Coupled hydro-thermo-mechanical modeling of hydraulic fracturing in quasi-brittle rocks using BPM-DEM

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ingrid Tomac

2017-02-01

Full Text Available This paper presents an improved understanding of coupled hydro-thermo-mechanical (HTM hydraulic fracturing of quasi-brittle rock using the bonded particle model (BPM within the discrete element method (DEM. BPM has been recently extended by the authors to account for coupled convective–conductive heat flow and transport, and to enable full hydro-thermal fluid–solid coupled modeling. The application of the work is on enhanced geothermal systems (EGSs, and hydraulic fracturing of hot dry rock (HDR is studied in terms of the impact of temperature difference between rock and a flowing fracturing fluid. Micro-mechanical investigation of temperature and fracturing fluid effects on hydraulic fracturing damage in rocks is presented. It was found that fracture is shorter with pronounced secondary microcracking along the main fracture for the case when the convective–conductive thermal heat exchange is considered. First, the convection heat exchange during low-viscosity fluid infiltration in permeable rock around the wellbore causes significant rock cooling, where a finger-like fluid infiltration was observed. Second, fluid infiltration inhibits pressure rise during pumping and delays fracture initiation and propagation. Additionally, thermal damage occurs in the whole area around the wellbore due to rock cooling and cold fluid infiltration. The size of a damaged area around the wellbore increases with decreasing fluid dynamic viscosity. Fluid and rock compressibility ratio was found to have significant effect on the fracture propagation velocity.

Assessment of TRAC-PD2 reflood core thermo-hydraulic model by CCTF Test C1-16

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sugimoto, Jun

1982-11-01

The TRAC-PD2 reflood core thermo-hydraulic model was assessed by CCTF Test C1-16. The measured data were utilized as core boundary conditions in the TRAC calculations. The results indicate that the core inlet liquid temperature and the core heater rod temperatures are in reasonable agreement with data, but the pressure distribution in the core and water pool formation in the upper plenum are not in good agreement. The parametric effects of the droplet critical Weber number, the material properties of the heater rod, the noding of the upper plenum, and the minimum stable film boiling temperature are also discussed. (author)

Thermo-hydraulic characteristics of ship propulsion reactor in the conditions of ship motions and safety assessment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kobayashi, Michiyuki; Aya, Izuo; Inasaka, Fujio; Murata, Hiroyuki; Odano, Naoteru; Shiozaki, Koki

1998-01-01

A research project from 1995-1999 had a plan to make experimental studies on (1) safety of nuclear ship loaded with an integral ship propulsion reactor (2) effects of pulsating flow on the thermo-hydraulic characteristics of ship propulsion reactor and (3) thermo-hydraulic behaviors of the reactor container at the time of accident in a passively safe ship propulsion reactor. Development of a data base for ship propulsion reactor was attempted using previous experimental data on the thermo-hydraulic characteristics of the reactor in the institute in addition to the present results aiming to make general analytical evaluation for the safety of the engineering-simulation system for nuclear ship. A general data base was obtained by integrating the data list and the analytical program for static characteristics. A test equipment which allows to visualize the pulsating flow was produced and visualization experiments have started. (M.N.)

RAP-3A Computer code for thermal and hydraulic calculations in steady state conditions for fuel element clusters

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Popescu, C.; Biro, L.; Iftode, I.; Turcu, I.

1975-10-01

The RAP-3A computer code is designed for calculating the main steady state thermo-hydraulic parameters of multirod fuel clusters with liquid metal cooling. The programme provides a double accuracy computation of temperatures and axial enthalpy distributions of pressure losses and axial heat flux distributions in fuel clusters before boiling conditions occur. Physical and mathematical models as well as a sample problem are presented. The code is written in FORTRAN-4 language and is running on a IBM-370/135 computer

Fundamental study on thermo-hydraulic behaviors during power transient, 2

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shinano, M.; Inoue, A.

1988-01-01

Thermo-hydraulic behaviors during power transient of nuclear reactors are studied. Boiling around test rod heated transiently forces to flow out liquid in the test section and generates high pressure pulse. In this study, it is investigated experimentally and analytically that magnitude of pressure pulse and energy conversion efficiency to the mechanical works in cases of fragmentation and non-fragmentation. In analysis, effects of increasing of heat transfer and of interaction area due to fragmentation is considered. Consequently, 1) magnitude of pressure pulse on fragmentation is about 10 times greater than that on non-fragmentation. 2) analytical model can show characteristics of fragmentation processes qualitatively. (author)

Development of a model of a NSSS of the PWR reactor with thermo-hydraulic code GOTHIC

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gomez Garcia-Torano, I.; Jimenez, G.

2013-01-01

The Thermo-hydraulic code GOTHIC is often used in the nuclear industry for licensing transient analysis inside containment of generation II (PWR, BWR) plants as Gen III and III + (AP1000, ESBWR, APWR). After entering the mass and energy released to the containment, previously calculated by other codes (basis, TRACE), GOTHIC allows to calculate in detail the evolution of basic parameters in the containment.

Numerical study of the thermo-hydraulic behavior for the Candu type fuel channel

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lazaro, Pavel Gabriel; Balas Ghizdeanu, Elena Nineta

2008-01-01

Candu type reactors use fuel channel in a horizontal lattice. The fuel bundles are positioned in two Zircaloy tubes: the pressure tube surrounded by calandria tube. Inside the pressure tube the coolant heavy water flows. The coolant reaches high temperatures and pressures. Due to irregular neutron spatial distribution, the fuel channel stress differs from one channel to other. In one improbable event of severe accident, the fuel channel behaves differently according to its normal function history. Over the years, there have been many research projects trying to analyze thermal hydraulic performance of the design and to add some operational improvements in order to achieve an efficient thermal hydraulic distribution. This paper discusses the thermo hydraulic behavior (influence of the temperature and velocity distribution) of the most solicited channel, simulated with Fluent 6.X. Code. Moreover it will be commented the results obtained using different models and mesh applied. (authors)

Response of Compacted Bentonites to Thermal and Thermo-Hydraulic Loadings at High Temperatures

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Snehasis Tripathy

2017-07-01

Full Text Available The final disposal of high-level nuclear waste in many countries is preferred to be in deep geological repositories. Compacted bentonites are proposed for use as the buffer surrounding the waste canisters which may be subjected to both thermal and hydraulic loadings. A significant increase in the temperature is anticipated within the buffer, particularly during the early phase of the repository lifetime. In this study, several non-isothermal and non-isothermal hydraulic tests were carried on compacted MX80 bentonite. Compacted bentonite specimens (water content = 15.2%, dry density = 1.65 Mg/m3 were subjected to a temperature of either 85 or 150 °C at one end, whereas the temperature at the opposite end was maintained at 25 °C. During the non-isothermal hydraulic tests, water was supplied from the opposite end of the heat source. The temperature and relative humidity were monitored along predetermined depths of the specimens. The profiles of water content, dry density, and degree of saturation were established after termination of the tests. The test results showed that thermal gradients caused redistribution of the water content, whereas thermo-hydraulic gradients caused both redistribution and an increase in the water content within compacted bentonites, both leading to development of axial stress of various magnitudes. The applied water injection pressures (5 and 600 kPa and temperature gradients appeared to have very minimal impact on the magnitude of axial stress developed. The thickness of thermal insulation layer surrounding the testing devices was found to influence the temperature and relative humidity profiles thereby impacting the redistribution of water content within compacted bentonites. Under the influence of both the applied thermal and thermo-hydraulic gradients, the dry density of the bentonite specimens increased near the heat source, whereas it decreased at the opposite end. The test results emphasized the influence of

Thermo-hydraulic analysis of the generic equatorial port plug design

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rodríguez, E.; Guirao, J.; Ordieres, J.; Cortizo, J.L.; Iglesias, S.

2012-01-01

Highlights: ► Thermo-hydraulic transient performance evaluation and optimization of the GEPP structure cooling/heating system under neutronic heating and baking conditions. ► The optimization of the GEPP box structure's cooling system includes positioning and minimization of number and size of gun drilled channels, complying with the flow and functional requirements during operating and baking conditions. - Abstract: The port-based ITER diagnostic systems are housed primarily in two locations, the equatorial and upper port plugs. The port plug structure provides confinement function, maintains ultra-high vacuum quality and the first confinement barrier for radioactive materials at the ports. The port plug structure design, from the ITER International Organisation (IO), is cooled and heated by pressurized water which flows through a series of gun-drilled water channels and water pipes. The cooling function is required to remove nuclear heating due to radiation during operation of ITER, while the heating function is intended to heat up uniformly the machine during baking condition. The work presented provides coupled thermo-hydraulic analysis and optimization of a Generic Equatorial Port Plug (GEPP) structure cooling and heating system. The optimization performed includes positioning, minimization of number and size of gun drilled channels, complying with the flow and functional requirements during operating and baking conditions.

Thermo-hydraulic-mechanical analysis of the SS-050 sodium loop during a thermal shock of 2000C/s

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jesus Miranda, C.A. de; Gebrin, A.N.

1988-01-01

An analytical thermo-hydraulic model was developed to obtain the temperature of the sodium flowing between the mixing tank TM of constant volume and the drain tank of the SS-050 sodium test facility. The piping connecting these two tanks is considered in the analysis. The sodium enters in the TM through a tube with lateral holes immersed in the TM's sodium. The model and relative computer program were tested and a typical situation was studied: a thermal shock with -200 0 C/s of thermal gradient in the test section. The sodium temperature time-histories along the piping length are presented. For the thermal shock situation, the temperature field in the TM bottom and outlet nozzle was calculated and the stresses were evaluated. The final thermal stresses will allow a detailed verification of the circuit design. (author) [pt

Analytical model for calculation of the thermo hydraulic parameters in a fuel rod assembly

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Cesna, B., E-mail: benas@mail.lei.l [Lithuanian Energy Institute, Laboratory of Nuclear Installation Safety, Breslaujos g. 3, LT-44403 Kaunas (Lithuania)

2010-11-15

Research highlights: {yields} Proposed calculation model can be used for rapid calculation of the bundles with rods spaced by wire wrapping or honey type spacer grids. {yields} Model estimate three flow cross mixture mechanisms. {yields} Program DARS is enable to analyses experimental results. - Abstract: The paper presents the procedure of the cellular calculation of thermo hydraulic parameters of a single-phase gas flow in a fuel rod assembly. The procedure is implemented in the DARS program. The program is intended for calculation of the distribution of the gaseous coolant parameters and wall temperatures in case of arbitrary, geometrically specified, arrangement of the rods in fuel assembly and in case of arbitrary, functionally specified in space, heat release in the rods. In mathematical model the flow cross-section of the channel of intricate shape is conventionally divided to elementary cells formed by straight lines, which connect the centers of rods. Within the limits of a single cell the coolant parameters and the temperature of the corresponding part of the rod surface are assumed constant. The entire fuel assembly is viewed as a system of parallel interconnected channels. Program DARS is illustrated by calculation of a temperature mode of 85-rod assembly with spacers of wire wrapping on the rods.

On the application of reynolds theory to thermo-piezo-viscous lubrication in oil hydraulics

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Johansen, Per; Roemer, Daniel Beck; Andersen, Torben O.

2015-01-01

The efficiency of fluid power motors and pumps is a subject to research, which has generated numerous publications during the last three decades. The main incentives for this research are optimization of reliability and efficiency through the study of loss and wear mechanisms, which are very....... In this paper the derivation of Reynolds equation from the continuum assumption is reviewed and it is shown that the validity of Reynolds theory based pressure field solutions in oil hydraulic thermo-piezo-viscous lubrication models are subject to maximum bounds on the pressure and temperature field gradients...

Review of computational thermal-hydraulic modeling

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Keefer, R.H.; Keeton, L.W.

1995-01-01

Corrosion of heat transfer tubing in nuclear steam generators has been a persistent problem in the power generation industry, assuming many different forms over the years depending on chemistry and operating conditions. Whatever the corrosion mechanism, a fundamental understanding of the process is essential to establish effective management strategies. To gain this fundamental understanding requires an integrated investigative approach that merges technology from many diverse scientific disciplines. An important aspect of an integrated approach is characterization of the corrosive environment at high temperature. This begins with a thorough understanding of local thermal-hydraulic conditions, since they affect deposit formation, chemical concentration, and ultimately corrosion. Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) can and should play an important role in characterizing the thermal-hydraulic environment and in predicting the consequences of that environment,. The evolution of CFD technology now allows accurate calculation of steam generator thermal-hydraulic conditions and the resulting sludge deposit profiles. Similar calculations are also possible for model boilers, so that tests can be designed to be prototypic of the heat exchanger environment they are supposed to simulate. This paper illustrates the utility of CFD technology by way of examples in each of these two areas. This technology can be further extended to produce more detailed local calculations of the chemical environment in support plate crevices, beneath thick deposits on tubes, and deep in tubesheet sludge piles. Knowledge of this local chemical environment will provide the foundation for development of mechanistic corrosion models, which can be used to optimize inspection and cleaning schedules and focus the search for a viable fix

Hydraulic Arm Modeling via Matlab SimHydraulics

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Věchet, Stanislav; Krejsa, Jiří

2009-01-01

Roč. 16, č. 4 (2009), s. 287-296 ISSN 1802-1484 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z20760514 Keywords : simulatin modeling * hydraulics * SimHydraulics Subject RIV: JD - Computer Applications, Robotics

Thermo-hydraulic consequence of pressure suppression containment vessel during blowdown, 2

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Aya, Izuo; Nariai, Hideki; Kobayashi, Michiyuki

1980-01-01

As a part of the safety research works for the integral-type marine reactor, an analytical code SUPPAC-2V was developed to simulate the thermo-hydraulic consequence of a pressure suppression containment system during blowdown and the code was applied to the Model Experimental Facility of the Safety of Integral Type Marine Reactors (explained already in Part 1). SUPPAC-2V is much different from existing codes in the following points. A nonhomogeneous model for the gaseous region in the drywell, a new correlation for condensing heat transfer coefficient at drywell wall based on existing data and approximation of air bubbles in wetwell water by one dimensional bubble rising model are adopted in this code. In comparing calculational results with experimental results, values of predominant input parameters were evaluated and discussed. Moreover, the new code was applied also to the NSR-7 marine reactor, conceptually designed at the Shipbuilding Research Association in Japan, of which suppression system had been already analysed by CONTEMPT-PS. (author)

Computing in Hydraulic Engineering Education

Science.gov (United States)

Duan, J. G.

2011-12-01

Civil engineers, pioneers of our civilization, are rarely perceived as leaders and innovators in modern society because of retardations in technology innovation. This crisis has resulted in the decline of the prestige of civil engineering profession, reduction of federal funding on deteriorating infrastructures, and problems with attracting the most talented high-school students. Infusion of cutting-edge computer technology and stimulating creativity and innovation therefore are the critical challenge to civil engineering education. To better prepare our graduates to innovate, this paper discussed the adaption of problem-based collaborative learning technique and integration of civil engineering computing into a traditional civil engineering curriculum. Three interconnected courses: Open Channel Flow, Computational Hydraulics, and Sedimentation Engineering, were developed with emphasis on computational simulations. In Open Channel flow, the focuses are principles of free surface flow and the application of computational models. This prepares students to the 2nd course, Computational Hydraulics, that introduce the fundamental principles of computational hydraulics, including finite difference and finite element methods. This course complements the Open Channel Flow class to provide students with in-depth understandings of computational methods. The 3rd course, Sedimentation Engineering, covers the fundamentals of sediment transport and river engineering, so students can apply the knowledge and programming skills gained from previous courses to develop computational models for simulating sediment transport. These courses effectively equipped students with important skills and knowledge to complete thesis and dissertation research.

Experimental study on thermo-hydraulic instability on reduced-moderation natural circulation BWR concept

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Watanabe, Noriyuki; Subki, M.H.; Kikura, Hiroshige; Aritomi, Masanori

2003-01-01

Reduced-moderation natural circulation BWR has been promoted to solve the recent challenges in BWR nuclear power technology problems as one of advanced small and medium-sized reactors equipped with the passive safety features in conformity with the natural law. However, the elimination of recirculation pumps and a high-density core due to the increase of conversion ratio could cause various thermo-hydraulic instabilities especially during the start-up stage. The occurrences of the thermo-hydraulic instabilities are not desirable and it is one of the main challenges in establishing reduced-moderation natural circulation BWR as a commercial reactor. The purpose of this present study is to experimentally investigate the driving mechanism of the thermo-hydraulic instabilities and the effect of system pressure on the unstable flow patterns. Hence, as the fundamental research for this study, a natural circulation loop that carries boiling fluid with parallel boiling channel has been constructed. Channel gap that has been set at 2 mm in order to simulate reduced-moderation reactor core. Pressure ranges of 0.1 up to 0.7 MPa, input heat flux range of 0 ou to 577 kW/m 2 , and inlet subcooling temperatures of 5, 10, and 15 K respectively, are imposed in the experiments. This experiment clarifies that changes in unstable flow patterns with increase in heat flux can be classified into two in response to system pressure range. In case of atmospheric pressure, unstable flow patters has been classified in beyond order, (1) in-phase geysering, (2) transition oscillation combined with both features of in-phase geysering and natural circulation oscillation, (3) natural circulation oscillation induced by hydrostatic head fluctuation, (4) density wave oscillation, and finally (5) stable boiling two-phase flow. On the other hand, in the system pressure range from 0.2 to 0.7 MPa, unstable patters have been dramatically changed in the following order (1) out-of-phase geysering, (2

Thermo-hydraulic modelling of the South East Gas Pipeline System - an integrated model; Modelagem termo-hidraulica do Sistema de Gasodutos do Sudeste : um modelo integrado

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Vianna Neto, Armando M.; Santos, Arnaldo M.; Mercon, Eduardo G. [TRANSPETRO - PETROBRAS Transportes, Rio de Janeiro, RJ (Brazil)

2003-07-01

This paper presents the development of an integrated simulation model, for the numerical calculation of thermal-hydraulic behaviors in the Brazilian southeast onshore gas pipeline flow system, remotely operated by TRANSPETRO's Gas Pipeline Control Centre (CCG). In its final application, this model is supposed to provide simulated results at the closer range to reality, in order to improve gas pipeline simulation studies and evaluations for the system in question. Considering the fact that numerical thermo-hydraulic simulation becomes the CCG's most important tool to analyze the boundary conditions to adjust the mentioned gas flow system, this paper seeks and takes aim to the optimization of the following prime attributions of a gas pipeline control centre: verification of system behaviors, face to some unit maintenance stop or procedure, programmed or not, or to some new gas outlet or inlet connection to the system; daily operational compatibility analysis between programmed and realized gas volumes; gas technical expedition and delivery analysis. Finally, all this work was idealized and carried out within the one-phase flow domain (dry gas) (author)

Thermo-hydraulic characteristics of ship propulsion reactor in the conditions of ship motions and safety assessment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kobayashi, Michiyuki; Murata, Hiroyuki; Sawada, Kenichi; Inasaka, Fujio; Aya, Izuo; Shiozaki, Koki

1999-01-01

By inputting the experimental data, information and others on thermo-hydraulic characteristics of integrated ship propulsion reactor accumulated hitherto by the Ship Research Institute and some recent cooperation results into the nuclear ship engineering simulation system, it was conducted not only to contribute an improvement study on next ship reactor by executing general analysis and evaluation on motion characteristics under ship body motion conditions, safety at accidents, and others of the integrated ship reactor but also to investigate and prepare some measures to apply fundamental experiment results based on obtained here information to safety countermeasure of the nuclear ships. In 1997 fiscal year, on safety of the integrated ship propulsion reactor loading nuclear ship, by adding experimental data on unstable flow analysis and information on all around of the analysis to general data base fundamental program, development to intellectual data base program was intended; on effect of pulsation flow on thermo-hydraulic characteristics of ship propulsion reactor; after pulsation flow visualization experiment, experimental equipment was reconstructed into heat transfer type to conduct numerical analysis of pulsation flow by confirming validity of numerical analysis code under comparison with the visualization experiment results; and on thermo-hydraulic behavior in storage container at accident of active safety type ship propulsion reactor; a flashing vibration test using new apparatus finished on its higher pressurization at last fiscal year to examine effects of each parameter such as radius and length of exhausting nozzle and pool water temperature. (G.K.)

Predictive modeling of liquid-sodium thermal–hydraulics experiments and computations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Arslan, Erkan; Cacuci, Dan G.

2014-01-01

Highlights: • We applied the predictive modeling method of Cacuci and Ionescu-Bujor (2010). • We assimilated data from sodium flow experiments. • We used computational fluid dynamics simulations of sodium experiments. • The predictive modeling method greatly reduced uncertainties in predicted results. - Abstract: This work applies the predictive modeling procedure formulated by Cacuci and Ionescu-Bujor (2010) to assimilate data from liquid-sodium thermal–hydraulics experiments in order to reduce systematically the uncertainties in the predictions of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations. The predicted CFD-results for the best-estimate model parameters and results describing sodium-flow velocities and temperature distributions are shown to be significantly more precise than the original computations and experiments, in that the predicted uncertainties for the best-estimate results and model parameters are significantly smaller than both the originally computed and the experimental uncertainties

Modifications in Compacted MX-80 Bentonite Due to Thermo-Hydraulic Treatment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gomez-Espina, R.; Villar, M. V.

2013-01-01

The thermo-hydraulic tests reproduce the thermal and hydraulic conditions to which bentonite is subjected in the engineered barrier of a deep geological repository of radioactive waste. The results of thermo-hydraulic test TBT1500, which was running for approximately 1500 days, are presented. This is a continuation to the Technical Report Ciemat 1199, which presented results of test TBT500, performed under similar conditions but with duration of 500 days. In both tests the MX-80 bentonite was used with initial density and water content similar to those of the large-scale test TBT. The bentonite column was heated at the bottom at 140 degree centigrade and hydrated on top with deionized water. At the end of the test a sharp water content gradient was observed along the column, as well as an inverse dry density gradient. Hydration modified also the bentonite microstructure. Besides, an overall decrease of the smectite content with respect to the initial value took place, especially in the most hydrated areas where the percentage of interest ratified illite increased and in the longer test. On the other hand, the content of cristobalite, feldspars and calcite increased. Smectite dissolution processes (probably colloidal) occurred, particularly in the more hydrated areas and in the longer test. Due to the dissolution of low-solubility species and to the loss of exchangeable positions in the smectite, the content of soluble salts in the pore water increased with respect to the original one, especially in the longer test. The solubilized ions were transported; sodium, calcium, magnesium and sulphate having a similar mobility, which was in turn lower than that of potassium and chloride. The cationic exchange complex was also modified. (Author)

Neutronic and thermo-hydraulic design of LEU core for Japan Research Reactor 4

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Arigane, Kenji; Watanabe, Shukichi; Tsuruta, Harumichi

1988-04-01

As a part of the Reduced Enrichment Research and Test Reactor (RERTR) program in JAERI, the enrichment reduction for Japan Research Reactor 4 (JRR-4) is in progress. A fuel element using a 19.75 % enriched UAlx-Al dispersion type with a uranium density of 2.2 g/cm 3 was designed as the LEU fuel and the neutronic and thermo-hydraulic performances of the LEU core were compared with those of the current HEU core. The results of the neutronic design are as follows: (1) the excess reactivity of the LEU core becomes about 1 % Δk/k less, (2) the thermal neutron flux in the fuel region decreases about 25 % on the average, (3) the thermal neutron fluxes in the irradiation pipes are almost the same and (4) the core burnup lifetime becomes about 20 % longer. The thermo-hydraulic design also shows that: (1) the fuel plate surface temperature decreases about 10 deg C due to the increase of the number of fuel plates and (2) the temperature margin with respect to the ONB temperature increases. Therefore, it is confirmed that the same utilization performance as the HEU core is attainable with the LEU core. (author)

Preliminary study of the thermo-hydraulic behaviour of the binary breeder reactor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Silveira Luz, M. da; Ferreira, W.J.

1984-06-01

Continuing the development of the Binary Breeder Reactor, its physical configuration and the advantages of differents types of spacers are analysed. In order to simulate the thermo-hydraulic behaviour and obtain data for a preliminary evaluation of the core geometry, the COBRA III C code was used to study the effects of the lenght and diameter of the fuel element, the coolant inlet temperature, the system pressure, helicoidal pitch and the pitch to diameter ratio. (Author) [pt

Thermo-hydraulic design of earth-air heat exchangers

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Paepe, M. de [Ghent University (Belgium). Department of Flow, Heat and Combustion Mechanics; Janssens, A. [Ghent University (Belgium). Department of Architecture and Urbanism

2003-05-01

Earth-air heat exchangers, also called ground tube heat exchangers, are an interesting technique to reduce energy consumption in a building. They can cool or heat the ventilation air, using cold or heat accumulated in the soil. Several papers have been published in which a design method is described. Most of them are based on a discretisation of the one-dimensional heat transfer problem in the tube. Three-dimensional complex models, solving conduction and moisture transport in the soil are also found. These methods are of high complexity and often not ready for use by designers. In this paper, a one-dimensional analytical method is used to analyse the influence of the design parameters of the heat exchanger on the thermo-hydraulic performance. A relation is derived for the specific pressure drop, linking thermal effectiveness with pressure drop of the air inside the tube. The relation is used to formulate a design method which can be used to determine the characteristic dimensions of the earth-air heat exchanger in such a way that optimal thermal effectiveness is reached with acceptable pressure loss. The choice of the characteristic dimensions, becomes thus independent of the soil and climatological conditions. This allows designers to choose the earth-air heat exchanger configuration with the best performance. (author)

Thermo-hydraulic design of earth-air heat exchangers

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

De Paepe, M. [Department of Flow, Heat and Combustion Mechanics, Ghent University, Ghent (Belgium); Janssens, A. [Department of Architecture and Urbanism, Ghent University, Ghent (Belgium)

2003-07-01

Earth-air heat exchangers, also called ground tube heat exchangers, are an interesting technique to reduce energy consumption in a building. They can cool or heat the ventilation air, using cold or heat accumulated in the soil. Several papers have been published in which a design method is described. Most of them are based on a discretisation of the one-dimensional heat transfer problem in the tube. Three-dimensional complex models, solving conduction and moisture transport in the soil are also found. These methods are of high complexity and often not ready for use by designers. In this paper, a one-dimensional analytical method is used to analyse the influence of the design parameters of the heat exchanger on the thermo-hydraulic performance. A relation is derived for the specific pressure drop, linking thermal effectiveness with pressure drop of the air inside the tube. The relation is used to formulate a design method which can be used to determine the characteristic dimensions of the earth-air heat exchanger in such a way that optimal thermal effectiveness is reached with acceptable pressure loss. The choice of the characteristic dimensions, becomes thus independent of the soil and climatological conditions. This allows designers to choose the earth-air heat exchanger configuration with the best performance. (author)

Thermo-hydro-mechanical simulation of a 3D fractured porous rock: preliminary study of coupled matrix-fracture hydraulics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Canamon, I.; Javier Elorza, F.; Ababou, R.

2007-01-01

We present a problem involving the modeling of coupled flow and elastic strain in a 3D fractured porous rock, which requires prior homogenization (up-scaling) of the fractured medium into an equivalent Darcian anisotropic continuum. The governing equations form a system of PDE's (Partial Differential Equations) and, depending on the case being considered, this system may involve two different types of 'couplings' (in a real system, both couplings (1) and (2) generally take place): 1) Hydraulic coupling in a single (no exchange) or in a dual matrix-fracture continuum (exchange); 2) Thermo-Hydro-Mechanical interactions between fluid flow, pressure, elastic stress, strain, and temperature. We present here a preliminary model and simulation results with FEMLAB R , for the hydraulic problem with anisotropic heterogeneous coefficients. The model is based on data collected at an instrumented granitic site (FEBEX project) for studying a hypothetical nuclear waste repository at the Grimsel Test Site in the Swiss Alps. (authors)

Thermo-hydro-mechanical simulation of a 3D fractured porous rock: preliminary study of coupled matrix-fracture hydraulics

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Canamon, I.; Javier Elorza, F. [Universidad Politecnica de Madrid, Dept. de Matematica Aplicada y Metodos Informaticas, ETSI Minas (UPM) (Spain); Ababou, R. [Institut de Mecanique des Fluides de Toulouse (IMFT), 31 (France)

2007-07-01

We present a problem involving the modeling of coupled flow and elastic strain in a 3D fractured porous rock, which requires prior homogenization (up-scaling) of the fractured medium into an equivalent Darcian anisotropic continuum. The governing equations form a system of PDE's (Partial Differential Equations) and, depending on the case being considered, this system may involve two different types of 'couplings' (in a real system, both couplings (1) and (2) generally take place): 1) Hydraulic coupling in a single (no exchange) or in a dual matrix-fracture continuum (exchange); 2) Thermo-Hydro-Mechanical interactions between fluid flow, pressure, elastic stress, strain, and temperature. We present here a preliminary model and simulation results with FEMLAB{sup R}, for the hydraulic problem with anisotropic heterogeneous coefficients. The model is based on data collected at an instrumented granitic site (FEBEX project) for studying a hypothetical nuclear waste repository at the Grimsel Test Site in the Swiss Alps. (authors)

Regional-scale geomechanical impact assessment of underground coal gasification by coupled 3D thermo-mechanical modeling

Science.gov (United States)

Otto, Christopher; Kempka, Thomas; Kapusta, Krzysztof; Stańczyk, Krzysztof

2016-04-01

Underground coal gasification (UCG) has the potential to increase the world-wide coal reserves by utilization of coal deposits not mineable by conventional methods. The UCG process involves combusting coal in situ to produce a high-calorific synthesis gas, which can be applied for electricity generation or chemical feedstock production. Apart from its high economic potentials, UCG may induce site-specific environmental impacts such as fault reactivation, induced seismicity and ground subsidence, potentially inducing groundwater pollution. Changes overburden hydraulic conductivity resulting from thermo-mechanical effects may introduce migration pathways for UCG contaminants. Due to the financial efforts associated with UCG field trials, numerical modeling has been an important methodology to study coupled processes considering UCG performance. Almost all previous UCG studies applied 1D or 2D models for that purpose, that do not allow to predict the performance of a commercial-scale UCG operation. Considering our previous findings, demonstrating that far-field models can be run at a higher computational efficiency by using temperature-independent thermo-mechanical parameters, representative coupled simulations based on complex 3D regional-scale models were employed in the present study. For that purpose, a coupled thermo-mechanical 3D model has been developed to investigate the environmental impacts of UCG based on a regional-scale of the Polish Wieczorek mine located in the Upper Silesian Coal Basin. The model size is 10 km × 10 km × 5 km with ten dipping lithological layers, a double fault and 25 UCG reactors. Six different numerical simulation scenarios were investigated, considering the transpressive stress regime present in that part of the Upper Silesian Coal Basin. Our simulation results demonstrate that the minimum distance between the UCG reactors is about the six-fold of the coal seam thickness to avoid hydraulic communication between the single UCG

Hydrogen and methane generation from large hydraulic plant: Thermo-economic multi-level time-dependent optimization

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rivarolo, M.; Magistri, L.; Massardo, A.F.

