This thesis presents the development process of a remotely-controlled module for plugging steam generator tubes by rolling at pressurized water reactor (PWR) nuclear power plants. The plugging module is intended for the INETEC Forerunner manipulator. In order to better understand the problem, first, the principles of nuclear power plant operation were explained and a general overview of the components given. The inspection of steam generator tubes and eddy current test methods were then described and the degradation mechanisms of steam generator tubes and the criteria for their plugging outlined. The Forerunner inspection system along with its respective extensions, a supersystem of the plugging module, was highlighted. The goals of the module development were defined and a questionnaire prepared. Based on this questionnaire, the requirements for the definition of the research task goals were listed. Next, the research on patents and the market was conducted, in which tube plugging solutions were presented. Based on the list of the requirements, a functional decomposition of the plugging module was performed, according to which a morphological matrix was created. Within this morphological matrix, possible solutions for the individual functions, that resulted from the functional decomposition, were proposed. In the conceptualization phase, three concepts were formulated. They were described in detail and evaluated for the purpose of an objective concept selection. Finally, Concept 2 was selected for further design elaboration. The components were chosen in accordance with the research conducted and the calculations made. The final solution was modelled in the Autodesk Inventor 2020 software package.
Mario Bumbak
2020
Master thesis
