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Experimental Test Facility Framework for Nuclear Applications

Pietrykowski, Michael Curran
http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8710-8158
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1641474182619953

Abstract Details

2022, Doctor of Philosophy, Ohio State University, Nuclear Engineering.
Digital Instrumentation and Control systems are prominent in nuclear power plant systems both in existing power plants and in future plants based on next generation designs. In both cases, the use and integration of these systems requires extensive testing before installation to explore the effects of both the normal behavior and failure modes of new, digital systems. A framework for an experimental test facility geared towards nuclear engineering testing and applications was devised for this dissertation. Five experiments were designed to showcase the methods and procedures of this framework covering several categories: hardware-in-the-loop tests, hardware fault injection, software fault injection, computer network cyber security attacks and mitigation, component degradation, and real-time systems desiring the use of slower than real-time components. The results of the experiments are then used to define an Experimental Test Facility which is capable of a variety of nuclear energy experiments. The Framework defines a formal process of converting an ideal experiment into an equivalent experiment subject to real-world constraints and restrictions while still meeting the original test objectives. This is important for digital systems testing in nuclear applications because of the inherent implausibility of full scale and full scope testing and the safety and financial consequences of the final system deployment. The effects of specific constraints on an ideal experiment are identified and analyzed in order to inform future testing. A method, parallel simulation prediction (PSP), was devised to widen the scope of hardware-in-the-loop testing to include simulations that do not execute in real-time. The PSP coordinates multiple parallel future paths of a simulation which are executed ahead of when they are strictly needed by the system. When required, one of these paths is chosen and its outputs are used by the rest of the system. This unlocks a larger set of simulation codes which can be more detailed and precise to be used in hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) systems. The PSP method is verified by an experiment using the Framework, and subsequently added to the Test Facility. The contributions of this research include an Experimental Test Facility Framework which defines formal methods to design and evaluate real-world experiments, and the development of a method to expand the scope of HIL systems to include slower than real-time simulations. It also describes the capabilities of a versatile Experimental Test Facility capable of testing digital instrumentation and control systems in a nuclear power plant context.
Carol Smidts (Advisor)
Mark Weir (Other)
Marat Khafizov (Committee Member)
Tunc Aldemir (Committee Member)
300 p.
Nuclear Engineering
Digital Instrumentation and Control; Nuclear Engineering; Parallel Simulation; Predictive Execution; Test Framework; Test Facility;

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Pietrykowski, M. C. (2022). Experimental Test Facility Framework for Nuclear Applications [Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1641474182619953

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Pietrykowski, Michael. Experimental Test Facility Framework for Nuclear Applications. 2022. Ohio State University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1641474182619953.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Pietrykowski, Michael. "Experimental Test Facility Framework for Nuclear Applications." Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University, 2022. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1641474182619953

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

osu1641474182619953
27
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