Design and motion performance of new inspection robot for Steam Generator heat transfer tubes

Abstract

The reliability of the Steam Generator is a key factor affecting the overall efficiency and safety of nuclear power plant reactors. Under the influence of nuclear radiation, remote control robots are currently used for Steam Generator heat transfer tubes inspection. In this paper, a new inspection robot is designed with better structure and higher working efficiency. Structural modeling and kinematic analysis are carried out. A modular control system is designed and applied for system integration. To verify the practicality of the robot, tube sheet motion experiments and performance analysis are undertaken. It results that the proposed inspection robot efficiently moves on the tube sheet and has excellent motion performance.