Comparative Analysis On The Strength Calculation Methods Of Nuclear Level Valves

So far, there are already several methods used to calculate the strength of nuclear level valves in China. First of all, some laws and regulations should be obeyed when designing nuclear level valves, such as ASME and RCC-M, these laws and regulations also include methods to calculate the strength of nuclear level valves; then with the development of science and computer, it can be calculated using the theory of finite element. China does not have such laws and regulations as ASME and RCC-M in this field, and if China wants to realize the goal to product nuclear level valves by itself, these are obviously necessary.In this paper, the methods in ASME and RCC-M and the method using the theory of finite element was compared. Firstly, a nuclear level valve was used as an example to compare the methods in RCC-M and the method using the theory of finite element, the methods in ASME were similar to the methods in RCC-M. so it makes no significance to compare the methods in ASME and the method using the theory of finite element after this step; secondly the methods in ASME and the methods in RCC-M was compared through their formulations and steps.Compared to the methods in ASME and RCC-M, the method using the theory of finite element has larger workload and generally needs more time, the final result depends on the model and the quality of the mesh. For the methods in ASME and RCC-M. they have several similar formulations and simpler steps, but they can only give us the information in the areas people concerned, the final results depend on these formulations and data given in the laws and regulations.