation contains oxidative base damage, and in vitro studies have indicated that if the base damage is less than 3 bp apart, repair of one lesion is inhibited until repair of the lesion in the opposite strand is completed. Inhibition of repair could result in an increase in the mutation frequency of the base damage. We have designed an assay to determine whether a closely opposed lesion causes an increase in adenine insertion opposite an 8-oxodG in bacteria. The double-stranded oligonucleotides (with no damage, each single 8-oxodG or the MDS) were ligated into the firefly luciferase coding region of a reporter vector and transformed into wild type or MutY-deficient bacteria. The MDS contained an 8-oxodG in the transcribed strand (T) and a second 8-oxodG immediately 5' to this lesion in the non-transcribed strand (NT). During two rounds of replication, insertion of adenine opposite the 8-oxodG in the T or NT strand results in a translation termination codon at position 444 or 445, respectively. In wild-type bacteria, we detected a translation stop at a frequency of 0.15% (codon 444) and 0.09% (codon 445) with a single 8-oxodG in the T or NT strand, respectively. This was enhanced ∼3 fold when single lesions were replicated in MutY-deficient bacteria. Positioning an 8-oxodG in the T strand within the MDS enhanced the mutation frequency by ∼2 fold in wild-type bacteria and 8 fold in Mut Y-deficient bacteria, while the mutation frequency of the 8-oxodG in the NT strand increased by 6 fold in Mut Y-deficient bacteria. This enhancement of mutation frequency supports the in vitro MDS studies, which demonstrated the inability of base excision repair to completely repair closely opposed lesions

Gravity and low-frequency geodynamics

CERN Document Server

Teisseyre, Roman

1989-01-01

This fourth volume in the series Physics and Evolution of the Earth's Interior, provides a comprehensive review of the geophysical and geodetical aspects related to gravity and low-frequency geodynamics. Such aspects include the Earth's gravity field, geoid shape theory, and low-frequency phenomena like rotation, oscillations and tides.Global-scale phenomena are treated as a response to source excitation in spherical Earth models consisting of several shells: lithosphere, mantle, core and sometimes also the inner solid core. The effect of gravitation and rotation on the Earth's shape is anal

Comparison of european computer codes relative to the aerosol behavior in PWR containment buildings during severe core damage accidents. (Modelling of steam condensation on the particles)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bunz, H.; Dunbar, L.H.; Fermandjian, J.; Lhiaubet, G.

1987-11-01

An aerosol code comparison exercise was performed within the framework of the Commission of European Communities (Division of Safety of Nuclear Installations). This exercise, focused on the process of steam condensation onto the aerosols occurring in PWR containment buildings during severe core damage accidents, has allowed to understand the discrepancies between the results obtained. These discrepancies are due, in particular, to whether the curvature effect is modelled or not in the codes

Fatigue damage monitoring for basalt fiber reinforced polymer composites using acoustic emission technique

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Wentao; Li, Hui; Qu, Zhi

2012-04-01

Basalt fiber reinforced polymer (BFRP) is a structural material with superior mechanical properties. In this study, unidirectional BFRP laminates with 14 layers are made with the hand lay-up method. Then, the acoustic emission technique (AE) combined with the scanning electronic microscope (SEM) technique is employed to monitor the fatigue damage evolution of the BFRP plates in the fatigue loading tests. Time-frequency analysis using the wavelet transform technique is proposed to analyze the received AE signal instead of the peak frequency method. A comparison between AE signals and SEM images indicates that the multi-frequency peaks picked from the time-frequency curves of AE signals reflect the accumulated fatigue damage evolution and fatigue damage patterns. Furthermore, seven damage patterns, that is, matrix cracking, delamination, fiber fracture and their combinations, are identified from the time-frequency curves of the AE signals.

Windscale pile core surveys

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Curtis, R.F.; Mathews, R.F.

1996-01-01

The two Windscale Piles were closed down, defueled as far as possible and mothballed for thirty years following a fire in the core of Pile 1 in 1957 resulting from the spontaneous release of stored Wigner energy in the graphite moderator. Decommissioning of the reactors commenced in 1987 and has reached the stage where the condition of both cores needs to be determined. To this end, non-intrusive and intrusive surveys and sampling of the cores have been planned and partly implemented. The objectives for each Pile differ slightly. The location and quantity of fuel remaining in the damaged core of Pile 1 needed to be established, whereas the removal of all fuel from Pile 2 needed to be confirmed. In Pile 1, the possible existence of a void in the core is to be explored and in Pile 2, the level of Wigner energy remaining required to be quantified. Levels of radioactivity in both cores needed to be measured. The planning of the surveys is described including strategy, design, safety case preparation and the remote handling and viewing equipment required to carry out the inspection, sampling and monitoring work. The results from the completed non-intrusive survey of Pile 2 are summarised. They confirm that the core is empty and the graphite is in good condition. The survey of Pile 1 has just started. (UK)

Errors, error detection, error correction and hippocampal-region damage: data and theories.

Science.gov (United States)

MacKay, Donald G; Johnson, Laura W

2013-11-01

This review and perspective article outlines 15 observational constraints on theories of errors, error detection, and error correction, and their relation to hippocampal-region (HR) damage. The core observations come from 10 studies with H.M., an amnesic with cerebellar and HR damage but virtually no neocortical damage. Three studies examined the detection of errors planted in visual scenes (e.g., a bird flying in a fish bowl in a school classroom) and sentences (e.g., I helped themselves to the birthday cake). In all three experiments, H.M. detected reliably fewer errors than carefully matched memory-normal controls. Other studies examined the detection and correction of self-produced errors, with controls for comprehension of the instructions, impaired visual acuity, temporal factors, motoric slowing, forgetting, excessive memory load, lack of motivation, and deficits in visual scanning or attention. In these studies, H.M. corrected reliably fewer errors than memory-normal and cerebellar controls, and his uncorrected errors in speech, object naming, and reading aloud exhibited two consistent features: omission and anomaly. For example, in sentence production tasks, H.M. omitted one or more words in uncorrected encoding errors that rendered his sentences anomalous (incoherent, incomplete, or ungrammatical) reliably more often than controls. Besides explaining these core findings, the theoretical principles discussed here explain H.M.'s retrograde amnesia for once familiar episodic and semantic information; his anterograde amnesia for novel information; his deficits in visual cognition, sentence comprehension, sentence production, sentence reading, and object naming; and effects of aging on his ability to read isolated low frequency words aloud. These theoretical principles also explain a wide range of other data on error detection and correction and generate new predictions for future test. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The assessment of the integrity of AGR core during an earthquake

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Smith, C.R.

1987-01-01

The seismic response of the core has been calculated using an idealisation having several hundred thousand degrees of freedom. The individual graphite bricks are idealised as rigid masses, whilst contact spring elements are used to represent the load transmissions or impacts that can take place between the bricks. The necessary input information for the contact spring elements (i.e. stiffness, damping and friction), has been obtained from test work. Whilst the dynamic response of the core itself is non-linear, the supporting steel structures are linearly elastic. Consequently, the dynamic characteristics of the supporting structures are evaluated with the non-linear core structure uncoupled, and are then used with the non-linear core model in a step-by-step explicit time history analysis. The paper discusses the analytical model and presents results from some of the predictions of core dynamic response to earthquakes. The development of criteria for graphite impacts, based on the J integral, is described. Impact tests on a range of brick slices have been used to give data on brick or key cracking under repeated impacts. Dynamic analysis of plane stress finite element models of these test geometries has been carried out in order to establish a qualified analysis method which can be used to extrapolate the test data to impact damage in the core. This analysis method is applied to finite element models of the core bricks in which the loadings due to operating conditions, environmental and ageing effects are included. In the presence of any existing state of stress at any time during the operating life, the damage due to repeated impacts defined by the time-history seismic response of the core may then be estimated through a cumulative damage procedure. (author)

Development of damage probability matrices based on Greek earthquake damage data

Science.gov (United States)

Eleftheriadou, Anastasia K.; Karabinis, Athanasios I.

2011-03-01

A comprehensive study is presented for empirical seismic vulnerability assessment of typical structural types, representative of the building stock of Southern Europe, based on a large set of damage statistics. The observational database was obtained from post-earthquake surveys carried out in the area struck by the September 7, 1999 Athens earthquake. After analysis of the collected observational data, a unified damage database has been created which comprises 180,945 damaged buildings from/after the near-field area of the earthquake. The damaged buildings are classified in specific structural types, according to the materials, seismic codes and construction techniques in Southern Europe. The seismic demand is described in terms of both the regional macroseismic intensity and the ratio α g/ a o, where α g is the maximum peak ground acceleration (PGA) of the earthquake event and a o is the unique value PGA that characterizes each municipality shown on the Greek hazard map. The relative and cumulative frequencies of the different damage states for each structural type and each intensity level are computed in terms of damage ratio. Damage probability matrices (DPMs) and vulnerability curves are obtained for specific structural types. A comparison analysis is fulfilled between the produced and the existing vulnerability models.

The Damage and Geochemical Signature of a Crustal Scale Strike-Slip Fault Zone

Science.gov (United States)

Gomila, R.; Mitchell, T. M.; Arancibia, G.; Jensen Siles, E.; Rempe, M.; Cembrano, J. M.; Faulkner, D. R.

2013-12-01

Fluid-flow migration in the upper crust is strongly controlled by fracture network permeability and connectivity within fault zones, which can lead to fluid-rock chemical interaction represented as mineral precipitation in mesh veins and/or mineralogical changes (alteration) of the host rock. While the dimensions of fault damage zones defined by fracture intensity is beginning to be better understood, how such dimensions compare to the size of alteration zones is less well known. Here, we show quantitative structural and chemical analyses as a function of distance from a crustal-scale strike-slip fault in the Atacama Fault System, Northern Chile, to compare fault damage zone characteristics with its geochemical signature. The Jorgillo Fault (JF) is a ca. 18 km long NNW striking strike-slip fault cutting Mesozoic rocks with sinistral displacement of ca. 4 km. In the study area, the JF cuts through orthogranulitic and gabbroic rocks at the west (JFW) and the east side (JFE), respectively. A 200 m fault perpendicular transect was mapped and sampled for structural and XRF analyses of the core, damage zone and protolith. The core zone consists of a ca. 1 m wide cataclasite zone bounded by two fault gouge zones ca. 40 cm. The damage zone width defined by fracture density is ca. 50 m wide each side of the core. The damage zone in JFW is characterized by NW-striking subvertical 2 cm wide cataclastic rocks and NE-striking milimetric open fractures. In JFE, 1-20 mm wide chlorite, quartz-epidote and quartz-calcite veins, cut the gabbro. Microfracture analysis in JFW reveal mm-wide cataclasitic/ultracataclasitic bands with clasts of protolith and chlorite orientated subparallel to the JF in the matrix, calcite veins in a T-fractures orientation, and minor polidirectional chlorite veins. In JFE, chlorite filled conjugate fractures with syntaxial growth textures and evidence for dilational fracturing processes are seen. Closest to the core, calcite veins crosscut chlorite veins

Study on LOOP and SBO Frequency for Multi-Unit PSA

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jin, Kyung Ho; Heo, Gyun Young [Kyunghee University, Yongin (Korea, Republic of)

2016-05-15

In conventional single unit PSA, it was assumed that all accidents or events are independent and the risk of only one unit has been evaluated. In other words, the possibility that simultaneous events occur on multiple units was excluded because it was assumed that the probability of concurrent events were extremely low. After Fukushima accidents, however, it was found that external hazards such as tsunami may impact on multiple units; that means, for the sake of proper mitigation the risk of accidents in shared SSCs should be reevaluated. New risk metrics to improve conventional CDF (Core Damage frequency) based on reactor-year is needed to perform MUPSA (Multi-Unit Probabilistic Safety Assessment). IAEA suggested SCDF (Site CDF) as a risk metrics for MUPSA. The frequency based on reactor-year was converted to the frequency based on site-year. In addition, shared SSCs were modeled in single unit PSA as if those units have independent shared SSCs. Therefore, the risk of shared SSCs should be reevaluated. In this paper, the frequency of LOOP (Loss of Offsite Power), which is typically a multi-unit event, was evaluated and the frequency of SBO (Station Blackout) depending on LOOP frequency and emergency power systems such as EDG (Emergency Diesel Generator) and AAC (Alternate AC), that can mitigate SBO events, was modeled. This paper describes how to calculate LOOP and SBO frequency from the simple example for two-unit site with shared AAC. The events impacting on multiple units, which were excluded in conventional PSA, should be considered for MUPSA.

Single side damage simulations and detection in beam-like structures

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhou, Yun-Lai; Perera, R; Wahab, M Abdel; Maia, N; Sampaio, R; Figueiredo, E

2015-01-01

Beam-like structures are the most common components in real engineering, while single side damage is often encountered. In this study, a numerical analysis of single side damage in a free-free beam is analysed with three different finite element models; namely solid, shell and beam models for demonstrating their performance in simulating real structures. Similar to experiment, damage is introduced into one side of the beam, and natural frequencies are extracted from the simulations and compared with experimental and analytical results. Mode shapes are also analysed with modal assurance criterion. The results from simulations reveal a good performance of the three models in extracting natural frequencies, and solid model performs better than shell while shell model performs better than beam model under intact state. For damaged states, the natural frequencies captured from solid model show more sensitivity to damage severity than shell model and shell model performs similar to the beam model in distinguishing damage. The main contribution of this paper is to perform a comparison between three finite element models and experimental data as well as analytical solutions. The finite element results show a relatively well performance. (paper)

In Vitro-Assembled Alphavirus Core-Like Particles Maintain a Structure Similar to That of Nucleocapsid Cores in Mature Virus

OpenAIRE

Mukhopadhyay, Suchetana; Chipman, Paul R.; Hong, Eunmee M.; Kuhn, Richard J.; Rossmann, Michael G.

2002-01-01

In vitro-assembled core-like particles produced from alphavirus capsid protein and nucleic acid were studied by cryoelectron microscopy. These particles were found to have a diameter of 420 Å with 240 copies of the capsid protein arranged in a T=4 icosahedral surface lattice, similar to the nucleocapsid core in mature virions. However, when the particles were subjected to gentle purification procedures, they were damaged, preventing generation of reliable structural information. Similarly, pu...

Kinematically Decoupled Cores in Dwarf (Elliptical) Galaxies

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Toloba, E.; Peletier, R. F.; Guhathakurta, P.; van de Ven, G.; Boissier, S.; Boselli, A.; Brok, M. d.; Falcón-Barroso, J.; Hensler, G.; Janz, J.; Laurikainen, E.; Lisker, T.; Paudel, S.; Ryś, A.; Salo, H.

An overview is given of what we know about the frequency of kinematically decoupled cores in dwarf elliptical galaxies. New observations show that kinematically decoupled cores happen just as often in dwarf elliptical as in ordinary early-type galaxies. This has important consequences for the

Residential damage in an area of underground coal mining

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Padgett, M.F.

1988-01-01

In order to estimate the potential for future subsidence-related residential damage, a statistical analysis of past residential damage in the Boulder-Weld, Colorado, coal field was performed. The objectives of this study were to assess the difference in damage severity and frequency between undermined and non-undermined areas, and to determine, where applicable, which mining factors significantly influence the severity and frequency of residential damage. The results of this study suggest that undermined homes have almost three times the risk of having some type of structural damage than do non-undermined homes. The study also indicated that both geologic factors, such as the ratio of sandstone/claystone in the overburden, and mining factors, such as the mining feature (room, pillar, entry, etc.), can significantly affect the severity of overlying residential damage. However, the results of this study are dependent on local conditions and should not be applied elsewhere unless the geologic, mining, and residential conditions are similar

Analysis of core damage frequency: Peach Bottom, Unit 2 internal events

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kolaczkowski, A.M.; Cramond, W.R.; Sype, T.T.; Maloney, K.J.; Wheeler, T.A.; Daniel, S.L.

1989-08-01

This document contains the appendices for the accident sequence analysis of internally initiated events for the Peach Bottom, Unit 2 Nuclear Power Plant. This is one of the five plant analyses conducted as part of the NUREG-1150 effort for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The work performed and described here is an extensive reanalysis of that published in October 1986 as NUREG/CR-4550, Volume 4. It addresses comments from numerous reviewers and significant changes to the plant systems and procedures made since the first report. The uncertainty analysis and presentation of results are also much improved, and considerable effort was expended on an improved analysis of loss of offsite power. The content and detail of this report is directed toward PRA practitioners who need to know how the work was done and the details for use in further studies. 58 refs., 58 figs., 52 tabs

Core-logs of the vertical borehole V2

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Carlsson, L.; Egerth, T.; Westlund, B.; Olsson, T.

1982-08-01

In the hydrogeological programme of the Stripa Project, borehole V2 was prolonged to a final depth of 822 m. The previous core from 0-471.4 m was relogged. The drill core was logged with regard to rock characteristics, fracture frequency, dipping and filling. The results are presented as core-logs and fracture diagrams. Borehole V2 shows similar characteristics as found in other drillings in the Stripa Mine. It penetrates Stripa granite to its full depth. recorded fractures shows a clear predominance of medium-steep fractures, while flat-lying fractures are more sparsly occuring, a fact which is even more pronounced below 400 m depth. Due to the vertical direction of the borehole, steeply dipping fractures are underestimated in the core. The mean fracture frequency, related to the total length of the core, is 2.1 fractures/m. Chlorite, calcite and epidote are the dominating coating minerals in the fractures, each making up about 25-30 percent of all coated fractures. (Authors)

Vibration mode and vibration shape under excitation of a three phase model transformer core

Science.gov (United States)

Okabe, Seiji; Ishigaki, Yusuke; Omura, Takeshi

2018-04-01

Structural vibration characteristics and vibration shapes under three-phase excitation of a archetype transformer core were investigated to consider their influences on transformer noise. Acoustic noise and vibration behavior were measured in a three-limb model transformer core. Experimental modal analysis by impact test was performed. The vibration shapes were measured by a laser scanning vibrometer at different exciting frequencies. Vibration amplitude of the core in out-of-plane direction were relatively larger than those in other two in-plane directions. It was consistent with the result that the frequency response function of the core in out-of-plane direction was larger by about 20 dB or more than those in in-plane directions. There were many vibration modes having bending deformation of limbs in out-of-plane direction. The vibration shapes of the core when excited at 50 Hz and 60 Hz were almost the same because the fundamental frequencies of the vibration were not close to the resonance frequencies. When excitation frequency was 69 Hz which was half of one of the resonance frequencies, the vibration shape changed to the one similar to the resonance vibration mode. Existence of many vibration modes in out-of-plane direction of the core was presumed to be a reason why frequency characteristics of magnetostriction and transformer noise do not coincide.

Preliminary Assessment of the Possible BWR Core/Vessel Damage States for Fukushima Daiichi Station Blackout Scenarios Using RELAP/SCDAPSIM

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

C. M. Allison

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Immediately after the accident at Fukushima Daiichi, Innovative Systems Software and other members of the international SCDAP Development and Training Program started an assessment of the possible core/vessel damage states of the Fukushima Daiichi Units 1–3. The assessment included a brief review of relevant severe accident experiments and a series of detailed calculations using RELAP/SCDAPSIM. The calculations used a detailed RELAP/SCDAPSIM model of the Laguna Verde BWR vessel and related reactor cooling systems. The Laguna Verde models were provided by the Comision Nacional de Seguridad Nuclear y Salvaguardias, the Mexican nuclear regulatory authority. The initial assessment was originally presented to the International Atomic Energy Agency on March 21 to support their emergency response team and later to our Japanese members to support their Fukushima Daiichi specific analysis and model development.

Vibro-acoustic modulation–based damage identification in a composite skin–stiffener structure

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Ooijevaar, T.H.; Rogge, M.D.; Loendersloot, Richard; Warnet, Laurent; Akkerman, Remko; Tinga, Tiedo

2016-01-01

Vibro-acoustic modulation–based damage identification relies on the modulation of a high-frequency carrier signal by an intenser low-frequency vibration signal due to damage-induced structural nonlinearities. A time domain analysis of the vibro-acoustic modulation phenomena was presented at multiple

ROSA full-core and DNBR capabilities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gibcus, H.P.M.; Verhagen, F.C.M.; Wakker, P.H.

2013-01-01

The latest developments of the ROSA (Reloading Optimization by Simulated Annealing) code system with an emphasis on the first full-core version and the minimum DNBR (Departure from Nucleate Boiling Ratio) as a new optimization parameter are presented. Designing the core loading pattern of nuclear power plants is becoming a more and more complex task. This task becomes even more complicated if asymmetries in the core loading pattern arise, for instance due to damaged fuel assemblies. For over almost 2 decades ROSA, NRG's (Nuclear Research and consultancy Group) loading pattern optimization code system for PWRs, has proven to be a valuable tool to reactor operators in accomplishing this task. To improve the use of ROSA for designing asymmetric loading patterns, NRG has developed a full-core version of ROSA besides the original quarter-core version which requires rotational symmetry in the computational domain. The extension of ROSA with DNBR as an optimization parameter is part of ROSA's continuous development. (orig.)

ROSA full-core and DNBR capabilities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gibcus, H.P.M.; Verhagen, F.C.M.; Wakker, P.H.

2012-01-01

This paper presents the latest developments of the ROSA (Reloading Optimization by Simulated Annealing) code system with an emphasis on the first full-core version and the minimum DNBR (Departure from Nucleate Boiling Ratio) as a new optimization parameter. Designing the core loading pattern of nuclear power plants is becoming a more and more complex task. This task becomes even more complicated if asymmetries in the core loading pattern arise, for instance due to damaged fuel assemblies. For over almost two decades ROSA, NRG's (Nuclear Research and consultancy Group) loading pattern optimization code system for PWRs, has proven to be a valuable tool to reactor operators in accomplishing this task. To improve the use of ROSA for designing asymmetric loading patterns, NRG has developed a full-core version of ROSA besides the original quarter-core version which requires rotational symmetry in the computational domain. The extension of ROSA with DNBR as an optimization parameter is part of ROSA's continuous development. (orig.)

