Vrije Universiteit Brussel’s (VUB) – Brussels Photonics (B-PHOT) have developed a measurement system relying on FBGS’s draw-tower gratings (DTG®) in combination with the FBG-Scan 808D, to monitor a fuel assembly mock-up for the future MYRRHA large multipurpose irradiation facility.
In collaboration with the Belgian Nuclear Research Centre (SCK•CEN), B-PHOT has demonstrated how DTG® sensors can be applied to obtain fuel pin vibration characteristics that are important to assess potential failure modes related to mechanical wear, such as fretting or mechanical fatigue. This work was partially supported by the Research and Innovation Action MYRTE ‘MYRRHA Research and Transmutation Endeavour’, co-funded by the European Union H2020 program under grant agreement No 662186. More information can be found here.
