Development of a drilling machine

for the instrumentation of thermocouple in a

fuel pellet
22 Aug. 2012

J.T. Hong, S.H. Ahn, H.Y. Jeong, C.Y. Joung

Neutron Utilization Technology Division, KAERI

Contents

Introduction of FTL facility in HANARO

Development of a new drilling machine

Drilling experiments (optimal condition)

Fabrication of a test fuel rod mockup

Establishment of HANARO and FTL

Feb.,
1995

Enhance research
equipments

March,
2009

Fuel Test Loop Facility (1/3)

Schematics of FTL

Fuel Test Loop Facility (2/3)

Fuel & material irradiation test under the same condition with
NPPs steady state operating condition
Applications
Integral Fuel Irradiation Tests
Fuel Qualification Tests
High Burn-up Fuel Tests
Water Chemistry and Corrosion Tests
Non-fissile Tests of Pressure Tube Material

In-Pile test Section

Out-of-Pile System(Room#1)

In-Pile Section
Out-of-Pile System(Room#2)

Out-Pile System

Design Pressure : 17.5 MPa

Design Temperature : 350

Fuel Test Loop Facility (3/3)

Loaded in IR-1 irradiation hole of HANARO
Doubly sealed pressure vessel
Max. available fuel pin: 3 pieces

Outlet Nozzle
IPS Head

Outer Pressure Vessel

Inner Pressure Vessel

Outlet
Nozzle

Flow Divider
Insulation Gas Gap
Intlet Nozzle
Test Fuel

Fuel Carrier Head

Inlet
Nozzle
Test Fuel

Fuel Carrier Leg

Test
Fuels

Flow Divider

Test Fuel Carrier Leg

Upward Flow Path

Downward Flow Path

Doubly sealed
Pressure vessel

A-A
Outer Pressure
Vessel

Inner Pressure
Vessel

Necessity of drilling a hole on a UO2 pellet

7
Section view of the fuel rod

Characteristics of sintered UO2 pellet

Thermocouple
LVDT

Al2O3

(1) Specification
- Diameter 8.190.01mm
- Height
9.83mm
(2) Material Characteristics
- Density
10.19g/cm3
- Hardness 700Hv (HRC 61)
- Yield stress 370MPa
(3) Hole drilling :
- Diameter 0.7~1.4mm (0.05)
- Depth
0~12mm (0.1)

Characteristics of sintered Al2O3

UO2

Al2O3

(1) Material Characteristics

- Purity
99.7%
- Density
3.92g/cm3
- Hardness 1480Hv
- Yield stress 172MPa

Decision of hole diameter

8
Diameter of thermocouple

Diameter
D

C-type

1.2mm

K-type

0.5mm

General tolerance for assembly including shrinkage during irradiation test : 0.2mm

Hole Dia. for C-type T/C

Hole Dia. for K-type T/C

1.40.05

0.70.05
9.6

8.192

14.1

Thermal analysis of a fuel rod

9
Compensation of temperature difference due to the hole in the fuel pellet
Modeling of fuel rod mockup

Result of thermal analysis

ABAQUS 6.11

FE Analysis

Axisymmetric

Initial condition

25

Boundary condition

305

Heat generation at
UO2 pellet

Thermocouple
Alumina

Analysis tool

He gas

789.056 mJ/secmm3

Distribution of temperature in the fuel rod

z

Clad

Temperature ()

UO2 pellet

T:120

0.7mm
(Hole radius) He

Clad
r (mm)

CL

Previous study of drilling machine

10

[Old study, 1999, Kim. et al, KAERI]

Feeding of drill bit
Drill tip

Horizontal
Flat type

(Electro-deposited diamond)

Drilling time

3 hours (net)

Change of drill bit

3 times/hole

Frequently change of drill bit due to the severe wear of drill tip during drilling process

Long working time

: Drilling time + Change drill bit + Adjust tool position

Spec out (1.400.05) due to large run out (61.5m)

: Diameter of the drill tip (1.4) Diameter of drilled hole (1.362 - 1.523)

Need to develop a new drilling machine

Selection of drill bit for UO2 pellet

Electro-deposited diamond drill bit

11

Diamond coated drill bit

Ewha diamond ltd.