Soft magnetic characteristics of laminated magnetic block cores assembled with a high Bs nanocrystalline alloy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Atsushi Yao

2018-05-01

Full Text Available This paper focuses on an evaluation of core losses in laminated magnetic block cores assembled with a high Bs nanocrystalline alloy in high magnetic flux density region. To discuss the soft magnetic properties of the high Bs block cores, the comparison with amorphous (SA1 block cores is also performed. In the high Bs block core, both low core losses and high saturation flux densities Bs are satisfied in the low frequency region. Furthermore, in the laminated block core made of the high Bs alloy, the rate of increase of iron losses as a function of the magnetic flux density remains small up to around 1.6 T, which cannot be realized in conventional laminated block cores based on amorphous alloy. The block core made of the high Bs alloy exhibits comparable core loss with that of amorphous alloy core in the high-frequency region. Thus, it is expected that this laminated high Bs block core can achieve low core losses and high saturation flux densities in the high-frequency region.

Magnetic loss analysis in Mn-Zn ferrite cores

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Beatrice, C.; Bottauscio, O.; Chiampi, M.; Fiorillo, F.; Manzin, A.

2006-01-01

Magnetic losses have been measured and analyzed upon a wide range of frequencies in Mn-Zn ferrite ring cores. Exploiting the concept of loss separation and modeling the conductivity process in the heterogeneous material as a function of frequency, the role of the different energy dissipation mechanisms has been elucidated. It is shown, in particular, that eddy current effects can be appreciated, in standard materials and cores, only on approaching and overcoming the MHz range. The basic mechanism for hysteresis and low-frequency losses is therefore identified with the domain wall relaxation engendered by spin damping processes. Resonant absorption of energy associated with magnetization rotation is in turn deemed to chiefly contribute to the loss upon the practical range of frequencies going from a few 10 4 Hz to a few MHz

Numerical study on core damage and interpretation of in situ state of stress

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hakala, M. [Gridpoint Finland Oy (Finland)

1999-06-01

Core disking is a phenomenon where a diamond cored core sample will be sliced when released from a stressed host rock. Ring disking is a similar phenomenon which takes place during overcoring with a pilot hole. Because of the uniform shape and spacing of disk fracturing, it has the potential to be used for estimating the in situ state of stress. If this is feasible, it could be used in high stress states where the traditional stress measuring techniques are not valid or even possible. In this work the both the core disking and ring disking phenomena were studied based on the elastic bottom hole stress application developed and a series of fracture growth stability simulations. The results-showed that both phenomena are very complicated and site specific, but the spacing, shape, extent and initiation point are clearly stress state dependent. Throughout the work, guidelines for the in situ stress field interpretation method were developed and implemented for the borehole aligned orthogonal stress field and Poisson`s ratio of 0.25. Based on this study, the in situ state of stress can be estimated with acceptable accuracy if information on both core disking and ring disking is available. On the other hand, as an indirect method, there are no reasons to use it if direct measurements can be used. (orig.) 35 refs.

Numerical study on core damage and interpretation of in situ state of stress

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hakala, M.

1999-06-01

Core disking is a phenomenon where a diamond cored core sample will be sliced when released from a stressed host rock. Ring disking is a similar phenomenon which takes place during overcoring with a pilot hole. Because of the uniform shape and spacing of disk fracturing, it has the potential to be used for estimating the in situ state of stress. If this is feasible, it could be used in high stress states where the traditional stress measuring techniques are not valid or even possible. In this work the both the core disking and ring disking phenomena were studied based on the elastic bottom hole stress application developed and a series of fracture growth stability simulations. The results-showed that both phenomena are very complicated and site specific, but the spacing, shape, extent and initiation point are clearly stress state dependent. Throughout the work, guidelines for the in situ stress field interpretation method were developed and implemented for the borehole aligned orthogonal stress field and Poisson's ratio of 0.25. Based on this study, the in situ state of stress can be estimated with acceptable accuracy if information on both core disking and ring disking is available. On the other hand, as an indirect method, there are no reasons to use it if direct measurements can be used. (orig.)

Study of core support barrel vibration monitoring using ex-core neutron noise analysis and fuzzy logic algorithm

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Christian, Robby; Song, Seon Ho; Kang, Hyun Gook

2015-01-01

The application of neutron noise analysis (NNA) to the ex-core neutron detector signal for monitoring the vibration characteristics of a reactor core support barrel (CSB) was investigated. Ex-core flux data were generated by using a nonanalog Monte Carlo neutron transport method in a simulated CSB model where the implicit capture and Russian roulette technique were utilized. First and third order beam and shell modes of CSB vibration were modeled based on parallel processing simulation. A NNA module was developed to analyze the ex-core flux data based on its time variation, normalized power spectral density, normalized cross-power spectral density, coherence, and phase differences. The data were then analyzed with a fuzzy logic module to determine the vibration characteristics. The ex-core neutron signal fluctuation was directly proportional to the CSB's vibration observed at 8Hz and15Hzin the beam mode vibration, and at 8Hz in the shell mode vibration. The coherence result between flux pairs was unity at the vibration peak frequencies. A distinct pattern of phase differences was observed for each of the vibration models. The developed fuzzy logic module demonstrated successful recognition of the vibration frequencies, modes, orders, directions, and phase differences within 0.4 ms for the beam and shell mode vibrations.

Impact damage in aircraft composite sandwich panels

Science.gov (United States)

Mordasky, Matthew D.

An experimental study was conducted to develop an improved understanding of the damage caused by runway debris and environmental threats on aircraft structures. The velocities of impacts for stationary aircraft and aircraft under landing and takeoff speeds was investigated. The impact damage by concrete, asphalt, aluminum, hail and rubber sphere projectiles was explored in detail. Additionally, a kinetic energy and momentum experimental study was performed to look at the nature of the impacts in more detail. A method for recording the contact force history of the impact by an instrumented projectile was developed and tested. The sandwich composite investigated was an IM7-8552 unidirectional prepreg adhered to a NOMEXRTM core with an FM300K film adhesive. Impact experiments were conducted with a gas gun built in-house specifically for delivering projectiles to a sandwich composite target in this specic velocity regime (10--140 m/s). The effect on the impact damage by the projectile was investigated by ultrasonic C-scan, high speed camera and scanning electron and optical microscopy. Ultrasonic C-scans revealed the full extent of damage caused by each projectile, while the high speed camera enabled precise projectile velocity measurements that were used for striking velocity, kinetic energy and momentum analyses. Scanning electron and optical images revealed specific features of the panel failure and manufacturing artifacts within the lamina and honeycomb core. The damage of the panels by different projectiles was found to have a similar damage area for equivalent energy levels, except for rubber which had a damage area that increased greatly with striking velocity. Further investigation was taken by kinetic energy and momentum based comparisons of 19 mm diameter stainless steel sphere projectiles in order to examine the dominating damage mechanisms. The sandwich targets were struck by acrylic, aluminum, alumina, stainless steel and tungsten carbide spheres of the

Nonlinear ultrasonic stimulated thermography for damage assessment in isotropic fatigued structures

Science.gov (United States)

Fierro, Gian Piero Malfense; Calla', Danielle; Ginzburg, Dmitri; Ciampa, Francesco; Meo, Michele

2017-09-01

Traditional non-destructive evaluation (NDE) and structural health monitoring (SHM) systems are used to analyse that a structure is free of any harmful damage. However, these techniques still lack sensitivity to detect the presence of material micro-flaws in the form of fatigue damage and often require time-consuming procedures and expensive equipment. This research work presents a novel "nonlinear ultrasonic stimulated thermography" (NUST) method able to overcome some of the limitations of traditional linear ultrasonic/thermography NDE-SHM systems and to provide a reliable, rapid and cost effective estimation of fatigue damage in isotropic materials. Such a hybrid imaging approach combines the high sensitivity of nonlinear acoustic/ultrasonic techniques to detect micro-damage, with local defect frequency selection and infrared imaging. When exciting structures with an optimised frequency, nonlinear elastic waves are observed and higher frictional work at the fatigue damaged area is generated due to clapping and rubbing of the crack faces. This results in heat at cracked location that can be measured using an infrared camera. A Laser Vibrometer (LV) was used to evaluate the extent that individual frequency components contribute to the heating of the damage region by quantifying the out-of-plane velocity associated with the fundamental and second order harmonic responses. It was experimentally demonstrated the relationship between a nonlinear ultrasound parameter (βratio) of the material nonlinear response to the actual temperature rises near the crack. These results demonstrated that heat generation at damaged regions could be amplified by exciting at frequencies that provide nonlinear responses, thus improving the imaging of material damage and the reliability of NUST in a quick and reproducible manner.

Core-shell magnetic nanoparticles for on-chip RF inductors

KAUST Repository

Koh, Kisik

2013-01-01

FeNi3 based core-shell magnetic nanoparticles are demonstrated as the magnetic core material for on-chip, radio frequency (RF) inductors. FeNi3 nanoparticles with 50-150 nm in diameter with 15-20 nm-thick SiO2 coating are chemically synthesized and deposited on a planar inductor as the magnetic core to enhance both inductance (L) and quality factor (Q) of the inductor. Experimentally, the ferromagnetic resonant frequency of the on-chip inductors based on FeNi3 core-shell nanoparticles has been shown to be over several GHz. A post-CMOS process has been developed to integrate the magnetic nanoparticles to a planar inductor and inductance enhancements up to 50% of the original magnitude with slightly enhanced Q-factor up to 1 GHz have been achieved. © 2013 IEEE.

Nonlinear Ultrasonic Techniques to Monitor Radiation Damage in RPV and Internal Components

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jacobs, Laurence [Georgia Inst. of Technology, Atlanta, GA (United States); Kim, Jin-Yeon [Georgia Inst. of Technology, Atlanta, GA (United States); Qu, Jisnmin [Northwestern Univ., Evanston, IL (United States); Ramuhalli, Pradeep [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Wall, Joe [Electric Power Research Inst. (EPRI), Knoxville, TN (United States)

2015-11-02

The objective of this research is to demonstrate that nonlinear ultrasonics (NLU) can be used to directly and quantitatively measure the remaining life in radiation damaged reactor pressure vessel (RPV) and internal components. Specific damage types to be monitored are irradiation embrittlement and irradiation assisted stress corrosion cracking (IASCC). Our vision is to develop a technique that allows operators to assess damage by making a limited number of NLU measurements in strategically selected critical reactor components during regularly scheduled outages. This measured data can then be used to determine the current condition of these key components, from which remaining useful life can be predicted. Methods to unambiguously characterize radiation related damage in reactor internals and RPVs remain elusive. NLU technology has demonstrated great potential to be used as a material sensor – a sensor that can continuously monitor a material’s damage state. The physical effect being monitored by NLU is the generation of higher harmonic frequencies in an initially monochromatic ultrasonic wave. The degree of nonlinearity is quantified with the acoustic nonlinearity parameter, β, which is an absolute, measurable material constant. Recent research has demonstrated that nonlinear ultrasound can be used to characterize material state and changes in microscale characteristics such as internal stress states, precipitate formation and dislocation densities. Radiation damage reduces the fracture toughness of RPV steels and internals, and can leave them susceptible to IASCC, which may in turn limit the lifetimes of some operating reactors. The ability to characterize radiation damage in the RPV and internals will enable nuclear operators to set operation time thresholds for vessels and prescribe and schedule replacement activities for core internals. Such a capability will allow a more clear definition of reactor safety margins. The research consists of three tasks: (1

Nonlinear Ultrasonic Techniques to Monitor Radiation Damage in RPV and Internal Components

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jacobs, Laurence; Kim, Jin-Yeon; Qu, Jisnmin; Ramuhalli, Pradeep; Wall, Joe

2015-01-01

The objective of this research is to demonstrate that nonlinear ultrasonics (NLU) can be used to directly and quantitatively measure the remaining life in radiation damaged reactor pressure vessel (RPV) and internal components. Specific damage types to be monitored are irradiation embrittlement and irradiation assisted stress corrosion cracking (IASCC). Our vision is to develop a technique that allows operators to assess damage by making a limited number of NLU measurements in strategically selected critical reactor components during regularly scheduled outages. This measured data can then be used to determine the current condition of these key components, from which remaining useful life can be predicted. Methods to unambiguously characterize radiation related damage in reactor internals and RPVs remain elusive. NLU technology has demonstrated great potential to be used as a material sensor - a sensor that can continuously monitor a material's damage state. The physical effect being monitored by NLU is the generation of higher harmonic frequencies in an initially monochromatic ultrasonic wave. The degree of nonlinearity is quantified with the acoustic nonlinearity parameter, β, which is an absolute, measurable material constant. Recent research has demonstrated that nonlinear ultrasound can be used to characterize material state and changes in microscale characteristics such as internal stress states, precipitate formation and dislocation densities. Radiation damage reduces the fracture toughness of RPV steels and internals, and can leave them susceptible to IASCC, which may in turn limit the lifetimes of some operating reactors. The ability to characterize radiation damage in the RPV and internals will enable nuclear operators to set operation time thresholds for vessels and prescribe and schedule replacement activities for core internals. Such a capability will allow a more clear definition of reactor safety margins. The research consists of three tasks

Core rotational dynamics and geological events

Science.gov (United States)

Greff-Lefftz; Legros

1999-11-26

A study of Earth's fluid core oscillations induced by lunar-solar tidal forces, together with tidal secular deceleration of Earth's axial rotation, shows that the rotational eigenfrequency of the fluid core and some solar tidal waves were in resonance around 3.0 x 10(9), 1.8 x 10(9), and 3 x 10(8) years ago. The associated viscomagnetic frictional power at the core boundaries may be converted into heat and would destabilize the D" thermal layer, leading to the generation of deep-mantle plumes, and would also increase the temperature at the fluid core boundaries, perturbing the core dynamo process. Such phenomena could account for large-scale episodes of continental crust formation, the generation of flood basalts, and abrupt changes in geomagnetic reversal frequency.

Core-shell structured polystyrene/BaTiO3 hybrid nanodielectrics prepared by in situ RAFT polymerization: a route to high dielectric constant and low loss materials with weak frequency dependence.

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Ke; Huang, Xingyi; Xie, Liyuan; Wu, Chao; Jiang, Pingkai; Tanaka, Toshikatsu

2012-11-23

A novel route to prepare core-shell structured nanocomposites with excellent dielectric performance is reported. This approach involves the grafting of polystyrene (PS) from the surface of BaTiO(3) by an in situ RAFT polymerization. The core-shell structured PS/BaTiO(3) nanocomposites not only show significantly increased dielectric constant and very low dielectric loss, but also have a weak frequency dependence of dielectric properties over a wide range of frequencies. In addition, the dielectric constant of the nanocomposites can also be easily tuned by varying the thickness of the PS shell. Our method is very promising for preparing high-performance nanocomposites used in energy-storage devices. Copyright © 2012 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

The potential of permeability damage during thermal recovery of Cold Lake bitumen

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zhou, Z.; Wiwchar, B.; Gunter, W. D. [Alberta Research Council, Devon, AB (Canada); Dudley, J. S. [Imperial Oil Resources, Calgary, AB (Canada)

1999-09-01

Methods and results of coreflood tests designed to evaluate permeability damage caused by Clearwater formation clays in the Cold Lake area of Alberta are described. Three periods of permeability damage were encountered, the first during and shortly after the core was heated to 250 degrees C. Experimental evidence suggests that thermally activated grain crushing and subsequent fines migration were responsible for this initial permeability loss. The second period of damage was a gradual process which resulted in 65 per cent and 78 percent of permeability loss for the two corefloods, respectively. This phase of the permeability damage was considered to have been the result of hydrothermal reactions (berthierine to Fe-saponite). The third period of permeability damage occurred when fresh water was injected into the core. This was attributed to osmotic swelling of the Fe-saponite. A comparison of field evidence with experimental results revealed certain discrepancies, suspected to be due to the kinetics of the reaction, including disruption of berthierine grain coats and permeability damage due to subsequent fines migration. To err on the safe side, it is recommended that thermal recovery wells should be completed away from berthierine-rich zones. 15 refs., 2 tabs., 7 figs.

Design evaluation of emergency core cooling systems using Axiomatic Design

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Heo, Gyunyoung [Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Mechanical Engineering, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139 (United States)]. E-mail: gheo@mit.edu; Lee, Song Kyu [Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Department of Nuclear and Quantum Engineering, 373-1 Guseong-dong, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

2007-01-15

In designing nuclear power plants (NPPs), the evaluation of safety is one of the important issues. As a measure for evaluating safety, this paper proposes a methodology to examine the design process of emergency core cooling systems (ECCSs) in NPPs using Axiomatic Design (AD). This is particularly important for identifying vulnerabilities and creating solutions. Korean Advanced Power Reactor 1400 MWe (APR1400) adopted the ECCS, which was improved to meet the stronger safety regulations than that of the current Optimized Power Reactor 1000 MWe (OPR1000). To improve the performance and safety of the ECCS, the various design strategies such as independency or redundancy were implemented, and their effectiveness was confirmed by calculating core damage frequency. We suggest an alternative viewpoint of evaluating the deployment of design strategies in terms of AD methodology. AD suggests two design principles and the visualization tools for organizing design process. The important benefit of AD is that it is capable of providing suitable priorities for deploying design strategies. The reverse engineering driven by AD has been able to show that the design process of the ECCS of APR1400 was improved in comparison to that of OPR1000 from the viewpoint of the coordination of design strategies.

Vitamin C for DNA damage prevention

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sram, Radim J.; Binkova, Blanka; Rossner, Pavel

2012-01-01

The ability of vitamin C to affect genetic damage was reviewed in human studies that used molecular epidemiology methods, including analysis of DNA adducts, DNA strand breakage (using the Comet assay), oxidative damage measured as levels of 8-oxo-7,8-dihydroxy-2′-deoxyguanosine (8-oxodG), cytogenetic analysis of chromosomal aberrations and micronuclei, and the induction of DNA repair proteins. The protective effect of vitamin C was observed at plasma levels > 50 μmol/l. Vitamin C supplementation decreased the frequency of chromosomal aberrations in groups with insufficient dietary intake who were occupationally exposed to mutagens, and also decreased the sensitivity to mutagens as assessed using the bleomycin assay. High vitamin C levels in plasma decreased the frequency of genomic translocations in groups exposed to ionizing radiation or c-PAHs in polluted air. The frequency of micronuclei was decreased by vitamin C supplementation in smokers challenged with γ-irradiation, and higher vitamin C levels in plasma counteracted the damage induced by air pollution. The prevalence of DNA adducts inversely correlated with vitamin C levels in groups environmentally exposed to high concentrations of c-PAHs. Increased vitamin C levels decreased DNA strand breakage induced by air pollution. Oxidative damage (8-oxodG levels) was decreased by vitamin C supplementation in groups with plasma levels > 50 μmol/l exposed to PM2.5 and c-PAHs. Modulation of DNA repair by vitamin C supplementation was observed both in poorly nourished subjects and in groups with vitamin C plasma levels > 50 μmol/l exposed to higher concentrations of c-PAHs. It is possible that the impact of vitamin C on DNA damage depends both on background values of vitamin C in the individual as well as on the level of exposure to xenobiotics or oxidative stress.

Vitamin C for DNA damage prevention

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sram, Radim J., E-mail: sram@biomed.cas.cz [Institute of Experimental Medicine, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, 14220 Prague 4 (Czech Republic); Binkova, Blanka; Rossner, Pavel [Institute of Experimental Medicine, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, 14220 Prague 4 (Czech Republic)

2012-05-01

The ability of vitamin C to affect genetic damage was reviewed in human studies that used molecular epidemiology methods, including analysis of DNA adducts, DNA strand breakage (using the Comet assay), oxidative damage measured as levels of 8-oxo-7,8-dihydroxy-2 Prime -deoxyguanosine (8-oxodG), cytogenetic analysis of chromosomal aberrations and micronuclei, and the induction of DNA repair proteins. The protective effect of vitamin C was observed at plasma levels > 50 {mu}mol/l. Vitamin C supplementation decreased the frequency of chromosomal aberrations in groups with insufficient dietary intake who were occupationally exposed to mutagens, and also decreased the sensitivity to mutagens as assessed using the bleomycin assay. High vitamin C levels in plasma decreased the frequency of genomic translocations in groups exposed to ionizing radiation or c-PAHs in polluted air. The frequency of micronuclei was decreased by vitamin C supplementation in smokers challenged with {gamma}-irradiation, and higher vitamin C levels in plasma counteracted the damage induced by air pollution. The prevalence of DNA adducts inversely correlated with vitamin C levels in groups environmentally exposed to high concentrations of c-PAHs. Increased vitamin C levels decreased DNA strand breakage induced by air pollution. Oxidative damage (8-oxodG levels) was decreased by vitamin C supplementation in groups with plasma levels > 50 {mu}mol/l exposed to PM2.5 and c-PAHs. Modulation of DNA repair by vitamin C supplementation was observed both in poorly nourished subjects and in groups with vitamin C plasma levels > 50 {mu}mol/l exposed to higher concentrations of c-PAHs. It is possible that the impact of vitamin C on DNA damage depends both on background values of vitamin C in the individual as well as on the level of exposure to xenobiotics or oxidative stress.

Hollow-core photonic band gap fibers for particle acceleration

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Robert J. Noble

2011-12-01

Full Text Available Photonic band gap (PBG dielectric fibers with hollow cores are being studied both theoretically and experimentally for use as laser driven accelerator structures. The hollow core functions as both a longitudinal waveguide for the transverse-magnetic (TM accelerating fields and a channel for the charged particles. The dielectric surrounding the core is permeated by a periodic array of smaller holes to confine the mode, forming a photonic crystal fiber in which modes exist in frequency passbands, separated by band gaps. The hollow core acts as a defect which breaks the crystal symmetry, and so-called defect, or trapped modes having frequencies in the band gap will only propagate near the defect. We describe the design of 2D hollow-core PBG fibers to support TM defect modes with high longitudinal fields and high characteristic impedance. Using as-built dimensions of industrially made fibers, we perform a simulation analysis of prototype PBG fibers with dimensions appropriate for speed-of-light TM modes.

Core losses of an inverter-fed permanent magnet synchronous motor with an amorphous stator core under no-load

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nicolas Denis

2016-05-01

Full Text Available In this paper, an interior permanent magnet synchronous motor (IPMSM with a stator core made of amorphous magnetic material (AMM is presented. The IPMSM is driven by a voltage source three-phase inverter with classical pulse width modulation (PWM control. The core losses under no-load condition are measured by experiment and compared to an equivalent IPMSM with a stator core made of NO steel. Under these conditions, the core losses are influenced by the stator, rotor and magnet shapes but also by the PWM carrier signal that implies a high frequency harmonic in the magnetic flux density. It is demonstrated that the AMM can reduce the core losses by about 56 %.

