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Nuclear Energy Conference & Expo (NECX)
September 8–11, 2025
Atlanta, GA|Atlanta Marriott Marquis
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Remembering ANS member Gil Brown
Brown
The nuclear community is mourning the loss of Gilbert Brown, who passed away on July 11 at the age of 77 following a battle with cancer.
Brown, an American Nuclear Society Fellow and an ANS member for nearly 50 years, joined the faculty at Lowell Technological Institute—now the University of Massachusetts–Lowell—in 1973 and remained there for the rest of his career. He eventually became director of the UMass Lowell nuclear engineering program. After his retirement, he remained an emeritus professor at the university.
Sukesh Aghara, chair of the Nuclear Engineering Department Heads Organization, noted in an email to NEDHO members and others that “Gil was a relentless advocate for nuclear energy and a deeply respected member of our professional community. He was also a kind and generous friend—and one of the reasons I ended up at UMass Lowell. He served the university with great dedication. . . . Within NEDHO, Gil was a steady presence and served for many years as our treasurer. His contributions to nuclear engineering education and to this community will be dearly missed.”
Lingyan Zhao, Bin Yang, Yuchun Sun
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 199 | Number 9 | September 2025 | Pages 1512-1527
Research Article | doi.org/10.1080/00295639.2025.2456369
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The accurate evaluation of structural integrity necessitates considering the influence of crack-tip constraints and selecting laboratory test specimens that accurately represent the actual welded structure. In this paper, a constraint parameter Dp covering in-plane constraint and out-of-plane constraint is defined based on the equivalent plastic strain gradient at the adjacent zone of the crack front. The USDFLD (user-defined field) subroutine is employed to correlate the mechanical property parameters of the continuous transition with the geometry of the dissimilar metal-welded joint (DMWJ). The submodel technique is used to study the crack-tip constraint of a typical DMWJ under complex loading conditions. The crack-tip constraints of DMWJs are quantitatively characterized. A comparison and analysis are carried out to determine the suitable test specimens for the DMWJs with various crack lengths and locations.
The results show that the cracks located at the center of the specimens are more likely to propagate than surface cracks. The interface of SA508/52Mb is the most dangerous position in DMWJs. The constraint levels of SA508/52Mb cracks match those of the center-cracked tension [CC(T)] specimens with smaller width and thickness. Overly conservative estimation results will be produced if compact tension [C(T)] and single-edge notched bend [SEN(B)] specimens with larger width and thickness are adopted to evaluate the stress corrosion cracking behavior of SA508/52Mb cracks.
The constraint levels of 52Mb/52Mw cracks match those of the CC(T) and SEN(B) specimens with smaller width and thickness. The 52Mw/316L cracks match the C(T) specimens with larger width and thickness. Nonconservative results will be produced when the CC(T) and SEN(B) specimens are adopted to evaluate 52Mw/316L cracks.
This study provides a more accurate method for the structural integrity assessment of DMWJs that can help improve the safety and reliability of critical engineering welded structures such as nuclear power plants.
