Open Access

ABSTRACT

Design Improvement of OPT-H Type Nuclear Fuel Rod Support Grid using Axiomatic design and Optimization

S.H. Lee¹, J.Y. Kim², K.H. Yoon³, K.N. Song⁴

1 Mechanical Engineering Department, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, 60208, USA
2 Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, Daejeon 305-353, KOREA
3 Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, Daejeon 305-353, KOREA
4 Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, Daejeon 305-353, KOREA

The International Conference on Computational & Experimental Engineering and Sciences 2007, 4(3), 145-150. https://doi.org/10.3970/icces.2007.004.145

Abstract

The nuclear fuel rod support grid is an important structural part of a nuclear fuel assembly used in the pressurized light water reactor. It provides flexible support for the nuclear fuel rods which experience severe thermal expansion and contraction caused by the harsh operational condition in the core. Diverse design requirements should be set on the performances of multidisciplinary nature such as impact resistance, spring characteristics, possible amount of fretting wear on fuel rods, coolant flow and heat transfer around it, and so on. In this paper, an effort is reported to improve the impact resistance of OPT-H type support grid, a high performance spacer grid developed by Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute. A systematic approach using the axiomatic design and optimization is utilized for this purpose.

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