Long-Term Investigations of Metal Seals for Storage Casks of Radioactive Materials

Author(s):  
Sven Nagelschmidt ◽  
Ulrich Probst ◽  
Holger Völzke ◽  
Dietmar Wolff

The Bundesanstalt für Materialforschung und –prüfung (BAM) is a federal institute for materials research and testing in Germany and has been involved in the qualification and safety evaluation procedures of metal seals from the early beginning of the interim storage licensing procedures for radioactive materials, stored in dual purpose casks. Regarding this subject, BAM investigates the long-term behavior of metal seals under the influence of temperature using experimental data and analytical approaches. The development of numerical models is in progress as well. Systematic experimental investigations performed by BAM indicate a continuous decrease of the remaining seal force and the usable resilience considering the leak tightness. Hence, there is a fundamental interest of describing time and temperature dependency to gain predictable values for the long-term behavior and to achieve reliable results with help of short-term tests. The paper gives an overview about the sealing principle, test program and test results of metal seals of the type HELICOFLEX® HN200. The aging effect, respectively the long-term behavior in dependency of time and temperature, are introduced for two different outer liner materials, aluminum and silver.

2018 ◽  
Vol 2018 ◽  
pp. 1-16 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shiyong Jiang ◽  
Weilai Yao ◽  
Jin Chen ◽  
Tao Cai

External bonding of FRP laminates to the tension soffit of concrete members has become a popular method for flexural strengthening. However, the long-term field performance of FRP-strengthened RC members under service conditions is still a concern, and more work needs to be done. Based on concrete smeared-crack approach, this paper presents a finite-element (FE) model for predicting long-term behavior of FRP-strengthened RC beam, which considers the time-dependent properties of all components including the aging effect of concrete. According to the comparison between theoretical predictions and test results, the validity of the FE model is verified. The interfacial edge stresses in adhesive layer were determined through appropriate mesh refinement near the plate end, and their time-dependent characteristics were investigated. The results show that creep of concrete and epoxy resin cause significant variations of the edge stresses with time. According to the research in this paper, the FE approach is found to be able to properly simulate the long-term behavior of the FRP-strengthened beam and help us better understand the complex changes in the stress state occurring over time.


Author(s):  
Max Bialaschik ◽  
Volker Schöppner ◽  
Mirko Albrecht ◽  
Michael Gehde

AbstractThe joining of plastics is required because component geometries are severely restricted in conventional manufacturing processes such as injection molding or extrusion. In addition to established processes such as hot plate welding, infrared welding, or vibration welding, hot gas butt welding is becoming more and more important industrially due to its advantages. The main benefits are the contactless heating process, the suitability for glass fiber reinforced, and high-temperature plastics as well as complex component geometries. However, various degradation phenomena can occur during the heating process used for economic reasons, due to the presence of oxygen in the air and to the high gas temperatures. In addition, the current patent situation suggests that welding with an oxidizing gas is not permissible depending on the material. On the other hand, however, there is experience from extrusion welding, with which long-term resistant weld seams can be produced using air. Investigations have shown that the same weld seam properties can be achieved with polypropylene using either air or nitrogen as the process gas. Experimental investigations have now been carried out on the suitability of different gases with regard to the weld seam quality when welding polyamides, which are generally regarded as more prone to oxidation. The results show that weld strengths are higher when nitrogen is used as process gas. However, equal weld strengths can be achieved with air and nitrogen when the material contains heat stabilizers.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Angelo Solimini ◽  
F. Filipponi ◽  
D. Alunni Fegatelli ◽  
B. Caputo ◽  
C. M. De Marco ◽  
...  

AbstractEvidences of an association between air pollution and Covid-19 infections are mixed and inconclusive. We conducted an ecological analysis at regional scale of long-term exposure to air-borne particle matter and spread of Covid-19 cases during the first wave of epidemics. Global air pollution and climate data were calculated from satellite earth observation data assimilated into numerical models at 10 km resolution. Main outcome was defined as the cumulative number of cases of Covid-19 in the 14 days following the date when > 10 cumulative cases were reported. Negative binomial mixed effect models were applied to estimate the associations between the outcome and long-term exposure to air pollution at the regional level (PM10, PM2.5), after adjusting for relevant regional and country level covariates and spatial correlation. In total we collected 237,749 Covid-19 cases from 730 regions, 63 countries and 5 continents at May 30, 2020. A 10 μg/m3 increase of pollution level was associated with 8.1% (95% CI 5.4%, 10.5%) and 11.5% (95% CI 7.8%, 14.9%) increases in the number of cases in a 14 days window, for PM2.5 and PM10 respectively. We found an association between Covid-19 cases and air pollution suggestive of a possible causal link among particulate matter levels and incidence of COVID-19.


