The stress measurement system for the JUNO Central Detector acrylic panels

The Jiangmen Underground Neutrino Observatory (JUNO) Central Detector (CD) is a huge acrylic spherical vessel containing 20,000 tons of liquid scintillator; the sphere is composed of 263 pieces of acrylic spherical panels bonded by the mass polymerization. The operation life time of the JUNO CD is 20 years. To ensure the structural safety during the JUNO CD life time, the acrylic stress of CD is required not to be greater than 3.5 MPa. The stresses of acrylic spherical panels are required to be measured during the installation on-site; unfortunately there is no suitable commercial measurement equipment that can meet JUNO's requirements. Therefore, a measurement setup based on photo-elastic principle and spectrometric methods was designed, developed and tested for on-site measurements. The measurement system performs accurate calibration of stress-optical coefficient of acrylic in JUNO, and gives reliable results of acrylic stresses. The measurement system has been tested in the Taixing Donchamp Acrylic Ltd mechanical workshop, and the achieved results meet the JUNO's requirements. The measurement principle, the system components, and the tooling design are introduced in the paper. Moreover, the calibration of stress-optical coefficient of the acrylic and measurements results on JUNO acrylic spherical panels are discussed in the following.

Thermoelastic Analysis of Pressurized Hollow Spherical Vessels with Arbitrary Radial Non-Homogeneity

In this study, a general analysis of one dimensional steady-state thermal stresses of a functionally graded hollow spherical vessel with spherical isotropy and spherically transversely isotropy is presented with material properties of arbitrary radial non-homogeneity. The material properties may arbitrarily vary as continuous or piecewise functions. The boundary value problem associated with a thermo-elastic problem is converted to an integral equation. Radial and tangential thermal stress components distribution can be determined numerically by solving the resulting equation. The influence of the gradient variation of the material properties on the thermal stresses is investigated and the numerical results are presented graphically.

Laminar Burning Velocities of Hydrogen-Blended Methane–Air and Natural Gas–Air Mixtures, Calculated from the Early Stage of p(t) Records in a Spherical Vessel

The flammable hydrogen-blended methane–air and natural gas–air mixtures raise specific safety and environmental issues in the industry and transportation; therefore, their explosion characteristics such as the explosion limits, explosion pressures, and rates of pressure rise have significant importance from a safety point of view. At the same time, the laminar burning velocities are the most useful parameters for practical applications and in basic studies for the validation of reaction mechanisms and modeling turbulent combustion. In the present study, an experimental and numerical study of the effect of hydrogen addition on the laminar burning velocity (LBV) of methane–air and natural gas–air mixtures was conducted, using mixtures with equivalence ratios within 0.90 and 1.30 and various hydrogen fractions rH within 0.0 and 0.5. The experiments were performed in a 14 L spherical vessel with central ignition at ambient initial conditions. The LBVs were calculated from p(t) data, determined in accordance with EN 15967, by using only the early stage of flame propagation. The results show that hydrogen addition determines an increase in LBV for all examined binary flammable mixtures. The LBV variation versus the fraction of added hydrogen, rH, follows a linear trend only at moderate hydrogen fractions. The further increase in rH results in a stronger variation in LBV, as shown by both experimental and computed LBVs. Hydrogen addition significantly changes the thermal diffusivity of flammable CH4–air or NG–air mixtures, the rate of heat release, and the concentration of active radical species in the flame front and contribute, thus, to LBV variation.

A Proposed Methodology for ECV Fitness-for-Service Evaluation

A methodology of fitness-for-service evaluation (FFSE) for explosive containment vessels (ECVs) is introduced that utilizes change-in-thickness measurements pre- and post-test to determine the propensity of the structure to ratchet or to shake down. The method focuses on ductile failure and complements previously developed brittle failure methodologies associated with fatigue-fracture of flaws introduced during manufacture or subsequent service. The methodology is illustrated using measured thickness changes on a spherical vessel and is intended to eliminate or diminish the need for detailed, challenging finite element calculations of ratcheting and shakedown. An example is presented, based upon measured thickness changes in an explosively loaded containment vessel. Current limitations of the procedure are discussed. Applicable consensus code requirements and issues with the numerical modeling of ratcheting are briefly presented.

Influence of Explosion Chamber Shape on Timing Parameters of Disperser

A standardized device with a volume of 1 m3 or 20 L is used to determine explosion parameters. An explosion chamber where explosion takes place is of a spherical or cylindrical shape that suits the shape of a cubic container. In the case of a cylindrical vessel, the diameter and depth of the vessel are 1: 1. In this case, it is a spherical vessel with a volume of 365 liters. Time parameters of the disperser in the spherical vessel are compared with those of a truncated spherical vessel with a volume of 291 liters. Comparison of the measurement results showed that the optimal delay time of the explosion chamber with a volume of 291 liters is 290 ms, while the delay time of the explosion chamber with a volume of 365 liters is 350 ms.

Propagation of CH4-N2O-N2 Flames in a Closed Spherical Vessel

Flammable fuel-N2O mixtures raise safety and environmental protection issues in areas where these mixtures are used (such as: industry, research, internal combustion engines). Therefore, it is important to know their laminar combustion velocities and propagation speeds—important safety parameters for design of active protection devices against gas explosions and corresponding safety recommendations. In this paper, the laminar combustion velocities of N2-diluted CH4-N2O flames, obtained in experiments on outwardly propagating flames, at various initial pressures (within 0.5–2.0 bar) and room temperature, are reported. The experiments were made in a 0.5 L spherical cell with central ignition. The laminar combustion velocities were calculated from the constants of cubic law of flame propagation during the early stage of closed cell explosions and the expansion coefficients of unburned flammable mixtures, using the adiabatic model of the flame propagation. The expansion coefficients were determined from equilibrium calculations on flames propagating under isobaric conditions. The laminar combustion velocities were compared with data reported in the literature. Using the laminar combustion velocities and the expansion coefficients, the propagation speeds of N2-diluted CH4-N2O flames were calculated. Both laminar combustion velocities and propagation speeds decrease with the initial pressure increase.

Structural Design and Tensile Experiment of Connection Node between acrylic and Stainless Steel

Acrylic are widely used as load-bearing structural parts. In this study, the structural design, finite element analysis (FEA) and tensile experiment of the connection node of the acrylic spherical vessel designed for Jiangmen Underground Neutrino Observation (JUNO) are carried out. The acrylic connection node needs to withstand a tensile load of 90 kN for 20 years, and its ultimate bearing capacity is required to be 6 times the working load. Under working load, the stress of the acrylic structure should be less than 3.5 MPa. In the study, a connection node connecting acrylic and stainless steel is designed. By embedding the steel ring in the acrylic structure to connect with the support rod, the acrylic connection node can withstand high loads. A 1/4 symmetric model of connection node is established, and the FEA method is used to solve nonlinear problems such as material nonlinearity and frictional contact. The results of FEA show that the maximum principle stress of the connection node is about 2.92 MPa. By comparing the stress of the FEA results with the experimental results, the relative difference is 7.24 %, indicating that the FEA results are credible. The experiment results also show that the ultimate tensile load of the connection node can reach 1000 kN, which is about 11 times the working load. The breakdown of the connection node occurs at the sharp corner of the groove instead of the maximum stress point. Through the design, simulation and experiment of the connection node, for the brittle materials such as acrylic, the structure should avoid the defects such as sharp corner.