2014-01-01

Highlights: • We investigate H 2 and CH 4 production from very large hydraulic plant (14 GW). • We employ only “spilled energy”, not used by hydraulic plant, for H 2 production. • We consider the integration with energy taken from the grid at different prices. • We consider hydrogen conversion in chemical reactors to produce methane. • We find plants optimal size using a time-dependent thermo-economic approach. - Abstract: This paper investigates hydrogen and methane generation from large hydraulic plant, using an original multilevel thermo-economic optimization approach developed by the authors. Hydrogen is produced by water electrolysis employing time-dependent hydraulic energy related to the water which is not normally used by the plant, known as “spilled water electricity”. Both the demand for spilled energy and the electrical grid load vary widely by time of year, therefore a time-dependent hour-by-hour one complete year analysis has been carried out, in order to define the optimal plant size. This time period analysis is necessary to take into account spilled energy and electrical load profiles variability during the year. The hydrogen generation plant is based on 1 MWe water electrolysers fuelled with the “spilled water electricity”, when available; in the remaining periods, in order to assure a regular H 2 production, the energy is taken from the electrical grid, at higher cost. To perform the production plant size optimization, two hierarchical levels have been considered over a one year time period, in order to minimize capital and variable costs. After the optimization of the hydrogen production plant size, a further analysis is carried out, with a view to converting the produced H 2 into methane in a chemical reactor, starting from H 2 and CO 2 which is obtained with CCS plants and/or carried by ships. For this plant, the optimal electrolysers and chemical reactors system size is defined. For both of the two solutions, thermo

Basic researches on thermo-hydraulic non-equilibrium phenomena related to nuclear reactor safety

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sakurai, Akira; Kataoka, Isao; Aritomi, Masanori.

1989-01-01

A review was made of recent developments of fundamental researches on thermo-hydraulic non-equilibrium phenomena related to light water reactor safety, in relation to problems to be solved for the improvement of safety analysis codes. As for the problems related to flow con ditions, fundamental researches on basic conservation equations and constitutive equations for transient two-phase flow were reviewed. Regarding to the problems related to thermal non-equilibrium phenomena, fundamental researches on film boiling in pool and forced convection, transient boiling heat transfer and flow behavior caused by pressure transients were reviewed. (author)

Thermo-hydraulic Quench Propagation at the LHC Superconducting Magnet String

CERN Document Server

Rodríguez-Mateos, F; Serio, L

1998-01-01

The superconducting magnets of the LHC are protected by heaters and cold by-pass diodes. If a magnet quenches, the heaters on this magnet are fired and the magnet chain is de-excited in about two minu tes by opening dump switches in parallel to a resistor. During the time required for the discharge, adjacent magnets might quench due to thermo-hydraulic propagation in the helium bath and/or heat con duction via the bus bar. The number of quenching magnets depends on the mechanisms for the propagation. In this paper we report on quench propagation experiments from a dipole magnet to an adjacent ma gnet. The mechanism for the propagation is hot helium gas expelled from the first quenching magnet. The propagation changes with the pressure opening settings of the quench relief valves.

A three-dimensional computational model of H2–air premixed combustion in non-circular micro-channels for a thermo-photovoltaic (TPV) application

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Akhtar, Saad; Kurnia, Jundika C.; Shamim, Tariq

2015-01-01

Highlights: • Flow and flame behavior in a micro-combustor are studied. • Predictive capabilities of turbulence and chemistry sub-models are evaluated. • Thermal & hydraulic performance is tested for different combustor geometries. • Excellent outer wall prediction by RSM turbulence and EDC chemistry sub-model. • Enhanced heat transfer for triangular and trapezoid combustor geometries. - Abstract: Wall temperature uniformity and enhancement in a micro combustor for thermo photovoltaic (TPV) applications have attracted considerable attention from researchers in recent years because of their direct impact on efficiency and feasibility of desired energy conversion. In this regard, numerous experimental and numerical studies in micro-combustion application have been conducted and reported. However, most previous studies have been focused on geometrical configurations limited to planar and circular channels. It is therefore of interest to investigate the impact of different channel geometries on wall temperature distribution and energy conversion efficiency. This study addresses flow and flame behavior in a micro-combustor. By utilizing the well-established computational fluid dynamics (CFD) approach, the effect of geometrical parameters on the flow behavior and wall temperature is examined and evaluated. In order to improve the productive capability of the computational model, several steady state Reynolds Average Numerical Simulation (RANS) turbulence models alongside with different reaction rate formulations are evaluated. The results indicate that Reynolds Stress Model (RSM) with Eddy Dissipation Concept (EDC) provide the best quantitative prediction. The developed model is employed to investigate the effect of inlet velocity on flame structure and outer wall temperature. Furthermore, the effect of reactor cross sections, including circular, square, rectangular, triangular and trapezoidal, on the wall temperature is also evaluated. The results show that

Thermo-hydro-mechanical modelling of buffer, synthesis report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Toprak, E.; Mokni, N.; Olivella, S.; Pintado, X.

2013-08-01

This study addresses analyses of coupled thermo-hydro-mechanical (THM) processes in a scheme considered for the spent nuclear fuel repository in Olkiluoto (Finland). The finite element code CODE B RIGHT is used to perform modelling calculations. The objective of the THM modelling was to study some fundamental design parameters. The time required to reach full saturation, the maximum temperature reached in the canister, the deformations in the buffer-backfill interface, the stress-deformation balance between the buffer and the backfill, the swelling pressure developed and the homogenization process development are critical variables. Because of the complexity of the THM processes developed, only a single deposition hole has been modelled with realistic boundary conditions which take into account the entire repository. A thermal calculation has been performed to adopt appropriate boundary conditions for a reduced domain. The modelling has been done under axisymmetric conditions. As a material model for the buffer bentonite and backfill soil, the Barcelona Basic Model (BBM) has been used. Simulation of laboratory tests conducted at B and Tech under supervision of Posiva has been carried out in order to determine the fundamental mechanical parameters for modelling the behaviour of MX-80 bentonite using the BBM model. The modelling process of the buffer-backfill interface is an essential part of tunnel backfill design. The calculations will aim to determine deformations in this intersection, the behaviour of which is important for the buffer swelling. The homogenization process is a key issue as well. Porosity evolution during the saturation process is evaluated in order to check if the final saturated density accomplishes the homogenization requirements. This report also describes the effect of the existence of an air-filled gap located between the canister and the bentonite block rings in thermo-hydro-mechanical behaviour of the future spent nuclear fuel repository in

Thermo-hydro-mechanical modelling of buffer, synthesis report

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Toprak, E.; Mokni, N.; Olivella, S. [Universitat Politecnica de Catalunya, Barcelona (Spain); Pintado, X. [B and Tech Oy, Helsinki (Finland)

2013-08-15

This study addresses analyses of coupled thermo-hydro-mechanical (THM) processes in a scheme considered for the spent nuclear fuel repository in Olkiluoto (Finland). The finite element code CODE{sub B}RIGHT is used to perform modelling calculations. The objective of the THM modelling was to study some fundamental design parameters. The time required to reach full saturation, the maximum temperature reached in the canister, the deformations in the buffer-backfill interface, the stress-deformation balance between the buffer and the backfill, the swelling pressure developed and the homogenization process development are critical variables. Because of the complexity of the THM processes developed, only a single deposition hole has been modelled with realistic boundary conditions which take into account the entire repository. A thermal calculation has been performed to adopt appropriate boundary conditions for a reduced domain. The modelling has been done under axisymmetric conditions. As a material model for the buffer bentonite and backfill soil, the Barcelona Basic Model (BBM) has been used. Simulation of laboratory tests conducted at B and Tech under supervision of Posiva has been carried out in order to determine the fundamental mechanical parameters for modelling the behaviour of MX-80 bentonite using the BBM model. The modelling process of the buffer-backfill interface is an essential part of tunnel backfill design. The calculations will aim to determine deformations in this intersection, the behaviour of which is important for the buffer swelling. The homogenization process is a key issue as well. Porosity evolution during the saturation process is evaluated in order to check if the final saturated density accomplishes the homogenization requirements. This report also describes the effect of the existence of an air-filled gap located between the canister and the bentonite block rings in thermo-hydro-mechanical behaviour of the future spent nuclear fuel

Capabilities needed for the next generation of thermo-hydraulic codes for use in real time applications

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Arndt, S.A.

1997-07-01

The real-time reactor simulation field is currently at a crossroads in terms of the capability to perform real-time analysis using the most sophisticated computer codes. Current generation safety analysis codes are being modified to replace simplified codes that were specifically designed to meet the competing requirement for real-time applications. The next generation of thermo-hydraulic codes will need to have included in their specifications the specific requirement for use in a real-time environment. Use of the codes in real-time applications imposes much stricter requirements on robustness, reliability and repeatability than do design and analysis applications. In addition, the need for code use by a variety of users is a critical issue for real-time users, trainers and emergency planners who currently use real-time simulation, and PRA practitioners who will increasingly use real-time simulation for evaluating PRA success criteria in near real-time to validate PRA results for specific configurations and plant system unavailabilities.

Capabilities needed for the next generation of thermo-hydraulic codes for use in real time applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Arndt, S.A.

1997-01-01

The real-time reactor simulation field is currently at a crossroads in terms of the capability to perform real-time analysis using the most sophisticated computer codes. Current generation safety analysis codes are being modified to replace simplified codes that were specifically designed to meet the competing requirement for real-time applications. The next generation of thermo-hydraulic codes will need to have included in their specifications the specific requirement for use in a real-time environment. Use of the codes in real-time applications imposes much stricter requirements on robustness, reliability and repeatability than do design and analysis applications. In addition, the need for code use by a variety of users is a critical issue for real-time users, trainers and emergency planners who currently use real-time simulation, and PRA practitioners who will increasingly use real-time simulation for evaluating PRA success criteria in near real-time to validate PRA results for specific configurations and plant system unavailabilities

Thermo-mechanical design of the SINGAP accelerator grids for ITER NB Injectors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Agostinetti, P.; Dal Bello, S.; Palma, M.D.; Zaccaria, P.

2006-01-01

The SINGle Aperture - SINgle GAP (SINGAP) accelerator for ITER neutral beam injector foresees four grids for the extraction and acceleration of negative ions, instead of the seven grids of the Multi Aperture Multi Grid (MAMuG) reference configuration. Optimized geometry of the SINGAP grids (plasma, extraction, pre-acceleration, and grounded grid) was identified by CEA Association considering specific requirements for ions extraction and beam generation referring to experimental data and code simulations. This paper focuses on the thermo-hydraulic and thermo-mechanical design of the grids carried out by Consorzio RFX for the design of the first ITER NB Injector and the ITER NB Test Facility. The cooling circuit design (position and shape of the channels) and the cooling parameters (water coolant temperatures, pressure and velocity) were optimized with thermo-hydraulic and thermo-mechanical sensitivity analyses in order to satisfy the grid functional requirements (temperatures, in plane and out of plane deformations). A complete and detailed thermo-structural design assessment of the SINGAP grids was accomplished applying the structural design rules for ITER in-vessel components and considering both the reference load conditions and the maximum load provided by the power supplies. The design required a complete modelling of the grids and their support frames by means of 3D FE and CAD models. The grids were finally integrated with the support and cooling systems inside the beam source vessel. The main results of the thermo-hydraulic and thermo-mechanical analyses are presented. The open issues are then reported, mainly regarding the material properties characterization (static and fatigue tests) and the qualification of technologies for OFHC copper electro-deposition, brazing, and welding of heterogeneous materials. (author)

Integrated Modeling and Experiments to Characterize Coupled Thermo-hydro-geomechanical-chemical processes in Hydraulic Fracturing

Science.gov (United States)

Viswanathan, H. S.; Carey, J. W.; Karra, S.; Porter, M. L.; Rougier, E.; Kang, Q.; Makedonska, N.; Hyman, J.; Jimenez Martinez, J.; Frash, L.; Chen, L.

2015-12-01

Hydraulic fracturing phenomena involve fluid-solid interactions embedded within coupled thermo-hydro-mechanical-chemical (THMC) processes over scales from microns to tens of meters. Feedbacks between processes result in complex dynamics that must be unraveled if one is to predict and, in the case of unconventional resources, facilitate fracture propagation, fluid flow, and interfacial transport processes. The proposed work is part of a broader class of complex systems involving coupled fluid flow and fractures that are critical to subsurface energy issues, such as shale oil, geothermal, carbon sequestration, and nuclear waste disposal. We use unique LANL microfluidic and triaxial core flood experiments integrated with state-of-the-art numerical simulation to reveal the fundamental dynamics of fracture-fluid interactions to characterize the key coupled processes that impact hydrocarbon production. We are also comparing CO2-based fracturing and aqueous fluids to enhance production, greatly reduce waste water, while simultaneously sequestering CO2. We will show pore, core and reservoir scale simulations/experiments that investigate the contolling mechanisms that control hydrocarbon production.

Parametric study of the stability properties of a thermo hydraulic channel coupled to punctual kinetics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cecenas F, M.; Campos G, R.M.

2005-01-01

The reason of decay is the indicator of stability usually used in the literature to evaluate stability of boiling water reactors, however, in the operation of this type of reactors is considered the length of boiling like an auxiliary parameter for the evaluation of stability. In this work its are studied the variation of these two indicators when modifying a given an operation parameter in a model of a thermo hydraulic channel coupled to punctual kinetics, maintaining all the other input constant variables. The parameters selected for study are the axial profile of power, the subcooling, the flow of coolant and the thermal power. The study is supplemented by means of real data of plant using the one Benchmark of Ringhals, and the results for the case of the ratio of decay its are compared with the decay reasons obtained by means of autoregression models of the local instrumentation of neutron flux. (Author)

Computational fluid dynamics modelling of hydraulics and sedimentation in process reactors during aeration tank settling.

Science.gov (United States)

Jensen, M D; Ingildsen, P; Rasmussen, M R; Laursen, J

2006-01-01

Aeration tank settling is a control method allowing settling in the process tank during high hydraulic load. The control method is patented. Aeration tank settling has been applied in several waste water treatment plants using the present design of the process tanks. Some process tank designs have shown to be more effective than others. To improve the design of less effective plants, computational fluid dynamics (CFD) modelling of hydraulics and sedimentation has been applied. This paper discusses the results at one particular plant experiencing problems with partly short-circuiting of the inlet and outlet causing a disruption of the sludge blanket at the outlet and thereby reducing the retention of sludge in the process tank. The model has allowed us to establish a clear picture of the problems arising at the plant during aeration tank settling. Secondly, several process tank design changes have been suggested and tested by means of computational fluid dynamics modelling. The most promising design changes have been found and reported.

Thermal-hydraulic and thermo-mechanical design of plasma facing components for SST-1 tokamak

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chaudhuri, Paritosh; Santra, P.; Chenna Reddy, D.; Parashar, S.K.S.

2014-01-01

The Plasma Facing Components (PFCs) are one of the major sub-systems of ssT-1 tokamak. PFC of ssT-1 consisting of divertors, passive stabilizers, baffles and limiters are designed to be compatible for steady state operation. The main consideration in the design of the PFC cooling is the steady state heat removal of up to 1 MW/m 2 . The PFC has been designed to withstand the peak heat fluxes and also without significant erosion such that frequent replacement of the armor is not necessary. Design considerations included 2-D steady state and transient tile temperature distribution and resulting thermal loads in PFC during baking, and cooling, coolant parameters necessary to maintain optimum thermal-hydraulic design, and tile fitting mechanism. Finite Element (FE) models using ANSYS have been developed to carry out the heat transfer and stress analyses of the PFC to understand its thermal and mechanical behaviors. The results of the calculation led to a good understanding of the coolant flow behavior and the temperature distribution in the tube wall and the different parts of the PFC. Thermal analysis of the PFC is carried out with the purpose of evaluating the thermal mechanical behavior of PFCs. The detailed thermal-hydraulic and thermo-mechanical designs of PFCs of ssT-1 are discussed in this paper. (authors)

Development of gas-cooled fast reactor and its thermo-hydraulics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kawamura, Hiroshi

1977-10-01

Development, thermo-hydraulics and safety of GCFR are reviewed. The Development of Gas-Cooled Fast Reactor (GCFR) utilizes helium technology of HTGR and fuel technology of LMFBR. The breeding ratio of GCFR will be larger than that of LMFBR by about 0.2. Features of GCFR are a fuel with roughened surface to raise the heat transfer and vent system for the pressure equalization in the fuel rod. Helium as coolant of GCFR is chemically stable and stays in the single phase. So, there is no fuel-coolant interaction unlike the case of LMFBR. Since the helium must be pressurized, possibility of a depressurization accident is not negligible. In the United States, a 300MWe demonstration plant program is about to start; the collaboration with European countries is now quite active in this field. Though the development of GCFR started behind that of LMFBR, GCFR is equally promising as a fast breeder reactor. When realized, it will present possibility of a choice between these two. (auth.)

Recent advances in modeling and validation of nuclear thermal-hydraulics applications with NEPTUNE CFD - 15471

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Guingo, M.; Baudry, C.; Hassanaly, M.; Lavieville, J.; Mechitouna, N.; Merigoux, N.; Mimouni, S.; Bestion, D.; Coste, P.; Morel, C.

2015-01-01

NEPTUNE CFD is a Computational Multi-(Fluid) Dynamics code dedicated to the simulation of multiphase flows, primarily targeting nuclear thermo-hydraulics applications, such as the departure from nuclear boiling (DNB) or the two-phase Pressurized Thermal Shock (PTS). It is co-developed within the joint research/development project NEPTUNE (AREVA, CEA, EDF, IRSN) since 2001. Over the years, to address the aforementioned applications, dedicated physical models and numerical methods have been developed and implemented in the code, including specific sets of models for turbulent boiling flows and two-phase non-adiabatic stratified flows. This paper aims at summarizing the current main modeling capabilities of the code, and gives an overview of the associated validation database. A brief summary of emerging applications of the code, such as containment simulation during a potential severe accident or in-vessel retention, is also provided. (authors)

Computational model and performance optimization methodology of a compact design heat exchanger used as an IHX in HTGR

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

De la Torre V, R.; Francois L, J. L.

2017-09-01

The intermediate heat exchangers (IHX) present in high-temperature gas-cooled reactor (HTGR) present complex operating conditions, characterized by temperature values higher than 1073 K. Conventional designs of tubes and shell have shown disadvantages with respect to compact designs. In this work, computational models of a compact heat exchanger design, the printed circuit, were built under IHX conditions in a HTGR installation. In these models, a detailed geometry was considered in three dimensions, corresponding to a transfer unit of the heat exchanger. Computational fluid dynamics techniques and finite element methods were used to study the thermo-hydraulic and mechanical functioning of the equipment, respectively. The properties of the materials were defined as temperature functions. The thermo-hydraulic results obtained were established as operating conditions in the structural calculations. A methodology was developed based on the analysis of capital and operating costs, which takes into account the heat transfer, pressure drop and the mechanical behavior of the structure, in a single optimization variable. By analyzing the experimental results of other authors, a relationship was obtained between the operation time of the equipment and the maximum effort in the structure, which was used in the model. The results show that the model that allows a greater thermal efficiency differs from the one that has lower total cost per year. (Author)

Thermal-hydraulic and aerosol containment phenomena modelling in ASTEC severe accident computer code

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kljenak, Ivo; Dapper, Maik; Dienstbier, Jiri; Herranz, Luis E.; Koch, Marco K.; Fontanet, Joan

2010-01-01

Transients in containment systems of different scales (Phebus.FP containment, KAEVER vessel, Battelle Model Containment, LACE vessel and VVER-1000 nuclear power plant containment) involving thermal-hydraulic phenomena and aerosol behaviour, were simulated with the computer integral code ASTEC. The results of the simulations in the first four facilities were compared with experimental results, whereas the results of the simulated accident in the VVER-1000 containment were compared to results obtained with the MELCOR code. The main purpose of the simulations was the validation of the CPA module of the ASTEC code. The calculated results support the applicability of the code for predicting in-containment thermal-hydraulic and aerosol phenomena during a severe accident in a nuclear power plant.

Fast reactor safety and computational thermo-fluid dynamics approaches

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ninokata, Hisashi; Shimizu, Takeshi

1993-01-01

This article provides a brief description of the safety principle on which liquid metal cooled fast breeder reactors (LMFBRs) is based and the roles of computations in the safety practices. A number of thermohydraulics models have been developed to date that successfully describe several of the important types of fluids and materials motion encountered in the analysis of postulated accidents in LMFBRs. Most of these models use a mixture of implicit and explicit numerical solution techniques in solving a set of conservation equations formulated in Eulerian coordinates, with special techniques included to specific situations. Typical computational thermo-fluid dynamics approaches are discussed in particular areas of analyses of the physical phenomena relevant to the fuel subassembly thermohydraulics design and that involve describing the motion of molten materials in the core over a large scale. (orig.)

Computational Fluid Dynamics Modelling of Hydraulics and Sedimentation in Process Reactors During Aeration Tank Settling

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Dam Jensen, Mette; Ingildsen, Pernille; Rasmussen, Michael R.

2005-01-01

Aeration Tank Settling is a control method alowing settling in the process tank during high hydraulic load. The control method is patented. Aeration Tank Settling has been applied in several waste water treatment plant's using present design of the process tanks. Some process tank designs have...... shown to be more effective than others. To improve the design of less effective plants Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) modelling of hydraulics and sedimentation has been applied. The paper discusses the results at one particular plant experiencing problems with partly short-circuiting of the inlet...

Parallelization of TWOPORFLOW, a Cartesian Grid based Two-phase Porous Media Code for Transient Thermo-hydraulic Simulations

Science.gov (United States)

Trost, Nico; Jiménez, Javier; Imke, Uwe; Sanchez, Victor

2014-06-01

TWOPORFLOW is a thermo-hydraulic code based on a porous media approach to simulate single- and two-phase flow including boiling. It is under development at the Institute for Neutron Physics and Reactor Technology (INR) at KIT. The code features a 3D transient solution of the mass, momentum and energy conservation equations for two inter-penetrating fluids with a semi-implicit continuous Eulerian type solver. The application domain of TWOPORFLOW includes the flow in standard porous media and in structured porous media such as micro-channels and cores of nuclear power plants. In the latter case, the fluid domain is coupled to a fuel rod model, describing the heat flow inside the solid structure. In this work, detailed profiling tools have been utilized to determine the optimization potential of TWOPORFLOW. As a result, bottle-necks were identified and reduced in the most feasible way, leading for instance to an optimization of the water-steam property computation. Furthermore, an OpenMP implementation addressing the routines in charge of inter-phase momentum-, energy- and mass-coupling delivered good performance together with a high scalability on shared memory architectures. In contrast to that, the approach for distributed memory systems was to solve sub-problems resulting by the decomposition of the initial Cartesian geometry. Thread communication for the sub-problem boundary updates was accomplished by the Message Passing Interface (MPI) standard.

A Computer Model for the Hydraulic Analysis of Open Channel Cross Sections

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

W. H. Shayya

1996-01-01

Full Text Available Irrigation and hydraulic engineers are often faced with the difficulty of tedious trial solutions of the Manning equation to determine the various geometric elements of open channels. This paper addresses the development of a computer model for the design of the most commonly used channel-sections. The developed model is intended as an educational tool. It may be applied to the hydraulic design of trapezoidal , rectangular, triangular, parabolic, round-concered rectangular, and circular cross sections. Two procedures were utilized for the solution of the encountered implicit equations; the Newton-Raphson and the Regula-Falsi methods.  In order to initiate the solution process , these methods require one and two initial guesses, respectively. Tge result revealed that the Regula-Flasi method required more iterations to coverage to the solution compared to the Newton-Raphson method, irrespective of the nearness of the initial guess to the actual solution. The average number of iterations for the Regula-Falsi method was approximately three times that of the Newton-Raphson method.

Two scale damage model and related numerical issues for thermo-mechanical high cycle fatigue

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Desmorat, R.; Kane, A.; Seyedi, M.; Sermage, J.P.

2007-01-01

On the idea that fatigue damage is localized at the microscopic scale, a scale smaller than the mesoscopic one of the Representative Volume Element (RVE), a three-dimensional two scale damage model has been proposed for High Cycle Fatigue applications. It is extended here to aniso-thermal cases and then to thermo-mechanical fatigue. The modeling consists in the micro-mechanics analysis of a weak micro-inclusion subjected to plasticity and damage embedded in an elastic meso-element (the RVE of continuum mechanics). The consideration of plasticity coupled with damage equations at micro-scale, altogether with Eshelby-Kroner localization law, allows to compute the value of microscopic damage up to failure for any kind of loading, 1D or 3D, cyclic or random, isothermal or aniso-thermal, mechanical, thermal or thermo-mechanical. A robust numerical scheme is proposed in order to make the computations fast. A post-processor for damage and fatigue (DAMAGE-2005) has been developed. It applies to complex thermo-mechanical loadings. Examples of the representation by the two scale damage model of physical phenomena related to High Cycle Fatigue are given such as the mean stress effect, the non-linear accumulation of damage. Examples of thermal and thermo-mechanical fatigue as well as complex applications on real size testing structure subjected to thermo-mechanical fatigue are detailed. (authors)

Numerical solution of conservation equations in the transient model for the system thermal - hydraulics in the Korsar computer code

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yudov, Y.V.

2001-01-01

The functional part of the KORSAR computer code is based on the computational unit for the reactor system thermal-hydraulics and other thermal power systems with water cooling. The two-phase flow dynamics of the thermal-hydraulic network is modelled by KORSAR in one-dimensional two-fluid (non-equilibrium and nonhomogeneous) approximation with the same pressure of both phases. Each phase is characterized by parameters averaged over the channel sections, and described by the conservation equations for mass, energy and momentum. The KORSAR computer code relies upon a novel approach to mathematical modelling of two-phase dispersed-annular flows. This approach allows a two-fluid model to differentiate the effects of the liquid film and droplets in the gas core on the flow characteristics. A semi-implicit numerical scheme has been chosen for deriving discrete analogs the conservation equations in KORSAR. In the semi-implicit numerical scheme, solution of finite-difference equations is reduced to the problem of determining the pressure field at a new time level. For the one-channel case, the pressure field is found from the solution of a system of linear algebraic equations by using the tri-diagonal matrix method. In the branched network calculation, the matrix of coefficients in the equations describing the pressure field is no longer tri-diagonal but has a sparseness structure. In this case, the system of linear equations for the pressure field can be solved with any of the known classical methods. Such an approach is implemented in the existing best-estimate thermal-hydraulic computer codes (TRAC, RELAP5, etc.) For the KORSAR computer code, we have developed a new non-iterative method for calculating the pressure field in the network of any topology. This method is based on the tri-diagonal matrix method and performs well when solving the thermal-hydraulic network problems. (author)

Related research with thermo hydraulics safety by means of Trace code

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chaparro V, F. J.; Del Valle G, E.; Rodriguez H, A.; Gomez T, A. M.; Sanchez E, V. H.; Jager, W.

2014-10-01

In this article the results of the design of a pressure vessel of a BWR/5 similar to the type of Laguna Verde NPP are presented, using the Trace code. A thermo hydraulics Vessel component capable of simulating the behavior of fluids and heat transfer that occurs within the reactor vessel was created. The Vessel component consists of a three-dimensional cylinder divided into 19 axial sections, 4 azimuthal sections and two concentric radial rings. The inner ring is used to contain the core and the central part of the reactor, while the outer ring is used as a down comer. Axial an azimuthal divisions were made with the intention that the dimensions of the internal components, heights and orientation of the external connections match the reference values of a reactor BWR/5 type. In the model internal components as, fuel assemblies, steam separators, jet pumps, guide tubes, etc. are included and main external connections as, steam lines, feed-water or penetrations of the recirculation system. The model presents significant simplifications because the object is to keep symmetry between each azimuthal section of the vessel. In most internal components lack a detailed description of the geometry and initial values of temperature, pressure, fluid velocity, etc. given that it only considered the most representative data, however with these simulations are obtained acceptable results in important parameters such as the total flow through the core, the pressure in the vessel, percentage of vacuums fraction, pressure drop in the core and the steam separators. (Author)

Hydraulic root water uptake models: old concerns and new insights

Science.gov (United States)

Couvreur, V.; Carminati, A.; Rothfuss, Y.; Meunier, F.; Vanderborght, J.; Javaux, M.

2014-12-01

Root water uptake (RWU) affects underground water dynamics, with consequences on plant water availability and groundwater recharge. Even though hydrological and climate models are sensitive to RWU parameters, no consensus exists on the modelling of this process. Back in the 1940ies, Van Den Honert's catenary approach was the first to investigate the use of connected hydraulic resistances to describe water flow in whole plants. However concerns such as the necessary computing when architectures get complex made this approach premature. Now that computing power increased dramatically, hydraulic RWU models are gaining popularity, notably because they naturally produce observed processes like compensatory RWU and hydraulic redistribution. Yet major concerns remain. Some are more fundamental: according to hydraulic principles, plant water potential should equilibrate with soil water potential when the plant does not transpire, which is not a general observation when using current definitions of bulk or average soil water potential. Other concerns regard the validation process: water uptake distribution is not directly measurable, which makes it hard to demonstrate whether or not hydraulic models are more accurate than other models. Eventually parameterization concerns exist: root hydraulic properties are not easily measurable, and would even fluctuate on an hourly basis due to processes like aquaporin gating. While offering opportunities to validate hydraulic RWU models, newly developed observation techniques also make us realize the increasing complexity of processes involved in soil-plant hydrodynamics, such as the change of rhizosphere hydraulic properties with soil drying. Surprisingly, once implemented into hydraulic models, these processes do not necessarily translate into more complex emerging behavior at plant scale, and might justify the use of simplified representations of the soil-plant hydraulic system.

Detailed measurements and modelling of thermo active components using a room size test facility

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Weitzmann, Peter; Svendsen, Svend

2005-01-01

measurements in an office sized test facility with thermo active ceiling and floor as well as modelling of similar conditions in a computer program designed for analysis of building integrated heating and cooling systems. A method for characterizing the cooling capacity of thermo active components is described...... typically within 1-2K of the measured results. The simulation model, whose room model splits up the radiative and convective heat transfer between room and surfaces, can also be used to predict the dynamical conditions, where especially the temperature rise during the day is important for designing...

Thermal hydraulic model validation for HOR mixed core fuel management

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gibcus, H.P.M.; Vries, J.W. de; Leege, P.F.A. de

1997-01-01

A thermal-hydraulic core management model has been developed for the Hoger Onderwijsreactor (HOR), a 2 MW pool-type university research reactor. The model was adopted for safety analysis purposes in the framework of HEU/LEU core conversion studies. It is applied in the thermal-hydraulic computer code SHORT (Steady-state HOR Thermal-hydraulics) which is presently in use in designing core configurations and for in-core fuel management. An elaborate measurement program was performed for establishing the core hydraulic characteristics for a variety of conditions. The hydraulic data were obtained with a dummy fuel element with special equipment allowing a.o. direct measurement of the true core flow rate. Using these data the thermal-hydraulic model was validated experimentally. The model, experimental tests, and model validation are discussed. (author)

TRIO-EF a general thermal hydraulics computer code applied to the Avlis process

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Magnaud, J.P.; Claveau, M.; Coulon, N.; Yala, P.; Guilbaud, D.; Mejane, A.

