This study was carried out to establish EB welding process for the plate-type fuel assembly fabrication.
A preliminary investigation for the structural soundness of EB welded specimens by AA6061-T6 aluminum alloy plate was conducted with the impact strength test using fixing bar and side plate of plate-type fuel assembly. The optimum welding parameters for the joint which have fixing bar and side plate of the plate-type fuel assembly were obtained in terms of the accelerating voltage, beam current and welding time. The welds made by EB method showed approximately 57.3J energy of impact strength using fixing bar and side plate of plate-type fuel assembly. Therefore the integrity of the welds by EB welding process was confirmed by the results of impact test and an examination of the macro-cross sections of the welded specimens.