2021 ◽  
Vol 1756 ◽  
pp. 147334
Author(s):  
Charles Budaszewski Pinto ◽  
Natividade de Sá Couto-Pereira ◽  
Felipe Kawa Odorcyk ◽  
Kamila Cagliari Zenki ◽  
Carla Dalmaz ◽  
...  

1997 ◽  
Vol 07 (11) ◽  
pp. 2487-2499 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rabbijah Guder ◽  
Edwin Kreuzer

In order to predict the long term behavior of nonlinear dynamical systems the generalized cell mapping is an efficient and powerful method for numerical analysis. For this reason it is of interest to know under what circumstances dynamical quantities of the generalized cell mapping (like persistent groups, stationary densities, …) reflect the dynamics of the system (attractors, invariant measures, …). In this article we develop such connections between the generalized cell mapping theory and the theory of nonlinear dynamical systems. We prove that the generalized cell mapping is a discretization of the Frobenius–Perron operator. By applying the results obtained for the Frobenius–Perron operator to the generalized cell mapping we outline for some classes of transformations that the stationary densities of the generalized cell mapping converges to an invariant measure of the system. Furthermore, we discuss what kind of measures and attractors can be approximated by this method.


2014 ◽  
Vol 1036 ◽  
pp. 935-940
Author(s):  
Leonard Domnisoru ◽  
Ionica Rubanenco ◽  
Mihaela Amoraritei

This paper is focused on an enhanced integrated method for structural safety assessment of maritime ships under extreme random wave loads. In this study is considered an 1100 TEU container test ship, with speed range 0 to 18 knots. The most comprehensive criteria for ships structural safety evaluation over the whole exploitation life is based on the long term ship structures analysis, that includes: stress hot-spots evaluation by 3D/1D-FEM hull models, computation of short term ship dynamic response induced by irregular waves, long term fatigue structure assessment. The analysis is enhanced by taking into account the ships speed influence on hydroelastic response. The study includes a comparative analysis on two scenarios for the correlation between the ships speed and waves intensity. The standard constant ship speed scenario and CENTEC scenario, with total speed loss at extreme waves condition, are considered. Instead of 20 years ship exploitation life estimated by classification societies rules from the long term structural safety criteria, the enhanced method has predicted more restrictive values of 14.4-15.7 years. The numerical analyses are based on own software and user subroutines. The study made possible to have a more realistic approach of ships structural strength assessment, for elastic and faster ships as container carriers, in compare to the standard one based only on naval rules, delivering a method with higher confidence in the designed structural safety.


2007 ◽  
Vol 133 (9) ◽  
pp. 1307-1315 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Fragiacomo ◽  
R. M. Gutkowski ◽  
J. Balogh ◽  
R. S. Fast
Keyword(s):  

2010 ◽  
Vol 37 (4) ◽  
pp. 600-610 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vladan Kuzmanovic ◽  
Ljubodrag Savic ◽  
John Stefanakos

This paper presents two-dimensional (2D) and three-dimensional (3D) numerical models for unsteady phased thermal analysis of RCC dams. The time evolution of a thermal field has been modeled using the actual dam shape, RCC technology and the adequate description of material properties. Model calibration and verification has been done based on the field investigations of the Platanovryssi dam, the highest RCC dam in Europe. The results of a long-term thermal analysis, with actual initial and boundary conditions, have shown a good agreement with the observed temperatures. The influence of relevant parameters on the thermal field of RCC dams has been analyzed. It is concluded that the 2D model is appropriate for the thermal phased analysis, and that the boundary conditions and the mixture properties are the most influential on the RCC dam thermal behavior.


Author(s):  
Stefan Schmid ◽  
Rudi Kulenovic ◽  
Eckart Laurien

For the validation of empirical models to calculate leakage flow rates in through-wall cracks of piping, reliable experimental data are essential. In this context, the Leakage Flow (LF) test rig was built up at the IKE for measurements of leakage flow rates with reduced pressure (maximum 1 MPA) and temperature (maximum 170 °C) compared to real plant conditions. The design of the test rig enables experimental investigations of through-wall cracks with different geometries and orientations by means of circular blank sheets with integrated cracks which are installed in the tubular test section of the test rig. In the paper, the experimental LF set-up and used measurement techniques are explained in detail. Furthermore, first leakage flow measurement results for one through-wall crack geometry and different imposed fluid pressures at ambient temperature conditions are presented and discussed. As an additional aspect the experimental data are used for the determination of the flow resistance of the investigated leak channel. Finally, the experimental results are compared with numerical results of WinLeck calculations to prove specifically in WinLeck implemented numerical models.


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