1993-01-01

TRIO(EF is a general purpose Fluid Mechanics 3D Finite Element Code. The system capabilities cover areas such as steady state or transient, laminar or turbulent, isothermal or temperature dependent fluid flows; it is applicable to the study of coupled thermo-fluid problems involving heat conduction and possibly radiative heat transfer. It has been used to study the thermal behaviour of the AVLIS process separation module. In this process, a linear electron beam impinges the free surface of a uranium ingot, generating a two dimensional curtain emission of vapour from a water-cooled crucible. The energy transferred to the metal causes its partial melting, forming a pool where strong convective motion increases heat transfer towards the crucible. In the upper part of the Separation Module, the internal structures are devoted to two main functions: vapor containment and reflux, irradiation and physical separation. They are subjected to very high temperature levels and heat transfer occurs mainly by radiation. Moreover, special attention has to be paid to electron backscattering. These two major points have been simulated numerically with TRIO-EF and the paper presents and comments the results of such a computation, for each of them. After a brief overview of the computer code, two examples of the TRIO-EF capabilities are given: a crucible thermal hydraulics model, a thermal analysis of the internal structures

Theory and modeling of cylindrical thermo-acoustic transduction

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Tong, Lihong, E-mail: lhtong@ecjtu.edu.cn [School of Civil Engineering and Architecture, East China Jiaotong University, Nanchang, Jiangxi (China); Lim, C.W. [Department of Architecture and Civil Engineering, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon, Hong Kong SAR (China); Zhao, Xiushao; Geng, Daxing [School of Civil Engineering and Architecture, East China Jiaotong University, Nanchang, Jiangxi (China)

2016-06-03

Models both for solid and thinfilm-solid cylindrical thermo-acoustic transductions are proposed and the corresponding acoustic pressure solutions are obtained. The acoustic pressure for an individual carbon nanotube (CNT) as a function of input power is investigated analytically and it is verified by comparing with the published experimental data. Further numerical analysis on the acoustic pressure response and characteristics for varying input frequency and distance are also examined both for solid and thinfilm-solid cylindrical thermo-acoustic transductions. Through detailed theoretical and numerical studies on the acoustic pressure solution for thinfilm-solid cylindrical transduction, it is concluded that a solid with smaller thermal conductivity favors to improve the acoustic performance. In general, the proposed models are applicable to a variety of cylindrical thermo-acoustic devices performing in different gaseous media. - Highlights: • Theory and modeling both for solid and thinfilm-solid cylindrical thermo-acoustic transductions are proposed. • The modeling is verified by comparing with the published experimental data. • Acoustic response characteristics of cylindrical thermo-acoustic transductions are predicted by the proposed model.

Analysis Thermo-hydraulic of trajectories related to procedures for operation of Emergency (POE). Application to the loss of a train of the DTH; Analisis termohidraulico de trayectorias vinculadas a Procedimientos de Operacion de emergencia (POE). Aplicacion a la perdida de un tren de RHR

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sanchez-Saez, F.; Martorell Alsina, S.; Carlos Alberola, A.; Villanueva Lopez, J. F.; Martorell Aygues, P.

2012-07-01

This work explores different possible sequences at the loss of a train of the DTH when the plant is lowering power. The study of the different possible trajectories has been done through the collapse tool and study thermo-hydraulic each of these paths is done by the code TRACE Thermo-hydraulic.

Finite Element Modeling of Thermo Creep Processes Using Runge-Kutta Method

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yu. I. Dimitrienko

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Thermo creep deformations for most heat-resistant alloys, as a rule, nonlinearly depend on stresses and are practically non- reversible. Therefore, to calculate the properties of these materials the theory of plastic flow is most widely used. Finite-element computations of a stress-strain state of structures with account of thermo creep deformations up to now are performed using main commercial software, including ANSYS package. However, in most cases to solve nonlinear creep equations, one should apply explicit or implicit methods based on the Euler method of approximation of time-derivatives. The Euler method is sufficiently efficient in terms of random access memory in computations, however this method is cumbersome in computation time and does not always provide a required accuracy for creep deformation computations.The paper offers a finite-element algorithm to solve a three-dimensional problem of thermo creep based on the Runge-Kutta finite-difference schemes of different orders with respect to time. It shows a numerical test example to solve the problem on the thermo creep of a beam under tensile loading. The computed results demonstrate that using the Runge-Kutta method with increasing accuracy order allows us to obtain a more accurate solution (with increasing accuracy order by 1 a relative error decreases, approximately, by an order too. The developed algorithm proves to be efficient enough and can be recommended for solving the more complicated problems of thermo creep of structures.

A Mathematical Model of the Thermo-Anemometric Flowmeter.

Science.gov (United States)

Korobiichuk, Igor; Bezvesilna, Olena; Ilchenko, Andriі; Shadura, Valentina; Nowicki, Michał; Szewczyk, Roman

2015-09-11

A thermo-anemometric flowmeter design and the principles of its work are presented in the article. A mathematical model of the temperature field in a stream of biofuel is proposed. This model allows one to determine the fuel consumption with high accuracy. Numerical modeling of the heater heat balance in the fuel flow of a thermo-anemometric flowmeter is conducted and the results are analyzed. Methods for increasing the measurement speed and accuracy of a thermo-anemometric flowmeter are proposed.

Comparison of inverse modeling results with measured and interpolated hydraulic head data

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jacobson, E.A.

1986-12-01

Inverse modeling of aquifers involves identification of effective parameters, such as transmissivities, based on hydraulic head data. The result of inverse modeling is a calibrated ground water flow model that reproduces the measured hydraulic head data as closely as is statistically possible. An inverse method that includes prior information about the parameters (i.e., kriged log transmissivity) was applied to the Avra Valley aquifer of southern Arizona using hydraulic heads obtained in three ways: measured at well locations, estimated at nodes by hand contouring, and estimated at nodes by kriging. Hand contouring yields only estimates of hydraulic head at node points, whereas kriging yields hydraulic head estimates at node points and their corresponding estimation errors. A comparison of the three inverse applications indicates the variations in the ground water flow model caused by the different treatments of the hydraulic head data. Estimates of hydraulic head computed by all three inverse models were more representative of the measured or interpolated hydraulic heads than those computed using the kriged estimates of log transmissivity. The large-scale trends in the estimates of log transmissivity determined by the three inverse models were generally similar except in the southern portion of the study area. The hydraulic head values and gradients produced by the three inverse models were similar in the interior of the study area, while the major differences between the inverse models occurred along the boundaries. 17 refs., 18 figs., 1 tab

Computer Simulation of Hydraulic Systems with Typical Nonlinear Characteristics

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

D. N. Popov

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The task was to synthesise an adjustable hydraulic system structure, the mathematical model of which takes into account its inherent nonlinearity. Its solution suggests using a successive computer simulations starting with a structure of the linearized stable hydraulic system, which is then complicated by including the essentially non-linear elements. The hydraulic system thus obtained may be unable to meet the Lyapunov stability criterion and be unstable. This can be eliminated through correcting elements. Control of correction results is provided according to the form of transition processes due to stepwise variation of the control signal.Computer simulation of a throttle-controlled electrohydraulic servo drive with the rotary output element illustrates the proposed method application. A constant pressure power source provides fluid feed for the drive under pressure.For drive simulation the following models were involved: the linear model, the model taking into consideration a non-linearity of the flow-dynamic characteristics of a spool-type valve, and the non-linear models that take into account the dry friction in the spool-type valve, the backlash in the steering angle sensor of the motor shaft.The paper shows possibility of damping oscillation caused by variable hydrodynamic forces through introducing a correction device.The list of references attached contains 16 sources, which were used to justify and explain certain factors of the automatic control theory and the fluid mechanics of unsteady flows.The article presents 6 block-diagrams of the electrohydraulic servo drive and their appropriate transition processes, which have been studied.

PLUGM: a coupled thermal-hydraulic computer model for freezing melt flow in a channel

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pilch, M.

1982-01-01

PLUGM is a coupled thermal-hydraulic computer model for freezing liquid flow and plugging in a cold channel. PLUGM is being developed at Sandia National Laboratories for applications in Sandia's ex-vessel Core Retention Concept Assessment Program and in Sandia's LMFBR Transition Phase Program. The purpose of this paper is to introduce PLUGM and demonstrate how it can be used in the analysis of two of the core retention concepts under investigation at Sandia: refractory brick crucibles and particle beds

Sensitiveness Analysis of Neutronic Parameters Due to Uncertainty in Thermo-hydraulic parameters on CAREM-25 Reactor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Serra, Oscar

2000-01-01

Some studies were done about the effect of the uncertainty in the values of several thermo-hydraulic parameters on the core behaviour of the CAREM-25 reactor.By using the chain codes CITVAP-THERMIT and the perturbation the reference states, it was found that concerning to the total power, the effects were not very important, but were much bigger for the pressure.Furthermore were hardly significant in the presence of any perturbation on the void fraction calculation and the fuel temperature.The reactivity and the power peaking factor had highly important changes in the case of the coolant flow.We conclude that the use of this procedure is adequate and useful to our purpose

Development of a model of a NSSS of the PWR reactor with thermo-hydraulic code GOTHIC; Desarrollo de un modelo del NSSS de un reactor PWR con el codigo termo-hidraulico GOTHIC

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gomez Garcia-Torano, I.; Jimenez, G.

2013-07-01

The Thermo-hydraulic code GOTHIC is often used in the nuclear industry for licensing transient analysis inside containment of generation II (PWR, BWR) plants as Gen III and III + (AP1000, ESBWR, APWR). After entering the mass and energy released to the containment, previously calculated by other codes (basis, TRACE), GOTHIC allows to calculate in detail the evolution of basic parameters in the containment.

Development and validation of the ASTEC-Na thermal-hydraulic models

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Herranz, L. E.; Perez, S.; Bandini, G.; Jacq, F.; Parisi, C.; Berna, C.

2014-07-01

Last years the interest in sodium-cooled fast reactors (SFR) has been fostered worldwide by the search for higher nuclear energy sustainability. This has been reflected in the various international initiatives like GEN-IV International Forum, INPRO or ESNII platforms. At the same time, innovative nuclear reactor designs, particularly SFR, are aiming at even higher safety standards than current LWRs. A proof of it is the consideration of severe accidents since the earliest stages of reactor design. commonalities of LWR and SFR severe accident scenarios suggest that some of the knowledge achieved in the LWR arena might be applicable to some extent to SFRs. This is the spirit underneath of the EU-JASMIN project, which generic goal is developing the ASTEC-Na code from the LWR ASTEC platform. This will entail to t extend and adapt some existing models as well as to implement new ones in all the areas covered, from neutronics and pin thermo-mechanics and pin thermo-mechanics to the in-containment source term behavior by these, going through the indispensable Na thermal-hydraulics. (Author)

Saturated hydraulic conductivity model computed from bimodal water retention curves for a range of New Zealand soils

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

J. A. P. Pollacco

2017-06-01

Full Text Available Descriptions of soil hydraulic properties, such as the soil moisture retention curve, θ(h, and saturated hydraulic conductivities, Ks, are a prerequisite for hydrological models. Since the measurement of Ks is expensive, it is frequently derived from statistical pedotransfer functions (PTFs. Because it is usually more difficult to describe Ks than θ(h from pedotransfer functions, Pollacco et al. (2013 developed a physical unimodal model to compute Ks solely from hydraulic parameters derived from the Kosugi θ(h. This unimodal Ks model, which is based on a unimodal Kosugi soil pore-size distribution, was developed by combining the approach of Hagen–Poiseuille with Darcy's law and by introducing three tortuosity parameters. We report here on (1 the suitability of the Pollacco unimodal Ks model to predict Ks for a range of New Zealand soils from the New Zealand soil database (S-map and (2 further adaptations to this model to adapt it to dual-porosity structured soils by computing the soil water flux through a continuous function of an improved bimodal pore-size distribution. The improved bimodal Ks model was tested with a New Zealand data set derived from historical measurements of Ks and θ(h for a range of soils derived from sandstone and siltstone. The Ks data were collected using a small core size of 10 cm diameter, causing large uncertainty in replicate measurements. Predictions of Ks were further improved by distinguishing topsoils from subsoil. Nevertheless, as expected, stratifying the data with soil texture only slightly improved the predictions of the physical Ks models because the Ks model is based on pore-size distribution and the calibrated parameters were obtained within the physically feasible range. The improvements made to the unimodal Ks model by using the new bimodal Ks model are modest when compared to the unimodal model, which is explained by the poor accuracy of measured total porosity. Nevertheless, the new bimodal

Saturated hydraulic conductivity model computed from bimodal water retention curves for a range of New Zealand soils

Science.gov (United States)

Pollacco, Joseph Alexander Paul; Webb, Trevor; McNeill, Stephen; Hu, Wei; Carrick, Sam; Hewitt, Allan; Lilburne, Linda

2017-06-01

Descriptions of soil hydraulic properties, such as the soil moisture retention curve, θ(h), and saturated hydraulic conductivities, Ks, are a prerequisite for hydrological models. Since the measurement of Ks is expensive, it is frequently derived from statistical pedotransfer functions (PTFs). Because it is usually more difficult to describe Ks than θ(h) from pedotransfer functions, Pollacco et al. (2013) developed a physical unimodal model to compute Ks solely from hydraulic parameters derived from the Kosugi θ(h). This unimodal Ks model, which is based on a unimodal Kosugi soil pore-size distribution, was developed by combining the approach of Hagen-Poiseuille with Darcy's law and by introducing three tortuosity parameters. We report here on (1) the suitability of the Pollacco unimodal Ks model to predict Ks for a range of New Zealand soils from the New Zealand soil database (S-map) and (2) further adaptations to this model to adapt it to dual-porosity structured soils by computing the soil water flux through a continuous function of an improved bimodal pore-size distribution. The improved bimodal Ks model was tested with a New Zealand data set derived from historical measurements of Ks and θ(h) for a range of soils derived from sandstone and siltstone. The Ks data were collected using a small core size of 10 cm diameter, causing large uncertainty in replicate measurements. Predictions of Ks were further improved by distinguishing topsoils from subsoil. Nevertheless, as expected, stratifying the data with soil texture only slightly improved the predictions of the physical Ks models because the Ks model is based on pore-size distribution and the calibrated parameters were obtained within the physically feasible range. The improvements made to the unimodal Ks model by using the new bimodal Ks model are modest when compared to the unimodal model, which is explained by the poor accuracy of measured total porosity. Nevertheless, the new bimodal model provides an

Thermo-Hydraulic Analysis of Heat Storage Filled with the Ceramic Bricks Dedicated to the Solar Air Heating System.

Science.gov (United States)

Nemś, Magdalena; Nemś, Artur; Kasperski, Jacek; Pomorski, Michał

2017-08-12

This article presents the results of a study into a packed bed filled with ceramic bricks. The designed storage installation is supposed to become part of a heating system installed in a single-family house and eventually to be integrated with a concentrated solar collector adapted to climate conditions in Poland. The system's working medium is air. The investigated temperature ranges and air volume flow rates in the ceramic bed were dictated by the planned integration with a solar air heater. Designing a packed bed of sufficient parameters first required a mathematical model to be constructed and heat exchange to be analyzed, since heat accumulation is a complex process influenced by a number of material properties. The cases discussed in the literature are based on differing assumptions and different formulas are used in calculations. This article offers a comparison of various mathematical models and of system operating parameters obtained from these models. The primary focus is on the Nusselt number. Furthermore, in the article, the thermo-hydraulic efficiency of the investigated packed bed is presented. This part is based on a relationship used in solar air collectors with internal storage.

Thermo-Hydraulic Analysis of Heat Storage Filled with the Ceramic Bricks Dedicated to the Solar Air Heating System

Science.gov (United States)

Nemś, Magdalena; Nemś, Artur; Kasperski, Jacek; Pomorski, Michał

2017-01-01

This article presents the results of a study into a packed bed filled with ceramic bricks. The designed storage installation is supposed to become part of a heating system installed in a single-family house and eventually to be integrated with a concentrated solar collector adapted to climate conditions in Poland. The system’s working medium is air. The investigated temperature ranges and air volume flow rates in the ceramic bed were dictated by the planned integration with a solar air heater. Designing a packed bed of sufficient parameters first required a mathematical model to be constructed and heat exchange to be analyzed, since heat accumulation is a complex process influenced by a number of material properties. The cases discussed in the literature are based on differing assumptions and different formulas are used in calculations. This article offers a comparison of various mathematical models and of system operating parameters obtained from these models. The primary focus is on the Nusselt number. Furthermore, in the article, the thermo-hydraulic efficiency of the investigated packed bed is presented. This part is based on a relationship used in solar air collectors with internal storage. PMID:28805703

Temperature control of CMS Barrel ECAL (EB) : computational thermo-hydraulic model for dynamic behaviour, control aspects

CERN Document Server

Wertelaers, P

2010-01-01

The current design foresees a central heat exchanger followed by a controlled post heater, for all ECAL. We discuss the scheme and try to assess its performance, from a Barrel viewpoint. This is based on computational work. The coolant transfer pipes play an essential role in building a dynamical model. After some studies on the behaviour of the cooling circuit itself, a strong yet simple controller is proposed. Then, the system with feedback control is scrutinized, with emphasis on disturbance rejection. The most relevant disturbances are cooling ripple, pipe heat attack, and electronics’ switching.

Thermo-Fluid Verification of Fuel Column with Crossflow Gap

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, Sung Nam; Tak, Nam Il; Kim, Min Hwan; Noh, Jae Man

2013-01-01

Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI) has been developing thermal-hydraulic code to design a safe and effective VHTR. Core reliable Optimization and Network thermo-fluid Analysis (CORONA) is a code that solves the fluid region as 1-D and the solid domain as 3-D. The postulated event is modeled to secure safety during design process. The reactor core of VHTR is piled with multi-fuel block layers. The helium gas goes through coolant channel holes after distributed from upper plenum. The fuel blocks are irradiated during operation and there might be cross gaps between blocks. These cross gaps change the passage of coolant channels and could affect the temperature of fuel compact. Therefore, two types of single fuel assembly (i. e., standard and Reserved Shutdown Control (RSC) hole fuel assemblies) were investigated in this study. The CORONA, thermo-fluid analysis code, has been developing to compute the reactor core of VHTR. Crossflow model was applied to predict temperature and flow distribution between fuel blocks in this study. The calculated results are compared with the data of commercial software, CFX. The temperature variations along the axial direction well agree for both standard / RSC fuel assemblies. The flow redistribution due to crossflow matches well. The hot spot temperature and locations might differ depending on the cross gap size. This research will be done in detail for further study

Thermo-hydrodynamical modelling of a flooded deep mine reservoir - Case of the Lorraine Coal Basin

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Reichart, Guillaume

2015-01-01

Since 2006, cessation of dewatering in Lorraine Coal Basin (France) led to the flooding of abandoned mines, resulting in a new hydrodynamic balance in the area. Recent researches concerning geothermal exploitation of flooded reservoirs raised new questions, which we propose to answer. Our work aimed to understand the thermos-hydrodynamic behaviour of mine water in a flooding or flooded system. Firstly, we synthesized the geographical, geological and hydrogeological contexts of the Lorraine Coal Basin, and we chose a specific area for our studies. Secondly, temperature and electric conductivity log profiles were measured in old pits of the Lorraine Coal Basin, giving a better understanding of the water behaviour at a deep mine shaft scale. We were able to build a thermos-hydrodynamic model and simulate water behaviour at this scale. Flow regime stability is also studied. Thirdly, a hydrodynamic spatialized meshed model was realized to study the hydrodynamic behaviour of a mine reservoir as a whole. Observed water-table rise was correctly reproduced: moreover, the model can be used in a predictive way after the flooding. Several tools were tested, improved or developed to ease the study of flooded reservoirs, as three-dimensional up-scaling of hydraulic conductivities and a coupled spatialized meshed model with a pipe network. (author) [fr

Evaluating the hydraulic and transport properties of peat soil using pore network modeling and X-ray micro computed tomography

Science.gov (United States)

Gharedaghloo, Behrad; Price, Jonathan S.; Rezanezhad, Fereidoun; Quinton, William L.

2018-06-01

Micro-scale properties of peat pore space and their influence on hydraulic and transport properties of peat soils have been given little attention so far. Characterizing the variation of these properties in a peat profile can increase our knowledge on the processes controlling contaminant transport through peatlands. As opposed to the common macro-scale (or bulk) representation of groundwater flow and transport processes, a pore network model (PNM) simulates flow and transport processes within individual pores. Here, a pore network modeling code capable of simulating advective and diffusive transport processes through a 3D unstructured pore network was developed; its predictive performance was evaluated by comparing its results to empirical values and to the results of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations. This is the first time that peat pore networks have been extracted from X-ray micro-computed tomography (μCT) images of peat deposits and peat pore characteristics evaluated in a 3D approach. Water flow and solute transport were modeled in the unstructured pore networks mapped directly from μCT images. The modeling results were processed to determine the bulk properties of peat deposits. Results portray the commonly observed decrease in hydraulic conductivity with depth, which was attributed to the reduction of pore radius and increase in pore tortuosity. The increase in pore tortuosity with depth was associated with more decomposed peat soil and decreasing pore coordination number with depth, which extended the flow path of fluid particles. Results also revealed that hydraulic conductivity is isotropic locally, but becomes anisotropic after upscaling to core-scale; this suggests the anisotropy of peat hydraulic conductivity observed in core-scale and field-scale is due to the strong heterogeneity in the vertical dimension that is imposed by the layered structure of peat soils. Transport simulations revealed that for a given solute, the effective

The applicability of CFD to simulate and study the mixing process and the thermo-hydraulic consequences of a main steam line break in PWR model

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Farkas Istvan

2017-01-01

Full Text Available This paper focuses on the validation and applicability of CFD to simulate and analyze the thermo-hydraulic consequences of a main steam line break. Extensive validation data come from experiments performed using the Rossendorf coolant mixing model facility. For the calculation, the range of 9 to 12 million hexahe¬dral cells was constructed to capture all details in the interrogation domain in the system. The analysis was performed by running a time-dependent calculation, Detailed analyses were made at different cross-sections in the system to evaluate not only the value of the maximum and minimum temperature, but also the loca¬tion and the time at which it occurs during the transient which is considered to be indicator for the quality of mixing in the system. CFD and experimental results were qualitatively compared; mixing in the cold legs with emergency core cooling systems was overestimated. This could be explained by the sensitivity to the bound¬ary conditions. In the downcomer, the experiments displayed higher mixing: by our assumption this related to the dense measurement grid (they were not modelled. The temperature distribution in the core inlet plane agreed with the measurement results. Minor deviations were seen in the quantitative comparisons: the maximum temperature difference was 2ºC.

Validation of thermal hydraulic computer codes for advanced light water reactor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Macek, J.

2001-01-01

The Czech Republic operates 4 WWER-440 units, two WWER-1000 units are being finalised (one of them is undergoing commissioning). Thermal-hydraulics Department of the Nuclear Research Institute Rez performs accident analyses for these plants using a number of computer codes. To model the primary and secondary circuits behaviour the system codes ATHLET, CATHARE, RELAP, TRAC are applied. Containment and pressure-suppressure system are modelled with RALOC and MELCOR codes, the reactor power calculations (point and space-neutron kinetics) are made with DYN3D, NESTLE and CDF codes (FLUENT, TRIO) are used for some specific problems. An integral part of the current Czech project 'New Energy Sources' is selection of a new nuclear source. Within this and the preceding projects financed by the Czech Ministry of Industry and Trade and the EU PHARE, the Department carries and has carried out the systematic validation of thermal-hydraulic and reactor physics computer codes applying data obtained on several experimental facilities as well as the real operational data. The paper provides a concise information on these activities of the NRI and its Thermal-hydraulics Department. A detailed example of the system code validation and the consequent utilisation of the results for a real NPP purposes is included. (author)

Analysis of unsaturated clayey materials hydration incorporating the effect of thermo-osmotic flow

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sanchez, M.; Arson, C.

2012-01-01

approximately twice smaller in this zone than the saturation degree obtained with the reference behavior model. This means that thermo-osmosis originates drying. During the 1000 years of nuclear waste storage, the host rock is thus expected to be subjected to more significant drying if thermo-osmosis is taken into account. This is because the equivalent thermal conductivity of the unsaturated porous medium, computed as a weighted average of the thermal conductivities of all constituents (solid skeleton, liquid, gas), is expected to be lower than in the reference model (due to its lower saturation). Heat flux is mainly controlled by Fourier's law; so if a given heat flux is imposed at the surfaces of the heating source, the decrease of equivalent thermal conductivity has to be compensated by the gradient of temperature. The massif studied with the thermo-osmotic model being dryer than in the reference case, it is thus logical to observe higher temperatures around the heating source in the simulation accounting for thermo-osmotic effects. As it can be observed, the effect of thermo-osmotic flow is relevant in this problem related to nuclear waste disposals. (authors)

Thermo-hydraulic Analysis of a Water-cooled Printed Circuit Heat Exchanger in a Small-scale Nitrogen Loop

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Chan Soo; Hong, Sung Deok; Kim, Min Hwan; Shim, Jaesool; Lee, Gyung Dong

2013-01-01

The development of high-temperature heat exchangers is very important because of its higher operation temperature and pressure than those of common light water reactors and industrial process plants. In particular, the intermediate heat exchanger is a key-challenged high temperature component in a Very High Temperature gas-cooled Reactor (VHTR). A printed circuit heat exchanger is one of the candidates for an intermediate heat exchanger in a VHTR. The printed circuit heat exchanger (PCHE) was developed and commercialized by HEATRIC. The compactness is better than any other heat exchanger types, because its core matrices are fabricated by diffusion bonding with photo-chemically etched micro-channels. Various tests and analysis have been performed to verify the performance of PCHE. The thermal stress analysis of the high temperature PCHE is necessary to endure the extremely operation condition of IHX. In this study, the thermo-hydraulic analysis for the laboratory-scale PCHE is performed to provide the input data for the boundary conditions of a structural analysis. The results from the first-principal calculation are compared with those from computational fluid dynamics code analysis. COMSOL 4.3a analysis is successfully performed at the uniform pressure drop condition in a set of flow channel stacks. The heat-exchanged region concentrated to the nitrogen inlet cause the uniform mass velocity distribution in the channels, therefore there is little difference between two analytical results

Thermo-hydraulic behavior of saturated steam-water mixture in pressure vessel during injection of cold water

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Aya, Izuo; Kobayashi, Michiyuki; Inasaka, Fujio; Nariai, Hideki.

1983-01-01

The thermo-hydraulic behavior of saturated steam water mixture in a pressure vessel during injection of cold water was experimentally investigated with the Facility for Mixing Effect of Emergency Core Cooling Water. The dimensions of the pressure vessel used in the experiments were 284mm ID and 1,971mm height. 11 experiments were conducted without blowdown in order to comprehend the basic process excluding the effect of blowdown at injection of cold water. The initial pressure and water level, the injection flow rate and the size of injection nozzle were chosen as experimental parameters. Temperatures and void fractions at 6 elevations as well as pressure in the pressure vessel were measured, and new data especially on the pressure undershoot just after the initation of water injection and the vertical distribution of temperature and void fraction were gotten. The transients of pressure, average temperature and void fraction were caluculated using single-volume analysis code BLODAC-1V which is based on thermal equilibrium and so-called bubble gradient model. Some input parameters included in the analysis code were evaluated through the comparison of analysis with experimental data. Moreover, the observed pressure undershoot which is evaluated to be induced by a time lag of vapourization in water due to thermal nonequilibrium, was also discussed with the aid of another simple analysis model. (author)

Extensive use of computational fluid dynamics in the upgrading of hydraulic turbines

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sabourin, M.; Eremeef, R.; De Henau, V.

1995-12-31

Computational fluid dynamics codes, based on turbulent Navier-Stokes equations, allow evaluation of the hydraulic losses of each turbine component with precision. Using those codes with the new generation of computers enables a wide variety of component geometries to be modelled and compared to the original designs under flow conditions obtained from testing, at a reasonable cost and in a relatively short time. This paper reviews the actual method used in the design of a solution to a turbine rehabilitation project involving runner replacement, redesign of upstream components (stay vanes and wicket gates), and downstream components (draft tubes and runner outlets). The paper shows how computational fluid dynamics can help hydraulic engineers to obtain valuable information not only on performance enhancement but also on the phenomena that produce the enhancement, and to reduce the variety of modifications to be tested.

Time-Varying Hydraulic Gradient Model of Paste-Like Tailings in Long-Distance Pipeline Transportation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Li Yang

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Paste-like tailings slurry (PTLS is always simplified as a Bingham plastic fluid, leading to excessive computational errors in the calculation of the hydraulic gradient. In the case of paste-like tailings in long-distance pipeline transportation, to explore a high-precision and reliable hydraulic gradient formula, the rheological behavior of paste-like tailings slurry was analyzed, a time-varying hydraulic gradient model was constructed, and a series of laboratory shear tests were conducted. The results indicate that the PTLS shows noticeable shear-thinning characteristics in constant shear tests; the calculated hydraulic gradient declined by about 56%, from 4.44 MPa·km−1 to 1.95 MPa·km−1 within 253 s, and remained constant for the next four hours during the pipeline transportation. Comparing with the balance hydraulic gradient obtained in a semi-industrial loop test, the computational errors of those calculated by using the time-varying hydraulic gradient model, Jinchuan formula, and Shanxi formula are 15%, 78%, and 130%, respectively. Therefore, our model is a feasible and high-precision solution for the calculation of the hydraulic gradient of paste-like tailings in long-distance pipeline transportation.

Thermo-mechanical design of the SINGAP accelerator grids for ITER NB injectors

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Agostinetti, P. [Consorzio RFX, Euratom-ENEA Association, Corso Stati Uniti 4, I35127 Padova (Italy)], E-mail: piero.agostinetti@igi.cnr.it; Dal Bello, S.; Dalla Palma, M.; Zaccaria, P. [Consorzio RFX, Euratom-ENEA Association, Corso Stati Uniti 4, I35127 Padova (Italy)

2007-10-15

The SINGle Aperture-SINgle GAP (SINGAP) accelerator for ITER neutral beam injector foresees four grids for the extraction and acceleration of negative ions, instead of the seven grids of the Multi-Aperture Multi-Grid (MAMuG) reference configuration. The grids have to fulfil specific requirements coming from ion extraction, beam optics and thermo-mechanical issues. This paper focuses on the thermo-hydraulic and thermo-mechanical design of the grids carried out by Consorzio RFX for the design of the first ITER NB injector and the ITER NB Test Facility. The cooling circuit design (position and shape of the channels) and the cooling parameters (water coolant temperatures, pressure and velocity) were optimized with sensitivity analyses in order to satisfy the grid functional requirements (temperatures, stresses, in plane and out of plane deformations). The design required a complete modelling of the grids and their support frames by means of 3D FE and CAD models.

Modeling and stability of electro-hydraulic servo of hydraulic excavator

Science.gov (United States)

Jia, Wenhua; Yin, Chenbo; Li, Guo; Sun, Menghui

2017-11-01

The condition of the hydraulic excavator is complicated and the working environment is bad. The safety and stability of the control system is influenced by the external factors. This paper selects hydraulic excavator electro-hydraulic servo system as the research object. A mathematical model and simulation model using AMESIM of servo system is established. Then the pressure and flow characteristics are analyzed. The design and optimization of electro-hydraulic servo system and its application in engineering machinery is provided.

