ON DESIGN AND ANALYSIS OF FASTENER LOCKING TABS IN HIGHLY CHAOTIC FLOW OF PRIMARY SIDE OF STEAM GENERATOR

摘要

The primary side of steam generators has a divider plate which separates the heavy water entrance and exit of flow when entering in and out of the U-tubes of tubesheet. The divider plate has a series of plates which are connected by bolting. The bolted connections have positive locking device which prevents the connection from loosening in the highly vibrating turbulent flow conditions. These positive locking devices were failed by breaking into pieces at different occasions and a few cycle of design were completed to address this design failures. In the latest design modification a new design was proposed. The new design was applied to many steam generators. It has proven to be robust with respect to durability, strength and ease of installation. The new design has reduced outage time and activities. It is also reduces radiation exposure while improving conventional safety. The paper describes the design processes and addresses key design and analysis parameters. A Finite Element model was developed to facilitate assessment design calculation. Structural integrity of the newly design part was assessed against ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel codes. A flow-induced vibration was completed to address fluid-structure interactions.