Fretting wear test in room temperature air was performed to evaluate the wear mechanism of fuel rod using a fretting wear tester, which has been developed for experimental study. The main focus was to compare the wear behaviors of fuel rod against sup...
Fretting wear test in room temperature air was performed to evaluate the wear mechanism of fuel rod using a fretting wear tester, which has been developed for experimental study. The main focus was to compare the wear behaviors of fuel rod against support springs at different contact geometries (i.e. concave and convex) and slip directions (axial and transverse). The wear on the tube was examined by the surface roughness tester, which measures the volume. The result indicated that with change of contact geometry from 5N of normal load to 1.1㎜ gap, wear volume of tube increased in the condition of concave spring, but slowly decreased in convex spring. From the results of SEM observation, wear mechanism of each test condition was also depend on the above contact parameters. The wear mechanism of each test condition in room temperature air is discussed.