IAEA coordinated research programme on heat transfer behavior and thermo-hydraulics code testing for super critical water cooled reactors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bilbao y Leon, Sama; Aksan, Nusret

2009-01-01

One of the key roles of the IAEA is to foster the collaboration among Member States on the development of advances in technology for advanced nuclear power plants. There is high international interest, both in developing and industrialized countries, in innovative supercritical water-cooled reactors (SCWRs), primarily because such concepts will achieve high thermal efficiencies (44-45%) and promise improved economic competitiveness utilizing and building upon the recent developments for highly efficient fossil power plants. The SCWR has been selected as one of the promising concepts for development by the Generation-IV International Forum. Following the advice of the IAEA Nuclear Energy Department's Technical Working Groups on Advanced Technologies for LWRs and HWRs (the TWG-LWR and TWG-HWR), with the feedback from the Gen-IV SCWR Steering Committee, and in coordination with the OECD-NEA, IAEA has recently started a Coordinated Research Programme (CRP) in the areas of heat transfer behaviour and testing of thermo-hydraulic computer methods for Supercritical Water-Cooled Reactors. The first Research Coordination Meeting (RCM) of the CRP was held at the IAEA Headquarters, in Vienna, Austria in July 2008. This paper summarizes the current status of the CRP, including the Integrated Research Plan and the general schedule for the CRP. (author)

Validation of containment thermal hydraulic computer codes for VVER reactor

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jiri Macek; Lubomir Denk [Nuclear Research Institute Rez plc Thermal-Hydraulic Analyses Department CZ 250 68 Husinec-Rez (Czech Republic)

2005-07-01

Full text of publication follows: The Czech Republic operates 4 VVER-440 units, two VVER-1000 units are being finalized (one of them is undergoing commissioning). Thermal-hydraulics Department of the Nuclear Research Institute Rez performs accident analyses for these plants using a number of computer codes. To model the primary and secondary circuits behaviour the system codes ATHLET, CATHARE, RELAP, TRAC are applied. Containment and pressure-suppression system are modelled with COCOSYS and MELCOR codes, the reactor power calculations (point and space-neutron kinetics) are made with DYN3D, NESTLE and CDF codes (FLUENT, TRIO) are used for some specific problems.An integral part of the current Czech project 'New Energy Sources' is selection of a new nuclear source. Within this and the preceding projects financed by the Czech Ministry of Industry and Trade and the EU PHARE, the Department carries and has carried out the systematic validation of thermal-hydraulic and reactor physics computer codes applying data obtained on several experimental facilities as well as the real operational data. One of the important components of the VVER 440/213 NPP is its containment with pressure suppression system (bubble condenser). For safety analyses of this system, computer codes of the type MELCOR and COCOSYS are used in the Czech Republic. These codes were developed for containments of classic PWRs or BWRs. In order to apply these codes for VVER 440 systems, their validation on experimental facilities must be performed.The paper provides concise information on these activities of the NRI and its Thermal-hydraulics Department. The containment system of the VVER 440/213, its functions and approaches to solution of its safety is described with definition of acceptance criteria. A detailed example of the containment code validation on EREC Test facility (LOCA and MSLB) and the consequent utilisation of the results for a real NPP purposes is included. An approach to

Model with Peach Bottom Turbine trip and thermal-Hydraulic code TRACE V5P3

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mesado, C.; Miro, R.; Barrachina, T.; Verdu, G.

2014-01-01

This work is the continuation of the work presented previously in the thirty-ninth meeting annual of the Spanish Nuclear society. The semi-automatic translation of the Thermo-hydraulic model TRAC-BF1 Peach Bottom Turbine Trip to TRACE was presented in such work. This article is intended to validate the model obtained in TRACE, why compare the model results result from the translation with the Benchmark results: NEA/OECD BWR Peach Bottom Turbine Trip (PBTT), in particular is of the extreme scenario 2 of exercise 3, in which there is SCRAM in the reactor. Among other data present in the (transitional) Benchmark , are: total power, axial profile of power, pressure Dome, total reactivity and its components. (Author)

Modifications in Compacted MX-80 Bentonite Due to Thermo-Hydraulic Treatment; Modificaciones en la Bentonita MX-80 Compactada Sometida a Tratamiento Termo-Hidraulico

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gomez-Espina, R.; Villar, M. V.

2013-09-01

The thermo-hydraulic tests reproduce the thermal and hydraulic conditions to which bentonite is subjected in the engineered barrier of a deep geological repository of radioactive waste. The results of thermo-hydraulic test TBT1500, which was running for approximately 1500 days, are presented. This is a continuation to the Technical Report Ciemat 1199, which presented results of test TBT500, performed under similar conditions but with duration of 500 days. In both tests the MX-80 bentonite was used with initial density and water content similar to those of the large-scale test TBT. The bentonite column was heated at the bottom at 140 degree centigrade and hydrated on top with deionized water. At the end of the test a sharp water content gradient was observed along the column, as well as an inverse dry density gradient. Hydration modified also the bentonite microstructure. Besides, an overall decrease of the smectite content with respect to the initial value took place, especially in the most hydrated areas where the percentage of interest ratified illite increased and in the longer test. On the other hand, the content of cristobalite, feldspars and calcite increased. Smectite dissolution processes (probably colloidal) occurred, particularly in the more hydrated areas and in the longer test. Due to the dissolution of low-solubility species and to the loss of exchangeable positions in the smectite, the content of soluble salts in the pore water increased with respect to the original one, especially in the longer test. The solubilized ions were transported; sodium, calcium, magnesium and sulphate having a similar mobility, which was in turn lower than that of potassium and chloride. The cationic exchange complex was also modified. (Author)

Application of a new thermo-mechanical model for the study of the nuclear waste disposal in clay rocks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dizier, A.; Li, X.L.; Francois, B.; Collin, F.; Charlier, R.

2012-01-01

Document available in extended abstract form only. One of the cornerstones of the nuclear waste disposal researches concerns the evolution of the damaged zone which can offer a preferential path for migration of radionuclide through modifications of its mechanical and hydraulic properties. Even if the thermo-mechanical behaviour of clays is well documented in the literature, the development of the damaged zone induced by an excavation with temperature is not well known. To investigate this problem, a new thermo-mechanical constitutive law has been implemented in the non-linear finite element code LAGAMINE developed at ULg (Universite de Liege) and has been used to model the PRACLAY experiment (Preliminary demonstration test for clay disposal of vitrified high level radioactive waste) at Mol URL (Underground Research Laboratory). Though several models are being to reproduce the different phenomena met when a thermal loading is applied to a clay specimen, the applications of such thermo-mechanical models to simulate large scale in-situ experiment are rare. Based on the work of Sultan a new thermo-mechanical constitutive law has been implemented in combination with a Cap model in the code LAGAMINE. The Cap model is a combination of a frictional criterion, a Cam-Clay model and a traction criterion. The influence of the temperature is considered through the thermo-mechanical law developed by Cui et al. (2000). This law permits to reproduce common features of the thermo-mechanical behaviour of clay, such as the decrease of the pre-consolidation pressure with temperature, the volume change, the thermal hardening, the transition between thermal dilation and thermal contraction for over-consolidated clays. These aspects are modelled with two curves in the (p',T) plane. The first one is related to the generation of the thermal volumetric plastic strains (TY curve (Thermal Yield)). The second one reproduces the decrease of the pre-consolidation pressure with the temperature

Implementation of the optimization for the methodology of the neutronic calculation and thermo-hydraulic in IEA-R1 reactor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stefani, Giovanni Laranjo de; Conti, Thadeu das Neves; Fedorenko, Giuliana G.; Castro, Vinicius A.; Maio, Mireia F.; Santos, Thiago Augusto dos

2011-01-01

This work objective was to create a manager program that would automate the programs and computer codes in use for neutronic calculation and thermo-hydraulic in IEA-R1 reactor thus making the process for calculation of safety parameters and for configuration change up to 98% faster than that used in the reactor today. This process was tested in combination with the reactor operators and is being implemented by the quality department. The main codes and programs involved in the calculations of configuration change are Leopard, Hammier-Technion, Twodb, Citation and Cobra. Calculations of delayed neutron and criticality coefficients given in the process of safety parameters calculation are given by the Hammer-Technion and Citation in a process that involves about eleven repetitions so that it meets all the necessary conditions (such different temperatures of the moderator and fuel). The results are entirely consistent with the expected and absolutely the same as those given by manual process. Thus the work shows its reliability as well the advantage of saving time, once a process that could take up to four hours was turned in one that takes around five minutes when done in a home computer. Much of this advantage is due to the fact that were created subprograms to treat the output of each program used and transform them into the input of the other programs, removing from it the intermediate essential data for this to occur, thus avoiding also a possible human error by handling the various data supplied. (author)

A new coupling of the 3D thermal-hydraulic code THYC and the thermo-mechanical code CYRANO3 for PWR calculations

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Marguet, S.D. [Electricite de France (EDF), 92 - Clamart (France)

1997-12-31

Among all parameters, the fuel temperature has a significant influence on the reactivity of the core, because of the Doppler effect on cross-sections. Most neutronic codes use a straightforward method to calculate an average fuel temperature used in their specific feed-back models. For instance, EDF`s neutronic code COCCINELLE uses the Rowland`s formula using the temperatures of the center and the surface of the pellet. COCCINELLE is coupled to the 3D thermal-hydraulic code THYC with calculates TDoppler with is standard thermal model. In order to improve the accuracy of such calculations, we have developed the coupling of our two latest codes in thermal-hydraulics (THYC) and thermo-mechanics (CYRANO3). THYC calculates two-phase flows in pipes or rod bundles and is used for transient calculations such as steam-line break, boron dilution accidents, DNB predictions, steam generator and condenser studies. CYRANO3 calculates most of the phenomena that take place in the fuel such as: 1) heat transfer induced by nuclear power; 2) thermal expansion of the fuel and the cladding; 3) release of gaseous fission`s products; 4) mechanical interaction between the pellet and the cladding. These two codes are now qualified in their own field and the coupling, using Parallel Virtual Machine (PVM) libraries customized in an home-made-easy-to-use package called CALCIUM, has been validated on `low` configurations (no thermal expansion, constant thermal characteristics) and used on accidental transients such as rod ejection and loss of coolant accident. (K.A.) 7 refs.

A new coupling of the 3D thermal-hydraulic code THYC and the thermo-mechanical code CYRANO3 for PWR calculations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Marguet, S.D.

1997-01-01

Among all parameters, the fuel temperature has a significant influence on the reactivity of the core, because of the Doppler effect on cross-sections. Most neutronic codes use a straightforward method to calculate an average fuel temperature used in their specific feed-back models. For instance, EDF's neutronic code COCCINELLE uses the Rowland's formula using the temperatures of the center and the surface of the pellet. COCCINELLE is coupled to the 3D thermal-hydraulic code THYC with calculates TDoppler with is standard thermal model. In order to improve the accuracy of such calculations, we have developed the coupling of our two latest codes in thermal-hydraulics (THYC) and thermo-mechanics (CYRANO3). THYC calculates two-phase flows in pipes or rod bundles and is used for transient calculations such as steam-line break, boron dilution accidents, DNB predictions, steam generator and condenser studies. CYRANO3 calculates most of the phenomena that take place in the fuel such as: 1) heat transfer induced by nuclear power; 2) thermal expansion of the fuel and the cladding; 3) release of gaseous fission's products; 4) mechanical interaction between the pellet and the cladding. These two codes are now qualified in their own field and the coupling, using Parallel Virtual Machine (PVM) libraries customized in an home-made-easy-to-use package called CALCIUM, has been validated on 'low' configurations (no thermal expansion, constant thermal characteristics) and used on accidental transients such as rod ejection and loss of coolant accident. (K.A.)

Use of computer programs STLK1 and STWT1 for analysis of stream-aquifer hydraulic interaction

Science.gov (United States)

Desimone, Leslie A.; Barlow, Paul M.

1999-01-01

Quantifying the hydraulic interaction of aquifers and streams is important in the analysis of stream base fow, flood-wave effects, and contaminant transport between surface- and ground-water systems. This report describes the use of two computer programs, STLK1 and STWT1, to analyze the hydraulic interaction of streams with confined, leaky, and water-table aquifers during periods of stream-stage fuctuations and uniform, areal recharge. The computer programs are based on analytical solutions to the ground-water-flow equation in stream-aquifer settings and calculate ground-water levels, seepage rates across the stream-aquifer boundary, and bank storage that result from arbitrarily varying stream stage or recharge. Analysis of idealized, hypothetical stream-aquifer systems is used to show how aquifer type, aquifer boundaries, and aquifer and streambank hydraulic properties affect aquifer response to stresses. Published data from alluvial and stratifed-drift aquifers in Kentucky, Massachusetts, and Iowa are used to demonstrate application of the programs to field settings. Analytical models of these three stream-aquifer systems are developed on the basis of available hydrogeologic information. Stream-stage fluctuations and recharge are applied to the systems as hydraulic stresses. The models are calibrated by matching ground-water levels calculated with computer program STLK1 or STWT1 to measured ground-water levels. The analytical models are used to estimate hydraulic properties of the aquifer, aquitard, and streambank; to evaluate hydrologic conditions in the aquifer; and to estimate seepage rates and bank-storage volumes resulting from flood waves and recharge. Analysis of field examples demonstrates the accuracy and limitations of the analytical solutions and programs when applied to actual ground-water systems and the potential uses of the analytical methods as alternatives to numerical modeling for quantifying stream-aquifer interactions.

Computational model and performance optimization methodology of a compact design heat exchanger used as an IHX in HTGR; Modelo computacional y metodologia de optimizacion del funcionamiento de un intercambiador de calor de diseno compacto empleado como IHX en HTGR

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

De la Torre V, R.; Francois L, J. L., E-mail: delatorrevaldes@gmail.com [UNAM, Facultad de Ingenieria, Departamento de Sistemas Energeticos, Ciudad Universitaria, Circuito Exterior s/n, 04510 Ciudad de Mexico (Mexico)

2017-09-15

The intermediate heat exchangers (IHX) present in high-temperature gas-cooled reactor (HTGR) present complex operating conditions, characterized by temperature values higher than 1073 K. Conventional designs of tubes and shell have shown disadvantages with respect to compact designs. In this work, computational models of a compact heat exchanger design, the printed circuit, were built under IHX conditions in a HTGR installation. In these models, a detailed geometry was considered in three dimensions, corresponding to a transfer unit of the heat exchanger. Computational fluid dynamics techniques and finite element methods were used to study the thermo-hydraulic and mechanical functioning of the equipment, respectively. The properties of the materials were defined as temperature functions. The thermo-hydraulic results obtained were established as operating conditions in the structural calculations. A methodology was developed based on the analysis of capital and operating costs, which takes into account the heat transfer, pressure drop and the mechanical behavior of the structure, in a single optimization variable. By analyzing the experimental results of other authors, a relationship was obtained between the operation time of the equipment and the maximum effort in the structure, which was used in the model. The results show that the model that allows a greater thermal efficiency differs from the one that has lower total cost per year. (Author)

Thermal-hydraulics associated with nuclear education and research

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yokobori, Seiichi

2011-01-01

This article was the rerecording of the author's lecture at the fourth 'Future Energy Forum' (aiming at improving nuclear safety and economics) held in December 2010. The lecture focused on (1) importance of thermal hydraulics associated with nuclear education and research (critical heat flux, two-phase flow and multiphase flow), (2) emerging trend of maintenance engineering (fluid induced vibration, flow accelerated corrosion and stress corrosion cracks), (3) fostering sensible nuclear engineer with common engineering sense, (4) balanced curriculum of basics and advanced research, (5) computerized simulation and fluid mechanics, (6) crucial point of thermo hydraulics education (viscosity, flux, steam and power generation), (7) safety education and human resources development (indispensable technologies such as defence in depth) and (8) topics of thermo hydraulics research (vortices of curbed pipes and visualization of two-phase flow). (T. Tanaka)

Liquid metal thermal-hydraulics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kottowski-Duemenil, H.M.

1994-01-01

This textbook is a report of the 26 years activity of the Liquid Metal Boiling Working Group (LMBWG). It summarizes the state of the art of liquid metal thermo-hydraulics achieved through the collaboration of scientists concerned with the development of the Fast Breeder Reactor. The first chapter entitled ''Liquid Metal Boiling Behaviour'', presents the background and boiling mechanisms. This section gives the reader a brief but thorough survey on the superheat phenomena in liquid metals. The second chapter of the text, ''A Review of Single and Two-Phase Flow Pressure Drop Studies and Application to Flow Stability Analysis of Boiling Liquid Metal Systems'' summarizes the difficulty of pressure drop simulation of boiling sodium in core bundles. The third chapter ''Liquid Metal Dry-Out Data for Flow in Tubes and Bundles'' describes the conditions of critical heat flux which limits the coolability of the reactor core. The fourth chapter dealing with the LMFBR specific topic of ''Natural Convection Cooling of Liquid Metal Systems''. This chapter gives a review of both plant experiments and out-of-pile experiments and shows the advances in the development of computing power over the past decade of mathematical modelling ''Subassembly Blockages Suties'' are discussed in chapter five. Chapter six is entitled ''A Review of the Methods and Codes Available for the Calculation on Thermal-Hydraulics in Rod-Cluster and other Geometries, Steady state and Transient Boiling Flow Regimes, and the Validation achieves''. Codes available for the calculation of thermal-hydraulics in rod-clusters and other geometries are reviewed. Chapter seven, ''Comparative Studies of Thermohydraulic Computer Code Simulations of Sodium Boiling under Loss of Flow Conditions'', represents one of the key activities of the LMBWG. Several benchmark exercises were performed with the aim of transient sodium boiling simulation in single channels and bundle blockages under steady state conditions and loss of

Thermo-hydro-mechanical behavior of fractured rock mass

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Coste, F.

1997-12-01

The purpose of this research is to model Thermo-Hydro-Mechanical behavior of fractured rock mass regarding a nuclear waste re-depository. For this, a methodology of modeling was proposed and was applied to a real underground site (EDF site at Nouvelle Romanche). This methodology consists, in a first step, to determine hydraulic and mechanical REV. Beyond the greatest of these REV, development of a finite element code allows to model all the fractures in an explicit manner. The homogenized mechanical properties are determined in drained and undrained boundary conditions by simulating triaxial tests that represent rock mass subject to loading. These simulations allow to study the evolution of hydraulic and mechanical properties as a function of stress state. Drained and undrained boundary conditions enable to discuss the validity of assimilation of a fractured rock mass to a porous medium. The simulations lead to a better understanding of the behavior of the fractured rock masses and allow to show the dominant role of the shear behavior of the fractures on the hydraulic and mechanical homogenized properties. From a thermal point of view, as long as conduction is dominant, thermal properties of the rock mass are almost the same as those the intact rock. (author)

Thermo-Hydraulic behaviour of dual-channel superconducting Cable-In-Conduit Conductors for ITER

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Renard, B.

2006-09-01

In an effort to optimise the cryogenics of large superconducting coils for fusion applications (ITER), dual channel Cable-In-Conduit Conductors (CICC) are designed with a central channel spiral to provide low hydraulic resistance and faster helium circulation. The qualitative and economic rationale of the conductor central channel is here justified to limit the superconductor temperature increase, but brings more complexity to the conductor cooling characteristics. The pressure drop of spirals is experimentally evaluated in nitrogen and water and an explicit hydraulic friction model is proposed. Temperatures in the cable must be quantified to guarantee superconductor margin during coil operation under heat disturbance and set adequate inlet temperature. Analytical one-dimensional thermal models, in steady state and in transient, allow to better understand the thermal coupling of CICC central and annular channels. The measurement of a heat transfer characteristic space and time constants provides cross-checking experimental estimations of the internal thermal homogenization. A simple explicit model of global inter-channel heat exchange coefficient is proposed. The risk of thermosyphon between the two channels is considered since vertical portions of fusion coils are subject to gravity. The new hydraulic model, heat exchange model and gravitational risk ratio allow the thermohydraulic improvement of CICC central spirals. (author)

Thermo-hydrodynamic and inductive modelling of a glass melt elaborated in cold inductive crucible

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sauvage, E.

2009-11-01

Within the context of a search for a new vitrification process for nuclear wastes with a replacement of the presently used metallic pot by an inductive cold crucible, this research thesis deals with the numerical modelling of this technology. After having recalled the interest of nuclear waste vitrification, this report presents the new process based on the use of a cold crucible, describing principles and objectives of this method, and the characteristic physical phenomena associated with the flow and the thermodynamics of the glassy melt in such a crucible. It also recalls and comments the existing works on modelling. The main objective of this research is then to demonstrate the feasibility of 3D thermo-hydraulic and inductive simulations. He describes and analyses the glass physical properties (electrical properties, viscosity, thermal properties), the electromagnetic, hydrodynamic and thermal phenomena. He presents in detail the bubbling mixing modelling, reports 3D induction and fluid mechanical coupling calculations, and specific thermal investigations (radiating transfers, thermal limit conditions)

Simplified model for the thermo-hydraulic simulation of the hot channel of a PWR type nuclear reactor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Belem, J.A.T.

1993-09-01

The present work deals with the thermal-hydraulic analysis of the hot channel of a standard PWR type reactor utilizing a simplified mathematical model that considers constant the water mass flux during single-phase flow and reduction of the flow when the steam quality is increasing in the channel (two-phase flow). The model has been applied to the Angra-1 reactor and it has proved satisfactory when compared to other ones. (author). 25 refs, 15 figs, 3 tabs

Thermo-hydraulic test of the moderator cell of liquid hydrogen cold neutron source for the Budapest research reactor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Grosz, Tamas; Rosta, Laszlo; Hargitai, Tibor; Mityukhlyaev, V.A.; Serebrov, A.P.; Zaharov, A.A.

1999-01-01

Thermo-hydraulic experiment was carried out in order to test performance of the direct cooled liquid hydrogen moderator cell to be installed at the research reactor of the Budapest Neutron Center. Two electric hearers up to 300 W each imitated the nuclear heat release in the liquid hydrogen as well as in construction material. The test moderator cell was also equipped with temperature gauges to measure the hydrogen temperature at different positions as well as the inlet and outlet temperature of cooling he gas. The hydrogen pressure in the connected buffer volume was also controlled. At 140 w expected total heat load the moderator cell was filled with liquid hydrogen within 4 hours. The heat load and hydrogen pressure characteristics of the moderator cell are also presented. (author)

Near-field NanoThermoMechanical memory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Elzouka, Mahmoud; Ndao, Sidy

2014-01-01

In this letter, we introduce the concept of NanoThermoMechanical Memory. Unlike electronic memory, a NanoThermoMechanical memory device uses heat instead of electricity to record, store, and recover data. Memory function is achieved through the coupling of near-field thermal radiation and thermal expansion resulting in negative differential thermal resistance and thermal latching. Here, we demonstrate theoretically via numerical modeling the concept of near-field thermal radiation enabled negative differential thermal resistance that achieves bistable states. Design and implementation of a practical silicon based NanoThermoMechanical memory device are proposed along with a study of its dynamic response under write/read cycles. With more than 50% of the world's energy losses being in the form of heat along with the ever increasing need to develop computer technologies which can operate in harsh environments (e.g., very high temperatures), NanoThermoMechanical memory and logic devices may hold the answer

Thermo-mechanical analysis of RMP coil system for EAST tokamak

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang, Songke; Ji, Xiang; Song, Yuntao; Zhang, Shanwen; Wang, Zhongwei; Sun, Youwen; Qi, Minzhong; Liu, Xufeng; Wang, Shengming; Yao, Damao

2014-01-01

Highlights: • Thermal design requirements for EAST RMP coils are summarized. • Cooling parameters based on both theoretical and numerical solutions are determined. • Compromise between thermal design and structural design is made on number of turns. • Thermo-mechanical calculations are made to validate its structural performance. - Abstract: Resonant magnetic perturbation (RMP) has been proved to be an efficient approach on edge localized modes (ELMs) control, resistive wall mode (RWM) control, and error field correction (EFC), RMP coil system under design in EAST tokamak will realize the above-mentioned multi-functions. This paper focuses on the thermo-mechanical analysis of EAST RMP coil system on the basis of sensitivity analysis, both normal and off-normal working conditions are considered. The most characteristic set of coil system is chosen with a complete modelling by means of three-dimensional (3D) finite element method, thermo-hydraulic and thermal-structural performances are investigated adequately, both locally and globally. The compromise is made between thermal performance and structural design requirements, and the results indicate that the optimized design is feasible and reasonable

Computer systems and nuclear industry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nkaoua, Th.; Poizat, F.; Augueres, M.J.

1999-01-01

This article deals with computer systems in nuclear industry. In most nuclear facilities it is necessary to handle a great deal of data and of actions in order to help plant operator to drive, to control physical processes and to assure the safety. The designing of reactors requires reliable computer codes able to simulate neutronic or mechanical or thermo-hydraulic behaviours. Calculations and simulations play an important role in safety analysis. In each of these domains, computer systems have progressively appeared as efficient tools to challenge and master complexity. (A.C.)

Interaction forces model on a bubble growing for nuclear best estimate computer codes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Espinosa-Paredes, Gilberto; Nunez-Carrera, Alejandro; Martinez-Mendez, Elizabeth J.

2005-01-01

This paper presents a mathematical model that takes into account the bubble radius variation that take place in a boiling water nuclear reactor during transients with changes in the pressure vessel, changes in the inlet core mass flow rate, density-wave phenomena or flow regime instability. The model with expansion effects was developed considering the interaction force between a dilute dispersion of gas bubbles and a continuous liquid phase. The closure relationships were formulated as an associated problem with the spatial deviation around averaging variables as a function of known variables. In order to solve the closure problem, a geometric model given by an eccentric unit cell was applied as an approach of heterogeneous structure of the two-phase flow. The closure relationship includes additional terms that represent combined effects between translation and pulsation due to displacement and size variation of the bubbles, respectively. This result can be implanted straightforward in best estimate thermo-hydraulics models. An example, the implementation of the closure relationships into TRAC best estimate computer code is presented

Assessing the influence of the rhizosphere on soil hydraulic properties using X-ray computed tomography and numerical modelling.

Science.gov (United States)

Daly, Keith R; Mooney, Sacha J; Bennett, Malcolm J; Crout, Neil M J; Roose, Tiina; Tracy, Saoirse R

2015-04-01

Understanding the dynamics of water distribution in soil is crucial for enhancing our knowledge of managing soil and water resources. The application of X-ray computed tomography (CT) to the plant and soil sciences is now well established. However, few studies have utilized the technique for visualizing water in soil pore spaces. Here this method is utilized to visualize the water in soil in situ and in three-dimensions at successive reductive matric potentials in bulk and rhizosphere soil. The measurements are combined with numerical modelling to determine the unsaturated hydraulic conductivity, providing a complete picture of the hydraulic properties of the soil. The technique was performed on soil cores that were sampled adjacent to established roots (rhizosphere soil) and from soil that had not been influenced by roots (bulk soil). A water release curve was obtained for the different soil types using measurements of their pore geometries derived from CT imaging and verified using conventional methods, such as pressure plates. The water, soil, and air phases from the images were segmented and quantified using image analysis. The water release characteristics obtained for the contrasting soils showed clear differences in hydraulic properties between rhizosphere and bulk soil, especially in clay soil. The data suggest that soils influenced by roots (rhizosphere soil) are less porous due to increased aggregation when compared with bulk soil. The information and insights obtained on the hydraulic properties of rhizosphere and bulk soil will enhance our understanding of rhizosphere biophysics and improve current water uptake models. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Experimental Biology.

Applications for coupled core neutronics and thermal-hydraulic models

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Eller, J.

1996-01-01

The unprecedented increases in computing capacity that have occurred during the last decade have affected our sciences, and thus our lives, to an extent that is difficult to overstate. All indications are that this trend will continue for years to come. Nuclear reactor systems analysis is one of many areas of engineering that has changed dramatically as a result of this evolution. Our ability to model the various mechanical and physical systems in greater and greater detail has allowed significant improvements in operational efficiency in spite of increasing regulatory requirements. Many of these efficiencies result from the use of more complex and geometrically detailed computer modeling, which is used to justify a reduction or elimination of some of the conservatisms required by earlier, less sophisticated analyses. And more recently, as our industries open-quotes downsize,close quotes efforts are being made to find ways to use the ever-increasing computing capacity to design systems that accomplish more work, in less time, and with fewer people. The balance of this paper discusses some of the visions that Duke Power Company feels would most benefit their particular methodologies. One of the concepts receiving a lot of attention involves an automated coupling of a thermal-hydraulic plant systems analysis model to a three-dimensional core neutronics program. The thermal-hydraulic analysis of several postulated system transients incorporates large conservatisms because of limited ability to model complex time-dependent asymmetric heat sources in adequate geometric detail. For these transients, the core behavior is closely coupled with the thermal-hydraulic behavior of the total plant system and vice versa. Steam-line break, uncontrolled rod withdrawal, and rod drop anayses are likely to benefit most from this type of linked process

High fidelity thermal-hydraulic analysis using CFD and massively parallel computers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Weber, D.P.; Wei, T.Y.C.; Brewster, R.A.; Rock, Daniel T.; Rizwan-uddin

2000-01-01

Thermal-hydraulic analyses play an important role in design and reload analysis of nuclear power plants. These analyses have historically relied on early generation computational fluid dynamics capabilities, originally developed in the 1960s and 1970s. Over the last twenty years, however, dramatic improvements in both computational fluid dynamics codes in the commercial sector and in computing power have taken place. These developments offer the possibility of performing large scale, high fidelity, core thermal hydraulics analysis. Such analyses will allow a determination of the conservatism employed in traditional design approaches and possibly justify the operation of nuclear power systems at higher powers without compromising safety margins. The objective of this work is to demonstrate such a large scale analysis approach using a state of the art CFD code, STAR-CD, and the computing power of massively parallel computers, provided by IBM. A high fidelity representation of a current generation PWR was analyzed with the STAR-CD CFD code and the results were compared to traditional analyses based on the VIPRE code. Current design methodology typically involves a simplified representation of the assemblies, where a single average pin is used in each assembly to determine the hot assembly from a whole core analysis. After determining this assembly, increased refinement is used in the hot assembly, and possibly some of its neighbors, to refine the analysis for purposes of calculating DNBR. This latter calculation is performed with sub-channel codes such as VIPRE. The modeling simplifications that are used involve the approximate treatment of surrounding assemblies and coarse representation of the hot assembly, where the subchannel is the lowest level of discretization. In the high fidelity analysis performed in this study, both restrictions have been removed. Within the hot assembly, several hundred thousand to several million computational zones have been used, to

THERMIT, 3-D Thermo-Hydraulics of BWR and PWR

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kazimi, M.S.; Kao, S.P.; Kelly, J.E.

1984-01-01

1 - Description of program or function: THERMIT2, the most recent release of THERMIT, is intended for thermal-hydraulic analysis of both boiling and pressurized water reactor cores. It solves the three-dimensional, two-fluid equations describing the two-phase flow and heat transfer dynamics in rectangular coordinates. The two-fluid model uses separate partial differential equations expressing conservation of mass, momentum, and energy for each fluid. THERMIT2 offers the choice of either pressure or velocity boundary conditions at the top and bottom of the core. THERMIT2 includes a two-phase turbulent mixing model which provides subchannel analysis capability. THERMIT2 also solves the radial heat conduction equations for fuel pin temperatures, and calculates the heat flux from fuel pin to coolant with appropriate heat transfer models described by a boiling curve. 2 - Method of solution: By expressing the exchange of mass, momentum, and energy between the fluids with physically-based mathematical models, the relative motion and thermal non-equilibrium between the fluids can exist

Thermal-hydraulic behaviour of the ITER TF system during a quench development

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nicollet, S.; Lacroix, B.; Bessette, D.; Copetti, R.; Duchateau, J.L.; Coatanea-Gouachet, M.; Rodriguez-Mateos, F.

2011-01-01

In order to ensure the safety of the ITER TF magnets, a primary quench detection system has been foreseen, based on voltage detection. In addition, a secondary quench detection could rely on signals of thermo-hydraulic nature. As a matter of fact, the development of a quench in a CICC leads to significant variations of pressure and mass flow at the quenched pancake extremities. Analyses of the quench development have thus been performed using the coupled GANDALF and FLOWER codes. This tool allows to simulate the thermo-hydraulic behaviour of one CICC with a model of the external cryogenic circuit. The study has focused on the first seconds of the quench development, supposing that the quench has not been detected earlier by the primary detector. It is shown that signals regarding pressure, mass flow and temperature reach significant high values especially in the connecting feeder associated with the helium inlet. More detailed studies will be needed to select a secondary detector in this region.

