Additive Manufacturing Process Design For Thimble Plug Assembly

The thimble plug assembly is a kind of associated core components in pressurized water reactor (PWR) nuclear power plants, and the existing mature process is manufactured by machining parts and assembly welding. However, the traditional subtractive manufacturing process requires a variety of profiles of different specifications to be customized for processing different parts, and the raw material preparation cycle is long, which is not conducive to the rapid manufacturing and research and development of prototype products. In order to adapt to the development trend of advanced nuclear fuel manufacturing technology at home and abroad and the demand for localization of raw materials, CNNC Jianzhong Nuclear Fuel Co., Ltd. (CJNF) has carried out a series of alternative studies on additive manufacturing process for the thimble plug assembly. This paper introduces the latest research progress of CJNF on additive manufacturing of thimble plug assembly from the perspectives of additive manufacturing structure design, 3D model and selective laser melting (SLM) process design, and molding size optimization design, and welding process. The research results are of great significance to improve the manufacturing technology level of domestically associated core components.