GCT Co. ltd.

Electro-deposition part

Diamond coating (CVD)

118

Drill tip

Large cutting resistance, severe tool wear

Chips are trapped in the drilling hole
Tooling time per hole : 3hr (net)
Change of drill bit per hole : 3 (average)

Drill tip

Small cutting resistance, low tool wear

Self-remove chips

Module design of drilling machine

Drilling part

12

Circulation of coolant

Step motor

Cooling drilled part

Remove chips

High frequency
Spindle
Ball bearing
LM guide (2)
Chuck

Cutting oil
pump

micro
filter

Cutting oil
pump

XY table

Protection cover
Prevent chips from being scattered out in all over the machine
Gather the coolant to flow into the circulation tube
Protect human body from a broken drill bit

100

120

Design and implemented drilling machine

13

Assembly design of a drilling machine

step
motor

Step motor

control
panel
high freq.
spindle

Control panel

chuck
Chiller for spindle

XY table

spindle
Coolant hose
chuck
Housing flask

micro
filter

cutting oil
pump

Al2O3

XY table

cutting oil
chamber

Coolant tank

Picture of equipment

Vertical movement: LM guide (2), ball bearing (1)

Spindle position control: Step motor (unit 0.01mm)
Fix chuck on a X-Y table
Filter the circulated coolant with a micro-filter

Control variable: RPM, drilling depth, feed rate

step feed

Drilling Experiments with sintered Al2O3

14

Case study to find the optimal control variables

Feed rate : moving speed of spindle while drilling the workpiece
Step feed : drilling depth in each step
RPM (revolutions per minute) : rotational speed of drill bit

Experiment 1

- Drilling time with various feed rate and step feed

Experiment 2
- Limit of step feed according to the rotational speed
Experiment 3

- Maximum number of holes with a drill bit (tool life)

Result of Drilling Experiment 1

15

Influence of step feed and feed rate to the tooling time (at 18000 rpm)

Feed rate does not affect the tooling time

As the step feed increases, tooling time is drastically decreased
Step feed should be larger than 0.07mm/step
Drill 5pellets / fuel rod

Feed rate

1 working day
(8 hours = 480min.)
3mm/min

5mm/min

O
(165min.)
O
(101min.)
O
(74min.)
O
(58min.)
O
(48min.)
O
(45min.)
O
(42min.)

O
(163min.)
O
(99min.)
O
(72min.)
O
(57min.)
O
(47min.)
O
(43min.)
O
(40min.)

0.14 mm/step

X (broken)

X (broken)

0.15 mm/step

Step feed

0.02 mm/step
0.03 mm/step
0.05 mm/step
0.07 mm/step
0.09 mm/step

0.11 mm/step
0.12 mm/step
0.13 mm/step

96 min. / hole
(including waiting time)
7mm/min

9mm/min

O
(243min.)
O
(163min.)
O
(99min.)
O
(72min.)
O
(56min.)
O
(46min.)
O
(43min.)
O
(40min.)
O
(37min.)
X (broken)

O
(242min.)
O
(162min.)
O
(98min.)
O
(71min.)
O
(56min.)
O
(46min.)
O
(42min.)
O
(39min.)
X (broken)
-

Result of Drilling Experiment 1

16

Diameters of drilled holes on a sintered alumina (Al2O3) (at 18000 rpm)

No relation between step feed and feed rate
Step feed & feed rate do not affect the precision of drilled hole

0.11 mm/step

0.07 mm/step

3mm/min

0.13 mm/step

5mm/min

7mm/min

9mm/min

Result of Drilling Experiment 2

17

Limit of step feed according to rotational speed

Increase step feed by 0.01 until the drill bit is broken
Safe drilling is possible between 8000 rpm and 13000 rpm