Laser thermal effect on silicon nitride ceramic based on thermo-chemical reaction with temperature-dependent thermo-physical parameters

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pan, A.F.; Wang, W.J.; Mei, X.S.; Wang, K.D.; Zhao, W.Q.; Li, T.Q.

2016-01-01

Highlights: • A two-dimensional thermo-chemical reaction model is creatively built. • Thermal conductivity and heat capacity of β-Si_3N_4 are computed accurately. • The appropriate thermo-chemical reaction rate is fitted and reaction element length is set to assure the constringency. • The deepest ablated position was not the center of the ablated area due to plasma absorption. • The simulation results demonstrate the thermo-chemical process cant be simplified to be physical phase transition. - Abstract: In this study, a two-dimensional thermo-chemical reaction model with temperature-dependent thermo-physical parameters on Si_3N_4 with 10 ns laser was developed to investigate the ablated size, volume and surface morphology after single pulse. For model parameters, thermal conductivity and heat capacity of β-Si_3N_4 were obtained from first-principles calculations. Thermal-chemical reaction rate was fitted by collision theory, and then, reaction element length was deduced using the relationship between reaction rate and temperature distribution. Furthermore, plasma absorption related to energy loss was approximated as a function of electron concentration in Si_3N_4. It turned out that theoretical ablated volume and radius increased and then remained constant with increasing laser energy, and the maximum ablated depth was not in the center of the ablated zone. Moreover, the surface maximum temperature of Si_3N_4 was verified to be above 3000 K within pulse duration, and it was much higher than its thermal decomposition temperature of 1800 K, which indicated that Si_3N_4 was not ablated directly above the thermal decomposition temperature. Meanwhile, the single pulse ablation of Si_3N_4 was performed at different powers using a TEM_0_0 10 ns pulse Nd:YAG laser to validate the model. The model showed a satisfactory consistence between the experimental data and numerical predictions, presenting a new modeling technology that may significantly increase the

Dynamic Modeling of ThermoFluid Systems

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jensen, Jakob Munch

2003-01-01

The objective of the present study has been to developed dynamic models for two-phase flow in pipes (evaporation and condensation). Special attention has been given to modeling evaporators for refrigeration plant particular dry-expansion evaporators. Models of different complexity have been...... formulated. The different models deviate with respect to the detail¿s included and calculation time in connection with simulation. The models have been implemented in a new library named ThermoTwoPhase to the programming language Modelica. A test rig has been built with an evaporator instrumented in a way...

Analysis of molten salt thermal-hydraulics using computational fluid dynamics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yamaji, B.; Csom, G.; Aszodi, A.

2003-01-01

To give a good solution for the problem of high level radioactive waste partitioning and transmutation is expected to be a pro missing option. Application of this technology also could extend the possibilities of nuclear energy. Large number of liquid-fuelled reactor concepts or accelerator driven subcritical systems was proposed as transmutors. Several of these consider fluoride based molten salts as the liquid fuel and coolant medium. The thermal-hydraulic behaviour of these systems is expected to be fundamentally different than the behaviour of widely used water-cooled reactors with solid fuel. Considering large flow domains three-dimensional thermal-hydraulic analysis is the method seeming to be applicable. Since the fuel is the coolant medium as well, one can expect a strong coupling between neutronics and thermal-hydraulics too. In the present paper the application of Computational Fluid Dynamics for three-dimensional thermal-hydraulics simulations of molten salt reactor concepts is introduced. In our past and recent works several calculations were carried out to investigate the capabilities of Computational Fluid Dynamics through the analysis of different molten salt reactor concepts. Homogenous single region molten salt reactor concept is studied and optimised. Another single region reactor concept is introduced also. This concept has internal heat exchanges in the flow domain and the molten salt is circulated by natural convection. The analysis of the MSRE experiment is also a part of our work since it may form a good background from the validation point of view. In the paper the results of the Computational Fluid Dynamics calculations with these concepts are presented. In the further work our objective is to investigate the thermal-hydraulics of the multi-region molten salt reactor (Authors)

Computational modelling of thermo-mechanical and transport properties of carbon nanotubes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rafii-Tabar, H.

2004-01-01

Over the recent years, numerical modelling and computer-based simulation of the properties of carbon nanotubes have become the focal points of research in computational nano-science and its associated fields of computational condensed matter physics and materials modelling. Modelling of the mechanical, thermal and transport properties of nanotubes via numerical simulations forms the central part of this research, concerned with the nano-scale mechanics and nano-scale thermodynamics of nanotubes, and nano-scale adsorption, storage and flow properties in nanotubes. A review of these properties, obtained via computational modelling studies, is presented here. We first introduce the physics of carbon nanotubes, and then present the computational simulation tools that are appropriate for conducting a modelling study at the nano-scales. These include the molecular dynamics (MD), the Monte Carlo (MC), and the ab initio MD simulation methods. A complete range of inter-atomic potentials, of two-body and many-body varieties, that underlie all the modelling studies considered in this review is also given. Mechanical models from continuum-based elasticity theory that have been extensively employed in computing the energetics of nanotubes, or interpret the results from atomistic modelling, are presented and discussed. These include models based on the continuum theory of curved plates, shells, vibrating rods and bending beams. The validity of these continuum-based models has also been examined and the conditions under which they are applicable to nanotube modelling have been listed. Pertinent concepts from continuum theories of stress analysis are included, and the relevant methods for conducting the computation of the stress tensor, elastic constants and elastic modulii at the atomic level are also given. We then survey a comprehensive range of modelling studies concerned with the adsorption and storage of gases, and flow of fluids, in carbon nanotubes of various types. This

Computational modelling of thermo-mechanical and transport properties of carbon nanotubes

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rafii-Tabar, H

2004-02-01

Over the recent years, numerical modelling and computer-based simulation of the properties of carbon nanotubes have become the focal points of research in computational nano-science and its associated fields of computational condensed matter physics and materials modelling. Modelling of the mechanical, thermal and transport properties of nanotubes via numerical simulations forms the central part of this research, concerned with the nano-scale mechanics and nano-scale thermodynamics of nanotubes, and nano-scale adsorption, storage and flow properties in nanotubes. A review of these properties, obtained via computational modelling studies, is presented here. We first introduce the physics of carbon nanotubes, and then present the computational simulation tools that are appropriate for conducting a modelling study at the nano-scales. These include the molecular dynamics (MD), the Monte Carlo (MC), and the ab initio MD simulation methods. A complete range of inter-atomic potentials, of two-body and many-body varieties, that underlie all the modelling studies considered in this review is also given. Mechanical models from continuum-based elasticity theory that have been extensively employed in computing the energetics of nanotubes, or interpret the results from atomistic modelling, are presented and discussed. These include models based on the continuum theory of curved plates, shells, vibrating rods and bending beams. The validity of these continuum-based models has also been examined and the conditions under which they are applicable to nanotube modelling have been listed. Pertinent concepts from continuum theories of stress analysis are included, and the relevant methods for conducting the computation of the stress tensor, elastic constants and elastic modulii at the atomic level are also given. We then survey a comprehensive range of modelling studies concerned with the adsorption and storage of gases, and flow of fluids, in carbon nanotubes of various types. This

Thermo-hydraulic characterization of a self-pumping corrugated wall heat exchanger

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schmidmayer, Kevin; Kumar, Prashant; Lavieille, Pascal; Miscevic, Marc; Topin, Frédéric

2017-01-01

Compactness, efficiency and thermal control of the heat exchanger are of critical significance for many electronic industry applications. In this view, a new concept of heat exchanger at millimeter scale is proposed and numerically studied. It consists in dynamically deforming at least one of its walls by a progressive wave in order to create an active corrugated channel. Systematic studies were performed in single-phase flow on the different deformation parameters that allow obtaining the thermo-hydraulic characteristics of the system. It has been observed the dynamic wall deformation induces a significant pumping effect. Intensification of heat transfer remains very important even for highly degraded waveforms although the pumping efficiency is reduced in this case. The mechanical power applied on the upper wall to deform it dynamically is linked to the wave shape, amplitude, frequency and outlet-inlet pressure difference. The overall performance of the proposed system has been evaluated and compared to existing static channels. The performance of the proposed heat exchanger evolved in two steps for a given wall deformation. It declines slightly up to a critical value of mechanical power applied on the wall. When this critical value is exceeded, it deteriorates significantly, reaching the performance of existing conventional systems. - Highlights: • A new concept of heat exchanger within channel at millimeter scale is proposed. • Upper wall is deformed dynamically by applying external mechanical power. • Pumping effect is observed and is linked to the wave shape, amplitude and frequency. • Efficient proposed system in low Reynolds number range. • Overall performance is significantly high compared to static corrugated and straight channels.

Regulatory requirements to the thermal-hydraulic and thermal-mechanical computer codes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vitkova, M.; Kalchev, B.; Stefanova, S.

2006-01-01

The paper presents an overview of the regulatory requirements to the thermal-hydraulic and thermal-mechanical computer codes, which are used for safety assessment of the fuel design and the fuel utilization. Some requirements to the model development, verification and validation of the codes and analysis of code uncertainties are also define. Questions concerning Quality Assurance during development and implementation of the codes as well as preparation of a detailed verification and validation plan are briefly discussed

Savoir Fluide. A newsletter on computational hydraulics and fluid dynamics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1997-01-01

This newsletter reports on computational works performed by the National Laboratory of Hydraulics (LNH) from Electricite de France (EdF). Two papers were selected which concern the simulation of the Paluel nuclear power plant plume and the computation of particles and droplets inside a cooling tower. (J.S.)

Numerical modelling in building thermo-aeraulics: from CFD modelling to an hybrid finite volume / zonal approach; Modelisation numerique de la thermoaeraulique du batiment: des modeles CFD a une approche hybride volumes finis / zonale

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bellivier, A.

2004-05-15

For 3D modelling of thermo-aeraulics in building using field codes, it is necessary to reduce the computing time in order to model increasingly larger volumes. The solution suggested in this study is to couple two modelling: a zonal approach and a CFD approach. The first part of the work that was carried out is the setting of a simplified CFD modelling. We propose rules for use of coarse grids, a constant effective viscosity law and adapted coefficients for heat exchange in the framework of building thermo-aeraulics. The second part of this work concerns the creation of fluid Macro-Elements and their coupling with a calculation of CFD finite volume type. Depending on the boundary conditions of the problem, a local description of the driving flow is proposed via the installation and use of semi-empirical evolution laws. The Macro-Elements is then inserted in CFD computation: the values of velocity calculated by the evolution laws are imposed on the CFD cells corresponding to the Macro-Element. We use these two approaches on five cases representative of thermo-aeraulics in buildings. The results are compared with experimental data and with traditional RANS simulations. We highlight the significant gain of time that our approach allows while preserving a good quality of numerical results. (author)

Preliminary Thermo-hydraulic Core Design Analysis of Korea Advanced Nuclear Thermal Engine Rocket for Space Application

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Nam, Seung Hyun; Lee, Jeong Ik; Chang, Soon Heung [Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

2014-05-15

{sub th} power and electricity generation with 100 kW{sub th} idle power. Consequently, KANUTER has the characteristics of a compact and lightweight system, excellent propellant efficiency, bimodal capability, and mission versatility as indicated in the reference design parameters. This thermo-hydraulic design analysis was carried out to estimate the optimum FWT of the unique SLHC fuel design in the core and thereby the maximum rocket performance. The FWT affects the mechanical strength of the SLHC fuel assembly as well as the thermo-hydraulic capability mainly depending on the heat transfer area of fuel. The thicker fuel wafer is mechanically strong with low pressure drop, while the thinner fuel wafer is thermally robust with less mechanical strength and higher shear stress in the core.

Global river flood hazard maps: hydraulic modelling methods and appropriate uses

Science.gov (United States)

Townend, Samuel; Smith, Helen; Molloy, James

2014-05-01

Flood hazard is not well understood or documented in many parts of the world. Consequently, the (re-)insurance sector now needs to better understand where the potential for considerable river flooding aligns with significant exposure. For example, international manufacturing companies are often attracted to countries with emerging economies, meaning that events such as the 2011 Thailand floods have resulted in many multinational businesses with assets in these regions incurring large, unexpected losses. This contribution addresses and critically evaluates the hydraulic methods employed to develop a consistent global scale set of river flood hazard maps, used to fill the knowledge gap outlined above. The basis of the modelling approach is an innovative, bespoke 1D/2D hydraulic model (RFlow) which has been used to model a global river network of over 5.3 million kilometres. Estimated flood peaks at each of these model nodes are determined using an empirically based rainfall-runoff approach linking design rainfall to design river flood magnitudes. The hydraulic model is used to determine extents and depths of floodplain inundation following river bank overflow. From this, deterministic flood hazard maps are calculated for several design return periods between 20-years and 1,500-years. Firstly, we will discuss the rationale behind the appropriate hydraulic modelling methods and inputs chosen to produce a consistent global scaled river flood hazard map. This will highlight how a model designed to work with global datasets can be more favourable for hydraulic modelling at the global scale and why using innovative techniques customised for broad scale use are preferable to modifying existing hydraulic models. Similarly, the advantages and disadvantages of both 1D and 2D modelling will be explored and balanced against the time, computer and human resources available, particularly when using a Digital Surface Model at 30m resolution. Finally, we will suggest some

DECOVALEX I - Bench-Mark Test 3: Thermo-hydro-mechanical modelling

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Israelsson, J.

1995-12-01

The bench-mark test concerns the excavation of a tunnel, located 500 m below the ground surface, and the establishment of mechanical equilibrium and steady-state fluid flow. Following this, a thermal heating due to the nuclear waste, stored in a borehole below the tunnel, was simulated. The results are reported at (1) 30 days after tunnel excavation, (2) steady state, (3) one year after thermal loading, and (4) at the time of maximum temperature. The problem specification included the excavation and waste geometry, materials properties for intact rock and joints, location of more than 6500 joints observed in the 50 by 50 m area, and calculated hydraulic conductivities. However, due to the large number of joints and the lack of dominating orientations, it was decided to treat the problem as a continuum using the computer code FLAC. The problem was modeled using a vertical symmetry plane through the tunnel and the borehole. Flow equilibrium was obtained approx. 40 days after the opening of the tunnel. Since the hydraulic conductivity was set to be stress dependent, a noticeable difference in the horizontal and vertical conductivity and flow was observed. After 40 days, an oedometer-type consolidation of the model was observed. Approx. 4 years after the initiation of the heat source, a maximum temperature of 171 C was obtained. The stress-dependent hydraulic conductivity and the temperature-dependent dynamic viscosity caused minor changes to the flow pattern. The specified mechanical boundary conditions imply that the tunnel is part of a system of parallel tunnels. However, the fixed temperature at the top boundary maintains the temperature below the temperature anticipated for an equivalent repository. The combination of mechanical and hydraulic boundary conditions cause the model to behave like an oedometer test in which the consolidation rate goes asymptotically to zero. 17 refs, 55 figs, 22 tabs

Physical models and numerical methods of the reactor dynamic computer program RETRAN

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kamelander, G.; Woloch, F.; Sdouz, G.; Koinig, H.

1984-03-01

This report describes the physical models and the numerical methods of the reactor dynamic code RETRAN simulating reactivity transients in Light-Water-Reactors. The neutron-physical part of RETRAN bases on the two-group-diffusion equations which are solved by discretization similar to the TWIGL-method. An exponential transformation is applied and the inner iterations are accelerated by a coarse-mesh-rebalancing procedure. The thermo-hydraulic model approximates the equation of state by a built-in steam-water-table and disposes of options for the calculation of heat-conduction coefficients and heat transfer coefficients. (Author) [de

Computational Investigations in Rectangular Convergent and Divergent Ribbed Channels

Science.gov (United States)

Sivakumar, Karthikeyan; Kulasekharan, N.; Natarajan, E.

2018-05-01

Computational investigations on the rib turbulated flow inside a convergent and divergent rectangular channel with square ribs of different rib heights and different Reynolds numbers (Re=20,000, 40,000 and 60,000). The ribs were arranged in a staggered fashion between the upper and lower surfaces of the test section. Computational investigations are carried out using computational fluid dynamic software ANSYS Fluent 14.0. Suitable solver settings like turbulence models were identified from the literature and the boundary conditions for the simulations on a solution of independent grid. Computations were carried out for both convergent and divergent channels with 0 (smooth duct), 1.5, 3, 6, 9 and 12 mm rib heights, to identify the ribbed channel with optimal performance, assessed using a thermo hydraulic performance parameter. The convergent and divergent rectangular channels show higher Nu values than the standard correlation values.

Influence of the Lubricant Thermo-Piezo-Viscous Property on Hydrostatic Bearings in Oil Hydraulics

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Johansen, Per; Roemer, Daniel Beck; Andersen, Torben O.

2016-01-01

adds to the discrepancy of such simple design approach. In this paper the hydrostatic pressure force calculation is reviewed in terms of thermohydrodynamic (THD) lubrication theory, and simple analytical approximations of the hydrostatic pressure force, incorporating the piezo-viscous and thermo...... of these analytical approximations are explored in order to clarify the limits of application. In conclusion, it is found that the spatial gradient of the thermal field on the bearing surface is the significant factor in the thermo-viscous effect on the hydrostatic pressure profile, which leads to the conclusion...... that design engineers need to understand the thermodynamics of hydrostatic bearings, when using the conventional simple analytical approach, neglecting thermo-piezo-viscosity, in hydrostatic pressure force calculations....

High Resolution Modelling of the Congo River's Multi-Threaded Main Stem Hydraulics

Science.gov (United States)

Carr, A. B.; Trigg, M.; Tshimanga, R.; Neal, J. C.; Borman, D.; Smith, M. W.; Bola, G.; Kabuya, P.; Mushie, C. A.; Tschumbu, C. L.

2017-12-01

We present the results of a summer 2017 field campaign by members of the Congo River users Hydraulics and Morphology (CRuHM) project, and a subsequent reach-scale hydraulic modelling study on the Congo's main stem. Sonar bathymetry, ADCP transects, and water surface elevation data have been collected along the Congo's heavily multi-threaded middle reach, which exhibits complex in-channel hydraulic processes that are not well understood. To model the entire basin's hydrodynamics, these in-channel hydraulic processes must be parameterised since it is not computationally feasible to represent them explicitly. Furthermore, recent research suggests that relative to other large global rivers, in-channel flows on the Congo represent a relatively large proportion of total flow through the river-floodplain system. We therefore regard sufficient representation of in-channel hydraulic processes as a Congo River hydrodynamic research priority. To enable explicit representation of in-channel hydraulics, we develop a reach-scale (70 km), high resolution hydraulic model. Simulation of flow through individual channel threads provides new information on flow depths and velocities, and will be used to inform the parameterisation of a broader basin-scale hydrodynamic model. The basin-scale model will ultimately be used to investigate floodplain fluxes, flood wave attenuation, and the impact of future hydrological change scenarios on basin hydrodynamics. This presentation will focus on the methodology we use to develop a reach-scale bathymetric DEM. The bathymetry of only a small proportion of channel threads can realistically be captured, necessitating some estimation of the bathymetry of channels not surveyed. We explore different approaches to this bathymetry estimation, and the extent to which it influences hydraulic model predictions. The CRuHM project is a consortium comprising the Universities of Kinshasa, Rhodes, Dar es Salaam, Bristol, and Leeds, and is funded by Royal

COBRA-3M: a digital computer code for analyzing thermal-hydraulic behavior in pin bundles

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Marr, W.W.

1975-03-01

The COBRA-3M computer program is a modification of the thermal-hydraulic subchannel-analysis program COBRA-III. It includes detailed thermal models of fuel pin and duct wall. It is especially suitable for analyzing small pin bundles used in in-reactor or out-of-reactor experiments. (U.S.)

An application of a hydraulic model simulator in flood risk assessment under changing climatic conditions

Science.gov (United States)

Doroszkiewicz, J. M.; Romanowicz, R. J.

2016-12-01

The standard procedure of climate change impact assessment on future hydrological extremes consists of a chain of consecutive actions, starting from the choice of GCM driven by an assumed CO2 scenario, through downscaling of climatic forcing to a catchment scale, estimation of hydrological extreme indices using hydrological modelling tools and subsequent derivation of flood risk maps with the help of a hydraulic model. Among many possible sources of uncertainty, the main are the uncertainties related to future climate scenarios, climate models, downscaling techniques and hydrological and hydraulic models. Unfortunately, we cannot directly assess the impact of these different sources of uncertainties on flood risk in future due to lack of observations of future climate realizations. The aim of this study is an assessment of a relative impact of different sources of uncertainty on the uncertainty of flood risk maps. Due to the complexity of the processes involved, an assessment of total uncertainty of maps of inundation probability might be very computer time consuming. As a way forward we present an application of a hydraulic model simulator based on a nonlinear transfer function model for the chosen locations along the river reach. The transfer function model parameters are estimated based on the simulations of the hydraulic model at each of the model cross-sections. The study shows that the application of a simulator substantially reduces the computer requirements related to the derivation of flood risk maps under future climatic conditions. Biala Tarnowska catchment, situated in southern Poland is used as a case study. Future discharges at the input to a hydraulic model are obtained using the HBV model and climate projections obtained from the EUROCORDEX project. The study describes a cascade of uncertainty related to different stages of the process of derivation of flood risk maps under changing climate conditions. In this context it takes into account the

Influence of osmotic processes on the excess-hydraulic head measured in the Toarcian/Domerian argillaceous formation of Tournemire

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tremosa, J.

2010-01-01

In the framework of the studies dealing on ability to store radioactive wastes in argillaceous formations, signification of interstitial pressures is an important point to understand water and solutes transport. In very low permeability argillaceous formations, like those studied in the Callovo-Oxfordian of the Paris basin by ANDRA, pore pressure is frequently higher than the theoretical hydrostatic pressure or than the pressure in the surrounding aquifers. Such an overpressure is also measured in the Toarcian/Domerian argillaceous formation (k = 10 -21 m 2 ), studied by the IRSN in the underground research laboratory of Tournemire (Aveyron, France). The hydraulic head profile has been specified in this manuscript and found to present a 30 ±10 m excess head. This excess-head can be due to compaction disequilibrium of the argillaceous formation, diagenetic evolution of the rock, tectonic compression, changes in hydrodynamic boundary conditions or osmotic processes. Amongst these potential causes, chemical osmosis and thermo-osmosis, a fluid flow under a chemical concentration and a temperature gradient, respectively, are expected to develop owing to the small pore size and the electrostatic interactions related to the charged surface of clay minerals. The goal of the work presented here was to study and quantify the contribution of each cause to the measured excess-head. Chemo-osmotic and thermo-osmotic permeabilities were obtained by experiments and using theoretical models. Theoretical models are based on the reproduction of the interactions occurring between the charged surface of clay minerals and pore solution and their up-scaling at the representative elementary volume macroscopic scale. Chemical osmosis phenomenon is related to anionic exclusion and the determination of the chemo-osmotic efficiency requires the resolution of an electrical interactions model. A triple-layer-model which considers diffuse layers overlapping was improved during this thesis to be

Investigation research on the evaluation of a coupled thermo-hydro-mechanical-chemical phenomena. 2. Result report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ishihara, Yoshinao; Ito Takaya; Chijimatsu, Masakazu; Amemiya, Kiyoshi; Shiozaki, Isao; Neyama, Atsushi; Tanaka, Yumiko

2003-02-01

In order to realize a coupling analysis in the near field of the geological disposal system, the coupling analysis code on the thermo-hydro-mechanical-chemical phenomena by THAMES, Dtransu and phreeqe60, which are existing analysis code, is developed in this study. And we carried out the case analysis on the thermo-hydro-mechanical-chemical phenomena by this code. (1) We have developed coupling analysis system to manage coupling analysis and to control coupling process automatically for THAMES (thermo-hydro-mechanical analysis code), Dtransu (mass transport analysis code) and phreeqe60 (geochemical analysis code). (2) Some supporting module, which includes transfer of dissolution concentration and total concentration (dissolution + precipitation concentration), was prepared as a functional expansion. And in order to treat multi-chemical elements, we have codified mass transport analysis code. (3) We have prepared hydraulic conductivity module of buffer material depending on change of dry density due to chemical equilibrium (dissolution and precipitation of minerals), and change of concentration of NaCl solutions. After THAMES, Dtransu, phreeqe60 and hydraulic conductivity module were installed in the COUPLYS, sensitivity analysis was carried out to check basic operation. (4) In order to confirm the applicability of the developed THMC analysis code, we have carried out case analysis on 1-dimensional and 3-dimensional model which including vitrified waste, over-pack, buffer material and rock in the HLW near-field. (author)

Hydraulic design development of Xiluodu Francis turbine

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang, Y L; Li, G Y; Shi, Q H; Wang, Z N

2012-01-01

Hydraulic optimization design with CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) method, hydraulic optimization measures and model test results in the hydraulic development of Xiluodu hydropower station by DFEM (Dongfang Electric Machinery) of DEC (Dongfang Electric Corporation) of China were analyzed in this paper. The hydraulic development conditions of turbine, selection of design parameter, comparison of geometric parameters and optimization measure of turbine flow components were expatiated. And the measures of improving turbine hydraulic performance and the results of model turbine acceptance experiment were discussed in details.

A Thermoelastic Hydraulic Fracture Design Tool for Geothermal Reservoir Development

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ahmad Ghassemi

2003-06-30

Geothermal energy is recovered by circulating water through heat exchange areas within a hot rock mass. Geothermal reservoir rock masses generally consist of igneous and metamorphic rocks that have low matrix permeability. Therefore, cracks and fractures play a significant role in extraction of geothermal energy by providing the major pathways for fluid flow and heat exchange. Thus, knowledge of conditions leading to formation of fractures and fracture networks is of paramount importance. Furthermore, in the absence of natural fractures or adequate connectivity, artificial fracture are created in the reservoir using hydraulic fracturing. At times, the practice aims to create a number of parallel fractures connecting a pair of wells. Multiple fractures are preferred because of the large size necessary when using only a single fracture. Although the basic idea is rather simple, hydraulic fracturing is a complex process involving interactions of high pressure fluid injections with a stressed hot rock mass, mechanical interaction of induced fractures with existing natural fractures, and the spatial and temporal variations of in-situ stress. As a result it is necessary to develop tools that can be used to study these interactions as an integral part of a comprehensive approach to geothermal reservoir development, particularly enhanced geothermal systems. In response to this need we have set out to develop advanced thermo-mechanical models for design of artificial fractures and rock fracture research in geothermal reservoirs. These models consider the significant hydraulic and thermo-mechanical processes and their interaction with the in-situ stress state. Wellbore failure and fracture initiation is studied using a model that fully couples poro-mechanical and thermo-mechanical effects. The fracture propagation model is based on a complex variable and regular displacement discontinuity formulations. In the complex variable approach the displacement discontinuities are

Notes on Some aspects of unsteady hydraulics of watercourses

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Larsen, Torben

2018-01-01

of the notes is to prepare the reader for the use of the advanced commercial computer models available for solving hydraulic problems in watercourses and open channels. It is definitely not the intention to present the complete hydraulic theory behind those computer models. The specific details can be found...

Thermal - hydraulic analysis of pressurizer water reactors using the model of open lateral boundary

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Borges, R.C.

1980-10-01

A computational method is developed for thermal-hydraulic analysis, where the channel may be analysed by more than one independent steps of calculation. This is made possible by the incorporation of the model of open lateral boundary in the code COBRA-IIIP, which permits the determination of the subchannel of an open lattice PWR core in a multi-step calculation. The thermal-hydraulic code COBRA-IIIP, developed at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, is used as the basic model for this study. (Author) [pt

Hydraulic modeling development and application in water resources engineering

Science.gov (United States)

Simoes, Francisco J.; Yang, Chih Ted; Wang, Lawrence K.

2015-01-01

The use of modeling has become widespread in water resources engineering and science to study rivers, lakes, estuaries, and coastal regions. For example, computer models are commonly used to forecast anthropogenic effects on the environment, and to help provide advanced mitigation measures against catastrophic events such as natural and dam-break floods. Linking hydraulic models to vegetation and habitat models has expanded their use in multidisciplinary applications to the riparian corridor. Implementation of these models in software packages on personal desktop computers has made them accessible to the general engineering community, and their use has been popularized by the need of minimal training due to intuitive graphical user interface front ends. Models are, however, complex and nontrivial, to the extent that even common terminology is sometimes ambiguous and often applied incorrectly. In fact, many efforts are currently under way in order to standardize terminology and offer guidelines for good practice, but none has yet reached unanimous acceptance. This chapter provides a view of the elements involved in modeling surface flows for the application in environmental water resources engineering. It presents the concepts and steps necessary for rational model development and use by starting with the exploration of the ideas involved in defining a model. Tangible form of those ideas is provided by the development of a mathematical and corresponding numerical hydraulic model, which is given with a substantial amount of detail. The issues of model deployment in a practical and productive work environment are also addressed. The chapter ends by presenting a few model applications highlighting the need for good quality control in model validation.

An Explicit Approach Toward Modeling Thermo-Coupled Deformation Behaviors of SMPs

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hao Li

2017-03-01

Full Text Available A new elastoplastic J 2 -flow models with thermal effects is proposed toward simulating thermo-coupled finite deformation behaviors of shape memory polymers. In this new model, an elastic potential evolving with development of plastic flow is incorporated to characterize the stress-softening effect at unloading and, moreover, thermo-induced plastic flow is introduced to represent the strain recovery effect at heating. It is shown that any given test data for both effects may be accurately simulated by means of direct and explicit procedures. Numerical examples for model predictions compare well with test data in literature.

Modelling of Hydraulic Robot

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Madsen, Henrik; Zhou, Jianjun; Hansen, Lars Henrik

1997-01-01

This paper describes a case study of identifying the physical model (or the grey box model) of a hydraulic test robot. The obtained model is intended to provide a basis for model-based control of the robot. The physical model is formulated in continuous time and is derived by application...

Critical review of hydraulic modeling on atmospheric heat dissipation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Onishi, Y.; Brown, S.M.

1977-01-01

Objectives of this study were: to define the useful roles of hydraulic modeling in understanding the predicting atmospheric effects of heat dissipation systems; to assess the state-of-the-art of hydraulic modeling of atmospheric phenomena; to inventory potentially useful existing hydraulic modeling facilities both in the United States and abroad; and to scope hydraulic model studies to assist the assessment of atmospheric effects of nuclear energy centers

Evaluation of Fish Passage at Whitewater Parks Using 2D and 3D Hydraulic Modeling

Science.gov (United States)

Hardee, T.; Nelson, P. A.; Kondratieff, M.; Bledsoe, B. P.

2016-12-01

In-stream whitewater parks (WWPs) are increasingly popular recreational amenities that typically create waves by constricting flow through a chute to increase velocities and form a hydraulic jump. However, the hydraulic conditions these structures create can limit longitudinal habitat connectivity and potentially inhibit upstream fish migration, especially of native fishes. An improved understanding of the fundamental hydraulic processes and potential environmental effects of whitewater parks is needed to inform management decisions about Recreational In-Channel Diversions (RICDs). Here, we use hydraulic models to compute a continuous and spatially explicit description of velocity and depth along potential fish swimming paths in the flow field, and the ensemble of potential paths are compared to fish swimming performance data to predict fish passage via logistic regression analysis. While 3d models have been shown to accurately predict trout movement through WWP structures, 2d methods can provide a more cost-effective and manager-friendly approach to assessing the effects of similar hydraulic structures on fish passage when 3d analysis in not feasible. Here, we use 2d models to examine the hydraulics in several WWP structures on the North Fork of the St. Vrain River at Lyons, Colorado, and we compare these model results to fish passage predictions from a 3d model. Our analysis establishes a foundation for a practical, transferable and physically-rigorous 2d modeling approach for mechanistically evaluating the effects of hydraulic structures on fish passage.

