PREDICTION OF CHECK VALVE PERFORMANCE & DEGRADATION IN NUCLEAR POWER PLANT SYSTEMS

THIS PROJECT IS AIMED AT DEVELOPING TECHNIQUES FOR PREDICTING CHECK VALVE PERFORMANCE AND ITS INTERNAL COMPONENTS DEGRADATION IN PRACTICAL PIPING SYSTEMS USED IN NUCLEAR POWER PLANTS. THE MAIN FOCUS OF THE EFFORT IS TO SYSTEMATICALLY EVALUATE THE EFFECT OF UPSTREAM DISTURBANCES WHICH ARE WITHIN 10 DIAMETERS UPSTREAM. BY USING A COMBINED THEORETICAL AND EXPERIMENTAL APPROACH, GENERALIZED NONDIMENSIONAL PARAMETERS WILL BE DEVELOPED WHICH WILL FACILITATE THEIR APPLICATION TO PRACTICAL PIPING SYSTEMS. DISC STABILITY AND ITS MOTION UNDER UNSTABLE CONDITIONS WILLBE A MAJOR FACTOR OF EVALUATION WHICH WILL BE USED TO ESTABLISH WEAR AND FATIGUE DEGRADATION TRENDS. THE SUCCESSFUL COMPLETION OF THIS PROJECT WILL HELP ELIMINATE MOST OF THE FAILURES WHICH HAVE BECOME A MAJOR CAUSE FOR CONCERN. MAINTENANCE AND INSPECTION FREQUENCY, TO AVOID UNACCEPTABLE DEGRADATION, WILL ALSO BE QUANTITATIVELY PREDICTED AS A RESULT OF THIS PROJECT.