Nuclear Core Finger Cutting Plate With Sealed Gas Containment
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing cutting devices for nuclear core components are complex, power-intensive, and pose contamination risks to the environment during operation, requiring improved efficiency and safety in cutting nuclear reactor components.
Innovation Solution
A cutting device with a rotatable cutting plate and adjustable sealing mechanism that includes multiple groups of cutting blades with varying angles, combined with a sealing system to contain and evacuate gases, allowing for efficient and controlled cutting of parallel fingers in a nuclear reactor core.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If a complex automatic cutting device with transfer means and multiple moving members is used, then cutting capability is achieved, but device complexity and power consumption increase
Solution Approach 1:
The cutting device is segmented into a stationary bearing plate with abutments and a rotatable cutting plate with cutting blades. This segmentation allows the complex cutting task to be divided into simpler rotational movements, reducing overall device complexity while maintaining cutting capability.
Solution Approach 2:
Multiple cutting blades are combined on a single rotatable cutting plate, allowing simultaneous or sequential cutting of multiple fingers in one rotational cycle. This merging reduces the number of separate moving members and simplifies the device structure.
2Productivity
If a complex automatic cutting device with transfer means is used, then cutting capability is achieved, but power consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The cutting process is segmented into a single rotational movement of the cutting plate rather than multiple complex transfer and positioning movements. This reduces the total energy required for actuation while maintaining cutting productivity.
Solution Approach 2:
The rotatable cutting plate performs the cutting action through its own rotation, eliminating the need for separate transfer means and multiple actuation systems. This self-service mechanism reduces power consumption by minimizing the number of active components.
3Ease of operation
If cutting is performed without sealing, then operational simplicity is maintained, but contamination of the environment occurs
Solution Approach 1:
The sealing function is extracted as a separate, simple component (sealing device with passages) that can be independently activated. This allows the sealing mechanism to be added without complicating the core cutting operation, maintaining ease of use while preventing contamination.
Solution Approach 2:
The sealing device creates a contained environment around the cutting zone, isolating the cutting process from the external environment. This prevents radioactive or contaminated materials from escaping during cutting while keeping the sealing mechanism simple and operable.
4Manufacturing precision
If multiple cutting operations are performed on each control rod, then complete cutting is achieved, but loss of time increases
Solution Approach 1:
Multiple cutting blades are merged on a single rotatable plate, enabling multiple cutting operations to be performed simultaneously or in continuous sequence during one rotational cycle. This eliminates the need for separate cutting operations, reducing total processing time while ensuring complete cutting.
Solution Approach 2:
The rotational movement of the cutting plate provides continuous cutting action across multiple fingers and multiple passes, eliminating idle time between operations. The cutting process maintains continuous useful action throughout the rotation, maximizing efficiency and reducing total cutting time.
Data Source
AI summary
A cutting device and method for cutting a plurality of parallel fingers of at least one core component in a plane orthogonal to the longitudinal axis of the fingers, the fingers being adapted to be introduced into the fuel assembly of a nuclear reactor core. The cutting device includes: a first bearing plate including a plurality of abutments respectively for a finger to be cut. The cutting device also includes a rotatable cutting plate including a corresponding cutting blade for each abutment in the first bearing plate, the rotatable cutting plate being rotatable about a rotating axis between a starting position and a final position in a circumferential direction, the first bearing plate and the cutting plate being parallel to each other, the cutting blades including a plurality of groups of cutting blades. For each group of cutting blades the angle between the cutting blades and the corresponding abutments is different to an angle between the cutting blades and the corresponding abutments of any other group of cutting blades.