Estimation of piping temperature fluctuations based on external strain measurements

Due to the difficulty to carry out measurements at the inner sides of nuclear reactor piping subjected to thermal transients, temperature and stress variations in the pipe walls are estimated by means of external thermocouples and strain-gauges. This inverse problem is solved by spectral analysis. Since the wall harmonic transfer function (response to a harmonic load) is known, the inner side signal will be obtained by convolution of the inverse transfer function of the system and of the strain measurement enables detection of internal temperature fluctuations in a frequency range beyond the scope of the thermocouples. (authors). 5 figs., 3 refs