Development of Short Stroke Shearing Technology for FBR Fuel Pins

The short stroke shearing tests with simulated fuel pin bundle were carried out in engineering scale. The shearing device was designed to handle the simulated Monju (FBR prototype reactor) type fuel pin bundle. Monju type and Commercial reactor type simulated fuel pins were used for the test. The length of sheared pin and the opening ratio of sheared section were measured under several shearing settings such as the pressure to hold pin bundle, the shearing speed and the filling-ratio of pins in the pin magazine. Both types of fuel pin were able to be sheared accurately at the length of about 10mm, and the opening ratio of sheared section was not significantly reduced. As the results, fundamental data of the short stroke shearing characteristics were obtained and that shearing method was confirmed to be promising with the reliable shearing device.