Design of a heavy-duty manipulator for dismantling of a nuclear power plant

Some of the nuclear power plants in Korea have reached their end of life-cycle, and the importance of developing dismantling techniques has been emphasized. We designed a manipulator for decommissioning a reactor pressure vessel. We analyzed the work environment for disassembly and the workspace of the manipulator, and verified the validity of kinematic variables through a kinematic simulation. We verified through a dynamics simulation that each joint of the designed manipulator can be operated within the maximally allowed torque despite a load of 250 kg. Finally, we verified through the stress analysis that the manipulator is designed to secure at least two times higher safety factor.