Severe fuel damage investigations of KFK/PNS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fiege, A.

1983-01-01

This report is a comprehensive review of the objectives, the program planning, the status and the further procedure of the investigations of KfK/PNS on severe core damage. The investigations were started in 1981 and will be finished in 1985/86. (orig.) [de

Structural health monitoring in composite materials using frequency response methods

Science.gov (United States)

Kessler, Seth S.; Spearing, S. Mark; Atalla, Mauro J.; Cesnik, Carlos E. S.; Soutis, Constantinos

2001-08-01

Cost effective and reliable damage detection is critical for the utilization of composite materials in structural applications. Non-destructive evaluation techniques (e.g. ultrasound, radiography, infra-red imaging) are available for use during standard repair and maintenance cycles, however by comparison to the techniques used for metals these are relatively expensive and time consuming. This paper presents part of an experimental and analytical survey of candidate methods for the detection of damage in composite materials. The experimental results are presented for the application of modal analysis techniques applied to rectangular laminated graphite/epoxy specimens containing representative damage modes, including delamination, transverse ply cracks and through-holes. Changes in natural frequencies and modes were then found using a scanning laser vibrometer, and 2-D finite element models were created for comparison with the experimental results. The models accurately predicted the response of the specimems at low frequencies, but the local excitation and coalescence of higher frequency modes make mode-dependent damage detection difficult and most likely impractical for structural applications. The frequency response method was found to be reliable for detecting even small amounts of damage in a simple composite structure, however the potentially important information about damage type, size, location and orientation were lost using this method since several combinations of these variables can yield identical response signatures.

The Core Journal Concept in Black Studies

Science.gov (United States)

Weissinger, Thomas

2010-01-01

Black Studies scholars have shown interest in the core journal concept. Indeed, the idea of core journals for the study of the Black experience has changed several times since 1940. While Black Studies scholars are citing Black Studies journals with frequency, they also cite traditional disciplinary journals a great deal of the time. However,…

Reduction of spontaneous somatic mutation frequency by a low-dose X irradiation of Drosophila larvae and possible involvement of DNA single-strand damage repair.

Science.gov (United States)

Koana, Takao; Takahashi, Takashi; Tsujimura, Hidenobu

2012-03-01

The third instar larvae of Drosophila were irradiated with X rays, and the somatic mutation frequency in their wings was measured after their eclosion. In the flies with normal DNA repair and apoptosis functions, 0.2 Gy irradiation at 0.05 Gy/min reduced the frequency of the so-called small spot (mutant cell clone with reduced reproductive activity) compared with that in the sham-irradiated flies. When apoptosis was suppressed using the baculovirus p35 gene, the small spot frequency increased four times in the sham-irradiated control group, but the reduction by the 0.2-Gy irradiation was still evident. In a non-homologous end joining-deficient mutant, the small spot frequency was also reduced by 0.2 Gy radiation. In a mutant deficient in single-strand break repair, no reduction in the small spot frequency by 0.2 Gy radiation was observed, and the small spot frequency increased with the radiation dose. Large spot (mutant cell clone with normal reproductive activity) frequency was not affected by suppression of apoptosis and increased monotonically with radiation dose in wild-type larvae and in mutants for single- or double-strand break repair. It is hypothesized that some of the small spots resulted from single-strand damage and, in wild-type larvae, 0.2 Gy radiation activated the normal single-strand break repair gene, which reduced the background somatic mutation frequency.

A Study on the Frequency of Initiating Event of OPR-1000 during Outage Periods

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hong Jae Beol; Jae, Moo Sung [Hanyang Univ., Seoul (Korea, Republic of)

2013-10-15

These sources of data did not reflect the latest event data which have occurred during the PWR outage to the frequencies of initiating event Electric Power Research Institute(EPRI) in USA collected the data of loss of decay heat removal during outage from 1989 to 2009 and published technical report. Domestic operating experiences for LOOP is gathered in Operational Performance Information System for Nuclear Power Plant(OPIS). To reduce conservatism and obtain completeness for LPSD PSA, those data should be collected and used to update the frequencies. The frequencies of LOSDC and LOOP are reevaluated using the data of EPRI and OPIS in this paper. Quantification is conducted to recalculate core damage frequency(CDF), since the rate is changed. The results are discussed below. To make an accurate estimate of the initiating events of LPSD PSA, the event data were collected and the frequencies of initiating events were updated using Bayesian approach. CDF was evaluated through quantification. Δ CDF is -40% and the dominant contributor is pressurizer PSV stuck open event. The most of the event data in EPRI TR were collected from US nuclear power plant industry. Those data are not enough to evaluate outage risk precisely. Therefore, to reduce conservatism and obtain completeness for LPSD PSA, the licensee event report and domestic data should be collected and reflected to the frequencies of the initiating events during outage.

Frequency Analysis of Acoustic Emission Signal to Monitor Damage Evolution in Masonry Structures

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Masera, D; Bocca, P; Grazzini, A

2011-01-01

A crucial aspect in damage evaluation of masonry structures is the analysis of long-term behaviour and for this reason fatigue analysis has a great influence on safety assessment of this structures. Acoustic Emission (AE) are very effective non-destructive techniques applied to identify micro and macro-defects and their temporal evolution in several materials. This technique permits to estimate the velocity of ultrasound waves propagation and the amount of energy released during fracture propagation to obtain information on the criticality of the ongoing process. By means of AE monitoring, an experimental analysis on a set of reinforced and unreinforced masonry walls under variable amplitude and static loading has been carried out. During these tests, the AE signals were recorded. The AE signals were analysed using Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) to examine the frequency distribution of the micro and macro cracking. It possible to evaluate the evolution of the wavelength of the AE signal through the two characteristic peak in the AE spectrum signals and the wave speed of the P or S waves. This wavelength evolution can be represent the microcrak and macrocrack evolution in masonry walls. This procedure permits to estimate the fracture dimension characteristic in several loading condition and for several masonry reinforced condition.

Design and Measurement of Planar Toroidal Transformers for Very High Frequency Power Applications

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Knott, Arnold; Pejtersen, Jens

2012-01-01

The quest for higher power density has led to research of very high frequency (30-300 MHz) power converters. Magnetic components based on ferrite cores have limited application within this frequency range due to increased core loss. Air-core magnetics is a viable alternative as they do not exhibit...... core loss. The drawback of most air-core magnetics is that the magnetic field is not contained within a closed shape, and it is thus prone to cause electro magnetic interference. A toroidal air-core inductor configuration can be used to contain the magnetic field. This work presents a novel air......-core toroidal transformer configuration for use in very high frequency power conversion applications. Two prototype transformers (10:10 and 12:12) have been implemented using conventional four layer printed circuit board technology. The transformers have been characterized by two port Z-parameters, which have...

Quality Assurance in the removal and transport of the TMI-2 core

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hayes, G.R.; Marsden, J.F.

1988-01-01

EG ampersand G Idaho, acting on behalf of the US Department of Energy (DOE), is cooperating with the owner of the TMI-2 plant, General Public Utilities Nuclear (GPUN), in the removal and transport of the damaged TMI-2 core to the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory (INEL) near Idaho Falls, Idaho. Quality Assurance (QA) played an important role in the removal and transport of the damaged TMI-2 core. To illustrate, the authors have chosen to discuss some of the important quality assurance techniques utilized in the design, fabrication, acceptance, and use of the three different types of equipment; the core boring machine, the core debris canisters, and the transport casks. Rather than a thorough discussion of the QA aspects of each task, the authors have purposely chosen to present only the key applications of quality assurance principles and methodology unique to each piece of equipment. The intent of this approach is to effectively communicate the importance of ''task teamwork'' in QA

Effect of power frequency excitation character on ferroresonance in neutral-grounded system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hui Meng; Liu Chong-Xin

2010-01-01

In most earlier ferroresonance studies the traditional excitation characteristic of iron core, in which the traditional excitation characteristic contains harmonic voltages or currents, has been used as if it were made up of pure fundamental voltage or current. However, this is not always true. In comparison with traditional excitation characteristics, this paper introduces the power frequency excitation characteristic of the iron core, which contains no harmonics. The power frequency excitation characteristic of iron core has been obtained by Elector Magnetic Transient Program, resulting in discrete voltage and current pairs. Extensive simulations are carried out to analyse the effect of power frequency excitation characteristic on potential transformer ferroresonance. A detailed analysis of simulation results demonstrates that with power frequency excitation characteristic of iron core inclusion at certain excitation voltage the ferroresonance may happen, conversely it may not happen with traditional excitation characteristic inclusion. (general)

Radiation damage to thyroid gland may be the reason of increase in frequency of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and other hematological diseases

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vinogradova, Yu.E.; Shinkarkina, A.P.; Poverennyj, A.M.

1999-01-01

Distribution of autoimmune thyroidities in the patients with diseases of blood system was investigated. Attribute of autoimmune thyroidities was revealed by the detection of antimicrosomal antibodies. It was established that the autoimmune thyroidities are more often in patients with various hematological diseases than in control group. It is supposed that the increase in frequency of some hematological diseases in residents suffered from the Chernobyl accident can be defined not only by the influence of the radiation on blood system, but also can be connected with damage to thyroid glands [ru

Experimental evaluation on the damages of different drilling modes to tight sandstone reservoirs

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gao Li

2017-07-01

Full Text Available The damages of different drilling modes to reservoirs are different in types and degrees. In this paper, the geologic characteristics and types of such damages were analyzed. Then, based on the relationship between reservoir pressure and bottom hole flowing pressure corresponding to different drilling modes, the experimental procedures on reservoir damages in three drilling modes (e.g. gas drilling, liquid-based underbalanced drilling and overbalanced drilling were designed. Finally, damage simulation experiments were conducted on the tight sandstone reservoir cores of the Jurassic Ahe Fm in the Tarim Basin and Triassic Xujiahe Fm in the central Sichuan Basin. It is shown that the underbalanced drilling is beneficial to reservoir protection because of its less damage on reservoir permeability, but it is, to some extent, sensitive to the stress and the empirical formula of stress sensitivity coefficient is obtained; and that the overbalanced drilling has more reservoir damages due to the invasion of solid and liquid phases. After the water saturation of cores rises to the irreducible water saturation, the decline of gas logging permeability speeds up and the damage degree of water lock increases. It is concluded that the laboratory experiment results of reservoir damage are accordant with the reservoir damage characteristics in actual drilling conditions. Therefore, this method reflects accurately the reservoir damage characteristics and can be used as a new experimental evaluation method on reservoir damage in different drilling modes.

Reconstructing patterns of temperature, phenology, and frost damage over 124 years: spring damage risk is increasing.

Science.gov (United States)

Augspurger, Carol K

2013-01-01

Climate change, with both warmer spring temperatures and greater temperature fluctuations, has altered phenologies, possibly leading to greater risk of spring frost damage to temperate deciduous woody plants. Phenological observations of 20 woody species from 1993 to 2012 in Trelease Woods, Champaign County, Illinois, USA, were used to identify years with frost damage to vegetative and reproductive phases. Local temperature records were used in combination with the phenological observations to determine what combinations of the two were associated with damage. Finally, a long-term temperature record (1889-1992) was evaluated to determine if the frequency of frost damage has risen in recent decades. Frost Frost damage occurred in five years in the interior and in three additional years at only the forest edge. The degree of damage varied with species, life stage, tissue (vegetative or reproductive), and phenological phase. Common features associated with the occurrence of damage to interior plants were (1) a period of unusual warm temperatures in March, followed by (2) a frost event in April with a minimum temperature frost damage increased significantly, from 0.03 during 1889-1979 to 0.21 during 1980-2012. When the criteria were "softened" to frost damage events more common.

A novel enzyme-based acidizing system: Matrix acidizing and drilling fluid damage removal

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Harris, R.E.; McKay, D.M. [Cleansorb Limited, Surrey (United Kingdom); Moses, V. [King`s College, London (United Kingdom)

1995-12-31

A novel acidizing process is used to increase the permeability of carbonate rock cores in the laboratory and to remove drilling fluid damage from cores and wafers. Field results show the benefits of the technology as applied both to injector and producer wells.

Frequency-dependent failure mechanisms of nanocrystalline gold interconnect lines under general alternating current

Science.gov (United States)

Luo, X. M.; Zhang, B.; Zhang, G. P.

2014-09-01

Thermal fatigue failure of metallization interconnect lines subjected to alternating currents (AC) is becoming a severe threat to the long-term reliability of micro/nanodevices with increasing electrical current density/power. Here, thermal fatigue failure behaviors and damage mechanisms of nanocrystalline Au interconnect lines on the silicon glass substrate have been investigated by applying general alternating currents (the pure alternating current coupled with a direct current (DC) component) with different frequencies ranging from 0.05 Hz to 5 kHz. We observed both thermal fatigue damages caused by Joule heating-induced cyclic strain/stress and electromigration (EM) damages caused by the DC component. Besides, the damage formation showed a strong electrically-thermally-mechanically coupled effect and frequency dependence. At lower frequencies, thermal fatigue damages were dominant and the main damage forms were grain coarsening with grain boundary (GB) cracking/voiding and grain thinning. At higher frequencies, EM damages took over and the main damage forms were GB cracking/voiding of smaller grains and hillocks. Furthermore, the healing effect of the reversing current was considered to elucidate damage mechanisms of the nanocrystalline Au lines generated by the general AC. Lastly, a modified model was proposed to predict the lifetime of the nanocrystalline metal interconnect lines, i.e., that was a competing drift velocity-based approach based on the threshold time required for reverse diffusion/healing to occur.

Dislocation core structures in Si-doped GaN

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rhode, S. L.; Fu, W. Y.; Sahonta, S.-L.; Kappers, M. J.; Humphreys, C. J.; Horton, M. K.; Pennycook, T. J.; Dusane, R. O.; Moram, M. A.

2015-01-01

Aberration-corrected scanning transmission electron microscopy was used to investigate the core structures of threading dislocations in plan-view geometry of GaN films with a range of Si-doping levels and dislocation densities ranging between (5 ± 1) × 10 8  and (10 ± 1) × 10 9  cm −2 . All a-type (edge) dislocation core structures in all samples formed 5/7-atom ring core structures, whereas all (a + c)-type (mixed) dislocations formed either double 5/6-atom, dissociated 7/4/8/4/9-atom, or dissociated 7/4/8/4/8/4/9-atom core structures. This shows that Si-doping does not affect threading dislocation core structures in GaN. However, electron beam damage at 300 keV produces 4-atom ring structures for (a + c)-type cores in Si-doped GaN

Dislocation core structures in Si-doped GaN

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rhode, S. L., E-mail: srhode@imperial.ac.uk; Fu, W. Y.; Sahonta, S.-L.; Kappers, M. J.; Humphreys, C. J. [Department of Materials Science and Metallurgy, University of Cambridge, Charles Babbage Road, Cambridge CB3 0FS (United Kingdom); Horton, M. K. [Department of Materials, Imperial College London, Exhibition Road, London SW7 2AZ (United Kingdom); Pennycook, T. J. [SuperSTEM, STFC Daresbury Laboratories, Warrington WA4 4AD (United Kingdom); Department of Materials, University of Oxford, Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3PH (United Kingdom); Dusane, R. O. [Department of Metallurgical Engineering and Materials Science, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Mumbai 400076 (India); Moram, M. A. [Department of Materials Science and Metallurgy, University of Cambridge, Charles Babbage Road, Cambridge CB3 0FS (United Kingdom); Department of Materials, Imperial College London, Exhibition Road, London SW7 2AZ (United Kingdom)

2015-12-14

Aberration-corrected scanning transmission electron microscopy was used to investigate the core structures of threading dislocations in plan-view geometry of GaN films with a range of Si-doping levels and dislocation densities ranging between (5 ± 1) × 10{sup 8} and (10 ± 1) × 10{sup 9} cm{sup −2}. All a-type (edge) dislocation core structures in all samples formed 5/7-atom ring core structures, whereas all (a + c)-type (mixed) dislocations formed either double 5/6-atom, dissociated 7/4/8/4/9-atom, or dissociated 7/4/8/4/8/4/9-atom core structures. This shows that Si-doping does not affect threading dislocation core structures in GaN. However, electron beam damage at 300 keV produces 4-atom ring structures for (a + c)-type cores in Si-doped GaN.

Fatigue-damage evolution and damage-induced reduction of critical current of a Nb3Al superconducting composite

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ochiai, S; Sekino, F; Sawada, T; Ohno, H; Hojo, M; Tanaka, M; Okuda, H; Koganeya, M; Hayashi, K; Yamada, Y; Ayai, N; Watanabe, K

2003-01-01

We have studied the fatigue-damage mechanism of a Nb 3 Al superconducting composite at room temperature, and the influences of the fatigue damages introduced at room temperature on the critical current at 4.2 K and the residual strength at room temperature. The main (largest) fatigue crack arose first in the clad copper and then extended into the inner core with an increasing number of stress cycles. The cracking of the Nb 3 Al filaments in the core region occurred at a late stage (around 60-90% of the fatigue life). Once the fracture of the core occurred, it extended very quickly, resulting in a quick reduction in critical current and the residual strength with increasing stress cycles. Such a behaviour was accounted for by the crack growth calculated from the S-N curves (the relation of the maximum stress to the number of stress cycles at failure) combined with the Paris law. The size and distribution of the subcracks along the specimen length, and therefore the reduction in critical current of the region apart from the main crack, were dependent on the maximum stress level. The large subcracks causing fracture of the Nb 3 Al filaments were formed when the maximum stress was around 300-460 MPa, resulting in large reduction in critical current, but not when the maximum stress was outside such a stress range

RBMK-1500 accident management for loss of long-term core cooling

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Uspuras, E.; Kaliatka, A.

2001-01-01

Results of the Level 1 probabilistic safety assessment of the Ignalina NPP has shown that in topography of the risk, transients dominate above the accidents with LOCAs and failure of the core long-term cooling are the main factors to frequency of the core damage. Previous analyses have shown, that after initial event, as a rule, the reactivity control, as well as short-term and intermediate cooling are provided. However, the acceptance criteria of the long-term cooling are not always carried out. It means that from this point of view the most dangerous accident scenarios are the scenarios related to loss of the core long-term cooling. On the other hand, the transition to the core condition due to loss of the long-term cooling specifies potential opportunities for the management of the accident consequences. Hence, accident management for the mitigation of the accident consequences should be considered and developed. The most likely initiating event, which probably leads to the loss of long term cooling accident, is station blackout. The station blackout is the loss of normal electrical power supply for local needs with an additional failure on start-up of all diesel generators. In the case of loss of electrical power supply MCPs, the circulating pumps of the service water system and MFWPs are switched-off. At the same time, TCV of both turbines are closed. Failure of diesel generators leads to the non-operability of the ECCS long-term cooling subsystem. It means the impossibility to feed MCC by water. The analysis of the station blackout for Ignalina NPP was performed using RELAP5 code. (author)

An investigation on damaged buildings in Ranau due the 2015 Sabah earthquake

Science.gov (United States)

Lim, Yang Soh; Tan, Jun Pin; Chiew, Lerk Qing; Chang, Wai Hoe; Lau, Tze Liang

2017-10-01

A magnitude 5.9 earthquake struck near Ranau district in Sabah, Malaysia on June 5, 2015. The epicenter was located 14 km from Ranau. Various buildings were damaged by the earthquake. This paper discusses the extent of the destruction to two severely damaged structures in Ranau. An assessment of damaged buildings in Ranau Hospital using microtremor data was conducted after the earthquake event. The building consists of two identical blocks with similar soft-story structural forms. Two microtremor observations were carried out before and after the repair work. The predominant frequencies of the damaged buildings were determined by using the Nakamura's H/V method. Based on the assumption that both identical blocks of building in Ranau Hospital have similar predominant frequencies due to the same structural design and construction quality, results show that B block of Ranau Hospital suffered more damage compared with another block of the building. The predominant frequency of B block is 10% lower than that of A Block. Results obtained are consistent with the observed building performance during the site reconnaissance. The predominant frequency of both buildings measured after the repair work shows 11% to 21% increment, which implies that the lateral stiffness of both buildings has been improved.

A fast alternative to core plug tests for optimising injection water salinity for EOR

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hassenkam, Tue; Andersson, Martin Peter; Hilner, Emelie Kristin Margareta

2014-01-01

of the clays which would lead to permanent reservoir damage but evidence of effectiveness at moderate salinity would offer the opportunity to dispose of produced water. The goal is to define boundary conditions so injection water salinity is high enough to prevent reservoir damage and low enough to induce...... the low salinity effect while keeping costs and operational requirements at a minimum. Traditional core plug testing for optimising conditions has some limitations. Each test requires a fresh sample, core testing requires sophisticated and expensive equipment, and reliable core test data requires several...... experiments can be done relatively quickly on very little material, it gives the possibility of testing salinity response on samples from throughout a reservoir and for gathering statistics. Our approach provides a range of data that can be used to screen core plug testing conditions and to provide extra data...

Modeled and Measured Dynamics of a Composite Beam with Periodically Varying Foam Core

Science.gov (United States)

Cabell, Randolph H.; Cano, Roberto J.; Schiller, Noah H.; Roberts Gary D.

2012-01-01

The dynamics of a sandwich beam with carbon fiber composite facesheets and foam core with periodic variations in material properties are studied. The purpose of the study is to compare finite element predictions with experimental measurements on fabricated beam specimens. For the study, three beams were fabricated: one with a compliant foam core, a second with a stiffer core, and a third with the two cores alternating down the length of the beam to create a periodic variation in properties. This periodic variation produces a bandgap in the frequency domain where vibrational energy does not readily propagate down the length of the beam. Mode shapes and natural frequencies are compared, as well as frequency responses from point force input to velocity response at the opposite end of the beam.

PSA requirements for use in the safety management. Risk based indicators and the configurational control

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Szikszai, T.

1994-01-01

The purpose of this document is to show the role of the risk based indicators- namely the core damage frequency (CDFI), the core damage probability indicators (CDPI) and the importance of the equipment together- in the risk based configuration control. 1 fig

Refractory metal component technology for in-core sensor design

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cannon, C.P.

