Grant: Collaborative Research and Development Grants

This proposal is aimed at an in-depth investigation, development, and the use of digital twins in the context of nuclear power plant (NPP) systems structures and components (SCCs) asset management. The main objectives of this proposal are to: (i) develop a suitable system architecture for digital twins for key NPP assets, including the requisite software and hardware framework for collecting and fusing information; and, (ii) develop a decision support system based on current and emerging uses for digital twins in NPP SSCs. In pursuit of these objectives we will start with a comprehensive data collection phase, where the central relationships between key assets, systems and processes within the SSCs will be defined. Following this, a comprehensive risk analysis and value-of-information study will be carried out to prioritize which SSCs warrant a digital twin and what information should be included in such a virtual representation. This activity will be followed by an in-depth study to fuse sensory information into the digital twin representation, which will act as a node between raw information sources and asset decision support tools. Finally, a framework to enrich digital twins with the use of mechanistic and physics based models will be developed. This will involve the development of algorithms to directly fuse sensory information into mechanistic models (e.g., finite-element), update such models periodically using inspection information (to facilitate condition assessment and degradation model development) and computationally efficient re-analysis techniques. The proposed work will directly support the optimization of asset management activities for our industry partner throughout its life cycle, while maintaining a high level of safety and reliability required in NPP SSCs. In addition, such digital twins will ultimately complement the ~ $700M investment by our industry partner in mock-up facilities, while also ensuring effective risk management, public accountability, asset management, and planning. Ultimately, this project will impart high-quality inter-disciplinary training and skills to several post-graduate students and will prepare them for the next-generation jobs in asset management