This study has been made in an attempt to find the structural integrity of the Chashma Nuclear power plant-1 FA skeleton at room temperature. The finite element (FE) analysis has been performed using ANSYS, in orderto determinethe elongationofthe FAskeleton as wellas the locationofmax. stress and stresses developedin axial direction under tensile load of 9800 N or 2 g being the FA handling or lifting load [Y. Zhang et al., Fuel Assembly Design Report, SNERDI, China, 1994]. | Structural integrity assessment and stress measurement of chasnupp-1 fuel assembly skeleton under tensile loading condition EPJ Nuclear Sci. Technol. 3 37 2017 Nuclear Sciences Waseem et al. published by EDP Sciences 2017 amp Technologies DOI epjn 2017032 Available online at https REGULAR ARTICLE Structural integrity assessment and stress measurement of chasnupp-1 fuel assembly skeleton under tensile loading condition Waseem Ashfaq Ahmad Siddiqui Ghulam Murtaza and Abu Baker Maqbool Directorate General Nuclear Power Fuel Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission PO Box No. 1847 Islamabad Pakistan Received 29 November 2016 Received in final form 24 May 2017 Accepted 15 November 2017 Abstract. Fuel assembly FA structure without fuel rods is called FA skeleton which is a long and flexible structure. This study has been made in an attempt to find the structural integrity of the Chashma Nuclear power plant-1 FA skeleton at room temperature. The finite element FE analysis has been performed using ANSYS in order to determine the elongation of the FA skeleton as well as the location of max. stress and stresses developed in axial direction under tensile load of 9800 N or 2 g being the FA handling or lifting load Y. Zhang et al. Fuel Assembly Design Report SNERDI China 1994 . The FE model of grids guide thimbles with dash-pots and flow holes has been developed using Shell 181. It has been observed that FA skeleton elongation values obtained through FE analysis and experiment are comparable and show linear behaviors. Moreover the values of stresses obtained at different locations of the guide thimbles are also comparable with the stress values of the experiment determined at the same locations through strain gauges. Therefore validation of the FE methodology is confirmed. The values of stresses are less than the design limit of the materials used for the grid and the guide thimble. Therefore the structural integrity criterion of CHASNUPP-1 FA skeleton is fulfilled .
