Ultrasonic Evaluation Method for Mechanical Performance Degradation of Fluororubber Used in Nuclear Power Facility

Fluororubber sealing products are widely used in nuclear power equipment, and the degree of degradation of their mechanical properties directly affects the sealing performance, which in turn affects the overall safety of nuclear power units. In order to quantitatively evaluate the degradation of the...

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Main Authors: Lu Wu, Liwen Zhu, Tong Wu, Chengliang Zhang, Anyu Sun, Bingfeng Ju
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2025-04-01
Series:Applied Sciences
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Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/15/7/3903
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author Lu Wu
Liwen Zhu
Tong Wu
Chengliang Zhang
Anyu Sun
Bingfeng Ju
author_facet Lu Wu
Liwen Zhu
Tong Wu
Chengliang Zhang
Anyu Sun
Bingfeng Ju
author_sort Lu Wu
collection DOAJ
description Fluororubber sealing products are widely used in nuclear power equipment, and the degree of degradation of their mechanical properties directly affects the sealing performance, which in turn affects the overall safety of nuclear power units. In order to quantitatively evaluate the degradation of the mechanical properties of fluororubber, the theory of ultrasonic propagation in fluororubber was studied. A second-order generalized Maxwell viscoelastic model was constructed in a small strain scenario of high-frequency harmonic vibration to describe the correlation between the mechanical properties and acoustic parameters. A nondestructive evaluation method for mechanical performance degradation using ultrasonic waves based on the nonlinear fitting of the model parameters was proposed. A control experiment was designed using O-rings that had been in service and those that had not yet been used in nuclear power, and mechanical tensile tests and electron microscopy microscopic analyses were conducted. The results showed that the overall elastic modulus of the used sealing ring (2.97 ± 0.15 GPa) was significantly higher than that of the unused sealing ring (2.75 ± 0.22 GPa), consistent with the results of the mechanical tensile tests. However, the sound attenuation coefficient of the unused sealing ring was significantly higher than that of the used sealing ring. Therefore, the ultrasonic evaluation of the mechanical performance degradation of fluororubber based on the viscoelastic model is a nondestructive testing method with engineering application potential.
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spelling doaj-art-a70b26e4fe534c399ebeaff6a6b77ea42025-08-20T03:08:44ZengMDPI AGApplied Sciences2076-34172025-04-01157390310.3390/app15073903Ultrasonic Evaluation Method for Mechanical Performance Degradation of Fluororubber Used in Nuclear Power FacilityLu Wu0Liwen Zhu1Tong Wu2Chengliang Zhang3Anyu Sun4Bingfeng Ju5School of Mechanical Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027, ChinaSchool of Mechanical Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027, ChinaComputer Application Institute of Nuclear Industry, China National Nuclear Corporation, Beijing 100822, ChinaSchool of Mechanical Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027, ChinaSchool of Mechanical Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027, ChinaSchool of Mechanical Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027, ChinaFluororubber sealing products are widely used in nuclear power equipment, and the degree of degradation of their mechanical properties directly affects the sealing performance, which in turn affects the overall safety of nuclear power units. In order to quantitatively evaluate the degradation of the mechanical properties of fluororubber, the theory of ultrasonic propagation in fluororubber was studied. A second-order generalized Maxwell viscoelastic model was constructed in a small strain scenario of high-frequency harmonic vibration to describe the correlation between the mechanical properties and acoustic parameters. A nondestructive evaluation method for mechanical performance degradation using ultrasonic waves based on the nonlinear fitting of the model parameters was proposed. A control experiment was designed using O-rings that had been in service and those that had not yet been used in nuclear power, and mechanical tensile tests and electron microscopy microscopic analyses were conducted. The results showed that the overall elastic modulus of the used sealing ring (2.97 ± 0.15 GPa) was significantly higher than that of the unused sealing ring (2.75 ± 0.22 GPa), consistent with the results of the mechanical tensile tests. However, the sound attenuation coefficient of the unused sealing ring was significantly higher than that of the used sealing ring. Therefore, the ultrasonic evaluation of the mechanical performance degradation of fluororubber based on the viscoelastic model is a nondestructive testing method with engineering application potential.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/15/7/3903fluororubberdegradationviscoelastic modelultrasoundNDT
spellingShingle Lu Wu
Liwen Zhu
Tong Wu
Chengliang Zhang
Anyu Sun
Bingfeng Ju
Ultrasonic Evaluation Method for Mechanical Performance Degradation of Fluororubber Used in Nuclear Power Facility
Applied Sciences
fluororubber
degradation
viscoelastic model
ultrasound
NDT
title Ultrasonic Evaluation Method for Mechanical Performance Degradation of Fluororubber Used in Nuclear Power Facility
title_full Ultrasonic Evaluation Method for Mechanical Performance Degradation of Fluororubber Used in Nuclear Power Facility
title_fullStr Ultrasonic Evaluation Method for Mechanical Performance Degradation of Fluororubber Used in Nuclear Power Facility
title_full_unstemmed Ultrasonic Evaluation Method for Mechanical Performance Degradation of Fluororubber Used in Nuclear Power Facility
title_short Ultrasonic Evaluation Method for Mechanical Performance Degradation of Fluororubber Used in Nuclear Power Facility
title_sort ultrasonic evaluation method for mechanical performance degradation of fluororubber used in nuclear power facility
topic fluororubber
degradation
viscoelastic model
ultrasound
NDT
url https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/15/7/3903
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AT tongwu ultrasonicevaluationmethodformechanicalperformancedegradationoffluororubberusedinnuclearpowerfacility
AT chengliangzhang ultrasonicevaluationmethodformechanicalperformancedegradationoffluororubberusedinnuclearpowerfacility
AT anyusun ultrasonicevaluationmethodformechanicalperformancedegradationoffluororubberusedinnuclearpowerfacility
AT bingfengju ultrasonicevaluationmethodformechanicalperformancedegradationoffluororubberusedinnuclearpowerfacility