Search

Most of the corrosive degradations in steam generator tubes of nuclear power plants are closely related to the residual stress existing in the local region of a geometric change, that is, an expansion transition, u-bend, ding, dent, bulge, etc. Therefore, accurate information on a geometric anomaly in a tube is a prerequisite to the activity of a non destructive inspection for a precise and earlier detection of a defect in order to prevent a failure during an operation, and also for a root cause analysis of a failure. In this paper, a newly developed eddy current technique of a three-dimensional profilometry is introduced and the proof for the applicability of the technique to a plant inspection is provided. The quantitative profile measurement using a new eddy current probe was performed on steam generator expansion mock-up tubes with various geometric anomalies typically observed in the operating power plants, and the accuracy of the measured data was compared with those from the laser profilometry.

Wear damage of steam generator tubes for nuclear power plants can cause the leakage of radioactive substances. Therefore, the evaluation of integrity and safety for tubes is very important from the viewpoint of nuclear ecocide. In the present study, to investigate the wear properties of Inconel 600 and 690 steam generator tube materials mated with 409 stainless steel commonly used as support plate, sliding wear tests were performed with increasing sliding distance in air and in elevated temperature water environment, respectively. The wear volume of tube materials was less than those of supports under all conditions. There were no significant differences in the wear behavior for the Inconel 600 and 690 tubes, independently of the testing environment.

Through-wall axial cracks occurred by primary water stress corrosion are one of the serious defects in steam generator (SG) tubes (made of alloy 600) in pressurized water reactors. Therefore, it is necessary to detect and size them by eddy current testing (ECT) conducted during in-service inspection of SG tubes. To address this issue, it has been recently proposed an effective method, namely „M-shape profile“ approach, which relies on the difference in the amplitude between the pancake and plus point coils in a MRPC probe. Even though the M-shape curve approach is straightforward in principle, it requires time-consuming data processing if performed by human operators. In order to get rid of this tedious task, an automated system is developed in the present work. This paper addresses the principle of the M-shape approach together with the automated system and its performances for the detection of natural axial cracks in SG tubes. The results observed in the present work demonstrate the high potential of the developed system as a very promising tool for detecting through-wall cracks in many practical field applications.

Wear damage of steam generator tubes of nuclear power plants can cause leakage of radioactive substances. So the evaluation of tubes’ integrity is very important from the viewpoint of nuclear ecocide. In the present study, sliding wear behaviors of Inconel 600 and 690 steam generator tube materials mated with 409 stainless steel commonly used as the support plate were investigated at room temperature in an air environment. For more precise prediction of wear behaviors of steam generator tubes, Archard equation was modified, and the modified wear coefficients were estimated as a function of sliding distance. When using the modified Archard equation, the reliabilities for prediction of wear behavior of Inconel 600 and 690 mated with 409 stainless steel increased from 71.8% to 83.8% and from 60.2% to 85.2%, respectively.