3. Workshop for IAEA ICSP on Integral PWR Design Natural Circulation Flow Stability and Thermo-hydraulic Coupling of Containment and Primary System during Accidents. Presentations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2012-04-01

Most advanced nuclear power plant designs adopted several kinds of passive systems. Natural circulation is used as a key driving force for many passive systems and even for core heat removal during normal operation such as NuScale, CAREM, ESBWR and Indian AHWR designs. Simulation of natural circulation phenomena is very challenging since the driving force of it is weak compared to forced circulation and involves a coupling between primary system and containment for integral type reactor. The IAEA ICSP (International Collaborative Standard Problem) on 'Integral PWR Design Natural Circulation Flow Stability and Thermo-hydraulic Coupling of Containment and Primary System during Accidents' was proposed within the CRP on 'Natural Circulation Phenomena, Modelling, and Reliability of Passive Systems that utilize Natural Circulation'. Oregon State University (OSU) of USA offered to host this ICSP. This ICSP plans to conduct the following experiments and blind/open simulations with system codes: 1. Quasi-steady state operation with different core power levels: Conduct quasi-steady state operation with step-wise increase of core power level in order to observe single phase natural circulation flow according to power level. The experimental facility and operating conditions for an integral PWR will be used. 2. Thermo-hydraulic Coupling between Primary system and Containment: Conduct a loss of feedwater transient with subsequent ADS blowdown and long term cooling to determine the progression of a loss of feedwater transient by natural circulation through primary and containment systems. These tests would examine the blowdown phase as well as the long term cooling using sump natural circulation by coupling the primary to containment systems. This data could be used for the evaluation of system codes to determine if they model specific phenomena in an accurate manner. OSU completed planned two ICSP tests in July 2011 and real initial and boundary conditions measured from the

Computer code for the thermal-hydraulic analysis of ITU TRIGA Mark-II reactor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ustun, G.; Durmayaz, A.

2002-01-01

Istanbul Technical University (ITU) TRIGA Mark-II reactor core consists of ninety vertical cylindrical elements located in five rings. Sixty-nine of them are fuel elements. The reactor is operated and cooled with natural convection by pool water, which is also cooled and purified in external coolant circuits by forced convection. This characteristic leads to consider both the natural and forced convection heat transfer in a 'porous-medium analysis'. The safety analysis of the reactor requires a thermal-hydraulic model of the reactor to determine the thermal-hydraulic parameters in each mode of operation. In this study, a computer code cooled TRIGA-PM (TRIGA - Porous Medium) for the thermal-hydraulic analysis of ITU is considered. TRIGA Mark-II reactor code has been developed to obtain velocity, pressure and temperature distributions in the reactor pool as a function of core design parameters and pool configuration. The code is a transient, thermal-hydraulic code and requires geometric and physical modelling parameters. In the model, although the reactor is considered as only porous medium, the other part of the reactor pool is considered partly as continuum and partly as porous medium. COMMIX-1C code is used for the benchmark purpose of TRIGA-PM code. For the normal operating conditions of the reactor, estimations of TRIGA-PM are in good agreement with those of COMMIX-1C. After some more improvements, this code will be employed for the estimation of LOCA scenario, which can not be analyses by COMMIX-1C and the other multi-purpose codes, considering a break at one of the beam tubes of the reactor

HELOKA facility: thermo-hydrodynamic model and control

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ghidersa, B.E.; Ihli, T.; Marchese, V.; Ionescu-Bujor, M.

2007-01-01

This paper presents the thermo-hydrodynamic model used to simulate the behaviour of the HELOKA (Helium Loop Karlsruhe) facility and describes the mechanism used to control various loop parameters. This test facility, which is under construction at the Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe (FZK), is designed for testing of various components for nuclear fusion such as the Helium-Cooled Pebble Bed blanket (HCPB) and the heliumcooled- divertor for the DEMO power reactor. Besides the individual testing of the blanket and divertor modules, the understanding of the behaviour of their cooling systems in conditions relevant for ITER operation is mandatory. An important aspect in the operation of these cooling loops is the accurate control, via feedback, of the flow parameters at the inlet of the test module. Understanding heat transfer and fluid flow phenomena during normal and transient operation of HELOKA is essential to ensure the adequacy of safety features. Systems analysis codes, such as RELAP5-3D, are suited to this task. However, the application of these models to HELOKA design must be later validated by experimental measurements, while the basic physical models have been proven for light water reactors. The control of the test section inlet parameters is one of the most important issues. In particular, the start-up phase, when the test section temperature is increased from ambient temperature up to 300 C, requires special attention. As a first step, the HELOKA open loop thermal transient was computed using the RELAP model. The data obtained have been used for the identification of the power-temperature transfer function needed to compute the parameters of the feedback controller (PID) using MATLAB and SIMULINK. An accurate control of the temperature during the start-up and flat top phases is achieved solely by controlling the heater power. The adopted solution reduces the harmonic distortions when operating at reduced power while keeping the investment cost low. This

Multi-scale modeling of the thermo-hydro- mechanical behaviour of heterogeneous materials. Application to cement-based materials under severe loads

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Grondin, Frederic Alain

2005-01-01

The work of modeling presented here relates to the study of the thermo-hydro- mechanical behaviour of porous materials based on hydraulic binder such as concrete, High Performance Concrete or more generally cement-based materials. This work is based on the exploitation of the Digital Concrete model, of the finite element code Symphonie developed in the Scientific and Technical Centre for Building (CSTB), in coupling with the homogenization methods to obtain macroscopic behaviour laws drawn from the Micro-Macro relations. Scales of investigation, macroscopic and microscopic, has been exploited by simulation in order to allow the comprehension fine of the behaviour of cement-based materials according to thermal, hydrous and mechanical loads. It appears necessary to take into account various scales of modeling. In order to study the behaviour of the structure, we are brought to reduce the scale of investigation to study the material more particularly. The research tasks presented suggest a new approach for the identification of the multi-physic behaviour of materials by simulation. In complement of the purely experimental approach, based on observations on the sample with measurements of the apparent parameters on the macroscopic scale, this new approach allows to obtain the fine analysis of elementary mechanisms in acting within the material. These elementary mechanisms are at the origin of the evolution of the macroscopic parameters measured in experimental tests. In this work, coefficients of the thermo-hydro-mechanical behaviour law of porous materials and the equivalent hydraulic conductivity were obtained by a multi-scales approach. Applications has been carried out on the study of the damaged behaviour of cement-based materials, in the objective to determine the elasticity tensor and the permeability tensor of a High Performance Concrete at high temperatures under a mechanical load. Also, the study of the strain evolution of cement-based materials at low

Improved Flow Modeling in Transient Reactor Safety Analysis Computer Codes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Holowach, M.J.; Hochreiter, L.E.; Cheung, F.B.

2002-01-01

A method of accounting for fluid-to-fluid shear in between calculational cells over a wide range of flow conditions envisioned in reactor safety studies has been developed such that it may be easily implemented into a computer code such as COBRA-TF for more detailed subchannel analysis. At a given nodal height in the calculational model, equivalent hydraulic diameters are determined for each specific calculational cell using either laminar or turbulent velocity profiles. The velocity profile may be determined from a separate CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) analysis, experimental data, or existing semi-empirical relationships. The equivalent hydraulic diameter is then applied to the wall drag force calculation so as to determine the appropriate equivalent fluid-to-fluid shear caused by the wall for each cell based on the input velocity profile. This means of assigning the shear to a specific cell is independent of the actual wetted perimeter and flow area for the calculational cell. The use of this equivalent hydraulic diameter for each cell within a calculational subchannel results in a representative velocity profile which can further increase the accuracy and detail of heat transfer and fluid flow modeling within the subchannel when utilizing a thermal hydraulics systems analysis computer code such as COBRA-TF. Utilizing COBRA-TF with the flow modeling enhancement results in increased accuracy for a coarse-mesh model without the significantly greater computational and time requirements of a full-scale 3D (three-dimensional) transient CFD calculation. (authors)

Hydro-methane and methanol combined production from hydroelectricity and biomass: Thermo-economic analysis in Paraguay

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rivarolo, M.; Bellotti, D.; Mendieta, A.; Massardo, A.F.

2014-01-01

Highlights: • We investigate H 2 /O 2 production from large hydraulic plant by water electrolysis. • We produce methanol and hydro-methane from H 2 /O 2 obtained. • We investigate two different configurations of the plant. • We perform a thermo-economic analysis for three scenarios in Paraguay. • We find plants optimal size using a time-dependent thermo-economic approach. - Abstract: A thermo-economic analysis regarding large scale hydro-methane and methanol production from renewable sources (biomass and renewable electricity) is performed. The study is carried out investigating hydrogen and oxygen generation by water electrolysis, mainly employing the hydraulic energy produced from the 14 GW Itaipu Binacional Plant, owned by Paraguay and Brazil. Oxygen is employed in biomass gasification to synthesize methanol; the significant amount of CO 2 separated in the process is mixed with hydrogen produced by electrolysis in chemical reactors to produce hydro-methane. Hydro-methane is employed to supply natural gas vehicles in Paraguay, methanol is sold to Brazil, that is the largest consumer in South America. The analysis is performed employing time-dependent hydraulic energy related to the water that would normally not be used by the plant, named “spilled energy”, when available; in the remaining periods, electricity is acquired at higher cost by the national grid. For the different plant lay-outs, a thermo-economic analysis has been performed employing two different software, one for the design point and one for the time-dependent one entire year optimization, since spilled energy is strongly variable throughout the year. Optimal sizes for the generation plants have been determined, investigating the influence of electricity cost, size and plant configuration

Sensitivity analyses of biodiesel thermo-physical properties under diesel engine conditions

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Cheng, Xinwei; Ng, Hoon Kiat; Gan, Suyin

2016-01-01

This reported work investigates the sensitivities of spray and soot developments to the change of thermo-physical properties for coconut and soybean methyl esters, using two-dimensional computational fluid dynamics fuel spray modelling. The choice of test fuels made was due to their contrasting...... saturation-unsaturation compositions. The sensitivity analyses for non-reacting and reacting sprays were carried out against a total of 12 thermo-physical properties, at an ambient temperature of 900 K and density of 22.8 kg/m3. For the sensitivity analyses, all the thermo-physical properties were set...... as the baseline case and each property was individually replaced by that of diesel. The significance of individual thermo-physical property was determined based on the deviations found in predictions such as liquid penetration, ignition delay period and peak soot concentration when compared to those of baseline...

Thermo-mechanical design of the Plasma Driver Plate for the MITICA ion source

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Pavei, Mauro, E-mail: mauro.pavei@igi.cnr.it [Consorzio RFX, EURATOM-ENEA Association, Corso Stati Uniti 4, I-35127 Padova (Italy); Palma, Mauro Dalla; Marcuzzi, Diego [Consorzio RFX, EURATOM-ENEA Association, Corso Stati Uniti 4, I-35127 Padova (Italy)

2010-12-15

In the framework of the activities for the development of the Neutral Beam Injector (NBI) for ITER, the detailed design of the Radio-Frequency (RF) negative ion source has been carried out. One of the most heated components of the RF source is the rear vertical plate, named Plasma Driver Plate (PDP), where the Back-Streaming positive Ions (BSI+) generated from stripping losses in the accelerator and back scattered on the plasma source impinge on. The heat loads that result are huge and concentrated, with first estimate of the power densities up to 60 MW/m{sup 2}. The breakdowns that occur into the accelerator cause such heat loads to act cyclically, so that the PDP is thermo-mechanically fatigue loaded. Moreover, the surface of the PDP facing the plasma is functionally required to be temperature controlled and to be molybdenum or tungsten coated. The thermo-hydraulic design of the plate has been carried out considering active cooling with ultra-pure water. Different heat sink materials, hydraulic circuit layout and manufacturing processes have been considered. The heat exhaust has been optimized by changing the channels geometry, the path of the heat flux in the heat sink, the thickness of the plate and maximizing the Heat Transfer Coefficient. Such optimization has been carried out by utilizing 3D Finite Element (FE) models. Afterwards all the suitable mechanical (aging, structural monotonic and cyclic) verifications have been carried out post-processing the results of the thermo-mechanical 3D FE analyses in accordance to specific procedures for nuclear components exposed to high temperature. The effect of sputtering phenomenon due to the high energy BSI+ impinging on the plate has been considered and combined with fatigue damage for the mechanical verification of the PDP. Alternative solutions having molybdenum (or tungsten coatings) facing the plasma, aiming to reduce the sputtering rate and the consequent plasma pollution, have been evaluated and related 3D FE

Coupled thermo-hydro-mechanical experiment at Kamaishi mine. Technical note 15-99-02. Experimental results

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Chijimatsu, Masakazu; Sugita, Yutaka; Fujita, Tomoo [Tokai Works, Waste Management and Fuel Cycle Research Center, Waste Isolation Research Division, Barrier Performance Group, Japan Nuclear Cycle Development Inst., Tokai, Ibaraki (Japan); Amemiya, Kiyoshi [Hazama Corp., Tokyo (Japan)

1999-07-01

It is an important part of the near field performance assessment of nuclear waste disposal to evaluate coupled thermo-hydro-mechanical (T-H-M) phenomena, e.g., thermal effects on groundwater flow through rock matrix and water seepage into the buffer material, the generation of swelling pressure of the buffer material, and thermal stresses potentially affecting porosity and fracture apertures of the rock. An in-situ T-H-M experiment named Engineered Barrier Experiment' has been conducted at the Kamaishi Mine, of which host rock is granodiorite, in order to establish conceptual models of the coupled T-H-M processes and to build confidence in mathematical and computer codes. In 1995, fourteen boreholes were excavated in order to install the various sensors. After the hydraulic tests, mechanical tests were carried out to obtain the rock properties. After that, a test pit, 1.7 m in diameter and 5.0 m in depth, was excavated. During the excavation, the change of pore pressure, displacement and temperature of rock mass were measured. In 1996, the buffer material and heater were set up in the test pit, and then coupled thermo-hydro-mechanical test was started. The duration of heating phase was 250 days and that of cooling phase was 180 days. The heater surface was controlled to be 100degC during heating phase. Measurement was carried out by a number of sensors installed in both buffer and rock mass during the test. The field experiment leads to a better understanding of the behavior of the coupled thermo-hydro-mechanical phenomena in the near field. (author)

Development of the computer code system for the analyses of PWR core

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tsujimoto, Iwao; Naito, Yoshitaka.

1992-11-01

This report is one of the materials for the work titled 'Development of the computer code system for the analyses of PWR core phenomena', which is performed under contracts between Shikoku Electric Power Company and JAERI. In this report, the numerical method adopted in our computer code system are described, that is, 'The basic course and the summary of the analysing method', 'Numerical method for solving the Boltzmann equation', 'Numerical method for solving the thermo-hydraulic equations' and 'Description on the computer code system'. (author)

Coupling of 3-D core computational codes and a reactor simulation software for the computation of PWR reactivity accidents induced by thermal-hydraulic transients

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Raymond, P.; Caruge, D.; Paik, H.J.

1994-01-01

The French CEA has recently developed a set of new computer codes for reactor physics computations called the Saphir system which includes CRONOS-2, a three-dimensional neutronic code, FLICA-4, a three-dimensional core thermal hydraulic code, and FLICA-S, a primary loops thermal-hydraulic transient computation code, which are coupled and applied to analyze a severe reactivity accident induced by a thermal hydraulic transient: the Steamline Break accident for a pressurized water reactor until soluble boron begins to accumulate in the core. The coupling of these codes has proved to be numerically stable. 15 figs., 7 refs

Parametric study of the stability properties of a thermo hydraulic channel coupled to punctual kinetics; Estudio parametrico de las propiedades de estabilidad de un canal termohidraulico acoplado a cinetica puntual

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Cecenas F, M.; Campos G, R.M. [Instituto de Investigaciones Electricas, Reforma 113, Col. Palmira, Temixco, Morelos (Mexico)]. e-mail: mcf@iie.org.mx

2005-07-01

The reason of decay is the indicator of stability usually used in the literature to evaluate stability of boiling water reactors, however, in the operation of this type of reactors is considered the length of boiling like an auxiliary parameter for the evaluation of stability. In this work its are studied the variation of these two indicators when modifying a given an operation parameter in a model of a thermo hydraulic channel coupled to punctual kinetics, maintaining all the other input constant variables. The parameters selected for study are the axial profile of power, the subcooling, the flow of coolant and the thermal power. The study is supplemented by means of real data of plant using the one Benchmark of Ringhals, and the results for the case of the ratio of decay its are compared with the decay reasons obtained by means of autoregression models of the local instrumentation of neutron flux. (Author)

Use of Hydraulic Model for Water Loss Reduction

OpenAIRE

Mindaugas Rimeika; Anželika Jurkienė

2016-01-01

Hydraulic modeling is the modern way to apply world water engineering experience in every day practice. Hydraulic model is an effective tool in order to perform analysis of water supply system, optimization of its operation, assessment of system efficiency potential, evaluation of water network development, fire flow capabilities, energy saving opportunities and water loss reduction and ect. Hydraulic model shall include all possible engineering elements and devices allocated in a real water ...

HYDROLOGIC AND HYDRAULIC MODELLING INTEGRATED WITH GIS: A STUDY OF THE ACARAÚ RIVER BASIN – CE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Samuellson Lopes Cabral

2014-01-01

Full Text Available The paper presents a case study integrating hydrologic models, hydraulic models and a geographic information system (GIS to delineate flooded areas in the medium-sized Acaraú River Basin in Ceará State, Brazil. The computational tools used were HEC-HMS for hydrologic modelling, HEC-RAS for hydraulic modelling and HEC-GeoRAS for the GIS. The results showed that a substantial portion of the riverine populations of the cities of Sobral, Santana do Acaraú and Groairas were affected by floods. Overall, the flood model satisfactorily represents the affected areas and shows the locations with the greatest flooding.

Comparative performance of the conjugate gradient and SOR [Successive Over Relaxation] methods for computational thermal hydraulics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

King, J.B.; Anghaie, S.; Domanus, H.M.

1987-01-01

Finite difference approximations to the continuity, momentum, and energy equations in thermal hydraulics codes result in a system of N by N equations for a problem having N field points. In a three dimensional problem, N increases as the problem becomes larger or more complex, and more rapidly as the computational mesh size is reduced. As a consequence, the execution time required to solve the problem increases, which may lead to placing limits on the problem resolution or accuracy. A conventinal method of solution of these systems of equations is the Successive Over Relaxation (SOR) technique. However, for a wide range of problems the execution time may be reduced by using a more efficient linear equation solver. One such method is the conjugate gradient method which was implemented in COMMIX-1B thermal hydraulics code. It was found that the execution time required to solve the resulting system of equations was reduced by a factor of about 2 for some problems. This paper summarizes the characteristics of these iterative solution procedures and compares their performance in modeling of a variety of reactor thermal hydraulic problems, using the COMMIX-1B computer code

Pipe fracture evaluations for leak-rate detection: Probabilistic models

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rahman, S.; Wilkowski, G.; Ghadiali, N.

1993-01-01

This is the second in series of three papers generated from studies on nuclear pipe fracture evaluations for leak-rate detection. This paper focuses on the development of novel probabilistic models for stochastic performance evaluation of degraded nuclear piping systems. It was accomplished here in three distinct stages. First, a statistical analysis was conducted to characterize various input variables for thermo-hydraulic analysis and elastic-plastic fracture mechanics, such as material properties of pipe, crack morphology variables, and location of cracks found in nuclear piping. Second, a new stochastic model was developed to evaluate performance of degraded piping systems. It is based on accurate deterministic models for thermo-hydraulic and fracture mechanics analyses described in the first paper, statistical characterization of various input variables, and state-of-the-art methods of modem structural reliability theory. From this model. the conditional probability of failure as a function of leak-rate detection capability of the piping systems can be predicted. Third, a numerical example was presented to illustrate the proposed model for piping reliability analyses. Results clearly showed that the model provides satisfactory estimates of conditional failure probability with much less computational effort when compared with those obtained from Monte Carlo simulation. The probabilistic model developed in this paper will be applied to various piping in boiling water reactor and pressurized water reactor plants for leak-rate detection applications

Thermohydraulic analysis of pressurized water reactors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Veloso, M.A.

1980-01-01

The computer program PANTERA is applied in the thermo-hydraulic analysis of Pressurized Water Reactor Cores (PWR). It is a version of COBRA-IIIC in which a new thermal conduction model for fuel rods was introduced. The results calculated by this program are compared with experimental data obtained from bundles of fuel rods, simulating reactor conditions. The validity of the new thermal model is checked too. The PANTERA code, through a simplified procedure of calculation, is used in the thermo-hydraulic analysis of Indian Point, Unit 2, reactor core, in stationary conditions. The results are discussed and compared with design data. (Autor) [pt

A Thermo-Hydraulic Tool for Automatic Virtual Hazop Evaluation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pugi L.

2014-12-01

Full Text Available Development of complex lubrication systems in the Oil&Gas industry has reached high levels of competitiveness in terms of requested performances and reliability. In particular, the use of HazOp (acronym of Hazard and Operability analysis represents a decisive factor to evaluate safety and reliability of plants. The HazOp analysis is a structured and systematic examination of a planned or existing operation in order to identify and evaluate problems that may represent risks to personnel or equipment. In particular, P&ID schemes (acronym of Piping and Instrument Diagram according to regulation in force ISO 14617 are used to evaluate the design of the plant in order to increase its safety and reliability in different operating conditions. The use of a simulation tool can drastically increase speed, efficiency and reliability of the design process. In this work, a tool, called TTH lib (acronym of Transient Thermal Hydraulic Library for the 1-D simulation of thermal hydraulic plants is presented. The proposed tool is applied to the analysis of safety relevant components of compressor and pumping units, such as lubrication circuits. Opposed to the known commercial products, TTH lib has been customized in order to ease simulation of complex interactions with digital logic components and plant controllers including their sensors and measurement systems. In particular, the proposed tool is optimized for fixed step execution and fast prototyping of Real Time code both for testing and production purposes. TTH lib can be used as a standard SimScape-Simulink library of components optimized and specifically designed in accordance with the P&ID definitions. Finally, an automatic code generation procedure has been developed, so TTH simulation models can be directly assembled from the P&ID schemes and technical documentation including detailed informations of sensor and measurement system.

Computer modeling of flow induced in-reactor vibrations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Turula, P.; Mulcahy, T.M.

1977-01-01

An assessment of the reliability of finite element method computer models, as applied to the computation of flow induced vibration response of components used in nuclear reactors, is presented. The prototype under consideration was the Fast Flux Test Facility reactor being constructed for US-ERDA. Data were available from an extensive test program which used a scale model simulating the hydraulic and structural characteristics of the prototype components, subjected to scaled prototypic flow conditions as well as to laboratory shaker excitations. Corresponding analytical solutions of the component vibration problems were obtained using the NASTRAN computer code. Modal analyses and response analyses were performed. The effect of the surrounding fluid was accounted for. Several possible forcing function definitions were considered. Results indicate that modal computations agree well with experimental data. Response amplitude comparisons are good only under conditions favorable to a clear definition of the structural and hydraulic properties affecting the component motion. 20 refs

Validation of thermohydraulic codes by comparison of experimental results with computer simulations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Madeira, A.A.; Galetti, M.R.S.; Pontedeiro, A.C.

1989-01-01

The results obtained by simulation of three cases from CANON depressurization experience, using the TRAC-PF1 computer code, version 7.6, implanted in the VAX-11/750 computer of Brazilian CNEN, are presented. The CANON experience was chosen as first standard problem in thermo-hydraulic to be discussed at ENFIR for comparing results from different computer codes with results obtained experimentally. The ability of TRAC-PF1 code to prevent the depressurization phase of a loss of primary collant accident in pressurized water reactors is evaluated. (M.C.K.) [pt

A methodology for thermo-economic modeling and optimization of solid oxide fuel cell systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Palazzi, Francesca; Autissier, Nordahl; Marechal, Francois M.A.; Favrat, Daniel

2007-01-01

In the context of stationary power generation, fuel cell-based systems are being foreseen as a valuable alternative to thermodynamic cycle-based power plants, especially in small scale applications. As the technology is not yet established, many aspects of fuel cell development are currently investigated worldwide. Part of the research focuses on integrating the fuel cell in a system that is both efficient and economically attractive. To address this problem, we present in this paper a thermo-economic optimization method that systematically generates the most attractive configurations of an integrated system. In the developed methodology, the energy flows are computed using conventional process simulation software. The system is integrated using the pinch based methods that rely on optimization techniques. This defines the minimum of energy required and sets the basis to design the ideal heat exchanger network. A thermo-economic method is then used to compute the integrated system performances, sizes and costs. This allows performing the optimization of the system with regard to two objectives: minimize the specific cost and maximize the efficiency. A solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) system of 50 kW integrating a planar SOFC is modeled and optimized leading to designs with efficiencies ranging from 34% to 44%. The multi-objective optimization strategy identifies interesting system configurations and their performance for the developed SOFC system model. The methods proves to be an attractive tool to be used both as an advanced analysis tool and as support to decision makers when designing new systems

Related research with thermo hydraulics safety by means of Trace code; Investigaciones relacionadas con seguridad termohidraulica con el codigo TRACE

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Chaparro V, F. J.; Del Valle G, E. [IPN, Escuela Superior de Fisica y Matematicas, UP - Adolfo Lopez Mateos, Edif. 9, 07738 Mexico D. F. (Mexico); Rodriguez H, A.; Gomez T, A. M. [ININ, Carretera Mexico-Toluca s/n, 52750 Ocoyoacac, Estado de Mexico (Mexico); Sanchez E, V. H.; Jager, W., E-mail: evalle@esfm.ipn.mx [Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Hermann-von-Helmholtz Platz I, D-76344 Eggenstein - Leopoldshafen (Germany)

2014-10-15

In this article the results of the design of a pressure vessel of a BWR/5 similar to the type of Laguna Verde NPP are presented, using the Trace code. A thermo hydraulics Vessel component capable of simulating the behavior of fluids and heat transfer that occurs within the reactor vessel was created. The Vessel component consists of a three-dimensional cylinder divided into 19 axial sections, 4 azimuthal sections and two concentric radial rings. The inner ring is used to contain the core and the central part of the reactor, while the outer ring is used as a down comer. Axial an azimuthal divisions were made with the intention that the dimensions of the internal components, heights and orientation of the external connections match the reference values of a reactor BWR/5 type. In the model internal components as, fuel assemblies, steam separators, jet pumps, guide tubes, etc. are included and main external connections as, steam lines, feed-water or penetrations of the recirculation system. The model presents significant simplifications because the object is to keep symmetry between each azimuthal section of the vessel. In most internal components lack a detailed description of the geometry and initial values of temperature, pressure, fluid velocity, etc. given that it only considered the most representative data, however with these simulations are obtained acceptable results in important parameters such as the total flow through the core, the pressure in the vessel, percentage of vacuums fraction, pressure drop in the core and the steam separators. (Author)

Adaptive Finite Element-Discrete Element Analysis for Microseismic Modelling of Hydraulic Fracture Propagation of Perforation in Horizontal Well considering Pre-Existing Fractures

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yongliang Wang

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Hydrofracturing technology of perforated horizontal well has been widely used to stimulate the tight hydrocarbon reservoirs for gas production. To predict the hydraulic fracture propagation, the microseismicity can be used to infer hydraulic fractures state; by the effective numerical methods, microseismic events can be addressed from changes of the computed stresses. In numerical models, due to the challenges in accurately representing the complex structure of naturally fractured reservoir, the interaction between hydraulic and pre-existing fractures has not yet been considered and handled satisfactorily. To overcome these challenges, the adaptive finite element-discrete element method is used to refine mesh, effectively identify the fractures propagation, and investigate microseismic modelling. Numerical models are composed of hydraulic fractures, pre-existing fractures, and microscale pores, and the seepage analysis based on the Darcy’s law is used to determine fluid flow; then moment tensors in microseismicity are computed based on the computed stresses. Unfractured and naturally fractured models are compared to assess the influences of pre-existing fractures on hydrofracturing. The damaged and contact slip events were detected by the magnitudes, B-values, Hudson source type plots, and focal spheres.

Selection and benchmarking of computer codes for research reactor core conversions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yilmaz, E.; Jones, B.G.

1983-01-01

A group of computer codes have been selected and obtained from the Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) Data Bank in France for the core conversion study of highly enriched research reactors. ANISN, WIMSD-4, MC 2 , COBRA-3M, FEVER, THERMOS, GAM-2, CINDER and EXTERMINATOR were selected for the study. For the final work THERMOS, GAM-2, CINDER and EXTERMINATOR have been selected and used. A one dimensional thermal hydraulics code also has been used to calculate temperature distributions in the core. THERMOS and CINDER have been modified to serve the purpose. Minor modifications have been made to GAM-2 and EXTERMINATOR to improve their utilization. All of the codes have been debugged on both CDC and IBM computers at the University of Illinois. IAEA 10 MW Benchmark problem has been solved. Results of this work has been compared with the IAEA contributor's results. Agreement is very good for highly enriched fuel (HEU). Deviations from IAEA contributor's mean value for low enriched fuel (LEU) exist but they are small enough in general

Study of thermal hydraulic behavior of supercritical water flowing through fuel rod bundles

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Thakre, Sachin; Lakshmanan, S.P.; Kulkarni, Vinayak; Pandey, Manmohan

2009-01-01

Investigations on thermal-hydraulic behavior in Supercritical Water Reactor (SCWR) fuel assembly have obtained a significant attention in the international SCWR community because of its potential to obtain high thermal efficiency and compact design. Present work deals with CFD analysis to study the flow and heat transfer behavior of supercritical water in 4 metre long 7-pin fuel bundle using commercial CFD package ANSYS CFX for single phase steady state conditions. Considering the symmetric conditions, 1/12th part of the fuel rod bundle is taken as a domain of analysis. RNG K-epsilon model with scalable wall functions is used for modeling the turbulence behavior. Constant heat flux boundary condition is applied at the fuel rod surface. IAPWS equations of state are used to compute thermo-physical properties of supercritical water. Sharp variations in its thermo-physical properties (specific heat, density) are observed near the pseudo-critical temperature causing sharp change in heat transfer coefficient. The pseudo-critical point initially appears in the gaps among heated fuel rods, and then spreads radially outward reaching the adiabatic wall as the flow goes downstream. The enthalpy gain in the centre of the channel is much higher than that in the wall region. Non-uniformity in the circumferential distribution of surface temperature and heat transfer coefficient is observed which is in agreement with published literature. Heat transfer coefficient is high on the rod surface near the tight region and decreases as the distance between rod surfaces increases. (author)

Optimizing a gap conductance model applicable to VVER-1000 thermal–hydraulic model

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rahgoshay, M.; Hashemi-Tilehnoee, M.

2012-01-01

Highlights: ► Two known conductance models for application in VVER-1000 thermal–hydraulic code are examined. ► An optimized gap conductance model is developed which can predict the gap conductance in good agreement with FSAR data. ► The licensed thermal–hydraulic code is coupled with the gap conductance model predictor externally. -- Abstract: The modeling of gap conductance for application in VVER-1000 thermal–hydraulic codes is addressed. Two known models, namely CALZA-BINI and RELAP5 gap conductance models, are examined. By externally linking of gap conductance models and COBRA-EN thermal hydraulic code, the acceptable range of each model is specified. The result of each gap conductance model versus linear heat rate has been compared with FSAR data. A linear heat rate of about 9 kW/m is the boundary for optimization process. Since each gap conductance model has its advantages and limitation, the optimized gap conductance model can predict the gap conductance better than each of the two other models individually.

