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Division Spotlight
Materials Science & Technology
The objectives of MSTD are: promote the advancement of materials science in Nuclear Science Technology; support the multidisciplines which constitute it; encourage research by providing a forum for the presentation, exchange, and documentation of relevant information; promote the interaction and communication among its members; and recognize and reward its members for significant contributions to the field of materials science in nuclear technology.
Meeting Spotlight
International Conference on Mathematics and Computational Methods Applied to Nuclear Science and Engineering (M&C 2025)
April 27–30, 2025
Denver, CO|The Westin Denver Downtown
Standards Program
The Standards Committee is responsible for the development and maintenance of voluntary consensus standards that address the design, analysis, and operation of components, systems, and facilities related to the application of nuclear science and technology. Find out What’s New, check out the Standards Store, or Get Involved today!
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Latest News
Argonne’s METL gears up to test more sodium fast reactor components
Argonne National Laboratory has successfully swapped out an aging cold trap in the sodium test loop called METL (Mechanisms Engineering Test Loop), the Department of Energy announced April 23. The upgrade is the first of its kind in the United States in more than 30 years, according to the DOE, and will help test components and operations for the sodium-cooled fast reactors being developed now.
Eberhard Alstadt, Frank-Peter Weiss
Nuclear Technology | Volume 128 | Number 1 | October 1999 | Pages 46-57
Technical Paper | Thermal Hydraulics | doi.org/10.13182/NT99-A3013
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
A finite element model describing the mechanical vibrations of the whole WWER-440 primary circuit was established to support the early detection of mechanical component faults. A special fluid-structure module was developed to consider the reaction forces of the fluid in the downcomer upon the moving core barrel and the reactor pressure vessel (RPV). This fluid-structure interaction (FSI) module is based on an approximated analytical two-dimensional solution of the coupled system of three-dimensional fluid equations and the structural equations of motions. By means of the vibration model, all eigenfrequencies up to 30 Hz and the corresponding mode shapes were calculated. It is shown that the FSI strongly influences those modes that lead to a relative displacement between the RPV and the core barrel. Moreover, by means of the model, the shift of eigenfrequencies due to the degradation or to the failure of internal clamping and spring elements was investigated. Comparing the frequency spectra of the normal and the faulty structure, one could prove that recognizing such degradations and failures even inside the RPV is possible by pure ex-core vibration measurements.