Limit of step feed (mm/step)

Not enough cutting force

Feed rate : 5.0 mm/min

Safe drilling range

(rpm)
High friction due to lack
of coolant

Result of Drilling Experiment 2

18

Picture of drilling in each rotational speed

As rpm increases, the more coolant scatters out

8000 rpm

13000 rpm

Feed rate : 5.0 mm/min

18000 rpm

Drill bit scatters

out coolant

Result of Drilling Experiment 2

19

Diameters of drilled hole at various RPM and step feed

As the rotational speed increases, the precision of drilled hole increases
Feed rate : 5mm/min
0.05mm/step

0.07mm/step

0.09mm/step

8000 rpm

0.03mm/step

13000 rpm

Max. run out = 8 m

18000 rpm

Max. run out = 4.5 m

The spindle shows a good performance above 13000 rpm

Max. run out = 4 m

Summary of Experiment 1 & 2

Feed rate does not affect the tooling time

To drill off 5 fuel pellets in a day, step feed larger than 0.07 mm/step
Safe drilling is possible 8000 rpm - 13000 rpm at a high step feed
Above 13000 rpm, spindle shows a good performance (small run out)

Optimal drilling condition : 13000 rpm, 0.07 mm/step, 5 mm/min

20

Result of Drilling Experiment 3

21

Check the number of drilling holes with a drill bit

Test maximum available drilling holes with a single drill bit
At 8th hole, the neck of a drill bit is broken and stuck in the hole
(drill-1: broken at 8th hole, drill-2: broken at 20th hole)

Drill tip is stuck in the hole

5

Result of Drilling Experiment 3

22

Statistical analysis on the precision of drilled holes

Rotational speed : 13000 rpm
Hole dia.(mm)

ave.=1.413mm
=0.004mm

Number of hole

Design specification

1.40 0.05 mm

Diameter of drill bit

1.402 mm

Average diameter of drilled hole

1.413 mm

Standard deviation of hole diameter

0.004 mm

Max. run out

7m

Result of Drilling Experiment 3

23

Wear of a drill bit as the number of drilled holes increase

Wear is initiated from the lip of a drill tip
Drill bit shows severe wear after 6th hole

1st hole
1

4th hole
4

2nd hole
2

5th hole
5

3rd hole
3

6th hole
6

Result of Drilling Experiment 3

Peeling off of diamond coating layer results in brittle fracture of the drill bit
8

Diamond coating layer is peeled off

WC is exposed at the drill tip
Friction force is increased during
drilling process

Brittle fracture occurs at the neck of drill body

Need to inspect the drill bit at least after drilling 6 holes

24

Fabrication of a test fuel rod mockup

25

Preparation of components for a test fuel rod

Zircaloy Tube
compression
Ring

End Cap

Sintered
alumina

End Cap

Seal Tube
(SUS 316L)

Nut

Thermocouple

Guide
Sleeve

Assembly of the components by welding and mechanical joining

Spot welding system

Laser welding

Pin hole
spot welding

Fiber laser
welding system

Concluding Remarks

Development of a new drilling machine for a nuclear fuel

Case experiments in sintered Al2O3 blocks and find out the optimal
drilling condition

D A drill bit can drill off at least 7 holes in the sintered Al2O3 blocks

D Applied to the fabrication of a test fuel rod mockup

26

THANK YOU FOR YOUR

ATTENTION

Reference
Step feed : depth of drilling in each step

Difficult to drilling with a single step

Divide total drilling depth with n steps to minimize the damage to the drill bit

Initial position
1
2
n

Spindle

Coolant
hose

Drill bit
Fuel pellet

Feed rate : moving speed of spindle while drilling the workpiece

RPM (revolutions per minute) : rotational speed of drill bit