1986-02-01

Within recent years, an increasing concern over reactor safety has prompted tests that characterize reactor core environments during transient conditions. Such tests include the Loss-of-Fluid-Tests (Idaho National Engineering Lab (INEL)), Severe Fuel Damage Tests (INEL), Core Debris Rubble Tests (Sandia National Laboratories (SNL)), and similar tests performed by foreign nations. The in-core sensors for these tests require refractory metal components to be compatible with electrical insulator materials as well as materials comprising highly corrosive service mediums. This paper presents the refractory metal technology utilized to provide basic sensor designs in the above mentioned reactor tests

Chromosomal aberrations and micronuclei frequencies in Bulgarian control population

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Popova, I.; Hadjidekova, V.; Hristova, R.; Atanasova, P.

2004-01-01

The aim of this investigation is to represent the frequency of spontaneous chromosomal damages in peripheral blood lymphocytes of Bulgarian control population. Material and methods: The investigated group includes persons belonging to both sexes and different ages. Each of them is interviewed of their social and health status. Sixteen persons are examined using the chromosomal aberrations analysis and forty-five with micronucleus test. The frequency of chromosomal aberrations varied between 0 - 2.4 % and the mean value is 1.00 %. The frequency of cells with micronuclei varied between 4.5 - 24.5 % and the mean value 12,9 %. Further work on the investigation of spontaneous frequency of chromosomal damages is in progress. (authors)

Interpretation of the Haestholmen in situ state of stress based on core damage observations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hakala, M.

2000-01-01

At the Haestholmen investigation site, direct in situ stress measurements, overcoring and hydraulic fracturing have been unsuccessful because of ring disking and horizontal hydraulic fracturing. Prior to this study, a detailed study on both core disking and ring disking was made, and based on those results an in situ state of stress interpretation method was developed. In this work this method is applied to the Haestholmen site. The interpretation is based on disk fracture type, spacing and shape. Also, the Hoek-Brown strength envelope and Poisson's ratio of intact rock are needed. The interpretation result is most reliable if both core disking and ring disking information at the same depth levels is available. A detailed core logging showed that ring disking is systematic below the -365 m level in the vertical overcoring stress measurement hole, HH-KR6. On the other hand, no representative core disking exists except for two points in two differently oriented subvertical boreholes HH-KR2 and HHKR7. Because the interpretation has to be based on ring disking only, upper and lower estimates for the vertical stress were set. These were gravitational and 67% of gravitational. Furthermore, the in situ stress state was assumed to be in horizontal and vertical planes, because the disking in vertical borehole HH-KR6 was not inclined. The interpretation resulted in a good estimate for the major horizontal stress but none of the horizontal stress rations ( 0.25, 0.5, 0.75 and 1.0 ) or vertical stress assumptions studied are clearly more probable the others. At the 500 m level the resulting maximum horizontal stress is 41 MPa. If a linear fit through the zero depth and zero stress point is applied, the maximum horizontal stress gradient is 0.0818 z MPa/m with a standard deviation between 5 and 12 per cent. The orientation of the major horizontal stress is 108 with standard deviation of 21 degrees. The interpreted major horizontal stress state also indicated that systematic

High frequency modeling of power transformers. Stresses and diagnostics

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bjerkan, Eilert

2005-05-15

In this thesis a reliable, versatile and rigorous method for high frequency power transformer modeling is searched and established. The purpose is to apply this model to sensitivity analysis of FRA (Frequency Response Analysis) which is a quite new diagnostic method for assessing the mechanical integrity of power transformer windings on-site. The method should be versatile in terms of being able to estimate internal and external over voltages and resonances. Another important aspect is that the method chosen is suitable for real transformer geometries. In order to verify the suitability of the model for real transformers, a specific test-object is used. This is a 20MVA transformer, and details are given in chapter 1.4. The high frequency power transformer model is established from geometrical and constructional information from the manufacturer, together with available material characteristics. All circuit parameters in the lumped circuit representation are calculated based on these data. No empirical modifications need to be performed. Comparison shows capability of reasonable accuracy in the range from 10 khz to 1 MHz utilizing a disc-to-disc representation. A compromise between accuracy of model due to discretization and complexity of the model in a turn-to-turn representation is inevitable. The importance of the iron core is emphasized through a comparison of representations with/without the core included. Frequency-dependent phenomena are accurately represented using an isotropic equivalent for windings and core, even with a coarse mesh for the FEM-model. This is achieved through a frequency-dependent complex permeability representation of the materials. This permeability is deduced from an analytical solution of the frequency-dependent magnetic field inside the conductors and the core. The importance of dielectric losses in a transformer model is also assessed. Since published data on the high frequency properties of press board are limited, some initial

Damages to soil and tree species by cable-skidding in Caspian forests of Iran

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Tavankar, Farzam; Bonyad, Amir E.; Nikooy, Mehrdad; Picchio, Rodolfo; Venanzi, Rachele; Calienno, Luca

2017-11-01

Aim of study: The main aims of this study were to determine of damage level to residual stand and soil disturbance from mechanized selection logging. Area of study: Mixed beech stands in Caspian forests, northern Iran. Material and methods: Point-transect and systematic plot sampling were used for assessing damages to soil and trees, respectively. Main results: 89% of forest soil area was undisturbed or shallow disturbed, and 5.2% was deep disturbed. Soil bulk density of top 10 cm in the winching corridors, ruts and skid trails were increased 10.7%, 20.6% and 32.1% respectively than controlled area. Frequency of damages to regeneration and trees were 12% and 11.2%. The frequency of damages to regeneration was increased with increasing of their heights, but frequency of damages to trees was decreased with increasing of their diameter. The most type of damages was bole wounds in sizes of 100 to 200 cm2 within 1 m from the ground level, and deep wounds. The frequency of damages was different in tree species (p = 0.001). The mean size of bole wounds was 174 cm2, and the mean height of bole wounds was 70 cm from ground level. The intensity of wounds on trees bole were decreased with increasing of their heights from ground level (p = 0.02), while their sizes were increased (p = 0.001). Research highlights: Winching of logs was the main cause of damages to soil and residual stand. The detailed planning strategy will reduce damage to level which is acceptable and predictable.

Damages to soil and tree species by cable-skidding in Caspian forests of Iran

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tavankar, Farzam; Bonyad, Amir E.; Nikooy, Mehrdad; Picchio, Rodolfo; Venanzi, Rachele; Calienno, Luca

2017-01-01

Aim of study: The main aims of this study were to determine of damage level to residual stand and soil disturbance from mechanized selection logging. Area of study: Mixed beech stands in Caspian forests, northern Iran. Material and methods: Point-transect and systematic plot sampling were used for assessing damages to soil and trees, respectively. Main results: 89% of forest soil area was undisturbed or shallow disturbed, and 5.2% was deep disturbed. Soil bulk density of top 10 cm in the winching corridors, ruts and skid trails were increased 10.7%, 20.6% and 32.1% respectively than controlled area. Frequency of damages to regeneration and trees were 12% and 11.2%. The frequency of damages to regeneration was increased with increasing of their heights, but frequency of damages to trees was decreased with increasing of their diameter. The most type of damages was bole wounds in sizes of 100 to 200 cm2 within 1 m from the ground level, and deep wounds. The frequency of damages was different in tree species (p = 0.001). The mean size of bole wounds was 174 cm2, and the mean height of bole wounds was 70 cm from ground level. The intensity of wounds on trees bole were decreased with increasing of their heights from ground level (p = 0.02), while their sizes were increased (p = 0.001). Research highlights: Winching of logs was the main cause of damages to soil and residual stand. The detailed planning strategy will reduce damage to level which is acceptable and predictable.

Metabolite damage and repair in metabolic engineering design

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sun, Jiayi; Jeffryes, James G.; Henry, Christopher S.; Bruner, Steven D.; Hanson, Andrew D.

2017-11-01

The necessarily sharp focus of metabolic engineering and metabolic synthetic biology on pathways and their fluxes has tended to divert attention from the damaging enzymatic and chemical side-reactions that pathway metabolites can undergo. Although historically overlooked and underappreciated, such metabolite damage reactions are now known to occur throughout metabolism and to generate (formerly enigmatic) peaks detected in metabolomics datasets. It is also now known that metabolite damage is often countered by dedicated repair enzymes that undo or prevent it. Metabolite damage and repair are highly relevant to engineered pathway design: metabolite damage reactions can reduce flux rates and product yields, and repair enzymes can provide robust, host-independent solutions. Herein, after introducing the core principles of metabolite damage and repair, we use case histories to document how damage and repair processes affect efficient operation of engineered pathways - particularly those that are heterologous, non-natural, or cell-free. We then review how metabolite damage reactions can be predicted, how repair reactions can be prospected, and how metabolite damage and repair can be built into genome-scale metabolic models. Lastly, we propose a versatile 'plug and play' set of well-characterized metabolite repair enzymes to solve metabolite damage problems known or likely to occur in metabolic engineering and synthetic biology projects.

Destabilization of the Outer and Inner Mitochondrial Membranes by Core and Linker Histones

Science.gov (United States)

Cascone, Annunziata; Bruelle, Celine; Lindholm, Dan; Bernardi, Paolo; Eriksson, Ove

2012-01-01

Background Extensive DNA damage leads to apoptosis. Histones play a central role in DNA damage sensing and may mediate signals of genotoxic damage to cytosolic effectors including mitochondria. Methodology/Principal Findings We have investigated the effects of histones on mitochondrial function and membrane integrity. We demonstrate that both linker histone H1 and core histones H2A, H2B, H3, and H4 bind strongly to isolated mitochondria. All histones caused a rapid and massive release of the pro-apoptotic intermembrane space proteins cytochrome c and Smac/Diablo, indicating that they permeabilize the outer mitochondrial membrane. In addition, linker histone H1, but not core histones, permeabilized the inner membrane with a collapse of the membrane potential, release of pyridine nucleotides, and mitochondrial fragmentation. Conclusions We conclude that histones destabilize the mitochondrial membranes, a mechanism that may convey genotoxic signals to mitochondria and promote apoptosis following DNA damage. PMID:22523586

AKT phosphorylates H3-threonine 45 to facilitate termination of gene transcription in response to DNA damage

OpenAIRE

Lee, Jong-Hyuk; Kang, Byung-Hee; Jang, Hyonchol; Kim, Tae Wan; Choi, Jinmi; Kwak, Sojung; Han, Jungwon; Cho, Eun-Jung; Youn, Hong-Duk

2015-01-01

Post-translational modifications of core histones affect various cellular processes, primarily through transcription. However, their relationship with the termination of transcription has remained largely unknown. In this study, we show that DNA damage-activated AKT phosphorylates threonine 45 of core histone H3 (H3-T45). By genome-wide chromatin immunoprecipitation sequencing (ChIP-seq) analysis, H3-T45 phosphorylation was distributed throughout DNA damage-responsive gene loci, particularly ...

Damage correlation in theory and practice

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Doran, D.G.; Odette, G.R.; Simons, R.L.; Mansur, L.K.

1977-01-01

Common to all reactor development work is the problem of differences between the irradiation environments used for materials testing and those typical of service conditions. Efforts are being made to develop damage models that incorporate irradiation parameters such as type and energy of radiation, flux, and exposure. Models relating radiation damage production and microstructural evolution to changes in mechanical properties are primitive. Nevertheless, they suggest that the inability to account quantitatively for differences in test and service neutron spectra leads to overly conservative design of out-of-core components. Direct experimental corroboration is difficult because of the low neutron fluxes associated with the desired soft spectra. Further development of mechanistic models and new approaches to model testing are needed. Models of the growth stage of swelling, on the other hand, are relatively advanced. These models are discussed briefly as an example of how damage models can be used to help guide and analyze irradiation experiments. Accelerated damage studies using charged particles are expected to continue. Current empirical correlations of damage rates can be given a firmer theoretical basis as analysis of experiments and modeling of damage continue to improve. Damage correlation methodology practices in reactor design must necessarily follow different rules from that practiced in materials research and development. Nevertheless, decreasing the gap between them is a laudable objective with potentially significant economic impact

Evaluation of re-criticality potential in Fukushima Dai-ichi reactors following core damage accidents

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2013-08-15

The re-criticality potential of the debris-bed, formed of the degraded core materials, cannot be ruled out during the cooling-down procedure of the Fukushima Dai-ichi NPPs. In this study the re-criticality potential has systematically investigated based on the core disruption phase analysis using a IMPACT-SAMPSON code prepared by The Institute of Applied Energy (IAE). The results obtained for the re-criticality potential, characterized by the eigen-values k-eff dependent on the debris composition formed at the core, RPV bottom, and PCV pedestal, are reflected to the arguments on the re-criticality prevention measures, such as timing and concentration of boron-compounds, during the cooling-down process of the Fukushima Dai-ichi NPPs. (author)

Core shift effect in blazars

Science.gov (United States)

Agarwal, A.; Mohan, P.; Gupta, Alok C.; Mangalam, A.; Volvach, A. E.; Aller, M. F.; Aller, H. D.; Gu, M. F.; Lähteenmäki, A.; Tornikoski, M.; Volvach, L. N.

2017-07-01

We studied the pc-scale core shift effect using radio light curves for three blazars, S5 0716+714, 3C 279 and BL Lacertae, which were monitored at five frequencies (ν) between 4.8 and 36.8 GHz using the University of Michigan Radio Astronomical Observatory (UMRAO), the Crimean Astrophysical Observatory (CrAO) and Metsähovi Radio Observatory for over 40 yr. Flares were Gaussian fitted to derive time delays between observed frequencies for each flare (Δt), peak amplitude (A) and their half width. Using A ∝ να, we infer α in the range of -16.67-2.41 and using Δ t ∝ ν ^{1/k_r}, we infer kr ∼ 1, employed in the context of equipartition between magnetic and kinetic energy density for parameter estimation. From the estimated core position offset (Ωrν) and the core radius (rcore), we infer that opacity model may not be valid in all cases. The mean magnetic field strengths at 1 pc (B1) and at the core (Bcore) are in agreement with previous estimates. We apply the magnetically arrested disc model to estimate black hole spins in the range of 0.15-0.9 for these blazars, indicating that the model is consistent with expected accretion mode in such sources. The power-law-shaped power spectral density has slopes -1.3 to -2.3 and is interpreted in terms of multiple shocks or magnetic instabilities.

The use of multisine excitations to characterise damage in structures

Science.gov (United States)

Vanhoenacker, K.; Schoukens, J.; Guillaume, P.; Vanlanduit, S.

2004-01-01

In order to detect the presence of damage and imperfections in materials, a new and promising method for non-destructive material testing has been developed. The technique focuses on the non-linear distortions that are present in the results of a frequency response function (FRF) or transfer function measurement of the sample. The kernel idea in the described method is to use well-chosen periodic excitations where only some of the considered frequency components are excited. The non-excited frequency lines are used to detect, qualify (even or odd non-linear distortions) and quantify (What is the level of the non-linear distortions?) the non-linear distortions. Undamaged materials are often essentially linear in their response. However, the non-linear behaviour of the same material increases significantly when damage appears. The method is applied in the field of damage detection and health monitoring. The method is illustrated by experiments on uncracked and cracked artificial slate beams used in civil constructions and during mechanical cyclic fatigue loading. The developed technique demonstrated to be a very fast and efficient tool to assess global damage in a material.

Impact damage detection in light composite sandwich panels using piezo-based nonlinear vibro-acoustic modulations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pieczonka, L; Ukowski, P; Klepka, A; Staszewski, W J; Uhl, T; Aymerich, F

2014-01-01

The nonlinear vibro-acoustic modulation technique is used for impact damage detection in light composite sandwich panels. The method utilizes piezo-based low-frequency vibration and high-frequency ultrasonic excitations. The work presented focuses on the analysis of modulation intensity. The results show that the method can be used for impact damage detection reliably separating damage-related from vibro-acoustic modulations from other intrinsic nonlinear modulations. (paper)

Mechanisms of formation damage in matrix-permeability geothermal wells

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bergosh, J.L.; Wiggins, R.B.; Enniss, D.O.

1982-04-01

Tests were conducted to determine mechanisms of formation damage that can occur in matrix permeability geothermal wells. Two types of cores were used in the testing, actual cores from the East Mesa Well 78-30RD and cores from a fairly uniform generic sandstone formation. Three different types of tests were run. The East Mesa cores were used in the testing of the sensitivity of core to filtrate chemistry. The tests began with the cores exposed to simulated East Mesa brine and then different filtrates were introduced and the effects of the fluid contrast on core permeability were measured. The East Mesa cores were also used in the second series of tests which tested formation sandstone cores were used in the third test series which investigated the effects of different sizes of entrained particles in the fluid. Tests were run with both single-particle sizes and distributions of particle mixes. In addition to the testing, core preparation techniques for simulating fracture permeability were evaluated. Three different fracture formation mechanisms were identified and compared. Measurement techniques for measuring fracture size and permeability were also developed.

Opacity in compact extragalactic radio sources and the core shift effect

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kovalev, Y Y; Lobanov, A P; Pushkarev, A B; Zensus, J A

2008-01-01

The apparent position of the 'core' in a parsec-scale radio jet (a compact, bright emitting region at the narrow end of the jet) depends on the observing frequency, owing to synchrotron self-absorption and external absorption. This dependency both provides a tool to probe physical conditions in the vicinity of the core and poses problems for astrometric studies using compact radio sources. We investigate the frequency-dependent shift of the positions of the cores (core shift) observed with very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) in parsec-scale jets. We present results for 29 selected active galactic nuclei (AGN). In these AGN, the magnitude of the measured core shift between 2.3 and 8.6 GHz reaches 1.4 mas, with a median value for the sample of 0.44 mas. We discuss related physics as well as astrometry applications and plans for further studies.

Modularized Functions of the Fanconi Anemia Core Complex

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yaling Huang

2014-06-01

Full Text Available The Fanconi anemia (FA core complex provides the essential E3 ligase function for spatially defined FANCD2 ubiquitination and FA pathway activation. Of the seven FA gene products forming the core complex, FANCL possesses a RING domain with demonstrated E3 ligase activity. The other six components do not have clearly defined roles. Through epistasis analyses, we identify three functional modules in the FA core complex: a catalytic module consisting of FANCL, FANCB, and FAAP100 is absolutely required for the E3 ligase function, and the FANCA-FANCG-FAAP20 and the FANCC-FANCE-FANCF modules provide nonredundant and ancillary functions that help the catalytic module bind chromatin or sites of DNA damage. Disruption of the catalytic module causes complete loss of the core complex function, whereas loss of any ancillary module component does not. Our work reveals the roles of several FA gene products with previously undefined functions and a modularized assembly of the FA core complex.

The potential of permeability damage during the thermal recovery of the Cold Lake bitumen

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zhou, Z.; Wiwchar, B.; Gunter, W. D. [Alberta Research Council, Devon, AB (Canada); Dudley, J. S. [Imperial Oil Ltd., Sarnia, ON (Canada). Research Dept.

1997-08-01

It has been suggested that hydrothermal reactions of clay minerals, present in all oil sands deposits in the Clearwater Formation at Cold Lake, may cause permeability damage during thermal recovery. To gain an idea of the extent of the damage, two corefloods were conducted at 250 degrees C. The first period of permeability damage occurred during and shortly after the core was heated to 250 degrees C, the second period was a gradual process , but resulted in 65 per cent and 78 per cent respectively, whereas the third period occurred when fresh water was injected into the core. These periods of damage were attributed to thermally activated grain crushing and fines migration, hydrothermal reactions, and osmotic swelling of the hydrothermal clay, respectively. Laboratory results do not agree with field experiments, although there is some field evidence for the disruption of berthierine (a form of clay) grain coats and permeability damage due to subsequent fines migration. In view of this evidence it was suggested that injection wells should not be placed in berthierine-rich zone. 15 refs., 2 tabs., 7 figs.

Laser Induced Damage of Potassium Dihydrogen Phosphate (KDP Optical Crystal Machined by Water Dissolution Ultra-Precision Polishing Method

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yuchuan Chen

2018-03-01

Full Text Available Laser induced damage threshold (LIDT is an important optical indicator for nonlinear Potassium Dihydrogen Phosphate (KDP crystal used in high power laser systems. In this study, KDP optical crystals are initially machined with single point diamond turning (SPDT, followed by water dissolution ultra-precision polishing (WDUP and then tested with 355 nm nanosecond pulsed-lasers. Power spectral density (PSD analysis shows that WDUP process eliminates the laser-detrimental spatial frequencies band of micro-waviness on SPDT machined surface and consequently decreases its modulation effect on the laser beams. The laser test results show that LIDT of WDUP machined crystal improves and its stability has a significant increase by 72.1% compared with that of SPDT. Moreover, a subsequent ultrasonic assisted solvent cleaning process is suggested to have a positive effect on the laser performance of machined KDP crystal. Damage crater investigation indicates that the damage morphologies exhibit highly thermal explosion features of melted cores and brittle fractures of periphery material, which can be described with the classic thermal explosion model. The comparison result demonstrates that damage mechanisms for SPDT and WDUP machined crystal are the same and WDUP process reveals the real bulk laser resistance of KDP optical crystal by removing the micro-waviness and subsurface damage on SPDT machined surface. This improvement of WDUP method makes the LIDT more accurate and will be beneficial to the laser performance of KDP crystal.

A novel nonlinear damage resonance intermodulation effect for structural health monitoring

Science.gov (United States)

Ciampa, Francesco; Scarselli, Gennaro; Meo, Michele

2017-04-01

This paper is aimed at developing a theoretical model able to predict the generation of nonlinear elastic effects associated to the interaction of ultrasonic waves with the steady-state nonlinear response of local defect resonance (LDR). The LDR effect is used in nonlinear elastic wave spectroscopy to enhance the excitation of the material damage at its local resonance, thus to dramatically increase the vibrational amplitude of material nonlinear phenomena. The main result of this work is to prove both analytically and experimentally the generation of novel nonlinear elastic wave effects, here named as nonlinear damage resonance intermodulation, which correspond to a nonlinear intermodulation between the driving frequency and the LDR one. Beside this intermodulation effect, other nonlinear elastic wave phenomena such as higher harmonics of the input frequency and superharmonics of LDR frequency were found. The analytical model relies on solving the nonlinear equation of motion governing bending displacement under the assumption of both quadratic and cubic nonlinear defect approximation. Experimental tests on a damaged composite laminate confirmed and validated these predictions and showed that using continuous periodic excitation, the nonlinear structural phenomena associated to LDR could also be featured at locations different from the damage resonance. These findings will provide new opportunities for material damage detection using nonlinear ultrasounds.

