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Numerical Simulations on the Laser Spot Welding of Zirconium Alloy Endplate for Nuclear Fuel Bundle Assembly

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Abstract

In the nuclear industry, a critical welding process is joining of an end plate to a fuel rod to form a fuel bundle. Literature on zirconium welding in such a critical operation is limited. A CFD model is developed and performed for the three-dimensional non-linear thermo-fluid analysis incorporating buoyancy and Marnangoni stress and specifying temperature dependent properties to predict weld geometry and temperature field in and around the melt pool of laser spot during welding of a zirconium alloy E110 endplate with a fuel rod. Using this method, it is possible to estimate the weld pool dimensions for the specified laser power and laser-on-time. The temperature profiles will estimate the HAZ and microstructure. The adequacy of generic nature of the model is validated with existing experimental data.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the reviewers for their valuable suggestions to improve the clarity of presentation.

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  1. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Koneru Lakshmaiah Education Foundation, Green Fields, Vaddeswaram, Guntur, 522 502, India

    G. Satyanarayana, K. L. Narayana & Nageswara Rao Boggarapu

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  1. G. Satyanarayana
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Correspondence to Nageswara Rao Boggarapu.

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Satyanarayana, G., Narayana, K.L. & Boggarapu, N.R. Numerical Simulations on the Laser Spot Welding of Zirconium Alloy Endplate for Nuclear Fuel Bundle Assembly. Lasers Manuf. Mater. Process. 5, 53–70 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40516-018-0053-7

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