Study of gap conductance model for thermo mechanical fully coupled finite element model

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Hyo Cha; Yang, Yong Sik; Kim, Dae Ho; Bang, Je Geon; Kim, Sun Ki; Koo, Yang Hyun

2012-01-01

A light water reactor (LWR) fuel rod consists of zirconium alloy cladding and uranium dioxide pellets, with a slight gap between them. Therefore, the mechanical integrity of zirconium alloy cladding is the most critical issue, as it is an important barrier for fission products released into the environment. To evaluate the stress and strain of the cladding during operation, fuel performance codes with a one-dimensional (1D) approach have been reported since the 1970s. However, it is difficult for a 1D model to simulate the stress and strain of the cladding accurately owing to a lack of degree of freedom. A LWR fuel performance code should include thermo-mechanical coupled model owing to the existence of the fuel-cladding gap. Generally, the gap that is filled with helium gas results in temperature drop along radius direction. The gap conductance that determines temperature gradient within the gap is very sensitive to gap thickness. For instance, once the gap size increases up to several microns in certain region, difference of surface temperatures increases up to 100 Kelvin. Therefore, iterative thermo-mechanical coupled analysis is required to solve temperature distribution throughout pellet and cladding. Consequently, the Finite Element (FE) module, which can simulate a higher degree of freedom numerically, is an indispensable requirement to understand the thermomechanical behavior of cladding. FRAPCON-3, which is reliable performance code, has iterative loop for thermo-mechanical coupled calculation to solve 1D gap conductance model. In FEMAXI-III, 1D thermal analysis module and FE module for stress-strain analysis were separated. 1D thermal module includes iterative analysis between them. DIONISIO code focused on thermal contact model as function of surface roughness and contact pressure when the gap is closed. In previous works, gap conductance model has been developed only for 1D model or hybrid model (1D and FE). To simulate temperature, stress and strain

3D computations of flow field in a guide vane blading designed by means of 2D model for a low head hydraulic turbine

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Krzemianowski, Z; Puzyrewski, R

2014-01-01

The paper presents the main parameters of the flow field behind the guide vane cascade designed by means of 2D inverse problem and following check by means of 3D commercial program ANSYS/Fluent applied for a direct problem. This approach of using different models reflects the contemporary design procedure for non-standardized turbomachinery stage. Depending on the model, the set of conservation equation to be solved differs, although the physical background remains the same. The example of computations for guide vane cascade for a low head hydraulic turbine is presented.

Hydraulic logic gates: building a digital water computer

Science.gov (United States)

Taberlet, Nicolas; Marsal, Quentin; Ferrand, Jérémy; Plihon, Nicolas

2018-03-01

In this article, we propose an easy-to-build hydraulic machine which serves as a digital binary computer. We first explain how an elementary adder can be built from test tubes and pipes (a cup filled with water representing a 1, and empty cup a 0). Using a siphon and a slow drain, the proposed setup combines AND and XOR logical gates in a single device which can add two binary digits. We then show how these elementary units can be combined to construct a full 4-bit adder. The sequencing of the computation is discussed and a water clock can be incorporated so that the machine can run without any exterior intervention.

Evaluation of Hydraulic Loads on the Runner Blades of a Kaplan Turbine using CFD Simulation and Model Test

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zoltan-Iosif Korka

2016-10-01

Full Text Available CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamic is today a standard procedure for analyzing and simulating the flow through several hydraulic machines. In this process, the fluid flow domain is divided into small volumes where the governing equations are converted into algebraic ones, which are numerically solved. Computational results strongly depend on the applied mathematical model and on the numerical methods used for converting the governing equations into the algebraic ones. The goal of the paper is to evaluate, by numerical simulation, the hydraulic loads (forces and torques on the runner blades of an existent Kaplan turbine and to compare them with the experimental results obtained from model test.

Microstructure-Based Computational Modeling of Mechanical Behavior of Polymer Micro/Nano Composites

Science.gov (United States)

2013-12-01

automotive, defense, sport, civil, aerospace, health , etc.). Here, a combination of non-linear thermo-viscoelastic (Schapery’s non-linear...2001. Three-dimensional computational micro-mechanical model for woven fabric composites. Composite Structures 54, 489-496. Jacob, G.C., Starbuck

Some neutronics and thermal-hydraulics codes for reactor analysis using personal computers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Woodruff, W.L.

1990-01-01

Some neutronics and thermal-hydraulics codes formerly available only for main frame computers may now be run on personal computers. Brief descriptions of the codes are provided. Running times for some of the codes are compared for an assortment of personal and main frame computers. With some limitations in detail, personal computer versions of the codes can be used to solve many problems of interest in reactor analyses at very modest costs. 11 refs., 4 tabs

Some computational challenges of developing efficient parallel algorithms for data-dependent computations in thermal-hydraulics supercomputer applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Woodruff, S.B.

1992-01-01

The Transient Reactor Analysis Code (TRAC), which features a two- fluid treatment of thermal-hydraulics, is designed to model transients in water reactors and related facilities. One of the major computational costs associated with TRAC and similar codes is calculating constitutive coefficients. Although the formulations for these coefficients are local the costs are flow-regime- or data-dependent; i.e., the computations needed for a given spatial node often vary widely as a function of time. Consequently, poor load balancing will degrade efficiency on either vector or data parallel architectures when the data are organized according to spatial location. Unfortunately, a general automatic solution to the load-balancing problem associated with data-dependent computations is not yet available for massively parallel architectures. This document discusses why developers algorithms, such as a neural net representation, that do not exhibit algorithms, such as a neural net representation, that do not exhibit load-balancing problems

Thermal-Hydraulic Experiments and Modelling for Advanced Nuclear Reactor Systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Song, C. H.; Baek, W. P.; Chung, M. K.

2007-06-01

The objectives of the project are to study thermal hydraulic characteristics of advanced nuclear reactor system for evaluating key thermal-hydraulic phenomena relevant to new safety concepts. To meet the research goal, several thermal hydraulic experiments were performed and related thermal hydraulic models were developed with the experimental data which were produced through the thermal hydraulic experiments. The Followings are main research topics: - Multi-dimensional Phenomena in a Reactor Vessel Downcomer - Condensation-induced Thermal Mixing in a Pool - Development of Thermal-Hydraulic Models for Two-Phase Flow - Construction of T-H Data Base

Review of turbulence modelling for numerical simulation of nuclear reactor thermal-hydraulics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bernard, J.P.; Haapalehto, T.

1996-01-01

The report deals with the modelling of turbulent flows in nuclear reactor thermal-hydraulic applications. The goal is to give tools and knowledge about turbulent flows and their modelling in practical applications for engineers, and especially nuclear engineers. The emphasize is on the theory of turbulence, the existing different turbulence models, the state-of-art of turbulence in research centres, the available models in the commercial code CFD-FLOW3D, and the latest applications of turbulence modelling in nuclear reactor thermal-hydraulics. It turns out that it is difficult to elaborate an universal turbulence model and each model has its advantages and drawbacks in each application. However, the increasing power of computers can permit the emergence of new methods of turbulence modelling such as Direct Numerical Simulation (DNS) and Large Eddy Simulation (LES) which open new horizons in this field. These latter methods are beginning to be available in commercial codes and are used in different nuclear applications such as 3-D modelling of the nuclear reactor cores and the steam generators. (orig.) (22 refs.)

Comparison of empirical models and laboratory saturated hydraulic ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Numerous methods for estimating soil saturated hydraulic conductivity exist, which range from direct measurement in the laboratory to models that use only basic soil properties. A study was conducted to compare laboratory saturated hydraulic conductivity (Ksat) measurement and that estimated from empirical models.

Sensitivity analyses of biodiesel thermo-physical properties under diesel engine conditions

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Cheng, Xinwei; Ng, Hoon Kiat; Gan, Suyin

2016-01-01

This reported work investigates the sensitivities of spray and soot developments to the change of thermo-physical properties for coconut and soybean methyl esters, using two-dimensional computational fluid dynamics fuel spray modelling. The choice of test fuels made was due to their contrasting s...

Computation and analysis of cavitating flow in Francis-class hydraulic turbines

Science.gov (United States)

Leonard, Daniel J.

Hydropower is the most proven renewable energy technology, supplying the world with 16% of its electricity. Conventional hydropower generates a vast majority of that percentage. Although a mature technology, hydroelectric generation shows great promise for expansion through new dams and plants in developing hydro countries. Moreover, in developed hydro countries, such as the United States, installing generating units in existing dams and the modern refurbishment of existing plants can greatly expand generating capabilities with little to no further impact on the environment. In addition, modern computational technology and fluid dynamics expertise has led to substantial improvements in modern turbine design and performance. Cavitation has always presented a problem in hydroturbines, causing performance breakdown, erosion, damage, vibration, and noise. While modern turbines are usually designed to be cavitation-free at their best efficiency point, due to the variable demand of the energy market it is fairly common to operate at off-design conditions. Here, cavitation and its deleterious effects are unavoidable, and hence, cavitation is a limiting factor on the design and operation of these turbines. Multiphase Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) has been used in recent years to model cavitating flow for a large range of problems, including turbomachinery. However, CFD of cavitating flow in hydroturbines is still in its infancy. This dissertation presents steady-periodic Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes simulations of a cavitating Francis-class hydroturbine at model and prototype scales. Computational results of the reduced-scale model and full-scale prototype, undergoing performance breakdown, are compared with empirical model data and prototype performance estimations based on standard industry scalings from the model data. Mesh convergence of the simulations is also displayed. Comparisons are made between the scales to display that cavitation performance breakdown

National Laboratory of Hydraulics. 1996 progress report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1996-01-01

This progress report of the National Laboratory of Hydraulics (LNH) of Electricite de France (EdF) summarizes, first, the research and development studies carried out in 1996 for the development of research tools for industrial fluid mechanics and environmental hydraulics and for the development of computer tools (computer codes and softwares for fluid mechanics modeling, modeling of reactive, compressible, two-phase and turbulent flows and of complex chemical kinetics using finite elements and finite volume methods). A second parts describes the research studies performed for other services of EdF, concerning: the functioning of nuclear reactors (thermohydraulic studies of the reactor vessel and of the primary coolant circuit, gas flows following severe accidents, fluid-structure thermal coupling etc...), fossil fuel power plants, the equipment and operation of thermal power plants and hydraulic power plants, the use of electric power. A third part summarizes the river and marine hydraulic studies carried out for other companies. (J.S.)

Thermo-hydraulic simulations of the experimental fast reactor core

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Silveira Luz, M. da; Braz Filho, F.A.; Borges, E.M.

1985-01-01

A study of the core and performance of metallic fuel of the experimental fast reactor, from the thermal-hydraulic point of view, was carried out employing the COBRA IV-I code. The good safety characteristics of this reactor and the feasibility of using metallic fuel in experimental fast reactor were demonstrated. (Author) [pt

Basic hydraulics

CERN Document Server

Smith, P D

1982-01-01

BASIC Hydraulics aims to help students both to become proficient in the BASIC programming language by actually using the language in an important field of engineering and to use computing as a means of mastering the subject of hydraulics. The book begins with a summary of the technique of computing in BASIC together with comments and listing of the main commands and statements. Subsequent chapters introduce the fundamental concepts and appropriate governing equations. Topics covered include principles of fluid mechanics; flow in pipes, pipe networks and open channels; hydraulic machinery;

Coupled Model of channels in parallel and neutron kinetics in two dimensions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cecenas F, M.; Campos G, R.M.; Valle G, E. del

2004-01-01

In this work an arrangement of thermohydraulic channels is presented that represent those four quadrants of a nucleus of reactor type BWR. The channels are coupled to a model of neutronic in two dimensions that allow to generate the radial profile of power of the reactor. Nevertheless that the neutronic pattern is of two dimensions, it is supplemented with axial additional information when considering the axial profiles of power for each thermo hydraulic channel. The stationary state is obtained the one it imposes as frontier condition the same pressure drop for all the channels. This condition is satisfied to iterating on the flow of coolant in each channel to equal the pressure drop in all the channels. This stationary state is perturbed later on when modifying the values for the effective sections corresponding to an it assembles. The calculation in parallel of the neutronic and the thermo hydraulic is carried out with Vpm (Virtual parallel machine) by means of an outline teacher-slave in a local net of computers. (Author)

Modeling multidomain hydraulic properties of shrink-swell soils

Science.gov (United States)

Stewart, Ryan D.; Abou Najm, Majdi R.; Rupp, David E.; Selker, John S.

2016-10-01

Shrink-swell soils crack and become compacted as they dry, changing properties such as bulk density and hydraulic conductivity. Multidomain models divide soil into independent realms that allow soil cracks to be incorporated into classical flow and transport models. Incongruously, most applications of multidomain models assume that the porosity distributions, bulk density, and effective saturated hydraulic conductivity of the soil are constant. This study builds on a recently derived soil shrinkage model to develop a new multidomain, dual-permeability model that can accurately predict variations in soil hydraulic properties due to dynamic changes in crack size and connectivity. The model only requires estimates of soil gravimetric water content and a minimal set of parameters, all of which can be determined using laboratory and/or field measurements. We apply the model to eight clayey soils, and demonstrate its ability to quantify variations in volumetric water content (as can be determined during measurement of a soil water characteristic curve) and transient saturated hydraulic conductivity, Ks (as can be measured using infiltration tests). The proposed model is able to capture observed variations in Ks of one to more than two orders of magnitude. In contrast, other dual-permeability models assume that Ks is constant, resulting in the potential for large error when predicting water movement through shrink-swell soils. Overall, the multidomain model presented here successfully quantifies fluctuations in the hydraulic properties of shrink-swell soil matrices, and are suitable for use in physical flow and transport models based on Darcy's Law, the Richards Equation, and the advection-dispersion equation.

Soil hydraulic properties near saturation, an improved conductivity model

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Børgesen, Christen Duus; Jacobsen, Ole Hørbye; Hansen, Søren

2006-01-01

of commonly used hydraulic conductivity models and give suggestions for improved models. Water retention and near saturated and saturated hydraulic conductivity were measured for a variety of 81 top and subsoils. The hydraulic conductivity models by van Genuchten [van Genuchten, 1980. A closed-form equation...... for predicting the hydraulic conductivity of unsaturated soils. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J. 44, 892–898.] (vGM) and Brooks and Corey, modified by Jarvis [Jarvis, 1991. MACRO—A Model of Water Movement and Solute Transport in Macroporous Soils. Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences. Department of Soil Sciences....... Optimising a matching factor (k0) improved the fit considerably whereas optimising the l-parameter in the vGM model improved the fit only slightly. The vGM was improved with an empirical scaling function to account for the rapid increase in conductivity near saturation. Using the improved models...

FEBEX Full-Scalle Engineered Barriers Experiment in Crystalline Host Rock Preoperational Thermo-Hydro-Mechanical (THM) Modelling of the Mock Up Test

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1998-01-01

The object of this report is to present and discuss the results of a series of 1-D and 2-D coupled thermo-hydro-mechanical (THM) and 2-D coupled thermo-hydro-mechanical (THM) analyses modelling the FEBEX mock-up test. The analyses have been carried out during the preoperational storage of the test and attempt to incorporate all available information obtained from laboratory characterisation work. The aim is not only to offer the best estimate of test performance using current models and information but also to provide a basis for future model improvements. Both the theoretical framework adopted in the analysis and the computer code employed are briefly described. The set of parameters used in the computation is then presented with particular reference to the source from which they have been derived. Initial and boundary condition are also defined. The results of a 1-D radially symmetric analysis are used to examine the basic patterns of thermal, hydraulic and mechanical behaviour of the test. A set of sensitivity analyses has been carried out in order to check the effects that the variation of a number of important parameters has on test results. Only in this way it is possible to acquire a proper understanding of the internal structure of the problem and of the interactions between the various phenomena occurring in the buffer. A better reproduction of the geometry of the test is achieved by means of a 2-D mesh representing and axisymmetric longitudinal section. Due to two-dimensional effects, the analyses carried out using this geometry exhibit some differences when compared with the results of the 1-D case, but the basic test behaviour is very similar. The test was started with an initial flooding stage with the purpose of closing the gaps between bentonite blocks. A limited number of compilations using recently developed joint elements have been performed to assess approximately the effect of this initial step on subsequent test behaviour. The analyses reported

Thermochemical production of liquid fuels from biomass: Thermo-economic modeling, process design and process integration analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tock, Laurence; Gassner, Martin; Marechal, Francois

2010-01-01

A detailed thermo-economic model combining thermodynamics with economic analysis and considering different technological alternatives for the thermochemical production of liquid fuels from lignocellulosic biomass is presented. Energetic and economic models for the production of Fischer-Tropsch fuel (FT), methanol (MeOH) and dimethyl ether (DME) by means of biomass drying with steam or flue gas, directly or indirectly heated fluidized bed or entrained flow gasification, hot or cold gas cleaning, fuel synthesis and upgrading are reviewed and developed. The process is integrated and the optimal utility system is computed. The competitiveness of the different process options is compared systematically with regard to energetic, economic and environmental considerations. At several examples, it is highlighted that process integration is a key element that allows for considerably increasing the performance by optimal utility integration and energy conversion. The performance computations of some exemplary technology scenarios of integrated plants yield overall energy efficiencies of 59.8% (crude FT-fuel), 52.5% (MeOH) and 53.5% (DME), and production costs of 89, 128 and 113 Euro MWh -1 on fuel basis. The applied process design approach allows to evaluate the economic competitiveness compared to fossil fuels, to study the influence of the biomass and electricity price and to project for different plant capacities. Process integration reveals in particular potential energy savings and waste heat valorization. Based on this work, the most promising options for the polygeneration of fuel, power and heat will be determined in a future thermo-economic optimization.

Model for polygonal hydraulic jumps

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Martens, Erik Andreas; Watanabe, Shinya; Bohr, Tomas

2012-01-01

We propose a phenomenological model for the polygonal hydraulic jumps discovered by Ellegaard and co-workers [Nature (London) 392, 767 (1998); Nonlinearity 12, 1 (1999); Physica B 228, 1 (1996)], based on the known flow structure for the type-II hydraulic jumps with a "roller" (separation eddy...... nonhydrostatic pressure contributions from surface tension in light of recent observations by Bush and co-workers [J. Fluid Mech. 558, 33 (2006); Phys. Fluids 16, S4 (2004)]. The model can be analyzed by linearization around the circular state, resulting in a parameter relationship for nearly circular polygonal...... states. A truncated but fully nonlinear version of the model can be solved analytically. This simpler model gives rise to polygonal shapes that are very similar to those observed in experiments, even though surface tension is neglected, and the condition for the existence of a polygon with N corners...

Computational quench model applicable to the SMES/CICC

Science.gov (United States)

Luongo, Cesar A.; Chang, Chih-Lien; Partain, Kenneth D.

1994-07-01

A computational quench model accounting for the hydraulic peculiarities of the 200 kA SMES cable-in-conduit conductor has been developed. The model is presented and used to simulate the quench on the SMES-ETM. Conclusions are drawn concerning quench detection and protection. A plan for quench model validation is presented.

Thermo-mechanical modelling of salt caverns due to fluctuating loading conditions.

Science.gov (United States)

Böttcher, N.

2015-12-01

This work summarizes the development and application of a numerical model for the thermo-mechanical behaviour of salt caverns during cyclic gas storage. Artificial salt caverns are used for short term energy storage, such as power-to-gas or compressed air energy storage. Those applications are characterized by highly fluctuating operation pressures due to the unsteady power levels of power plants based on renewable energy. Compression and expansion of the storage gases during loading and unloading stages lead to rapidly changing temperatures in the host rock of the caverns. This affects the material behaviour of the host rock within a zone that extends several meters into the rock mass adjacent to the cavern wall, and induces thermo-mechanical stresses and alters the creep response.The proposed model features the thermodynamic behaviour of the storage medium, conductive heat transport in the host rock, as well as temperature dependent material properties of rock salt using different thermo-viscoplastic material models. The utilized constitutive models are well known and state-of-the-art in various salt mechanics applications. The model has been implemented into the open-source software platform OpenGeoSys. Thermal and mechanical processes are solved using a finite element approach, coupled via a staggered coupling scheme. The simulation results allow the conclusion, that the cavern convergence rate (and thus the efficiency of the cavern) is highly influenced by the loading cycle frequency and the resulting gas temperatures. The model therefore allows to analyse the influence of operation modes on the cavern host rock or on neighbouring facilities.

Report on the thermal-hydraulics computational component

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Laughton, T.; Jones, B.G.

1996-01-01

The nodal methods computer code utilizing hexagonal geometry, which is being developed as part of this DOE contract, is called THMZ. The computational objective of the code is to calculate the steady-state thermal-hydraulic conditions in a hexagonal geometry reactor core given the appropriate initial conditions and the axial neutron flux profile. The latter is given by a companion nodal neutronics code which was developed in an earlier part of the contact. The joining of these two codes to provide a coupled analysis tool for hexagonal lattice cores is the ultimate objective of the contract and its follow-on work. The remaining part of this report presents the current status of the development and the results which have been obtained to date. These will appear in the MS thesis of Mr. Terrill Laughton in the Department of Nuclear Engineering which is currently in preparation

COMMIX analysis of four constant flow thermal upramp experiments performed in a thermal hydraulic model of an advanced LMR

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yarlagadda, B.S.

1989-04-01

The three-dimensional thermal hydraulics computer code COMMIX-1AR was used to analyze four constant flow thermal upramp experiments performed in the thermal hydraulic model of an advanced LMR. An objective of these analyses was the validation of COMMIX-1AR for buoyancy affected flows. The COMMIX calculated temperature histories of some thermocouples in the model were compared with the corresponding measured data. The conclusions of this work are presented. 3 refs., 5 figs

Physics of thermo-acoustic sound generation

Science.gov (United States)

Daschewski, M.; Boehm, R.; Prager, J.; Kreutzbruck, M.; Harrer, A.

2013-09-01

We present a generalized analytical model of thermo-acoustic sound generation based on the analysis of thermally induced energy density fluctuations and their propagation into the adjacent matter. The model provides exact analytical prediction of the sound pressure generated in fluids and solids; consequently, it can be applied to arbitrary thermal power sources such as thermophones, plasma firings, laser beams, and chemical reactions. Unlike existing approaches, our description also includes acoustic near-field effects and sound-field attenuation. Analytical results are compared with measurements of sound pressures generated by thermo-acoustic transducers in air for frequencies up to 1 MHz. The tested transducers consist of titanium and indium tin oxide coatings on quartz glass and polycarbonate substrates. The model reveals that thermo-acoustic efficiency increases linearly with the supplied thermal power and quadratically with thermal excitation frequency. Comparison of the efficiency of our thermo-acoustic transducers with those of piezoelectric-based airborne ultrasound transducers using impulse excitation showed comparable sound pressure values. The present results show that thermo-acoustic transducers can be applied as broadband, non-resonant, high-performance ultrasound sources.

Reactor Thermal Hydraulic Numerical Calculation And Modeling

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Duong Ngoc Hai; Dang The Ba

2008-01-01

In the paper the results of analysis of thermal hydraulic state models using the numerical codes such as COOLOD, EUREKA and RELAP5 for simulation of the reactor thermal hydraulic states are presented. The calculations, analyses of reactor thermal hydraulic state and safety were implemented using different codes. The received numerical results, which were compared each to other, to experiment measurement of Dalat (Vietnam) research reactor and published results, show their appropriateness and capacity for analyses of different appropriate cases. (author)

Computer modeling of ground-water flow at the Savannah River Plant

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Root, R.W. Jr.

1979-01-01

Mathematical equations describing ground-water flow are used in a computer model being developed to predict the space-time distribution of hydraulic head beneath a part of the Savannah River Plant site. These equations are solved by a three-dimensional finite-difference scheme. Preliminary calibration of the hydraulic head model has been completed and calculated results compare well with water-level changes observed in the field. 10 figures, 1 table

Pressure Transient Model of Water-Hydraulic Pipelines with Cavitation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dan Jiang

2018-03-01

Full Text Available Transient pressure investigation of water-hydraulic pipelines is a challenge in the fluid transmission field, since the flow continuity equation and momentum equation are partial differential, and the vaporous cavitation has high dynamics; the frictional force caused by fluid viscosity is especially uncertain. In this study, due to the different transient pressure dynamics in upstream and downstream pipelines, the finite difference method (FDM is adopted to handle pressure transients with and without cavitation, as well as steady friction and frequency-dependent unsteady friction. Different from the traditional method of characteristics (MOC, the FDM is advantageous in terms of the simple and convenient computation. Furthermore, the mechanism of cavitation growth and collapse are captured both upstream and downstream of the water-hydraulic pipeline, i.e., the cavitation start time, the end time, the duration, the maximum volume, and the corresponding time points. By referring to the experimental results of two previous works, the comparative simulation results of two computation methods are verified in experimental water-hydraulic pipelines, which indicates that the finite difference method shows better data consistency than the MOC.

FEQinput—An editor for the full equations (FEQ) hydraulic modeling system

Science.gov (United States)

Ancalle, David S.; Ancalle, Pablo J.; Domanski, Marian M.

2017-10-30

IntroductionThe Full Equations Model (FEQ) is a computer program that solves the full, dynamic equations of motion for one-dimensional unsteady hydraulic flow in open channels and through control structures. As a result, hydrologists have used FEQ to design and operate flood-control structures, delineate inundation maps, and analyze peak-flow impacts. To aid in fighting floods, hydrologists are using the software to develop a system that uses flood-plain models to simulate real-time streamflow.Input files for FEQ are composed of text files that contain large amounts of parameters, data, and instructions that are written in a format exclusive to FEQ. Although documentation exists that can aid in the creation and editing of these input files, new users face a steep learning curve in order to understand the specific format and language of the files.FEQinput provides a set of tools to help a new user overcome the steep learning curve associated with creating and modifying input files for the FEQ hydraulic model and the related utility tool, Full Equations Utilities (FEQUTL).

Bayesian Model Averaging of Artificial Intelligence Models for Hydraulic Conductivity Estimation

Science.gov (United States)

Nadiri, A.; Chitsazan, N.; Tsai, F. T.; Asghari Moghaddam, A.

2012-12-01

This research presents a Bayesian artificial intelligence model averaging (BAIMA) method that incorporates multiple artificial intelligence (AI) models to estimate hydraulic conductivity and evaluate estimation uncertainties. Uncertainty in the AI model outputs stems from error in model input as well as non-uniqueness in selecting different AI methods. Using one single AI model tends to bias the estimation and underestimate uncertainty. BAIMA employs Bayesian model averaging (BMA) technique to address the issue of using one single AI model for estimation. BAIMA estimates hydraulic conductivity by averaging the outputs of AI models according to their model weights. In this study, the model weights were determined using the Bayesian information criterion (BIC) that follows the parsimony principle. BAIMA calculates the within-model variances to account for uncertainty propagation from input data to AI model output. Between-model variances are evaluated to account for uncertainty due to model non-uniqueness. We employed Takagi-Sugeno fuzzy logic (TS-FL), artificial neural network (ANN) and neurofuzzy (NF) to estimate hydraulic conductivity for the Tasuj plain aquifer, Iran. BAIMA combined three AI models and produced better fitting than individual models. While NF was expected to be the best AI model owing to its utilization of both TS-FL and ANN models, the NF model is nearly discarded by the parsimony principle. The TS-FL model and the ANN model showed equal importance although their hydraulic conductivity estimates were quite different. This resulted in significant between-model variances that are normally ignored by using one AI model.

Computational Modeling of Ablation on an Irradiated Target

Science.gov (United States)

Mehmedagic, Igbal; Thangam, Siva

2017-11-01

Computational modeling of pulsed nanosecond laser interaction with an irradiated metallic target is presented. The model formulation involves ablation of the metallic target irradiated by pulsed high intensity laser at normal atmospheric conditions. Computational findings based on effective representation and prediction of the heat transfer, melting and vaporization of the targeting material as well as plume formation and expansion are presented along with its relevance for the development of protective shields. In this context, the available results for a representative irradiation from 1064 nm laser pulse is used to analyze various ablation mechanisms, variable thermo-physical and optical properties, plume expansion and surface geometry. Funded in part by U. S. Army ARDEC, Picatinny Arsenal, NJ.

Sediment and Hydraulic Measurements with Computed Bed Load on the Missouri River, Sioux City to Hermann, 2014

Science.gov (United States)

2017-05-01

ER D C /C HL T R- 17 -8 Sediment and Hydraulic Measurements with Computed Bed Load on the Missouri River , Sioux City to Hermann, 2014...Hydraulic Measurements with Computed Bed Load on the Missouri River , Sioux City to Hermann, 2014 David Abraham, Marielys Ramos-Villanueva, Thad Pratt...Engineers, Omaha and Kansas City Districts, in quantifying sediment bed load and suspended load at several sites on the Missouri River for the

Modeling hydraulic regenerative hybrid vehicles using AMESim and Matlab/Simulink

Science.gov (United States)

Lynn, Alfred; Smid, Edzko; Eshraghi, Moji; Caldwell, Niall; Woody, Dan

2005-05-01

This paper presents the overview of the simulation modeling of a hydraulic system with regenerative braking used to improve vehicle emissions and fuel economy. Two simulation software packages were used together to enhance the simulation capability for fuel economy results and development of vehicle and hybrid control strategy. AMESim, a hydraulic simulation software package modeled the complex hydraulic circuit and component hardware and was interlinked with a Matlab/Simulink model of the vehicle, engine and the control strategy required to operate the vehicle and the hydraulic hybrid system through various North American and European drive cycles.

Fabrication of optical fiber micro(and nano)-optical and photonic devices and components, using computer controlled spark thermo-pulling system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fatemi, H.; Mosleh, A.; Pashmkar, M.; Khaksar Kalati, A.

2007-01-01

Fabrication of optical fiber Micro (and Nano)-Optical component and devices, as well as, those applicable for photonic purposes are described. It is to demonstrate the practical capabilities and characterization of the previously reported Computer controlled spark thermo-pulling fabrication system.

Equipping simulators with an advanced thermal hydraulics model EDF's experience

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Soldermann, R.; Poizat, F.; Sekri, A.; Faydide, B.; Dumas, J.M.

1997-01-01

The development of an accelerated version of the advanced CATHARe-1 thermal hydraulics code designed for EDF training simulators (CATHARE-SIMU) was successfully completed as early as 1991. Its successful integration as the principal model of the SIPA Post-Accident Simulator meant that its use could be extended to full-scale simulators as part of the renovation of the stock of existing simulators. In order to further extend the field of application to accidents occurring in shutdown states requiring action and to catch up with developments in respect of the CATHARE code, EDF initiated the SCAR Project designed to adapt CATHARE-2 to simulator requirements (acceleration, parallelization of the computation and extension of the simulation range). In other respects, the installation of SIPA on workstations means that the authors can envisage the application of this remarkable training facility to the understanding of thermal hydraulics accident phenomena

Hydraulic Actuators with Autonomous Hydraulic Supply for the Mainline Aircrafts

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

I. S. Shumilov

2014-01-01

pipelines, as well as their increasing reliability. It is also possible, in addition, in addition to increase reliability of the remained pipelines, having applied the last developments, e.g. introduction of one-piece connections (thermo-mechanical ones, high-strength steels for pipelines with σв˃85 кг/мм 2 σ to increase control of residual assembly tension, and so on;- to eliminate essentially all the shortcomings of hydraulic actuators, which constrain their introduction in aircraft industry;- to simplify essentially steering drive structures and designs, which allow to apply the tried and tested components and principles;- to simplify essentially a solution for cooling of working liquid;- to simplify essentially a solution for the steering drive configuration in a zone of control vanes;- to simplify essentially a solution for meeting requirements for dynamic rigidity and dynamic sensitivity of hydraulic actuators;- to simplify essentially a solution for the aircraft fire safety, etc.