Ferrofluid-based Stretchable Magnetic Core Inductors

Science.gov (United States)

Lazarus, N.; Meyer, C. D.

2015-12-01

Magnetic materials are commonly used in inductor and transformer cores to increase inductance density. The emerging field of stretchable electronics poses a new challenge since typical magnetic cores are bulky, rigid and often brittle. This paper presents, for the first time, stretchable inductors incorporating ferrofluid as a liquid magnetic core. Ferrofluids, suspensions of nanoscale magnetic particles in a carrier liquid, provide enhanced magnetic permeability without changing the mechanical properties of the surrounding elastomer. The inductor tested in this work consisted of a liquid metal solenoid wrapped around a ferrofluid core in separate channels. The low frequency inductance was found to increase from 255 nH before fill to 390 nH after fill with ferrofluid, an increase of 52%. The inductor was also shown to survive uniaxial strains of up to 100%.

Analytic clock frequency selection for global DVFS

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Gerards, Marco Egbertus Theodorus; Hurink, Johann L.; Holzenspies, P.K.F.; Kuper, Jan; Smit, Gerardus Johannes Maria

2014-01-01

Computers can reduce their power consumption by decreasing their speed using Dynamic Voltage and Frequency Scaling (DVFS). A form of DVFS for multicore processors is global DVFS, where the voltage and clock frequency is shared among all processor cores. Because global DVFS is efficient and cheap to

Three-dimensional NDE of VHTR core components via simulation-based testing. Final report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Guzina, Bojan; Kunerth, Dennis

2014-01-01

A next generation, simulation-driven-and-enabled testing platform is developed for the 3D detection and characterization of defects and damage in nuclear graphite and composite structures in Very High Temperature Reactors (VHTRs). The proposed work addresses the critical need for the development of high-fidelity Non-Destructive Examination (NDE) technologies for as-manufactured and replaceable in-service VHTR components. Centered around the novel use of elastic (sonic and ultrasonic) waves, this project deploys a robust, non-iterative inverse solution for the 3D defect reconstruction together with a non-contact, laser-based approach to the measurement of experimental waveforms in VHTR core components. In particular, this research (1) deploys three-dimensional Scanning Laser Doppler Vibrometry (3D SLDV) as a means to accurately and remotely measure 3D displacement waveforms over the accessible surface of a VHTR core component excited by mechanical vibratory source; (2) implements a powerful new inverse technique, based on the concept of Topological Sensitivity (TS), for non-iterative elastic waveform tomography of internal defects - that permits robust 3D detection, reconstruction and characterization of discrete damage (e.g. holes and fractures) in nuclear graphite from limited-aperture NDE measurements; (3) implements state-of-the art computational (finite element) model that caters for accurately simulating elastic wave propagation in 3D blocks of nuclear graphite; (4) integrates the SLDV testing methodology with the TS imaging algorithm into a non-contact, high-fidelity NDE platform for the 3D reconstruction and characterization of defects and damage in VHTR core components; and (5) applies the proposed methodology to VHTR core component samples (both two- and three-dimensional) with a priori induced, discrete damage in the form of holes and fractures. Overall, the newly established SLDV-TS testing platform represents a next-generation NDE tool that surpasses

Three-dimensional NDE of VHTR core components via simulation-based testing. Final report

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Guzina, Bojan [Univ. of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN (United States); Kunerth, Dennis [Idaho National Lab. (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States)

2014-09-30

A next generation, simulation-driven-and-enabled testing platform is developed for the 3D detection and characterization of defects and damage in nuclear graphite and composite structures in Very High Temperature Reactors (VHTRs). The proposed work addresses the critical need for the development of high-fidelity Non-Destructive Examination (NDE) technologies for as-manufactured and replaceable in-service VHTR components. Centered around the novel use of elastic (sonic and ultrasonic) waves, this project deploys a robust, non-iterative inverse solution for the 3D defect reconstruction together with a non-contact, laser-based approach to the measurement of experimental waveforms in VHTR core components. In particular, this research (1) deploys three-dimensional Scanning Laser Doppler Vibrometry (3D SLDV) as a means to accurately and remotely measure 3D displacement waveforms over the accessible surface of a VHTR core component excited by mechanical vibratory source; (2) implements a powerful new inverse technique, based on the concept of Topological Sensitivity (TS), for non-iterative elastic waveform tomography of internal defects - that permits robust 3D detection, reconstruction and characterization of discrete damage (e.g. holes and fractures) in nuclear graphite from limited-aperture NDE measurements; (3) implements state-of-the art computational (finite element) model that caters for accurately simulating elastic wave propagation in 3D blocks of nuclear graphite; (4) integrates the SLDV testing methodology with the TS imaging algorithm into a non-contact, high-fidelity NDE platform for the 3D reconstruction and characterization of defects and damage in VHTR core components; and (5) applies the proposed methodology to VHTR core component samples (both two- and three-dimensional) with a priori induced, discrete damage in the form of holes and fractures. Overall, the newly established SLDV-TS testing platform represents a next-generation NDE tool that surpasses

Differences in the stimulation of repair replication by 3-aminobenzamide in lymphoblastoid cells damaged by methylmethanesulfonate or ultraviolet light

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Cleaver, J.E.; Morgan, W.F.

1987-09-01

Human lymphoblastoid cells damaged by u.v. light accumulated DNA breaks in the presence of cytosine arabinoside and hydroxyurea at a frequency similar to that of cells damaged by methylmethanesulfonate. 3-Aminobenzamide (1 mM) reduced the net strand-break frequency detected after either kind of damage. Repair replication, however, was stimulated only in methylmethanesulfonate-damaged cells. This stimulation is therefore not related directly to the DNA strand-break frequencies and concomitant poly(ADP-ribose) synthesis, but depends on some other cellular response specific to alkylating agents.

The Recent Performance of the Traditional Measure of Core Inflation in G7 Countries

OpenAIRE

Luciana Lo Bue; Antonio Ribba

2009-01-01

In this paper we undertake an empirical investigation concerning the performance of the traditional measure of core inflation in recent years. We consider the group of G7 countries and explore both the high-frequency and the low-frequency relations between overall inflation and core inflation. We find that the traditional core measure, obtained by subtracting from the overall index those components which exhibit high volatility and which are responsible for the short-run variability of inflat...

Utilization of control rod drive (CRD) system for long term core cooling

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Huerta B, A.

1991-01-01

In this paper we consider an application of Probabilistic Risk Assessment (PRA) to risk management. Foreseeable risk management strategies to prevent core damage are constrained by the availability of first line systems as well as support systems. The actual trend in the evaluation of risk management options can be performed in a number of ways. An example is the identification of back-up systems which could be used to perform the same safety functions. In this work we deal with the evaluation of the feasibility, for BWR's, to use the Control Rod Drive system to maintain an adequate reactor core long term cooling in some accident sequences. This preliminary evaluation is carried out as a part of the Internal Events Analysis for Laguna Verde Nuclear Power Plant (LVNPP) that is currently under way by the Mexican Nuclear Regulatory Body. This analysis addresses the evaluation and incorporation of all the systems, including the safety related and the back-up non safety related systems, that are available for the operator in order to prevent core damage. As a part of this analysis the containment venting capability is also evaluated as a back-up of the containment heat removal function. This will prevent the primary containment overpressurization and loss of certain core cooling systems. A selection of accident sequences in which the Control Rod Drive system could be used to mitigate the accident and prevent core damage are discussed. A personal computer transient analysis code is used to carry out thermohydraulic simulations in order to evaluate the Control Rod Drive system performance, the corresponding results are presented. Finally, some preliminary conclusions are drawn. (author). 9 refs, 5 figs

The effect of high-frequency ground motion on the MAPLE-X10 reactor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bhan, S.; Dunbar, S.

1989-06-01

The effect of high-frequency ground motion on structures and equipment in nuclear reactors is examined by subjecting simple linear models to selected recorded ground motions which exhibit low and high frequencies. Computed damage measures indicate that high-frequency short-duration ground motion, such as that observed in eastern North America, have a minimal effect on structures with low natural frequencies. Response spectra of high-frequency ground motion indicate that higher forces are induced in structures with high natural frequencies as compared to those induced by low-frequency ground motion. However, reported observations of earthquake damage in eastern North America suggest that high-frequency ground motion causes little of no damage to structures. This may be due to the energy absorption capability of structures. It is concluded that the response spectrum representative of ground motion observed in eastern North America may give an over-conservative measure of the response of structures with high natural frequencies, since it does not account for the typically observed short duration of high-frequency ground motion and for the energy absorption capability of structures. Detailed nonlinear analysis of specific structures with high natural frequencies should be performed to better predict the actual response. Recommendations for a nonlinear analysis of typical structures with high natural frequencies are made

Metabolite damage and repair in metabolic engineering design.

Science.gov (United States)

Sun, Jiayi; Jeffryes, James G; Henry, Christopher S; Bruner, Steven D; Hanson, Andrew D

2017-11-01

The necessarily sharp focus of metabolic engineering and metabolic synthetic biology on pathways and their fluxes has tended to divert attention from the damaging enzymatic and chemical side-reactions that pathway metabolites can undergo. Although historically overlooked and underappreciated, such metabolite damage reactions are now known to occur throughout metabolism and to generate (formerly enigmatic) peaks detected in metabolomics datasets. It is also now known that metabolite damage is often countered by dedicated repair enzymes that undo or prevent it. Metabolite damage and repair are highly relevant to engineered pathway design: metabolite damage reactions can reduce flux rates and product yields, and repair enzymes can provide robust, host-independent solutions. Herein, after introducing the core principles of metabolite damage and repair, we use case histories to document how damage and repair processes affect efficient operation of engineered pathways - particularly those that are heterologous, non-natural, or cell-free. We then review how metabolite damage reactions can be predicted, how repair reactions can be prospected, and how metabolite damage and repair can be built into genome-scale metabolic models. Lastly, we propose a versatile 'plug and play' set of well-characterized metabolite repair enzymes to solve metabolite damage problems known or likely to occur in metabolic engineering and synthetic biology projects. Copyright © 2017 International Metabolic Engineering Society. All rights reserved.

Mitochondrial Respiration Is Reduced in Atherosclerosis, Promoting Necrotic Core Formation and Reducing Relative Fibrous Cap Thickness.

Science.gov (United States)

Yu, Emma P K; Reinhold, Johannes; Yu, Haixiang; Starks, Lakshi; Uryga, Anna K; Foote, Kirsty; Finigan, Alison; Figg, Nichola; Pung, Yuh-Fen; Logan, Angela; Murphy, Michael P; Bennett, Martin

2017-12-01

Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) damage is present in murine and human atherosclerotic plaques. However, whether endogenous levels of mtDNA damage are sufficient to cause mitochondrial dysfunction and whether decreasing mtDNA damage and improving mitochondrial respiration affects plaque burden or composition are unclear. We examined mitochondrial respiration in human atherosclerotic plaques and whether augmenting mitochondrial respiration affects atherogenesis. Human atherosclerotic plaques showed marked mitochondrial dysfunction, manifested as reduced mtDNA copy number and oxygen consumption rate in fibrous cap and core regions. Vascular smooth muscle cells derived from plaques showed impaired mitochondrial respiration, reduced complex I expression, and increased mitophagy, which was induced by oxidized low-density lipoprotein. Apolipoprotein E-deficient (ApoE -/- ) mice showed decreased mtDNA integrity and mitochondrial respiration, associated with increased mitochondrial reactive oxygen species. To determine whether alleviating mtDNA damage and increasing mitochondrial respiration affects atherogenesis, we studied ApoE -/- mice overexpressing the mitochondrial helicase Twinkle (Tw + /ApoE -/- ). Tw + /ApoE -/- mice showed increased mtDNA integrity, copy number, respiratory complex abundance, and respiration. Tw + /ApoE -/- mice had decreased necrotic core and increased fibrous cap areas, and Tw + /ApoE -/- bone marrow transplantation also reduced core areas. Twinkle increased vascular smooth muscle cell mtDNA integrity and respiration. Twinkle also promoted vascular smooth muscle cell proliferation and protected both vascular smooth muscle cells and macrophages from oxidative stress-induced apoptosis. Endogenous mtDNA damage in mouse and human atherosclerosis is associated with significantly reduced mitochondrial respiration. Reducing mtDNA damage and increasing mitochondrial respiration decrease necrotic core and increase fibrous cap areas independently of changes in

Aspects of unconventional cores for large sodium cooled power reactors; evaluation of a literature survey

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kiefhaber, E.

1978-10-01

The report gives an overview of a literature study on the application of unconventional cores for sodium cooled fast reactors. Different types of unconventional cores (heterogeneous cores, pancake cores, moderated cores and others) are compared with conventional cores, which are characterized by a cylindrical geometry with two or three fissile zones surrounded by an axial and a radial blanket. The main parameters of interest in this comparison are the neutronic parameters sodium void and Doppler effect, the breeding properties and the steel damage. Consequences for the core safety and the overall plant design are also mentioned

Guide to diagnosis and appraisal of AAR damage to concrete in structures

CERN Document Server

Rooij, Mario; Wood, Jonathan

2013-01-01

This book describes procedures and methodologies used predominantly to obtain a diagnosis of damaged concrete possibly caused by Alkali-Aggregate Reaction (AAR). It has two primary objectives, namely firstly to identify the presence of AAR reaction, and whether or not the reaction is the primary or contributory cause of damage in the concrete; and secondly, to establish its intensity (severity) in various members of a structure. It includes aspects such as field inspection of the structure, sampling, petrographic examination of core samples, and supplementary tests and analyses on cores, such as mechanical tests and chemical analysis. Evaluation of test data for prognosis, consequences and appraisal will be more fully set out in AAR-6.2.

Intelligent-based Structural Damage Detection Model

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, Eric Wai Ming; Yu, K.F.

2010-01-01

This paper presents the application of a novel Artificial Neural Network (ANN) model for the diagnosis of structural damage. The ANN model, denoted as the GRNNFA, is a hybrid model combining the General Regression Neural Network Model (GRNN) and the Fuzzy ART (FA) model. It not only retains the important features of the GRNN and FA models (i.e. fast and stable network training and incremental growth of network structure) but also facilitates the removal of the noise embedded in the training samples. Structural damage alters the stiffness distribution of the structure and so as to change the natural frequencies and mode shapes of the system. The measured modal parameter changes due to a particular damage are treated as patterns for that damage. The proposed GRNNFA model was trained to learn those patterns in order to detect the possible damage location of the structure. Simulated data is employed to verify and illustrate the procedures of the proposed ANN-based damage diagnosis methodology. The results of this study have demonstrated the feasibility of applying the GRNNFA model to structural damage diagnosis even when the training samples were noise contaminated.

Intelligent-based Structural Damage Detection Model

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Eric Wai Ming; Yu, Kin Fung

2010-05-01

This paper presents the application of a novel Artificial Neural Network (ANN) model for the diagnosis of structural damage. The ANN model, denoted as the GRNNFA, is a hybrid model combining the General Regression Neural Network Model (GRNN) and the Fuzzy ART (FA) model. It not only retains the important features of the GRNN and FA models (i.e. fast and stable network training and incremental growth of network structure) but also facilitates the removal of the noise embedded in the training samples. Structural damage alters the stiffness distribution of the structure and so as to change the natural frequencies and mode shapes of the system. The measured modal parameter changes due to a particular damage are treated as patterns for that damage. The proposed GRNNFA model was trained to learn those patterns in order to detect the possible damage location of the structure. Simulated data is employed to verify and illustrate the procedures of the proposed ANN-based damage diagnosis methodology. The results of this study have demonstrated the feasibility of applying the GRNNFA model to structural damage diagnosis even when the training samples were noise contaminated.

Experimental observation of spontaneous depolarized guided acoustic-wave Brillouin scattering in side cores of a multicore fiber

Science.gov (United States)

Hayashi, Neisei; Mizuno, Yosuke; Nakamura, Kentaro; Set, Sze Yun; Yamashita, Shinji

2018-06-01

Spontaneous depolarized guided acoustic-wave Brillouin scattering (GAWBS) was experimentally observed in one of the side cores of an uncoated multicore fiber (MCF). The frequency bandwidth in the side core was up to ∼400 MHz, which is 0.5 times that in the central core. The GAWBS spectrum of the side core of the MCF included intrinsic peaks, which had different acoustic resonance frequencies from those of the central core. In addition, the spontaneous depolarized GAWBS in the central/side core was unaffected by that in the other core. These results will lead to the development of polarization/phase modulators using an MCF.

Nonlinear resonant ultrasound spectroscopy (NRUS) applied to damage assessment in bone

Science.gov (United States)

Muller, Marie; Sutin, Alexander; Guyer, Robert; Talmant, Maryline; Laugier, Pascal; Johnson, Paul A.

2005-12-01

Nonlinear resonant ultrasound spectroscopy (NRUS) is a resonance-based technique exploiting the significant nonlinear behavior of damaged materials. In NRUS, the resonant frequency(ies) of an object is studied as a function of the excitation level. As the excitation level increases, the elastic nonlinearity is manifest by a shift in the resonance frequency. This study shows the feasibility of this technique for application to damage assessment in bone. Two samples of bovine cortical bone were subjected to progressive damage induced by application of mechanical cycling. Before cycling commenced, and at each step in the cycling process, NRUS was applied for damage assessment. For independent assessment of damage, high-energy x-ray computed tomography imaging was performed but was only useful in identifying the prominent cracks. As the integral quantity of damage increased, NRUS revealed a corresponding increase in the nonlinear response. The measured change in nonlinear response is much more sensitive than the change in linear modulus. The results suggest that NRUS could be a potential tool for micro-damage assessment in bone. Further work must be carried out for a better understanding of the physical nature of damaged bone and for the ultimate goal of the challenging in vivo implementation of the technique.

X-ray atomic scattering factors of low-Z ions with a core hole

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hau-Riege, Stefan P.

2007-01-01

Short and intense x-ray pulses may be used for atomic-resolution diffraction imaging of single biological molecules. One of the dominant damage mechanisms is atomic ionization, resulting in a large fraction of atoms with core holes. We calculated the atomic scattering factor of atoms with atomic charge numbers between 3 and 10 in different ionization states with and without a core hole. Our results show that orbital occupation and the change of the orbitals upon core ionization (core relaxation) have a significant impact on the diffraction pattern

Experimental Investigations on Effect of Damage on Vibration Characteristics of a Reinforced Concrete Beam

Science.gov (United States)

Srinivas, V.; Jeyasehar, C. Antony; Ramanjaneyulu, K.; Sasmal, Saptarshi

2012-02-01

Need for developing efficient non-destructive damage assessment procedures for civil engineering structures is growing rapidly towards structural health assessment and management of existing structures. Damage assessment of structures by monitoring changes in the dynamic properties or response of the structure has received considerable attention in recent years. In the present study, damage assessment studies have been carried out on a reinforced concrete beam by evaluating the changes in vibration characteristics with the changes in damage levels. Structural damage is introduced by static load applied through a hydraulic jack. After each stage of damage, vibration testing is performed and system parameters were evaluated from the measured acceleration and displacement responses. Reduction in fundamental frequencies in first three modes is observed for different levels of damage. It is found that a consistent decrease in fundamental frequency with increase in damage magnitude is noted. The beam is numerically simulated and found that the vibration characteristics obtained from the measured data are in close agreement with the numerical data.

Reduction of arsenite-enhanced ultraviolet radiation-induced DNA damage by supplemental zinc

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Cooper, Karen L.; King, Brenee S.; Sandoval, Monica M.; Liu, Ke Jian; Hudson, Laurie G., E-mail: lhudson@salud.unm.edu

2013-06-01

Arsenic is a recognized human carcinogen and there is evidence that arsenic augments the carcinogenicity of DNA damaging agents such as ultraviolet radiation (UVR) thereby acting as a co-carcinogen. Inhibition of DNA repair is one proposed mechanism to account for the co-carcinogenic actions of arsenic. We and others find that arsenite interferes with the function of certain zinc finger DNA repair proteins. Furthermore, we reported that zinc reverses the effects of arsenite in cultured cells and a DNA repair target protein, poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase-1. In order to determine whether zinc ameliorates the effects of arsenite on UVR-induced DNA damage in human keratinocytes and in an in vivo model, normal human epidermal keratinocytes and SKH-1 hairless mice were exposed to arsenite, zinc or both before solar-simulated (ss) UVR exposure. Poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase activity, DNA damage and mutation frequencies at the Hprt locus were measured in each treatment group in normal human keratinocytes. DNA damage was assessed in vivo by immunohistochemical staining of skin sections isolated from SKH-1 hairless mice. Cell-based findings demonstrate that ssUVR-induced DNA damage and mutagenesis are enhanced by arsenite, and supplemental zinc partially reverses the arsenite effect. In vivo studies confirm that zinc supplementation decreases arsenite-enhanced DNA damage in response to ssUVR exposure. From these data we can conclude that zinc offsets the impact of arsenic on ssUVR-stimulated DNA damage in cells and in vivo suggesting that zinc supplementation may provide a strategy to improve DNA repair capacity in arsenic exposed human populations. - Highlights: • Low levels of arsenite enhance UV-induced DNA damage in human keratinocytes. • UV-initiated HPRT mutation frequency is enhanced by arsenite. • Zinc supplementation offsets DNA damage and mutation frequency enhanced by arsenite. • Zinc-dependent reduction of arsenite enhanced DNA damage is confirmed in vivo.

DNA damage and cytotoxicity in pathology laboratory technicians exposed to organic solvents

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

TATIANE DE AQUINO

2016-03-01

Full Text Available The aim of this study was to evaluate potential DNA damage and cytotoxicity in pathology laboratory technicians exposed to organic solvents, mainly xylene. Peripheral blood and buccal cells samples were collected from 18 technicians occupationally exposed to organic solvents and 11 non-exposed individuals. The technicians were sampled at two moments: Monday and Friday. DNA damage and cytotoxicity were evaluated using the Comet Assay and the Buccal Micronucleus Cytome assay. Fifteen subjects (83.5% of the exposed group to solvents complained about some symptom probably related to contact with vapours of organic solvents. DNA damage in the exposed group to solvents was nearly 2-fold higher on Friday than on Monday, and in both moments the individuals of this group showed higher levels of DNA damage in relation to controls. No statistical difference was detected in buccal cell micronucleus frequency between the laboratory technicians and the control group. However, in the analysis performed on Friday, technicians presented higher frequency (about 3-fold of karyolytic and apoptotic-like cells (karyorrhectic and pyknotic in relation to control group. Considering the damage frequency and the working time, a positive correlation was found in the exposed group to solvents (r=0.468; p=0.05. The results suggest that pathology laboratory workers inappropriately exposed to organic solvents have increased levels of DNA damage.

