General Electric Company

Donald F Butzin

Harold B King

George W Tunnell

William B Gaylord, Jr

Robert K Williams

Frederick C Schoenig, Jr

William C Peters

Edward W Meeka

Edgar E Salvo, Jr

To measure the spring constants of double-acting, fuel rod-centering springs assembled with different pairs of ferrules in a nuclear fuel bundle spacer, a gauge is provided to include an alignment rod and a probe carried by a handle for insertions into the ferrules of a ferrule pair. The alignment rod loads the side of the spring acting in its ferrule, while the other spring side exerts its fuel rod-centering force on a load cell carried by the probe. A micrometer acts against the load cell to produce measured deflections of the other spring side. Spring constants are calculated from electrical readouts of spring force and spring deflection from the load cell and micrometer.

Nuclear fuel bundle spacer spring constant gauge

To measure fuel rod-centering forces exerted by double-acting springs assembled with different pairs of ferrules in a nuclear fuel bundle spacer, a gauge is provided to include an alignment rod and a probe carried by a handle for insertions into the ferrules of a ferrule pair. The alignment rod loads the side of the spring acting in its ferrule, while the other spring side exerts its fuel rod-centering force on a plunger mounted in the probe. The plunger is mechanically linked to a load cell which provides an electrical readout of the spring force.

Nuclear fuel bundle spacer spring force gauge

Disclosed is a device for measuring dimensional characteristics of an elongate component which comprises:

Device for dimensionally characterizing elongate components

To measure the gaps between fuel rods in a fuel assembly, a feeler gauge is provided with a pair of resilient arms having elongated electrical resistance strips carried by their confronting surfaces and extending from terminations adjacent the free ends of the arms through a contact point of electrical inter-engagement. The strip terminations are wired into a metering circuit including a current source and an ammeter. When the arm free ends are positioned in a rod gap, the position of the contact point relative to the strip terminations determines the magnitude of resistance included in the metering circuit, and the meter registers the gap dimension.

Dimension measuring device

To measure the dimensional characteristics of elongated flow channels for nuclear fuel rod assemblies at the manufacturing site, an upender is utilized to swing a flow channel from a horizontal loading orientation to an upright pre-measurement position and then to shift the flow channel laterally into a measurement position where it is engaged and held by reciprocatingly mounted upper and lower endplugs while its dimensional characteristics are acquired by a measurement carrige mounted for vertical scanning movement along the entire flow channel length.

Growing community of inventors

Wilmington, NC, United States of America

Donald F Butzin