After the Fukushima Daiichi Accident, the safety features such as accident tolerant fuel (ATF) and diverse and flexible coping strategies (FLEX) for existing nuclear fleets are being investigated by the US Department of Energy under the Light Water Reactor Sustainability Program. This research is being conducted to quantify the risk-benefit of these safety features. Dynamic probabilistic risk assessment (DPRA)-based response-surface approach has been presented to quantify the FLEX and ATF benefits by estimating the risk associated with each option. ATFs with multilayered silicon carbide (SiC), iron-chromium-aluminum, and chromium-coated zirconium cladding were considered in this study. While these ATF candidates perform better than the current zirconium cladding (Zr), they may introduce additional failure modes in some operating conditions. The fuel failure analysis modules (FAMs) were developed to investigate ATF performance. The dynamic risk assessments were performed using RAVEN, a DPRA tool, coupled with RELAP5 and FAMs. A cumulative distribution function-based index provided a mean of comparing the benefits of safety enhancements. For medium break loss of coolant accidents, FLEX operational timing window for each fuel type was estimated. Among these ATF candidates, SiC-type ATF was the most beneficial candidate for an increased safety margin than Zr-based fuel and was found to complement FLEX strategies in terms of risk and coping time.
This study investigated an adaptive control, fault diagnostics and prognostics of the anode voltage regulator system at an ion implantation accelerator. The system was modeled as a 4th order AutoRegressive with eXogenous (ARX) model, controlled by a Fuzzy Logic Controller (FLC). This model was then used as a basis for constructing and updating a fault diagnosis module and a failure prognostics module. To maintain the system’s performance, the controller’s response was continuously re-adjusted through an optimization scheme. A Failure Mode and Effect Analysis (FMEA) was conducted resulting on five failure modes of the regulator system. Fault data were generated in MATLAB simulation to train a random forest fault classification engine. The optimal random forest classifier was 20 decision trees with a fault diagnostics accuracy of 98.06%. A Hidden Markov Model (HMM) was constructed as the system’s fault progression model based on the interaction between environmental conditions and controller actions. The particle filter and Bayesian inference methods were then employed to continuously update the HMM and predict the system’s Remaining Useful Lifetime (RUL). The proposed methodology was able to integrate an adaptive fuzzy logic control, prognosis and failure diagnosis altogether allowing a continual satisfactory performance of the voltage regulator system throughout its lifetime.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.