Methodology of structures damage estimation in case of cantilever isotropic beam

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sylwester Samborski

2015-12-01

Full Text Available This paper focuses on analysis of damage detection cantilever beam. Finite Element Method was used to simulate vibrations of the intact and the damaged beams. Analysis of natural frequencies of both the intact and the damaged beams was performed in order to observe the effect of damage on the beams dynamics. Next, the phase diagrams technique was applied and finally, experimental verification was performed to check the numerical results.

Characteristics of severely damaged fuel from PBF tests and the TMI-2 accident

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Osetek, D.J.; Cook, B.A.; Dallman, R.J.; Broughton, J.M.

1986-01-01

As a result of the TMI-2 reactor accident, the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission initiated a research program to investigate phenomena associated with severe fuel damage accidents. This program is sponsored by several countries and includes in-pile and out-of-pile experiments, separate effects studies, and computer code development. The principal in-pile testing portion of the program includes four integral severe fuel damage (SFD) tests in the Power Burst Facility (PBF) at the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory (INEL). The INEL is also responsible for examining the damaged core in the Three Mile Island-Unit 2 (TMI-2) reactor, which offers the unique opportunity to directly compare the findings of an experimental program to those of an actual reactor accident. The principal core damage phenomena which can occur during a severe accident are discussed, and examples from the INEL research programs are used to illustrate the characteristics of these phenomena. The preliminary results of the programs are presented, and their impact on plant operability during severe accidents is discussed

Synthetic Modifications In the Frequency Domain for Finite Element Model Update and Damage Detection

Science.gov (United States)

2017-09-01

R_C.spring_cond(cnt)=cond(S_s); %%% SpringRank=rank(S_s) Pivot.CondS(cnt)=Pivot.CondS(cnt)*cond(S_s); SpringTime= toc ...PinTime= toc figure TrueDeltaP=Beam.EI’; TrueDeltaP(Damage.elem)=TrueDeltaP(Damage.elem)+TrueDeltaP

Modal Identification and Damage Detection on a Concrete Highway Bridge by Frequency Domain Decomposition

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Brincker, Rune; Andersen, P.; Zhang, L.

2002-01-01

As a part of a research project co-founded by the European Community, a series of 15 damage tests were performed on a prestressed concrete highway bridge in Switzerland. The ambient response of the bridge was recorded for each damage case. A dense array of instruments allowed the identification...

Modal Identification and Damage Detection on a Concrete Highway Bridge by Frequency Domain Decomposition

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Brincker, Rune; Andersen, Palle; Zhang, Lingmi

2007-01-01

As a part of a research project co-founded by the European Community, a series of 15 damage tests were performed on a prestressed concrete highway bridge in Switzerland. The ambient response of the bridge was recorded for each damage case. A dense array of instruments allowed the identification...

Evaluation of DNA damage using microwave dielectric absorption spectroscopy

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hirayama, Makoto; Matuo, Youichrou; Izumi, Yoshinobu [Research Institute of Nuclear Engineering, University of Fukui, Fukui (Japan); Sunagawa, Takeyoshi [Fukui University of Technology, Fukui (Japan)

2016-12-15

Evaluation of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA)-strand break is important to elucidate the biological effect of ionizing radiations. The conventional methods for DNA-strand break evaluation have been achieved by Agarose gel electrophoresis and others using an electrical property of DNAs. Such kinds of DNA-strand break evaluation systems can estimate DNA-strand break, according to a molecular weight of DNAs. However, the conventional method needs pre-treatment of the sample and a relatively long period for analysis. They do not have enough sensitivity to detect the strand break products in the low-dose region. The sample is water, methanol and plasmid DNA solution. The plasmid DNA pUC118 was multiplied by using Escherichia coli JM109 competent cells. The resonance frequency and Q-value were measured by means of microwave dielectric absorption spectroscopy. When a sample is located at a center of the electric field, resonance curve of the frequency that existed as a standing wave is disturbed. As a result, the perturbation effect to perform a resonance with different frequency is adopted. The resonance frequency shifted to higher frequency with an increase in a concentration of methanol as the model of the biological material, and the Q-value decreased. The absorption peak in microwave power spectrum of the double-strand break plasmid DNA shifted from the non-damaged plasmid DNA. Moreover, the sharpness of absorption peak changed resulting in change in Q-value. We confirmed that a resonance frequency shifted to higher frequency with an increase in concentration of the plasmid DNA. We developed a new technique for an evaluation of DNA damage. In this paper, we report the evaluation method of DNA damage using microwave dielectric absorption spectroscopy.

Evaluation of DNA damage using microwave dielectric absorption spectroscopy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hirayama, Makoto; Matuo, Youichrou; Izumi, Yoshinobu; Sunagawa, Takeyoshi

2016-01-01

Evaluation of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA)-strand break is important to elucidate the biological effect of ionizing radiations. The conventional methods for DNA-strand break evaluation have been achieved by Agarose gel electrophoresis and others using an electrical property of DNAs. Such kinds of DNA-strand break evaluation systems can estimate DNA-strand break, according to a molecular weight of DNAs. However, the conventional method needs pre-treatment of the sample and a relatively long period for analysis. They do not have enough sensitivity to detect the strand break products in the low-dose region. The sample is water, methanol and plasmid DNA solution. The plasmid DNA pUC118 was multiplied by using Escherichia coli JM109 competent cells. The resonance frequency and Q-value were measured by means of microwave dielectric absorption spectroscopy. When a sample is located at a center of the electric field, resonance curve of the frequency that existed as a standing wave is disturbed. As a result, the perturbation effect to perform a resonance with different frequency is adopted. The resonance frequency shifted to higher frequency with an increase in a concentration of methanol as the model of the biological material, and the Q-value decreased. The absorption peak in microwave power spectrum of the double-strand break plasmid DNA shifted from the non-damaged plasmid DNA. Moreover, the sharpness of absorption peak changed resulting in change in Q-value. We confirmed that a resonance frequency shifted to higher frequency with an increase in concentration of the plasmid DNA. We developed a new technique for an evaluation of DNA damage. In this paper, we report the evaluation method of DNA damage using microwave dielectric absorption spectroscopy

KSI's Cross Insulated Core Transformer Technology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Uhmeyer, Uwe

2009-01-01

Cross Insulated Core Transformer (CCT) technology improves on Insulated Core Transformer (ICT) implementations. ICT systems are widely used in very high voltage, high power, power supply systems. In an ICT transformer ferrite core sections are insulated from their neighboring ferrite cores. Flux leakage is present at each of these insulated gaps. The flux loss is raised to the power of stages in the ICT design causing output voltage efficiency to taper off with increasing stages. KSI's CCT technology utilizes a patented technique to compensate the flux loss at each stage of an ICT system. Design equations to calculate the flux compensation capacitor value are presented. CCT provides corona free operation of the HV stack. KSI's CCT based High Voltage power supply systems offer high efficiency operation, high frequency switching, low stored energy and smaller size over comparable ICT systems.

Time–frequency analysis of GPR data to investigate the damage of monumental buildings

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Leucci, Giovanni; Persico, Raffaele; Masini, Nicola

2012-01-01

The presence of particular microclimatic conditions inside monumental buildings is responsible for bio-deterioration processes. In many cases, efflorescence and moulds are visible on the facades of several monuments of historical importance. In many other cases, the effects of decay processes are not visible, thus making difficult the diagnosis and the consequent setup of effective rehabilitation and preservation interventions, especially in the presence of a complex geometry and/or a large variability of construction materials. In such cases, a valuable contribution could be provided by geophysical methods (such as electrical resistivity, electromagnetic conductivity, ground-penetrating radar (GPR), etc), which have been proved to be successful tools for sub-surface investigation and characterization of historical buildings. In old monumental buildings, the masonry structures frequently exhibit cracks, voids, detachments and high moisture contrasts that can give rise to reflection events in radar signals. However, the complexity of the geometry and the structural heterogeneity that characterize these old structures often make the GPR results difficult to analyse and interpret. In particular, the spatial variation in GPR signal attenuation can provide important information about the electrical properties of the investigated materials that, in turn, can be used to assess the physical parameters associated with damage. In this paper, we propose an approach that analyses the data in the form of ‘frequency maps’ to evidence absorption losses probably linked to higher moisture content. Two real case histories back up the proposed method. (paper)

Chamber Core Structures for Fairing Acoustic Mitigation

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Lane, Steven A; Henderson, Kyle; Williams, Andrew; Ardelean, Emil

2007-01-01

.... A composite chamber core fairing consists of many axial tubes sandwiched between face sheets, tubes that can be used as acoustic dampers to reduce low-frequency interior noise with virtually no added mass...

An Energy-Aware Runtime Management of Multi-Core Sensory Swarms

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sungchan Kim

2017-08-01

Full Text Available In sensory swarms, minimizing energy consumption under performance constraint is one of the key objectives. One possible approach to this problem is to monitor application workload that is subject to change at runtime, and to adjust system configuration adaptively to satisfy the performance goal. As today’s sensory swarms are usually implemented using multi-core processors with adjustable clock frequency, we propose to monitor the CPU workload periodically and adjust the task-to-core allocation or clock frequency in an energy-efficient way in response to the workload variations. In doing so, we present an online heuristic that determines the most energy-efficient adjustment that satisfies the performance requirement. The proposed method is based on a simple yet effective energy model that is built upon performance prediction using IPC (instructions per cycle measured online and power equation derived empirically. The use of IPC accounts for memory intensities of a given workload, enabling the accurate prediction of execution time. Hence, the model allows us to rapidly and accurately estimate the effect of the two control knobs, clock frequency adjustment and core allocation. The experiments show that the proposed technique delivers considerable energy saving of up to 45%compared to the state-of-the-art multi-core energy management technique.

Wideband excitation in nonlinear vibro-acoustic modulation for damage detection

Science.gov (United States)

Klepka, A.; Adamczyk, M.; Pieczonka, L.; Staszewski, W. J.

2016-04-01

The paper discusses the use of wideband excitation in nonlinear vibro-acoustic modulation technique (VAM) used for damage detection. In its original form, two mono-harmonic signals (low and high frequency) are used for excitation. The low frequency excitation is typically selected based on a modal analysis test and high frequency excitation is selected arbitrarily in the ultrasonic frequency range. This paper presents a different approach with use of wideband excitation signals. The proposed approach gives the possibility to simplify the testing procedure by omitting the modal test used to determine the value of low frequency excitation. Simultaneous use of wideband excitation for high frequency solves the ambiguity related to the selection of the frequency of acoustic wave. Broadband excitation signals require, however, more elaborate signal processing methods to determine the intensity of modulation for a given bandwidth. The paper discusses the proposed approach and the related signal processing procedure. Experimental validation of the proposed technique is performed on a laminated composite plate with a barely visible impact damage that was generated in an impact test. Piezoceramic actuators are used for vibration excitation and a scanning laser vibrometer is used for noncontact data acquisition.

Identification of damage in plates using full-field measurement with a continuously scanning laser Doppler vibrometer system

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Da-Ming; Xu, Y. F.; Zhu, W. D.

2018-05-01

An effective and reliable damage identification method for plates with a continuously scanning laser Doppler vibrometer (CSLDV) system is proposed. A new constant-speed scan algorithm is proposed to create a two-dimensional (2D) scan trajectory and automatically scan a whole plate surface. Full-field measurement of the plate can be achieved by applying the algorithm to the CSLDV system. Based on the new scan algorithm, the demodulation method is extended from one dimension for beams to two dimensions for plates to obtain a full-field operating deflection shape (ODS) of the plate from velocity response measured by the CSLDV system. The full-field ODS of an associated undamaged plate is obtained by using polynomials with proper orders to fit the corresponding full-field ODS from the demodulation method. A curvature damage index (CDI) using differences between curvatures of ODSs (CODSs) associated with ODSs that are obtained by the demodulation method and the polynomial fit is proposed to identify damage. An auxiliary CDI obtained by averaging CDIs at different excitation frequencies is defined to further assist damage identification. An experiment of an aluminum plate with damage in the form of 10.5% thickness reduction in a damage area of 0.86% of the whole scan area is conducted to investigate the proposed method. Six frequencies close to natural frequencies of the plate and one randomly selected frequency are used as sinusoidal excitation frequencies. Two 2D scan trajectories, i.e., a horizontally moving 2D scan trajectory and a vertically moving 2D scan trajectory, are used to obtain ODSs, CODSs, and CDIs of the plate. The damage is successfully identified near areas with consistently high values of CDIs at different excitation frequencies along the two 2D scan trajectories; the damage area is also identified by auxiliary CDIs.

Fission-powered in-core thermoacoustic sensor

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Garrett, Steven L. [Graduate Program in Acoustics, Penn State University, University Park, Pennsylvania 16802 (United States); Smith, James A. [Fundamental Fuel Properties, Idaho National Laboratory, Idaho Falls, Idaho 83415 (United States); Smith, Robert W. M. [Applied Research Laboratory, Penn State University, State College, Pennsylvania 16804 (United States); Heidrich, Brenden J. [Nuclear Science User Facilities, Idaho National Laboratory, Idaho Falls, Idaho 83415 (United States); Heibel, Michael D. [Global Technology Development, Westinghouse Electric Company, Cranberry Township, Pennsylvania 16066 (United States)

2016-04-04

A thermoacoustic engine is operated within the core of a nuclear reactor to acoustically telemeter coolant temperature (frequency-encoded) and reactor power level (amplitude-encoded) outside the reactor, thus providing the values of these important parameters without external electrical power or wiring. We present data from two hydrophones in the coolant (far from the core) and an accelerometer attached to a structure outside the reactor. These signals have been detected even in the presence of substantial background noise generated by the reactor's fluid pumps.

Chromosome-damaging effect of betel leaf.

Science.gov (United States)

Sadasivan, G; Rani, G; Kumari, C K

1978-05-01

The chewing of betel leaf with other ingredients is a widespread addiction in India. The chromosome damaging effect was studied in human leukocyte cultures. There was an increase in the frequency of chromatid aberrations when the leaf extract was added to cultures.

Optical frequency standard using acetylene-filled hollow-core photonic crystal fibers

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Triches, Marco; Michieletto, Mattia; Hald, Jan

2015-01-01

frequency instability. The locked fiber laser shows a fractional frequency instability below 4×10−12 for averaging time up to 104 s. The lock-point repeatability over more than 1 year is 1.3×10−11, corresponding to a standard deviation of 2.5 kHz. A complete experimental investigation of the light...

Early Wheel Train Damage Detection Using Wireless Sensor Network Antenna

Science.gov (United States)

Fazilah, A. F. M.; Azemi, S. N.; Azremi, A. A. H.; Soh, P. J.; Kamarudin, L. M.

2018-03-01

Antenna for a wireless sensor network for early wheel trains damage detection has successfully developed and fabricated with the aim to minimize the risk and increase the safety guaranty for train. Current antenna design is suffered in gain and big in size. For the sensor, current existing sensor only detect when the wheel malfunction. Thus, a compact microstrip patch antenna with operating frequency at 2.45GHz is design with high gain of 4.95dB will attach to the wireless sensor device. Simulation result shows that the antenna is working at frequency 2.45GHz and the return loss at -34.46dB are in a good agreement. The result also shows the good radiation pattern and almost ideal VSWR which is 1.04. The Arduino Nano, LM35DZ and ESP8266-07 Wi-Fi module is applied to the core system with capability to sense the temperature and send the data wirelessly to the cloud. An android application has been created to monitor the temperature reading based on the real time basis. The mainly focuses for the future improvement is by minimize the size of the antenna in order to make in more compact. In addition, upgrade an android application that can collect the raw data from cloud and make an alarm system to alert the loco pilot.

Detection of Fatigue Damage by Using Frequency Attenuation of a Laser Ultrasonic Longitudinal Wave

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Park, Seung-Kyu; Baik, Sung-Hoon; Jung, Hyun-Kyu; Joo, Young-Sang; Cha, Hyung-Ki; Kang, Young-June

2006-01-01

The measurement of fatigue damage in nuclear power plant components is very important to prevent a catastrophic accident and the subsequent severe losses. Specifically, it is preferred to detect at an early stage of the fatigue damage. If the fatigue damage that is in danger of growing into a fracture is accurately detected, an appropriate treatment could be carried out to improve the condition. Although most engineers and designers take precautions against fatigue, some breakdowns of nuclear power plant components still occur due to fatigue damage. It is considered that ultrasound testing technique is the most promising method to detect the fatigue damage in many nondestructive testing methods. Ultrasound testing method has a variety of elastic waves, such as a longitudinal wave, a shear wave, a surface wave and a lamb wave. Also we can use various analysis methods, such as a velocity variation and a signal attenuation. Laser ultrasonic testing has attracted attention as a non-contact testing technique. This system consists of a pulse laser to remotely generate ultrasound and a laser interferometer to remotely measure the surface displacement due to the generated ultrasound. This noncontact testing technique has the following advantages over the conventional piezoelectric transducers. Firstly, the inspection system can be remotely operated for a structure in hostile environments, such as in high radioactivity, high temperatures and narrow spaces. Secondly, we can obtain lots of information from the received ultrasonic waveforms because the laser ultrasonic technique does not require fluid couplant which disturbs the ultrasonic waveforms. Thirdly, laser ultrasound has a wideband spectrum and a high spatial resolution. Therefore, the laser ultrasound provides more accurate information for a testing material and has potential for the detection of fatigue damage in various metals composing a nuclear power plant

Ice core melt features in relation to Antarctic coastal climate

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kaczmarska, M.; Isaksson, E.; Karlöf, L.; Brandt, O.; Winther, J.G.; van de Wal, R.S.W.; van den Broeke, M.R.; Johnsen, S.J.

2006-01-01

Measurement of light intensity transmission was carried out on an ice core S100 from coastal Dronning Maud Land (DML). Ice lenses were observed in digital pictures of the core and recorded as peaks in the light transmittance record. The frequency of ice layer occurrence was compared with climate

Discussion on the re-irradiated fuel assembly with damaged guide vanes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Li Ligang

2013-01-01

In January 2011, during the second plant of CNNC Nuclear Power Operations Management Co., Ltd.(hereinafter referred to as the second plant) refueling outage, the visual inspection found the guide vanes of fuel assembly A had felling off. After the National Nuclear Safety Administration (NNSA) estimated and approved, the fuel assembly A was reloaded in the specified location of reactor core. During the refueling outage in March 2012, the fuel assembly A was removed again from the reactor core. Visual inspection confirmed that the fuel assembly A was complete and without abnormal changes. The practice provides reference for re-irradiated of fuel assembly with the same type of damaged guide vanes, and provides case support for standard development for the same type of re-irradiated fuel assembly with damaged guide vanes. (author)

Non-linear character of dose dependences of chromosome aberration frequency in radiation-damaged root

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kravets, E.A.; Berezhnaya, V.V.; Sakada, V.I.; Rashidov, N.M.; Grodzinskij, D.M.; Kravets, E.A.; Berezhnaya, V.V.; Sakada, V.I.; Rashidov, N.M.; Grodzinskij, D.M.

2012-01-01

The dose dependences of the aberrant anaphases in the root meristem in 48 hours after the irradiation have non-linear character and a plateau in the region about 6-8 Gy. The plateau indicates the activation of recovery processes. In the plateau range, the level of damages for this genotype is 33% for aberrant anaphases (FAA), 2.3 aberrations per aberrant anaphase (A/AC), and 0.74 aberrations for the total number of anaphases. At 10 Gy, the dose curve forms the exponential region caused by the involvement of the large number of new cells with unrepaired damages in the mutation process. The increase of A/AC to 1.1 indicate the ''criticality'' of the meristem radiation damage.

Baseline frequency of chromosomal aberrations and sister chromatid exchanges in peripheral blood lymphocytes of healthy individuals living in Turin (North-Western Italy): assessment of the effects of age, sex and GSTs gene polymorphisms on the levels of genomic damage.

Science.gov (United States)

Santovito, Alfredo; Cervella, Piero; Delpero, Massimiliano

2016-05-01

The increased exposure to environmental pollutants has led to the awareness of the necessity for constant monitoring of human populations, especially those living in urban areas. This study evaluated the background levels of genomic damage in a sample of healthy subjects living in the urban area of Turin (Italy). The association between DNA damage with age, sex and GSTs polymorphisms was assessed. One hundred and one individuals were randomly sampled. Sister Chromatid Exchanges (SCEs) and Chromosomal Aberrations (CAs) assays, as well as genotyping of GSTT1 and GSTM1 genes, were performed. Mean values of SCEs and CAs were 5.137 ± 0.166 and 0.018 ± 0.002, respectively. Results showed age and gender associated with higher frequencies of these two cytogenetic markers. The eldest subjects (51-65 years) showed significantly higher levels of genomic damage than younger individuals. GSTs polymorphisms did not appear to significantly influence the frequencies of either markers. The CAs background frequency observed in this study is one of the highest reported among European populations. Turin is one of the most polluted cities in Europe in terms of air fine PM10 and ozone and the clastogenic potential of these pollutants may explain the high frequencies of chromosomal rearrangements reported here.

Secondary damages to forests caused by industrial exhausts

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Donaubauer, E

1966-01-01

Acute and chronic damages of diverse origins modify the susceptibility of trees to certain insects and infectious diseases. Especially in connection with air pollution damages, it must be pointed out that such predisposition may occur long before any symptoms become visible or before any growth losses can be measured. In many instances, it is very difficult to evaluate these secondary damages. Very extensive regional comparisons are necessary in order to obtain evidence of damage. Increased occurrence of parasites and/or disease within the emission area must be compared with the frequency and intensity of occurrence outside of said area; this may then serve as circumstantial proof of a demonstrated secondary damage. Examples of these kinds of effects caused by parasitic fungi and insects are discussed in detail. 27 references.

Disaster and Contingency Planning for Scientific Shared Resource Cores.

Science.gov (United States)

Mische, Sheenah; Wilkerson, Amy

2016-04-01

Progress in biomedical research is largely driven by improvements, innovations, and breakthroughs in technology, accelerating the research process, and an increasingly complex collaboration of both clinical and basic science. This increasing sophistication has driven the need for centralized shared resource cores ("cores") to serve the scientific community. From a biomedical research enterprise perspective, centralized resource cores are essential to increased scientific, operational, and cost effectiveness; however, the concentration of instrumentation and resources in the cores may render them highly vulnerable to damage from severe weather and other disasters. As such, protection of these assets and the ability to recover from a disaster is increasingly critical to the mission and success of the institution. Therefore, cores should develop and implement both disaster and business continuity plans and be an integral part of the institution's overall plans. Here we provide an overview of key elements required for core disaster and business continuity plans, guidance, and tools for developing these plans, and real-life lessons learned at a large research institution in the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy.

Application of reliability-centered maintenance to boiling water reactor emergency core cooling systems fault-tree analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Choi, Y.A.; Feltus, M.A.

1995-01-01

Reliability-centered maintenance (RCM) methods are applied to boiling water reactor plant-specific emergency core cooling system probabilistic risk assessment (PRA) fault trees. The RCM is a technique that is system function-based, for improving a preventive maintenance (PM) program, which is applied on a component basis. Many PM programs are based on time-directed maintenance tasks, while RCM methods focus on component condition-directed maintenance tasks. Stroke time test data for motor-operated valves (MOVs) are used to address three aspects concerning RCM: (a) to determine if MOV stroke time testing was useful as a condition-directed PM task; (b) to determine and compare the plant-specific MOV failure data from a broad RCM philosophy time period compared with a PM period and, also, compared with generic industry MOV failure data; and (c) to determine the effects and impact of the plant-specific MOV failure data on core damage frequency (CDF) and system unavailabilities for these emergency systems. The MOV stroke time test data from four emergency core cooling systems [i.e., high-pressure coolant injection (HPCI), reactor core isolation cooling (RCIC), low-pressure core spray (LPCS), and residual heat removal/low-pressure coolant injection (RHR/LPCI)] were gathered from Philadelphia Electric Company's Peach Bottom Atomic Power Station Units 2 and 3 between 1980 and 1992. The analyses showed that MOV stroke time testing was not a predictor for eminent failure and should be considered as a go/no-go test. The failure data from the broad RCM philosophy showed an improvement compared with the PM-period failure rates in the emergency core cooling system MOVs. Also, the plant-specific MOV failure rates for both maintenance philosophies were shown to be lower than the generic industry estimates

Effect of varying geometrical parameters of trapezoidal corrugated-core sandwich structure

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zaid N.Z.M.

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Sandwich structure is an attractive alternative that increasingly used in the transportation and aerospace industry. Corrugated-core with trapezoidal shape allows enhancing the damage resistance to the sandwich structure, but on the other hand, it changes the structural response of the sandwich structure. The aim of this paper is to study the effect of varying geometrical parameters of trapezoidal corrugated-core sandwich structure under compression loading. The corrugated-core specimen was fabricated using press technique, following the shape of trapezoidal shape. Two different materials were used in the study, glass fibre reinforced plastic (GFRP and carbon fibre reinforced plastic (CFRP. The result shows that the mechanical properties of the core in compression loading are sensitive to the variation of a number of unit cells and the core thickness.

[Damage control in trauma patients with hemodynamic instability].

Science.gov (United States)

Müller, Thorben; Doll, Dietrich; Kliebe, Frank; Ruchholtz, Steffen; Kühne, Christian

2010-10-01

The term "Damage-control" is borrowed from naval terminology. It means the initial control of a damaged ship. Because of the lethal triad in multiple injured patients the classical concept of definitive surgically therapy in the acute phase of the injury has a high rate of complications such as exsanguination, sepsis, heart failure and multiple organ failure. The core idea of the damage control concept was to minimize the additional trauma by surgical operations in these critical patients in the first phase. This means temporary control of a hemorrhage and measures for stopping abdominal contamination. After 24 - 48 hours in the intensive care unit and correction of physiological disturbances further interventions are performed for definitively treatment of the injuries. Summarized, the damage control strategy comprises an abbreviated operation, intensive care unit resuscitation, and a return to the operating room for the definitive operation after hemodynamic stabilisation of the patient. © Georg Thieme Verlag Stuttgart · New York.

Earth's Outer Core Properties Estimated Using Bayesian Inversion of Normal Mode Eigenfrequencies

Science.gov (United States)

Irving, J. C. E.; Cottaar, S.; Lekic, V.

2016-12-01

The outer core is arguably Earth's most dynamic region, and consists of an iron-nickel liquid with an unknown combination of lighter alloying elements. Frequencies of Earth's normal modes provide the strongest constraints on the radial profiles of compressional wavespeed, VΦ, and density, ρ, in the outer core. Recent great earthquakes have yielded new normal mode measurements; however, mineral physics experiments and calculations are often compared to the Preliminary reference Earth model (PREM), which is 35 years old and does not provide uncertainties. Here we investigate the thermo-elastic properties of the outer core using Earth's free oscillations and a Bayesian framework. To estimate radial structure of the outer core and its uncertainties, we choose to exploit recent datasets of normal mode centre frequencies. Under the self-coupling approximation, centre frequencies are unaffected by lateral heterogeneities in the Earth, for example in the mantle. Normal modes are sensitive to both VΦ and ρ in the outer core, with each mode's specific sensitivity depending on its eigenfunctions. We include a priori bounds on outer core models that ensure compatibility with measurements of mass and moment of inertia. We use Bayesian Monte Carlo Markov Chain techniques to explore different choices in parameterizing the outer core, each of which represents different a priori constraints. We test how results vary (1) assuming a smooth polynomial parametrization, (2) allowing for structure close to the outer core's boundaries, (3) assuming an Equation-of-State and adiabaticity and inverting directly for thermo-elastic parameters. In the second approach we recognize that the outer core may have distinct regions close to the core-mantle and inner core boundaries and investigate models which parameterize the well mixed outer core separately from these two layers. In the last approach we seek to map the uncertainties directly into thermo-elastic parameters including the bulk

Functional requirements for core surveillance systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Andersson, T.

2000-01-01

Operating experience at Ringhals-2 has demonstrated the feasibility of a mixed core surveillance system comprised of fixed in-core detectors combined with the original movable detector system. A small number of fixed in-core detectors provide continuous measurement of the thermal margins while the movable detectors are used mainly at start-up to verify the expected power distribution. Reactor noise diagnostics and neural networks can further improve the monitoring system. The reliability of the movable detector system can be improved by mechanical simplification. Wear and maintenance costs are lowered if the required flux-mapping frequency is reduced. Improved computer codes make the measurement uncertainties less dependent on the number of instrumented positions. A mixed system requires new types of technical specifications. (author)

Plastic damage induced fracture behaviors of dental ceramic layer structures subjected to monotonic load.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Raorao; Lu, Chenglin; Arola, Dwayne; Zhang, Dongsheng

2013-08-01

The aim of this study was to compare failure modes and fracture strength of ceramic structures using a combination of experimental and numerical methods. Twelve specimens with flat layer structures were fabricated from two types of ceramic systems (IPS e.max ceram/e.max press-CP and Vita VM9/Lava zirconia-VZ) and subjected to monotonic load to fracture with a tungsten carbide sphere. Digital image correlation (DIC) and fractography technology were used to analyze fracture behaviors of specimens. Numerical simulation was also applied to analyze the stress distribution in these two types of dental ceramics. Quasi-plastic damage occurred beneath the indenter in porcelain in all cases. In general, the fracture strength of VZ specimens was greater than that of CP specimens. The crack initiation loads of VZ and CP were determined as 958 ± 50 N and 724 ± 36 N, respectively. Cracks were induced by plastic damage and were subsequently driven by tensile stress at the elastic/plastic boundary and extended downward toward to the veneer/core interface from the observation of DIC at the specimen surface. Cracks penetrated into e.max press core, which led to a serious bulk fracture in CP crowns, while in VZ specimens, cracks were deflected and extended along the porcelain/zirconia core interface without penetration into the zirconia core. The rupture loads for VZ and CP ceramics were determined as 1150 ± 170 N and 857 ± 66 N, respectively. Quasi-plastic deformation (damage) is responsible for crack initiation within porcelain in both types of crowns. Due to the intrinsic mechanical properties, the fracture behaviors of these two types of ceramics are different. The zirconia core with high strength and high elastic modulus has better resistance to fracture than the e.max core. © 2013 by the American College of Prosthodontists.

Hypersonic vibrations of Ag@SiO2 (cubic core)-shell nanospheres.

Science.gov (United States)

Sun, Jing Ya; Wang, Zhi Kui; Lim, Hock Siah; Ng, Ser Choon; Kuok, Meng Hau; Tran, Toan Trong; Lu, Xianmao

2010-12-28

The intriguing optical and catalytic properties of metal-silica core-shell nanoparticles, inherited from their plasmonic metallic cores together with the rich surface chemistry and increased stability offered by their silica shells, have enabled a wide variety of applications. In this work, we investigate the confined vibrational modes of a series of monodisperse Ag@SiO(2) (cubic core)-shell nanospheres synthesized using a modified Stöber sol-gel method. The particle-size dependence of their mode frequencies has been mapped by Brillouin light scattering, a powerful tool for probing hypersonic vibrations. Unlike the larger particles, the observed spheroidal-like mode frequencies of the smaller ones do not scale with inverse diameter. Interestingly, the onset of the deviation from this linearity occurs at a smaller particle size for higher-energy modes than for lower-energy ones. Finite element simulations show that the mode displacement profiles of the Ag@SiO(2) core-shells closely resemble those of a homogeneous SiO(2) sphere. Simulations have also been performed to ascertain the effects that the core shape and the relative hardness of the core and shell materials have on the vibrations of the core-shell as a whole. As the vibrational modes of a particle have a bearing on its thermal and mechanical properties, the findings would be of value in designing core-shell nanostructures with customized thermal and mechanical characteristics.

TMI-2 Core Shipping Preparations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ball, L.J.; Barkanic, R.J.; Conaway, W.T. II; Schmoker, D. S.; Post, Roy G.

1988-01-01

Shipping the damaged core from the Unit 2 reactor of Three Mile Island Nuclear Power Station near Harrisburg, PA, to the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory near Idaho Falls, ID, required development and implementation of a completely new spent fuel transportation system. This paper describes of the equipment developed, the planning and activities used to implement the hard-ware-systems into the facilities, and the planning involved in making the rail shipments. It also includes a summary of recommendations resulting from this experience. (author)

Consequences of dynamical disruption and mass segregation for the binary frequencies of star clusters

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Geller, Aaron M.; De Grijs, Richard; Li, Chengyuan; Hurley, Jarrod R.

2013-01-01

The massive (13,000-26,000 M ☉ ) and young (15-30 Myr) Large Magellanic Cloud star cluster NGC 1818 reveals an unexpected increasing binary frequency with radius for F-type stars (1.3-2.2 M ☉ ). This is in contrast to many older star clusters that show a decreasing binary frequency with radius. We study this phenomenon with sophisticated N-body modeling, exploring a range of initial conditions, from smooth virialized density distributions to highly substructured and collapsing configurations. We find that many of these models can reproduce the cluster's observed properties, although with a modest preference for substructured initial conditions. Our models produce the observed radial trend in binary frequency through disruption of soft binaries (with semi-major axes, a ≳ 3000 AU), on approximately a crossing time (∼5.4 Myr), preferentially in the cluster core. Mass segregation subsequently causes the binaries to sink toward the core. After roughly one initial half-mass relaxation time (t rh (0) ∼ 340 Myr) the radial binary frequency distribution becomes bimodal, the innermost binaries having already segregated toward the core, leaving a minimum in the radial binary frequency distribution that marches outward with time. After 4-6 t rh (0), the rising distribution in the halo disappears, leaving a radial distribution that rises only toward the core. Thus, both a radial binary frequency distribution that falls toward the core (as observed for NGC 1818) and one that rises toward the core (as for older star clusters) can arise naturally from the same evolutionary sequence owing to binary disruption and mass segregation in rich star clusters.

Fracture Characterization of Sandwich Face/Core Interfaces

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Manca, Marcello

of load transfer between the faces and the core layer is lost, the debonds are considered as primary damage initiators. Under fatigue loading the debonds may evolve into cracks that cause a reduction in structural performance and consequent failure. At present most structural design is based on “life-time...... of sandwich structures is defects that are introduced in the manufacturing process. It is inevitable that areas of the face sheets will not fully adhere to the core resulting in defects known as “debonds”. Debonds can also be induced in-service due to e.g. localised impact loading or overloading. As the means...... such result it is important to devise new experimental and analytical techniques to establish the multi-mode fracture characteristics of sandwich plate structures and accordingly develop methods to inhibit defect propagation. This thesis deals with characterization of fracture between face and core...

Thawing of lithium in the SP-100 reactor core configuration

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Magee, P.M.; Malovrh, J.W.; REineking, W.H.

1986-01-01

The General Electric SP-100 Liquid Metal Reactor is designed to be launched with the lithium coolant in the reactor and primary loops frozen. Initial startup of the system in space, after a satisfactory orbit is achieved, will be accomplished by slowly increasing the power in the reactor core and using the heat generated to melt the lithium, first in the reactor, and then progressively down the primary loops. This technique significantly facilitates ground handling, reduces vibrational loads during vehicle launch and minimized the shuttle bay heat load. The challenge is to thaw the coolant and startup the system within an acceptable time without structural damage. The test results clearly demonstrate that thawing of the lithium in the SP-100 reactor core can be done rapidly without structural damage and, thus, support the selected concept of SP-100 launch with frozen lithium and thaw/startup in space

Evaluation of safety issues on newly regulated nuclear power plant by tsunami-level 1 PRA

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tsuji, Yutaro; Miwa, Shuichiro; Mori, Michitsugu

2014-01-01

The tsunami caused by the Great East Japan Earthquake triggered severe accidents involving the units 1 to 4 at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power station (NPS). In order to re-operate existing nuclear power plants it should be necessary to reduce the core damage frequency on risk by tsunami. In this work, effects of the off-site power supply installation on resuming operation of nuclear power plants were investigated by utilizing the Tsunami-Level 1 Probability Risk Assessment (PRA). Unit 2 of the Onagawa nuclear power station, which resembled units 2 and 3 of Fukushima Dai-ichi, was selected for PRA. First, event-tree was created for the units of the Onagawa nuclear power station with the safety systems such as Emergency Core Cooling System (ECCS), investigating the plant situation at the time of the earthquake and tsunami occurrences. It was assumed that the magnitude of the tsunami was equivalent to the Great East Japan Earthquake. The accident-analytical progression-time was 36 hours, determined from the core-damage occurrence of the unit 3 of Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power station. Failure probabilities were calculated by the fault tree, which was created from the elements listed in the event tree. For the calculation, failure rates reported by the NUCIA (NUClear Information Archives) were primarily utilized. Then, obtained failure probabilities were embedded to the event tree. Core damage probabilities were evaluated by calculating success and failure rates for each accidental progression and scenarios. Restoration of the failed equipment and machineries was not considered in the analysis. Installation of the power supply vehicles at the nuclear power plant site reduced the core damage probability from 2.58×10 -6 to 8.56×10 -7 . However, continued addition of the power supply vehicles could not lower the core damage probability further more. In the case of Unit 2 of Onagawa nuclear power station, there could be a limit to lower the core damage

Pulsed air-core deflector-magnet design parameters

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jason, A.J.; Cooper, R.K.; Liebman, A.D.; Blind, B.; Koelle, A.R.

1983-01-01

The response of air-core magnets to pulsed excitation is dependent on the pulse frequency spectrum because of fields produced by induced currents in the magnet structure. We discuss this phenomenon quantitatively in terms of magnet performance optimization

Micromechanical modeling of strength and damage of fiber reinforced composites

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mishnaevsky, L. Jr.; Broendsted, P.

2007-03-15

The report for the first year of the EU UpWind project includes three parts: overview of concepts and methods of modelling of mechanical behavior, deformation and damage of unidirectional fiber reinforced composites, development of computational tools for the automatic generation of 3D micromechanical models of fiber reinforced composites, and micromechanical modelling of damage in FRC, and phenomenological analysis of the effect of frequency of cyclic loading on the lifetime and damage evolution in materials. (au)

Structural damage detection for in-service highway bridge under operational and environmental variability

Science.gov (United States)

Jin, Chenhao; Li, Jingcheng; Jang, Shinae; Sun, Xiaorong; Christenson, Richard

2015-03-01

Structural health monitoring has drawn significant attention in the past decades with numerous methodologies and applications for civil structural systems. Although many researchers have developed analytical and experimental damage detection algorithms through vibration-based methods, these methods are not widely accepted for practical structural systems because of their sensitivity to uncertain environmental and operational conditions. The primary environmental factor that influences the structural modal properties is temperature. The goal of this article is to analyze the natural frequency-temperature relationships and detect structural damage in the presence of operational and environmental variations using modal-based method. For this purpose, correlations between natural frequency and temperature are analyzed to select proper independent variables and inputs for the multiple linear regression model and neural network model. In order to capture the changes of natural frequency, confidence intervals to detect the damages for both models are generated. A long-term structural health monitoring system was installed on an in-service highway bridge located in Meriden, Connecticut to obtain vibration and environmental data. Experimental testing results show that the variability of measured natural frequencies due to temperature is captured, and the temperature-induced changes in natural frequencies have been considered prior to the establishment of the threshold in the damage warning system. This novel approach is applicable for structural health monitoring system and helpful to assess the performance of the structure for bridge management and maintenance.

Evidence for Radial Anisotropy in Earth's Upper Inner Core from Normal Modes

Science.gov (United States)

Lythgoe, K.; Deuss, A. F.

2017-12-01

The structure of the uppermost inner core is related to solidification of outer core material at the inner core boundary. Previous seismic studies using body waves indicate an isotropic upper inner core, although radial anisotropy has not been considered since it cannot be uniquely determined by body waves. Normal modes, however, do constrain radial anisotropy in the inner core. Centre frequency measurements indicate 2-5 % radial anisotropy in the upper 100 km of the inner core, with a fast direction radially outwards and a slow direction along the inner core boundary. This seismic structure provides constraints on solidification processes at the inner core boundary and appears consistent with texture predicted due to anisotropic inner core growth.

Contactless Diagnostics of Turbine Blade Vibration and Damage

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Prochazka, Pavel; Vanek, Frantisek

2011-01-01

The study deals with the contactless diagnostic method used for the identification of steam turbine blade strain, vibration and damage. The tip-timing method based on the evaluation of time differences of blade passages in different rotor revolutions has been modified and improved to provide more precise and reliable results. A new approach to the analysis of the amplitude and time differences of impulse signals generated by a blade passage has been applied. Amplitudes and frequencies of vibrations and static position of blades ascertained by the diagnostic process are used to establish the state of blade damage. A contactless diagnostic system VDS-UT based on magneto-resistive sensors was developed in the Institute of Thermomechanics Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic. The system provides on-line monitoring of vibration amplitudes and frequencies of all blades and notification of possible blade damage. Evaluation of the axial and circumferential components of the deflections by measuring the amplitude of blade impulse signals results in an overall improvement of the method. Using magneto-resistive sensors, blade elongation and untwisting can be determined as well.

Nonlinear Ultrasonic Diagnosis and Prognosis of ASR Damage in Dry Cask Storage

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Qu, Jianmin; Bazant, Zdenek; Jacobs, Laurence; Guimaraes, Maria

2015-01-01

Alkali-silica reaction (ASR) is a deleterious chemical process that may occur in cement-based materials such as mortars and concretes, where the hydroxyl ions in the highly alkaline pore solution attack the siloxane groups in the siliceous minerals in the aggregates. The reaction produces a cross-linked alkali-silica gel. The ASR gel swells in the presence of water. Expansion of the gel results in cracking when the swelling-induced stress exceeds the fracture toughness of the concrete. As the ASR continues, cracks may grow and eventually coalesce, which results in reduced service life and a decrease safety of concrete structures. Since concrete is widely used as a critical structural component in dry cask storage of used nuclear fuels, ASR damage poses a significant threat to the sustainability of long term dry cask storage systems. Therefore, techniques for effectively detecting, managing and mitigating ASR damage are needed. Currently, there are no nondestructive methods to accurately detect ASR damage in existing concrete structures. The only current way of accurately assessing ASR damage is to drill a core from an existing structure, and conduct microscopy on this drilled cylindrical core. Clearly, such a practice is not applicable to dry cask storage systems. To meet these needs, this research is aimed at developing (1) a suite of nonlinear ultrasonic quantitative nondestructive evaluation (QNDE) techniques to characterize ASR damage, and (2) a physics-based model for ASR damage evolution using the QNDE data. Outcomes of this research will provide a nondestructive diagnostic tool to evaluate the extent of the ASR damage, and a prognostic tool to estimate the future reliability and safety of the concrete structures in dry cask storage systems

Nonlinear Ultrasonic Diagnosis and Prognosis of ASR Damage in Dry Cask Storage

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Qu, Jianmin [Northwestern Univ., Evanston, IL (United States); Bazant, Zdenek [Northwestern Univ., Evanston, IL (United States); Jacobs, Laurence [Georgia Inst. of Technology, Atlanta, GA (United States); Guimaraes, Maria [Electrical Power Research Institute, Palo Alto, CA (United States)

2015-11-30

Alkali-silica reaction (ASR) is a deleterious chemical process that may occur in cement-based materials such as mortars and concretes, where the hydroxyl ions in the highly alkaline pore solution attack the siloxane groups in the siliceous minerals in the aggregates. The reaction produces a cross-linked alkali-silica gel. The ASR gel swells in the presence of water. Expansion of the gel results in cracking when the swelling-induced stress exceeds the fracture toughness of the concrete. As the ASR continues, cracks may grow and eventually coalesce, which results in reduced service life and a decrease safety of concrete structures. Since concrete is widely used as a critical structural component in dry cask storage of used nuclear fuels, ASR damage poses a significant threat to the sustainability of long term dry cask storage systems. Therefore, techniques for effectively detecting, managing and mitigating ASR damage are needed. Currently, there are no nondestructive methods to accurately detect ASR damage in existing concrete structures. The only current way of accurately assessing ASR damage is to drill a core from an existing structure, and conduct microscopy on this drilled cylindrical core. Clearly, such a practice is not applicable to dry cask storage systems. To meet these needs, this research is aimed at developing (1) a suite of nonlinear ultrasonic quantitative nondestructive evaluation (QNDE) techniques to characterize ASR damage, and (2) a physics-based model for ASR damage evolution using the QNDE data. Outcomes of this research will provide a nondestructive diagnostic tool to evaluate the extent of the ASR damage, and a prognostic tool to estimate the future reliability and safety of the concrete structures in dry cask storage systems

Parametric study on nonlinear vibration of composite truss core sandwich plate with internal resonance

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Chen, Jia Nen; Liu, Jun [Tianjin Key Laboratory of the Design and Intelligent Control of the Advanced Mechatronical System, Tianjin University of Technology, Tianjin (China); Zhang, Wei; Yao, Ming Hui [College of Mechanical Engineering, Beijing University of Technology, Beijing (China); Sun, Min [School of Science, Tianjin Chengjian University, Tianjin (China)

2016-09-15

Nonlinear vibrations of carbon fiber reinforced composite sandwich plate with pyramidal truss core are investigated. The governing equation of motion for the sandwich plate is derived by using a Zig-Zag theory under consideration of geometrically nonlinear. The natural frequencies of sandwich plates with different dimensions are calculated and compared with those obtained from the classic laminated plate theory and Reddy's third-order shear deformation plate theory. The frequency responses and waveforms of the sandwich plate when 1:3 internal resonance occurs are obtained, and the characteristics of the internal resonance are discussed. The influences of layer number of face sheet, strut radius, core height and inclination angle on the nonlinear responses of the sandwich plate are analyzed. The results demonstrate that the strut radius and inclination angle mainly affect the resonance frequency band of the sandwich plate, and the layer number and core height not only influence the resonance frequency band but also significantly affect the response amplitude.

Thermal shield support degradation in pressurized water reactors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sweeney, F.J.; Fry, D.N.

1986-01-01

Damage to the thermal shield support structures of three pressurized water reactors (PWRs) due to flow-induced vibrations was recently discovered during refueling. In two of the reactors, severe damage occurred to the thermal shield, and in one reactor the core support barrel (CSB) was damaged, necessitating extended outages for repairs. In all three reactors, several of the thermal shield supports were either loose, damaged, or missing. The three plants had been in operation for approximately 10 years before the damage was apparent by visual inspection. Because each of the three US PWR manufacturers have experienced thermal shield support degradation, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission requested that Oak Ridge National Laboratory analyze ex-core neutron detector noise data to determine the feasibility of detecting incipient thermal shield support degradation. Results of the noise data analysis indicate that thermal shield support degradation probably began early in the life of both severely damaged plants. The degradation was characterized by shifts in the resonant frequencies of core internal structures and the appearance of new resonances in the ex-core neutron detector noise. Both the data analyses and the finite element calculations indicate that these changes in resonant frequencies are less than 3 Hz. 11 refs., 16 figs

Proposition of a core model for the thorium molten salt reactor (TMSR) minimizing the graphite moderator quantity in core; Proposition d'un modele de coeur pour le RSF thorium minimisant la quantite de moderateur graphite en coeur

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Nuttin, A

2004-07-01

This work deals with the problem of fast damage of graphite in the core of TMSR. The approach consists to minimize the quantity of graphite used in the core (by an increase of the voluminal power) and then to extract and to reprocess. (O.M.)

Fretting-wear damage of heat exchanger tubes: a proposed damage criterion based on tube vibration response

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yetisir, M.; McKerrow, E.; Pettigrew, M.J.

1997-01-01

A simple criterion is proposed to estimate fretting-wear damage in heat exchanger tubes with clearance supports. The criterion is based on parameters such as vibration frequency, mid-span vibration amplitude, span length, tube mass and an empirical wear coefficient. It is generally accepted that fretting-wear damage is proportional to a parameter called work-rate. Work-rate is a measure of the dynamic interaction between a vibrating tube and its supports. Due to the complexity of the impact-sliding behavior at the clearance-supports, work-rate calculations for heat exchanger tubes require specialized non-linear finite element codes. These codes include contact models for various clearance-support geometries. Such non-linear finite element analyses are complex, expensive and time consuming. The proposed criterion uses the results of linear vibration analysis (i.e., vibration frequency and mid-span vibration amplitude due to turbulence) and does not require a non-linear analysis. It can be used by non-specialists for a quick evaluation of the expected work-rate, and hence, the fretting-wear damage of heat exchanger tubes. The proposed criterion was obtained from an extensive parametric study that was conducted using a non-linear finite element program. It is shown that, by using the proposed work-rate criteria, work-rate can be estimated within a factor of two. This result, however, requires further testing with more complicated flow patterns. (author)

Preparations to receive and store the TMI-2 core debris

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ayers, A.L.R. Jr.; Lilburn, B.J. Jr.

1986-01-01

The March 1979 accident at Unit 2 of Three Mile Island Nuclear Power Station (TMI-2) resulted in considerable damage to the core of the reactor. The core debris will be packaged in canisters and transported by rail cask to the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory (INEL) for storage, examination, and preparation for final disposal. A significant part of recovering from the TMI-2 accident involves receiving and storing the TMI-2 core debris canisters at INEL. This paper highlights preparations for receiving the rail cask at INEL, unloading canisters from the cask in the Hot Shop of Test Area North Building 607, and storing/monitoring those canisters in the Water Pit for up to 30 years

DNA Damage, Mutagenesis and Cancer

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ashis K. Basu

2018-03-01

Full Text Available A large number of chemicals and several physical agents, such as UV light and γ-radiation, have been associated with the etiology of human cancer. Generation of DNA damage (also known as DNA adducts or lesions induced by these agents is an important first step in the process of carcinogenesis. Evolutionary processes gave rise to DNA repair tools that are efficient in repairing damaged DNA; yet replication of damaged DNA may take place prior to repair, particularly when they are induced at a high frequency. Damaged DNA replication may lead to gene mutations, which in turn may give rise to altered proteins. Mutations in an oncogene, a tumor-suppressor gene, or a gene that controls the cell cycle can generate a clonal cell population with a distinct advantage in proliferation. Many such events, broadly divided into the stages of initiation, promotion, and progression, which may occur over a long period of time and transpire in the context of chronic exposure to carcinogens, can lead to the induction of human cancer. This is exemplified in the long-term use of tobacco being responsible for an increased risk of lung cancer. This mini-review attempts to summarize this wide area that centers on DNA damage as it relates to the development of human cancer.

Exploring cosmic origins with CORE: Inflation

Science.gov (United States)

Finelli, F.; Bucher, M.; Achúcarro, A.; Ballardini, M.; Bartolo, N.; Baumann, D.; Clesse, S.; Errard, J.; Handley, W.; Hindmarsh, M.; Kiiveri, K.; Kunz, M.; Lasenby, A.; Liguori, M.; Paoletti, D.; Ringeval, C.; Väliviita, J.; van Tent, B.; Vennin, V.; Ade, P.; Allison, R.; Arroja, F.; Ashdown, M.; Banday, A. J.; Banerji, R.; Bartlett, J. G.; Basak, S.; de Bernardis, P.; Bersanelli, M.; Bonaldi, A.; Borril, J.; Bouchet, F. R.; Boulanger, F.; Brinckmann, T.; Burigana, C.; Buzzelli, A.; Cai, Z.-Y.; Calvo, M.; Carvalho, C. S.; Castellano, G.; Challinor, A.; Chluba, J.; Colantoni, I.; Coppolecchia, A.; Crook, M.; D'Alessandro, G.; D'Amico, G.; Delabrouille, J.; Desjacques, V.; De Zotti, G.; Diego, J. M.; Di Valentino, E.; Feeney, S.; Fergusson, J. R.; Fernandez-Cobos, R.; Ferraro, S.; Forastieri, F.; Galli, S.; García-Bellido, J.; de Gasperis, G.; Génova-Santos, R. T.; Gerbino, M.; González-Nuevo, J.; Grandis, S.; Greenslade, J.; Hagstotz, S.; Hanany, S.; Hazra, D. K.; Hernández-Monteagudo, C.; Hervias-Caimapo, C.; Hills, M.; Hivon, E.; Hu, B.; Kisner, T.; Kitching, T.; Kovetz, E. D.; Kurki-Suonio, H.; Lamagna, L.; Lattanzi, M.; Lesgourgues, J.; Lewis, A.; Lindholm, V.; Lizarraga, J.; López-Caniego, M.; Luzzi, G.; Maffei, B.; Mandolesi, N.; Martínez-González, E.; Martins, C. J. A. P.; Masi, S.; McCarthy, D.; Matarrese, S.; Melchiorri, A.; Melin, J.-B.; Molinari, D.; Monfardini, A.; Natoli, P.; Negrello, M.; Notari, A.; Oppizzi, F.; Paiella, A.; Pajer, E.; Patanchon, G.; Patil, S. P.; Piat, M.; Pisano, G.; Polastri, L.; Polenta, G.; Pollo, A.; Poulin, V.; Quartin, M.; Ravenni, A.; Remazeilles, M.; Renzi, A.; Roest, D.; Roman, M.; Rubiño-Martin, J. A.; Salvati, L.; Starobinsky, A. A.; Tartari, A.; Tasinato, G.; Tomasi, M.; Torrado, J.; Trappe, N.; Trombetti, T.; Tucci, M.; Tucker, C.; Urrestilla, J.; van de Weygaert, R.; Vielva, P.; Vittorio, N.; Young, K.; Zannoni, M.

2018-04-01

We forecast the scientific capabilities to improve our understanding of cosmic inflation of CORE, a proposed CMB space satellite submitted in response to the ESA fifth call for a medium-size mission opportunity. The CORE satellite will map the CMB anisotropies in temperature and polarization in 19 frequency channels spanning the range 60–600 GHz. CORE will have an aggregate noise sensitivity of 1.7 μKṡ arcmin and an angular resolution of 5' at 200 GHz. We explore the impact of telescope size and noise sensitivity on the inflation science return by making forecasts for several instrumental configurations. This study assumes that the lower and higher frequency channels suffice to remove foreground contaminations and complements other related studies of component separation and systematic effects, which will be reported in other papers of the series "Exploring Cosmic Origins with CORE." We forecast the capability to determine key inflationary parameters, to lower the detection limit for the tensor-to-scalar ratio down to the 10‑3 level, to chart the landscape of single field slow-roll inflationary models, to constrain the epoch of reheating, thus connecting inflation to the standard radiation-matter dominated Big Bang era, to reconstruct the primordial power spectrum, to constrain the contribution from isocurvature perturbations to the 10‑3 level, to improve constraints on the cosmic string tension to a level below the presumptive GUT scale, and to improve the current measurements of primordial non-Gaussianities down to the fNLlocal inflation. Its capabilities will be further enhanced by combining with complementary future cosmological observations.

An inhibitor of potentially lethal damage (PLD) repair reduces the frequency of γ-ray mutations in cultured Chinese hamster V79 cells

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yokoiyama, A.; Kada, T.; Kuroda, Y.

1992-01-01

Cordycepin (3'-deoxyadenosine, 3 - dA) is an RNA antimetabolite and a radiosensitizer in cultured mammalian cells. In the present paper, the effects of 3'-dA on γ-ray-induced lethality and 6-thioguanine (6TG)-resistant mutations in cultured Chinese hamster V79 cells were examined. 3'-dA had the effect of sensitizing the lethality induced by γ-rays. The potentially lethal damage (PLD) repair produced by post-incubation cells in Hanks' solution after γ-irradiation was almost completely suppressed by 5x10 -5 M 3'-dA. When cells were irradiated with 10 Gy γ-rays and incubated with 3'-dA for 5 h, the frequency of 6TG-resistant mutations induced by γ-rays decreased to 1/6 of that of the irradiated cells incubated without 3'-dA. The decrease in the frequency of γ-ray-induced mutations was dependent on the length of incubation time with 3'-dA. It is suggested that the inhibition of PLD repair by 3'-dA may be that of error-prone repair. (author). 26 refs.; 5 figs

Y-STR frequency surveying method

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Willuweit, Sascha; Caliebe, Amke; Andersen, Mikkel Meyer

2011-01-01

Reasonable formalized methods to estimate the frequencies of DNA profiles generated from lineage markers have been proposed in the past years and were discussed in the forensic community. Recently, collections of population data on the frequencies of variations in Y chromosomal STR profiles have...... reached a new quality with the establishment of the comprehensive neatly quality-controlled reference database YHRD. Grounded on such unrivalled empirical material from hundreds of populations studies the core assumption of the Haplotype Frequency Surveying Method originally described 10 years ago can...... be tested and improved. Here we provide new approaches to calculate the parameters used in the frequency surveying method: a maximum likelihood estimation of the regression parameters (r1, r2, s1 and s2) and a revised Frequency Surveying framework with variable binning and a database preprocessing to take...

Compact multipurpose sub-sampling and processing of in-situ cores with press (pressurized core sub-sampling and extrusion system)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Anders, E.; Muller, W.H. [Technical Univ. of Berlin, Berlin (Germany). Chair of Continuum Mechanics and Material Theory

2008-07-01

Climate change, declining resources and over-consumption result in a need for sustainable resource allocation, habitat conservation and claim for new technologies and prospects for damage-containment. In order to increase knowledge of the environment and to define potential hazards, it is necessary to get an understanding of the deep biosphere. In addition, the benthic conditions of sediment structure and gas hydrates, temperature, pressure and bio-geochemistry must be maintained during the sequences of sampling, retrieval, transfer, storage and downstream analysis. In order to investigate highly instable gas hydrates, which decomposes under pressure and temperature change, a suite of research technologies have been developed by the Technische Universitat Berlin (TUB), Germany. This includes the pressurized core sub-sampling and extrusion system (PRESS) that was developed in the European Union project called HYACE/HYACINTH. The project enabled well-defined sectioning and transfer of drilled pressure-cores obtained by a rotary corer and fugro pressure corer into transportation and investigation chambers. This paper described HYACINTH pressure coring and the HYACINTH core transfer. Autoclave coring tools and HYACINTH core logging, coring tools, and sub-sampling were also discussed. It was concluded that possible future applications include, but were not limited to, research in shales and other tight formations, carbon dioxide sequestration, oil and gas exploration, coalbed methane, and microbiology of the deep biosphere. To meet the corresponding requirements and to incorporate the experiences from previous expeditions, the pressure coring system would need to be redesigned to adapt it to the new applications. 3 refs., 5 figs.

Impact of the dynamical core on the direct simulation of tropical cyclones in a high-resolution global model

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Reed, K. A.

2015-01-01

Our paper examines the impact of the dynamical core on the simulation of tropical cyclone (TC) frequency, distribution, and intensity. The dynamical core, the central fluid flow component of any general circulation model (GCM), is often overlooked in the analysis of a model's ability to simulate TCs compared to the impact of more commonly documented components (e.g., physical parameterizations). The Community Atmosphere Model version 5 is configured with multiple dynamics packages. This analysis demonstrates that the dynamical core has a significant impact on storm intensity and frequency, even in the presence of similar large-scale environments. In particular, the spectral element core produces stronger TCs and more hurricanes than the finite-volume core using very similar parameterization packages despite the latter having a slightly more favorable TC environment. Furthermore, these results suggest that more detailed investigations into the impact of the GCM dynamical core on TC climatology are needed to fully understand these uncertainties. Key Points The impact of the GCM dynamical core is often overlooked in TC assessments The CAM5 dynamical core has a significant impact on TC frequency and intensity A larger effort is needed to better understand this uncertainty

BWR core melt progression phenomena: Experimental analyses

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ott, L.J.

1992-01-01

In the BWR Core Melt in Progression Phenomena Program, experimental results concerning severe fuel damage and core melt progression in BWR core geometry are used to evaluate existing models of the governing phenomena. These include control blade eutectic liquefaction and the subsequent relocation and attack on the channel box structure; oxidation heating and hydrogen generation; Zircaloy melting and relocation; and the continuing oxidation of zirconium with metallic blockage formation. Integral data have been obtained from the BWR DF-4 experiment in the ACRR and from BWR tests in the German CORA exreactor fuel-damage test facility. Additional integral data will be obtained from new CORA BWR test, the full-length FLHT-6 BWR test in the NRU test reactor, and the new program of exreactor experiments at Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) on metallic melt relocation and blockage formation. an essential part of this activity is interpretation and use of the results of the BWR tests. The Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) has developed experiment-specific models for analysis of the BWR experiments; to date, these models have permitted far more precise analyses of the conditions in these experiments than has previously been available. These analyses have provided a basis for more accurate interpretation of the phenomena that the experiments are intended to investigate. The results of posttest analyses of BWR experiments are discussed and significant findings from these analyses are explained. The ORNL control blade/canister models with materials interaction, relocation and blockage models are currently being implemented in SCDAP/RELAP5 as an optional structural component

Disaster and Contingency Planning for Scientific Shared Resource Cores

Science.gov (United States)

Wilkerson, Amy

2016-01-01

Progress in biomedical research is largely driven by improvements, innovations, and breakthroughs in technology, accelerating the research process, and an increasingly complex collaboration of both clinical and basic science. This increasing sophistication has driven the need for centralized shared resource cores (“cores”) to serve the scientific community. From a biomedical research enterprise perspective, centralized resource cores are essential to increased scientific, operational, and cost effectiveness; however, the concentration of instrumentation and resources in the cores may render them highly vulnerable to damage from severe weather and other disasters. As such, protection of these assets and the ability to recover from a disaster is increasingly critical to the mission and success of the institution. Therefore, cores should develop and implement both disaster and business continuity plans and be an integral part of the institution’s overall plans. Here we provide an overview of key elements required for core disaster and business continuity plans, guidance, and tools for developing these plans, and real-life lessons learned at a large research institution in the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy. PMID:26848285

Historical summary of the Three Mile Island Unit 2 core debris transportation campaign

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Schmitt, R.C.; Tyacke, M.J. [EG and G Idaho, Inc., Idaho Falls, ID (United States); Quinn, G.J. [Wastren, Inc., Germantown, MD (United States)

1993-03-01

Transport of the damaged core materials from the Unit 2 reactor of the Three Mile Island Nuclear Power Station (TMI-2) to the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory (INEL) for examination and storage presented many technical and institutional challenges, including assessing the ability to transport the damaged core; removing and packaging core debris in ways suitable for transport; developing a transport package that could both meet Federal regulations and interface with the facilities at TMI-2 and the INEL; and developing a transport plan, support logistics, and public communications channels suited to the task. This report is a historical summary of how the US Department of Energy addressed those challenges and transported, received, and stored the TMI-2 core debris at the INEL. Subjects discussed include preparations for transport, loading at TMI-2, institutional issues, transport operations, receipt and storage at the INEL, governmental inquiries/investigations, and lessons learned. Because of public attention focused on the TMI-2 Core Debris Transport Program, the exchange of information between the program and public was extensive. This exchange is a focus for parts of this report to explain why various operations were conducted as they were and why certain technical approaches were employed. And, because of that exchange, the program may have contributed to a better public understanding of such actions and may contribute to planning and execution of similar future actions.

Historical summary of the Three Mile Island Unit 2 core debris transportation campaign

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schmitt, R.C.; Tyacke, M.J.; Quinn, G.J.

1993-03-01

Transport of the damaged core materials from the Unit 2 reactor of the Three Mile Island Nuclear Power Station (TMI-2) to the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory (INEL) for examination and storage presented many technical and institutional challenges, including assessing the ability to transport the damaged core; removing and packaging core debris in ways suitable for transport; developing a transport package that could both meet Federal regulations and interface with the facilities at TMI-2 and the INEL; and developing a transport plan, support logistics, and public communications channels suited to the task. This report is a historical summary of how the US Department of Energy addressed those challenges and transported, received, and stored the TMI-2 core debris at the INEL. Subjects discussed include preparations for transport, loading at TMI-2, institutional issues, transport operations, receipt and storage at the INEL, governmental inquiries/investigations, and lessons learned. Because of public attention focused on the TMI-2 Core Debris Transport Program, the exchange of information between the program and public was extensive. This exchange is a focus for parts of this report to explain why various operations were conducted as they were and why certain technical approaches were employed. And, because of that exchange, the program may have contributed to a better public understanding of such actions and may contribute to planning and execution of similar future actions

Sliding-Mode Control to Compensate PVT Variations in Dual Core Systems

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Pourshaghaghi, H.R.; Fatemi, S.H.; Pineda de Gyvez, J.

2012-01-01

In this paper, we present a novel robust sliding-mode controller for stabilizing supply voltage and clock frequency of dual core processors determined by dynamic voltage and frequency scaling (DVFS) methods in the presence of systematic and random variations. We show that maximum rejection for

Frequency to digital converter for IUAC Linac control system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jain, Mamta; Subramaiam, E.T.; Sahu, B.K.

2015-01-01

A frequency to digital converter CAMAC module has been designed and developed for LINAC control systems. This module is used to see the frequency difference of master clock and the resonator frequency digitally without using the oscilloscope. Later on this can be used for automatic tuning and locking of the cavities using piezoelectric actuator based tunner control. This module has eight independent channels to fulfill the need of all the eight cavities of the cryostat. A Schmitt trigger along with level converaccepts almost any form of pulse train, with 30 Vp-p. The time period is measured by counters clocked from a high resolution clock (10 MHz +/- 250 ps). The counter values are cross checked at both the input levels. Frequency is obtained from the computed time period by a special divisor core implemented inside the FPGA. The major task was the implementation of eight individual divisor cores and routing inside one Spartan 3s500E FPGA chip

Cavitation damage of ceramics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kovalenko, V.I.; Marinin, V.G.

1988-01-01

Consideration is given to results of investigation of ceramic material damage under the effect of cavitation field on their surface, formed in water under the face of exponential concentrator, connected with ultrasonic generator UZY-3-0.4. Amplitude of vibrations of concentrator face (30+-2)x10 -6 m, frequency-21 kHz. It was established that ceramics resistance to cavitation effect correlated with the product of critical of stress intensity factor and material hardness

Tunable engineered skin mechanics via coaxial electrospun fiber core diameter.

Science.gov (United States)

Blackstone, Britani Nicole; Drexler, Jason William; Powell, Heather Megan