Hydraulic modeling support for conflict analysis: The Manayunk canal revisited

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chadderton, R.A.; Traver, R.G.; Rao, J.N.

1992-01-01

This paper presents a study which used a standard, hydraulic computer model to generate detailed design information to support conflict analysis of a water resource use issue. As an extension of previous studies, the conflict analysis in this case included several scenarios for stability analysis - all of which reached the conclusion that compromising, shared access to the water resources available would result in the most benefits to society. This expected equilibrium outcome was found to maximize benefit-cost estimates. 17 refs., 1 fig., 2 tabs

Computer aided hydraulic design of axial flow pump impeller

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sreedhar, B.K.; Rao, A.S.L.K.; Kumaraswamy, S.

1994-01-01

Pumps are the heart of any power plant and hence their design requires great attention. Computers with their potential for rapid computation can be successfully employed in the design and manufacture of these machines. The paper discusses a program developed for the hydraulic design of axial flow pump impeller. The program, written in FORTRAN 77, is interactive and performs the functions of design calculation, drafting and generation of numerical data for blade manufacture. The drafting function, which makes use of the software ACAD, is carried out automatically by means of suitable interface programs. In addition data for blade manufacture is also generated in either the x-y-z or r-θ-z system. (author). 4 refs., 3 figs

Sufficient conditions for Hadamard well-posedness of a coupled thermo-chemo-poroelastic system

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tetyana Malysheva

2016-01-01

Full Text Available This article addresses the well-posedness of a coupled parabolic-elliptic system modeling fully coupled thermal, chemical, hydraulic, and mechanical processes in porous formations that impact drilling and borehole stability. The underlying thermo-chemo-poroelastic model is a system of time-dependent parabolic equations describing thermal, solute, and fluid diffusions coupled with Navier-type elliptic equations that attempt to capture the elastic behavior of rock around a borehole. An existence and uniqueness theory for a corresponding initial-boundary value problem is an open problem in the field. We give sufficient conditions for the well-posedness in the sense of Hadamard of a weak solution to a fully coupled parabolic-elliptic initial-boundary value problem describing homogeneous and isotropic media.

Study of thermal - hydraulic sensors signal fluctuations in PWR

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hennion, F.

1987-10-01

This thesis deals with signal fluctuations of thermal-hydraulic sensors in the main coolant primary of a pressurized water reactor. The aim of this work is to give a first response about the potentiality of use of these noise signals for the functionning monitoring. Two aspects have been studied: - the modelisation of temperature fluctuations of core thermocouples, by a Monte-Carlo method, gives the main characteristics of these signals and their domain of application. - the determination of eigenfrequency in the primary by an acoustic representation could permit the monitoring of local and global thermo-hydraulic conditions [fr

ECOSIM - Applied to a study on the thermo-hydraulic behaviour of feedwater heaters

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Huelamo Martinez, E.; Casado Flores, E.; Bosch Aparicio, F.

1998-01-01

In order to carry out a behaviour study on the secondary circuit of a nuclear power plant operating at a load level higher than originally planned, it is essential to know if the cycle heaters are valid from the thermo-dynamic point of view. This paper describes the models which were used for the study of certain heaters; these models were validated by checking that they faithfully reproduced the behaviour of the equipment (TTD and DCA) in areas where data from the manufacturer was available. The behaviour of said equipment was later obtained in the foreseen operating range. The calculations necessary for these studies were carried out by building ECOSIM models, taking into account that the behaviour of the feedwater heaters depends both on the entry conditions of the extraction steam and also on the remaining mass and energy inputs. For this reason the actual plant layout was taken into consideration, as it was different from the original design. This paper describes the starting hypothesis, the correlations used, the results obtained, an analysis of said results, and a comparison with the manufacturer's data where available. (Author)

Modeling and analysis of waves in a heat conducting thermo-elastic plate of elliptical shape

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

R. Selvamani

Full Text Available Wave propagation in heat conducting thermo elastic plate of elliptical cross-section is studied using the Fourier expansion collocation method based on Suhubi's generalized theory. The equations of motion based on two-dimensional theory of elasticity is applied under the plane strain assumption of generalized thermo elastic plate of elliptical cross-sections composed of homogeneous isotropic material. The frequency equations are obtained by using the boundary conditions along outer and inner surface of elliptical cross-sectional plate using Fourier expansion collocation method. The computed non-dimensional frequency, velocity and quality factor are plotted in dispersion curves for longitudinal and flexural (symmetric and antisymmetric modes of vibrations.

Some computational challenges of developing efficient parallel algorithms for data-dependent computations in thermal-hydraulics supercomputer applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Woodruff, S.B.

1994-01-01

The Transient Reactor Analysis Code (TRAC), which features a two-fluid treatment of thermal-hydraulics, is designed to model transients in water reactors and related facilities. One of the major computational costs associated with TRAC and similar codes is calculating constitutive coefficients. Although the formulations for these coefficients are local, the costs are flow-regime- or data-dependent; i.e., the computations needed for a given spatial node often vary widely as a function of time. Consequently, a fixed, uniform assignment of nodes to prallel processors will result in degraded computational efficiency due to the poor load balancing. A standard method for treating data-dependent models on vector architectures has been to use gather operations (or indirect adressing) to sort the nodes into subsets that (temporarily) share a common computational model. However, this method is not effective on distributed memory data parallel architectures, where indirect adressing involves expensive communication overhead. Another serious problem with this method involves software engineering challenges in the areas of maintainability and extensibility. For example, an implementation that was hand-tuned to achieve good computational efficiency would have to be rewritten whenever the decision tree governing the sorting was modified. Using an example based on the calculation of the wall-to-liquid and wall-to-vapor heat-transfer coefficients for three nonboiling flow regimes, we describe how the use of the Fortran 90 WHERE construct and automatic inlining of functions can be used to ameliorate this problem while improving both efficiency and software engineering. Unfortunately, a general automatic solution to the load-balancing problem associated with data-dependent computations is not yet available for massively parallel architectures. We discuss why developers should either wait for such solutions or consider alternative numerical algorithms, such as a neural network

Spent fuel pool thermal-hydraulic analysis using RELAP5-3D

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ramos, M. C.; Fernandes, G.H.N.; Costa, A.L.; Pereira, F.; Pereira, C., E-mail: marc5663@gmail.com, E-mail: ghnfernandes@pq.cnpq.br, E-mail: claubia@nuclear.ufmg.br, E-mail: antonella@nuclear.ufmg.br [Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, MG (Brazil). Departamento de Engenharia Nuclear

2017-07-01

In order to analyze the thermo-hydraulic behavior of spent fuel pools, and taking as reference a hypothetic PWR nuclear plant, a model of RELAP-3D for a spent fuel pool has been built. This model has been used to simulate a loss of coolant in SPF. This study focuses on the loss of coolant flow accident in spent fuel storage pool which is modelled by using RELAP5-3D code to observe the coolant level reduction and fuel uncovery because of decay heat generation of the spent fuel in the pool. The results have been compared with the available data. The developed model demonstrated that the RELAP5-3D is capable of reproduce the thermal behavior of SPF in a transient scenario. (author)

Verification of thermal-hydraulic computer codes against standard problems for WWER reflooding

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Alexander D Efanov; Vladimir N Vinogradov; Victor V Sergeev; Oleg A Sudnitsyn

2005-01-01

Full text of publication follows: The computational assessment of reactor core components behavior under accident conditions is impossible without knowledge of the thermal-hydraulic processes occurring in this case. The adequacy of the results obtained using the computer codes to the real processes is verified by carrying out a number of standard problems. In 2000-2003, the fulfillment of three Russian standard problems on WWER core reflooding was arranged using the experiments on full-height electrically heated WWER 37-rod bundle model cooldown in regimes of bottom (SP-1), top (SP-2) and combined (SP-3) reflooding. The representatives from the eight MINATOM's organizations took part in this work, in the course of which the 'blind' and posttest calculations were performed using various versions of the RELAP5, ATHLET, CATHARE, COBRA-TF, TRAP, KORSAR computer codes. The paper presents a brief description of the test facility, test section, test scenarios and conditions as well as the basic results of computational analysis of the experiments. The analysis of the test data revealed a significantly non-one-dimensional nature of cooldown and rewetting of heater rods heated up to a high temperature in a model bundle. This was most pronounced at top and combined reflooding. The verification of the model reflooding computer codes showed that most of computer codes fairly predict the peak rod temperature and the time of bundle cooldown. The exception is provided by the results of calculations with the ATHLET and CATHARE codes. The nature and rate of rewetting front advance in the lower half of the bundle are fairly predicted practically by all computer codes. The disagreement between the calculations and experimental results for the upper half of the bundle is caused by the difficulties of computational simulation of multidimensional effects by 1-D computer codes. In this regard, a quasi-two-dimensional computer code COBRA-TF offers certain advantages. Overall, the closest

Simplification of one-dimensional hydraulic networks by automated processes evaluated on 1D/2D deterministic flood models

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Davidsen, Steffen; Löwe, Roland; Thrysøe, Cecilie

2017-01-01

Evaluation of pluvial flood risk is often based on computations using 1D/2D urban flood models. However, guidelines on choice of model complexity are missing, especially for one-dimensional (1D) network models. This study presents a new automatic approach for simplification of 1D hydraulic networ...

Physical modeling and characterization of thermo-acoustic loudspeakers made of silver nano-wire films

Science.gov (United States)

La Torraca, P.; Larcher, L.; Bobinger, M.; Pavan, P.; Seeber, B.; Lugli, P.

2017-06-01

Recent developments of ultra-low heat capacity nanostructured materials revived the interest in the thermo-acoustic (TA) loudspeaker technology, which shows important advantages compared to the classical dynamic loudspeakers as they feature a lower cost and weight, flexibility, conformability to the surface of various shapes, and transparency. The development of the TA loudspeaker technology requires accurate physical models connecting the material properties to the thermal and acoustic speaker's performance. We present here a combined theoretical and experimental analysis of TA loudspeakers, where the electro-thermal and the thermo-acoustic transductions are handled separately, thus allowing an in-depth description of both the pressure and temperature dynamics. The electro-thermal transduction is analyzed by accounting for all the heat flow processes taking place between the TA loudspeaker and the surrounding environment, with focus on their frequency dependence. The thermo-acoustic conversion is studied by solving the coupled thermo-acoustic equations, derived from the Navier-Stokes equations, and by exploiting the Huygens-Fresnel principle to decompose the TA loudspeaker surface into a dense set of TA point sources. A general formulation of the 3D pressure field is derived summing up the TA point source contributions via a Rayleigh integral. The model is validated against temperature and sound pressure level measured on the TA loudspeaker sample made of a Silver Nanowire random network deposited on a polyimide substrate. A good agreement is found between measurements and simulations, demonstrating that the model is capable of connecting material properties to the thermo-acoustic performance of the device, thus providing a valuable tool for the design and optimization of TA loudspeakers.

GPU-Based Computation of Formation Pressure for Multistage Hydraulically Fractured Horizontal Wells in Tight Oil and Gas Reservoirs

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rongwang Yin

2018-01-01

Full Text Available A mathematical model for multistage hydraulically fractured horizontal wells (MFHWs in tight oil and gas reservoirs was derived by considering the variations in the permeability and porosity of tight oil and gas reservoirs that depend on formation pressure and mixed fluid properties and introducing the pseudo-pressure; analytical solutions were presented using the Newman superposition principle. The CPU-GPU asynchronous computing model was designed based on the CUDA platform, and the analytic solution was decomposed into infinite summation and integral forms for parallel computation. Implementation of this algorithm on an Intel i5 4590 CPU and NVIDIA GT 730 GPU demonstrates that computation speed increased by almost 80 times, which meets the requirement for real-time calculation of the formation pressure of MFHWs.

High resolution global flood hazard map from physically-based hydrologic and hydraulic models.

Science.gov (United States)

Begnudelli, L.; Kaheil, Y.; McCollum, J.

2017-12-01

The global flood map published online at http://www.fmglobal.com/research-and-resources/global-flood-map at 90m resolution is being used worldwide to understand flood risk exposure, exercise certain measures of mitigation, and/or transfer the residual risk financially through flood insurance programs. The modeling system is based on a physically-based hydrologic model to simulate river discharges, and 2D shallow-water hydrodynamic model to simulate inundation. The model can be applied to large-scale flood hazard mapping thanks to several solutions that maximize its efficiency and the use of parallel computing. The hydrologic component of the modeling system is the Hillslope River Routing (HRR) hydrologic model. HRR simulates hydrological processes using a Green-Ampt parameterization, and is calibrated against observed discharge data from several publicly-available datasets. For inundation mapping, we use a 2D Finite-Volume Shallow-Water model with wetting/drying. We introduce here a grid Up-Scaling Technique (UST) for hydraulic modeling to perform simulations at higher resolution at global scale with relatively short computational times. A 30m SRTM is now available worldwide along with higher accuracy and/or resolution local Digital Elevation Models (DEMs) in many countries and regions. UST consists of aggregating computational cells, thus forming a coarser grid, while retaining the topographic information from the original full-resolution mesh. The full-resolution topography is used for building relationships between volume and free surface elevation inside cells and computing inter-cell fluxes. This approach almost achieves computational speed typical of the coarse grids while preserving, to a significant extent, the accuracy offered by the much higher resolution available DEM. The simulations are carried out along each river of the network by forcing the hydraulic model with the streamflow hydrographs generated by HRR. Hydrographs are scaled so that the peak

Effects of temperature and thermally-induced microstructure change on hydraulic conductivity of Boom Clay

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

W.Z. Chen

2017-06-01

Full Text Available Boom Clay is one of the potential host rocks for deep geological disposal of high-level radioactive nuclear waste in Belgium. In order to investigate the mechanism of hydraulic conductivity variation under complex thermo-mechanical coupling conditions and to better understand the thermo-hydro-mechanical (THM coupling behaviour of Boom Clay, a series of permeability tests using temperature-controlled triaxial cell has been carried out on the Boom Clay samples taken from Belgian underground research laboratory (URL HADES. Due to its sedimentary nature, Boom Clay presents across-anisotropy with respect to its sub-horizontal bedding plane. Direct measurements of the vertical (Kv and horizontal (Kh hydraulic conductivities show that the hydraulic conductivity at 80 °C is about 2.4 times larger than that at room temperature (23 °C, and the hydraulic conductivity variation with temperature is basically reversible during heating–cooling cycle. The anisotropic property of Boom Clay is studied by scanning electron microscope (SEM tests, which highlight the transversely isotropic characteristics of intact Boom Clay. It is shown that the sub-horizontal bedding feature accounts for the horizontal permeability higher than the vertical one. The measured increment in hydraulic conductivity with temperature is lower than the calculated one when merely considering the changes in water kinematic viscosity and density with temperature. The nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR tests have also been carried out to investigate the impact of microstructure variation on the THM properties of clay. The results show that heating under unconstrained boundary condition will produce larger size of pores and weaken the microstructure. The discrepancy between the hydraulic conductivity experimentally measured and predicted (considering water viscosity and density changes with temperature can be attributed to the microstructural weakening effect on the thermal volume change

the Modeling of Hydraulic Jump Generated Partially on Sloping Apron

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shaker Abdulatif Jalil

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Modeling aims to characterize system behavior and achieve simulation close as possible of the reality. The rapid energy exchange in supercritical flow to generate quiet or subcritical flow in hydraulic jump phenomenon is important in design of hydraulic structures. Experimental and numerical modeling is done on type B hydraulic jump which starts first on sloping bed and its end on horizontal bed.  Four different apron slopes are used, for each one of these slopes the jump is generated on different locations by controlling the tail water depth.  Modelling validation is based on 120 experimental runs which they show that there is reliability. The air volume fraction which creates in through hydraulic jump varied between 0.18 and 0.28. While the energy exchanges process take place within 6.6, 6.1, 5.8, 5.5 of the average relative jump height for apron slopes of 0.18, 0.14, 0.10, 0.07 respectively. Within the limitations of this study, mathematical prediction model for relative hydraulic jump height is suggested.The model having an acceptable coefficient of determination.

COBRA-SFS [Spent Fuel Storage]: A thermal-hydraulic analysis computer code: Volume 1, Mathematical models and solution method

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rector, D.R.; Wheeler, C.L.; Lombardo, N.J.

1986-11-01

COBRA-SFS (Spent Fuel Storage) is a general thermal-hydraulic analysis computer code used to predict temperatures and velocities in a wide variety of systems. The code was refined and specialized for spent fuel storage system analyses for the US Department of Energy's Commercial Spent Fuel Management Program. The finite-volume equations governing mass, momentum, and energy conservation are written for an incompressible, single-phase fluid. The flow equations model a wide range of conditions including natural circulation. The energy equations include the effects of solid and fluid conduction, natural convection, and thermal radiation. The COBRA-SFS code is structured to perform both steady-state and transient calculations: however, the transient capability has not yet been validated. This volume describes the finite-volume equations and the method used to solve these equations. It is directed toward the user who is interested in gaining a more complete understanding of these methods

Numerical modeling of local scour around hydraulic structure in sandy beds by dynamic mesh method

Science.gov (United States)

Fan, Fei; Liang, Bingchen; Bai, Yuchuan; Zhu, Zhixia; Zhu, Yanjun

2017-10-01

Local scour, a non-negligible factor in hydraulic engineering, endangers the safety of hydraulic structures. In this work, a numerical model for simulating local scour was constructed, based on the open source code computational fluid dynamics model OpenFOAM. We consider both the bedload and suspended load sediment transport in the scour model and adopt the dynamic mesh method to simulate the evolution of the bed elevation. We use the finite area method to project data between the three-dimensional flow model and the two-dimensional (2D) scour model. We also improved the 2D sand slide method and added it to the scour model to correct the bed bathymetry when the bed slope angle exceeds the angle of repose. Moreover, to validate our scour model, we conducted and compared the results of three experiments with those of the developed model. The validation results show that our developed model can reliably simulate local scour.

Thermo-pneumatic canning; Le gainage thermopneumatique

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gauthron, M [Commissariat a l' Energie Atomique, Saclay (France). Centre d' Etudes Nucleaires

1958-07-01

In the thermo-pneumatic canning, the fuel is enclosed in its can with a clearance that must be reduced by external heated gas pressure. The principal applications are: a) binding magnesium cans on to uranium in fuel elements of reactors cooled by CO{sub 2} under pressure, b) application of a can to a hollow bar of uranium too thin to resist the pressure of cold hydraulic canning, c) application of an aluminium can to a bar, with an initial diametrical clearance between uranium and can too great to sustain cold hydraulic canning without buckling, d) detection of major leakage in the slugs. (author) [French] Ce procede consiste a appliquer une gaine sur une barre d'uranium par pression hydrostatique d'un gaz chaud. Les principales applications sont: a) le frettage des gaines de magnesium des elements combustibles des piles refroidies au CO{sub 2} sous pression, b) le gainage d'un barreau creux qui serait ecrase a froid, c) le gainage avec un jeu initial trop fort pour etre effectue a froid sans plisser, d) la detection des fuites de cartouches. (auteur)

Proceedings of the 1991 national conference on hydraulic engineering

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shane, R.M.

1991-01-01

This book contains the proceedings of the 1991 National Conference of Hydraulic Engineering. The conference was held in conjunction with the International Symposium on Ground Water and a Software Exchange that facilitated exchange of information on recent software developments of interest to hydraulic engineers. Also included in the program were three mini-symposia on the Exclusive Economic Zone, Data Acquisition, and Appropriate Technology. Topics include sedimentation; appropriate technology; exclusive economic zone hydraulics; hydraulic data acquisition and display; innovative hydraulic structures and water quality applications of hydraulic research, including the hydraulics of aerating turbines; wetlands; hydraulic and hydrologic extremes; highway drainage; overtopping protection of dams; spillway design; coastal and estuarine hydraulics; scale models; computation hydraulics; GIS and expert system applications; watershed response to rainfall; probabilistic approaches; and flood control investigations

ANTEO: An optimised PC computer code for the steady state thermal hydraulic analysis of rod bundles

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cevolani, S.

1996-07-01

The paper deals with the description of a Personal Computer oriented subchannel code, devoted to the steady state thermal hydraulic analysis of nuclear reactor fuel bundles. The development of a such code was made possible by two facts: first, the increase the computing power of the desk machines; secondly, the fact several years of experience into operate subchannels codes have shown how to simplify many of the physical models without a sensible loss of accuracy. For sake of validation, the developed code was compared with a traditional subchannel code, the COBRA one. The results of the comparison show a very good agreement between the two codes

An XFEM Model for Hydraulic Fracturing in Partially Saturated Rocks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Salimzadeh Saeed

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Hydraulic fracturing is a complex multi-physics phenomenon. Numerous analytical and numerical models of hydraulic fracturing processes have been proposed. Analytical solutions commonly are able to model the growth of a single hydraulic fracture into an initially intact, homogeneous rock mass. Numerical models are able to analyse complex problems such as multiple hydraulic fractures and fracturing in heterogeneous media. However, majority of available models are restricted to single-phase flow through fracture and permeable porous rock. This is not compatible with actual field conditions where the injected fluid does not have similar properties as the host fluid. In this study we present a fully coupled hydro-poroelastic model which incorporates two fluids i.e. fracturing fluid and host fluid. Flow through fracture is defined based on lubrication assumption, while flow through matrix is defined as Darcy flow. The fracture discontinuity in the mechanical model is captured using eXtended Finite Element Method (XFEM while the fracture propagation criterion is defined through cohesive fracture model. The discontinuous matrix fluid velocity across fracture is modelled using leak-off loading which couples fracture flow and matrix flow. The proposed model has been discretised using standard Galerkin method, implemented in Matlab and verified against several published solutions. Multiple hydraulic fracturing simulations are performed to show the model robustness and to illustrate how problem parameters such as injection rate and rock permeability affect the hydraulic fracturing variables i.e. injection pressure, fracture aperture and fracture length. The results show the impact of partial saturation on leak-off and the fact that single-phase models may underestimate the leak-off.

Thermo-hydraulic instability of natural circulation BWRs at low pressure star-up. Experimental estimation of instability region with test facility considering scaling law

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Inada, F.; Furuya, M.; Yasuo, A.; Tabata, H.; Yoshioka, Y.; Kim, H.T.

1995-01-01

In natural circulation BWRs developed for advanced light water reactors with simplified passive safety systems, thermo-hydraulic stability should be confirmed especially at low pressure start-up. In this paper, nondimensional parameters to estimate the hydrodynamic stability to reactors at low pressure start-up were obtained by transformation of the basic equations of drift-flux model in the two-phase region into nondimensional form. A test facility based on these parameters was then constructed. The height of the test facility is 70% of SBWR and many nondimensional test facility parameters are almost the same as those of the reactor. Reactor stability was estimated experimentally. Stability maps below 0.5MPa were obtained on the heat flux - channel inlet subcooling place. It was found that there were two stability boundaries, between which the flow became unstable. Flow was stable in the high and low channel inlet subcooling regions. Typical conditions of SBWR at low pressure start-up were noted in the high channel inlet subcooling stable region. The heat flux at typical SBWR start-up was about one fifth that of the stability boundary. Though some nondimensional parameters of the test facility did not exactly agree with those of SBWR, it was suggested that the flow in SBWR was stable below 0.5MPa because of the large margin. (author)

Experimental and parametric studies of a louvered fin and flat tube compact heat exchanger using computational fluid dynamics

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

P. Karthik

2015-12-01

Full Text Available The present study aimed to perform the parametric analysis on thermo-hydraulic performance of a compact heat exchanger using computational fluid dynamics (CFD. The analysis has been carried out at different frontal air velocities by varying the geometrical parameters such as fin pitch, transverse tube pitch, longitudinal tube pitch, louver pitch and louver angle. The air side performance of the heat exchanger has been evaluated by calculating Colburn factor (j and Fanning friction factor (f. The comparison of CFD results with the experimental data exhibited a good agreement and the influence of various geometrical parameters for the selected range of values on the pressure drop, heat transfer coefficient and goodness factor was analyzed. The results obtained from the analysis will be very useful to optimize the louvered fin and flat tube compact heat exchanger for better thermo-hydraulic performance analysis without the need of time consuming and expensive experimentation.

Thermo-hydrodynamic lubrication in hydrodynamic bearings

CERN Document Server

Bonneau, Dominique; Souchet, Dominique

2014-01-01

This Series provides the necessary elements to the development and validation of numerical prediction models for hydrodynamic bearings. This book describes the thermo-hydrodynamic and the thermo-elasto-hydrodynamic lubrication. The algorithms are methodically detailed and each section is thoroughly illustrated.

Intelligent Hydraulic Actuator and Exp-based Modelling of Losses in Pumps and .

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Zhang, Muzhi

A intelligent fuzzy logic self-organising PD+I controller for a gearrotor hydraulic motor was developed and evaluated. Furthermore, a experimental-based modelling methods with a new software tool 'Dynamodata' for modelling of losses in hydraulic motors and pumps was developed.......A intelligent fuzzy logic self-organising PD+I controller for a gearrotor hydraulic motor was developed and evaluated. Furthermore, a experimental-based modelling methods with a new software tool 'Dynamodata' for modelling of losses in hydraulic motors and pumps was developed....

Calculation of the fuel composition and the thermo-neutronic parameters of the Bushehr’s VVER-1000 reactor during the initial startup and the first cycle using the WIMSD5-B, CITATION-LDI2 and WERL codes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rahmani, Yashar; Pazirandeh, Ali; Ghofrani, Mohammad B.; Sadighi, Mostafa

2013-01-01

Highlights: ► In this paper, the changes of the thermo-neutronic parameters of a VVER 1000 reactor were studied during the first cycle. ► The coupling of neutronic and thermo-hydraulic codes was utilized. ► A computational program (WERL code) was designed to calculate the temperature distribution of the reactor core. ► To estimate the concentration of the released gaseous fission products, the Weisman model was used. ► The results of this study enjoyed the desirable accuracy. - Abstract: In this paper, the concentrations of fission products and fuel isotopes as well as the changes of the thermo-neutronic parameters of the Bushehr’s VVER-1000 reactor were studied during the initial startup and the first cycle. In order to perform the time-dependent cell calculations and obtain the concentration of fuel elements, the WIMSD5-B code was used. Besides, by utilizing the CITATION-LDI2 code, the effective multiplication factor and the thermal power distribution of the reactor were calculated. A computer program (WERL code) was designed in order to perform accurate calculation of the temperature distribution of the reactor core. For this purpose, the Ross–Stoute, Weisman, and Lee–Kesler models were used for calculating of the gap conductance coefficient, fission gas release and gap pressure, respectively. The results demonstrated that in designing the startup process, in addition to the role considered for overcoming the power defects and in preparing the required conditions for performing the safety-assurance tests, the flattening of the reactor’s power must be taken into account. Comparison between the results of this modeling and the final safety analysis report of this reactor showed that the results presented in this paper are satisfactorily accurate

Thermo-mechanical behaviour modelling of particle fuels using a multi-scale approach

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Blanc, V.

2009-12-01

Particle fuels are made of a few thousand spheres, one millimeter diameter large, compound of uranium oxide coated by confinement layers which are embedded in a graphite matrix to form the fuel element. The aim of this study is to develop a new simulation tool for thermo-mechanical behaviour of those fuels under radiations which is able to predict finely local loadings on the particles. We choose to use the square finite element method, in which two different discretization scales are used: a macroscopic homogeneous structure whose properties in each integration point are computed on a second heterogeneous microstructure, the Representative Volume Element (RVE). First part of this works is concerned by the definition of this RVE. A morphological indicator based in the minimal distance between spheres centers permit to select random sets of microstructures. The elastic macroscopic response of RVE, computed by finite element has been compared to an analytical model. Thermal and mechanical representativeness indicators of local loadings has been built from the particle failure modes. A statistical study of those criteria on a hundred of RVE showed the significance of choose a representative microstructure. In this perspective, a empirical model binding morphological indicator to mechanical indicator has been developed. Second part of the work deals with the two transition scale method which are based on the periodic homogenization. Considering a linear thermal problem with heat source in permanent condition, one showed that the heterogeneity of the heat source involve to use a second order method to localized finely the thermal field. The mechanical non-linear problem has been treats by using the iterative Cast3M algorithm, substituting to integration of the behavior law a finite element computation on the RVE. This algorithm has been validated, and coupled with thermal resolution in order to compute a radiation loading. A computation on a complete fuel element

Development of thermal hydraulic models for the reliable regulatory auditing code

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Chung, B. D.; Song, C. H.; Lee, Y. J.; Kwon, T. S. [Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, Taejon (Korea, Republic of)

2003-04-15

The objective of this project is to develop thermal hydraulic models for use in improving the reliability of the regulatory auditing codes. The current year fall under the first step of the 3 year project, and the main researches were focused on identifying the candidate thermal hydraulic models for improvement and to develop prototypical model development. During the current year, the verification calculations submitted for the APR 1400 design certification have been reviewed, the experimental data from the MIDAS DVI experiment facility in KAERI have been analyzed and evaluated, candidate thermal hydraulic models for improvement have been identified, prototypical models for the improved thermal hydraulic models have been developed, items for experiment in connection with the model development have been identified, and preliminary design of the experiment has been carried out.

Development of thermal hydraulic models for the reliable regulatory auditing code

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chung, B. D.; Song, C. H.; Lee, Y. J.; Kwon, T. S.

2003-04-01

The objective of this project is to develop thermal hydraulic models for use in improving the reliability of the regulatory auditing codes. The current year fall under the first step of the 3 year project, and the main researches were focused on identifying the candidate thermal hydraulic models for improvement and to develop prototypical model development. During the current year, the verification calculations submitted for the APR 1400 design certification have been reviewed, the experimental data from the MIDAS DVI experiment facility in KAERI have been analyzed and evaluated, candidate thermal hydraulic models for improvement have been identified, prototypical models for the improved thermal hydraulic models have been developed, items for experiment in connection with the model development have been identified, and preliminary design of the experiment has been carried out

Development of whole core thermal-hydraulic analysis program ACT. 4. Incorporation of three-dimensional upper plenum model

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ohshima, Hiroyuki

2003-03-01

The thermal-hydraulic analysis computer program ACT is under development for the evaluation of detailed flow and temperature fields in a core region of fast breeder reactors under various operation conditions. The purpose of this program development is to contribute not only to clarifying thermal hydraulic characteristics that cannot be revealed by experiments due to measurement difficulty but also to performing rational safety design and assessment. This report describes the incorporation of a three-dimensional upper plenum model to ACT and its verification study as part of the program development. To treat the influence of three-dimensional thermal-hydraulic behavior in a upper plenum on the in-core temperature field, the multi-dimensional general purpose thermal-hydraulic analysis program AQUA, which was developed and validated at JNC, was applied as the base of the upper plenum analysis module of ACT. AQUA enables to model the upper plenum configuration including immersed heat exchangers of the direct reactor auxiliary cooling system (DRACS). In coupling core analysis module that consists of the fuel-assembly and the inter-wrapper gap calculation parts with the upper plenum module, different types of computation mesh systems were jointed using the staggered quarter assembly mesh scheme. A coupling algorithm among core, upper plenum and heat transport system modules, which can keep mass, momentum and energy conservation, was developed and optimized in consideration of parallel computing. ACT was applied to analyzing a sodium experiment (PLANDTL-DHX) performed at JNC, which simulated the natural circulation decay heat removal under DRACS operation conditions for the program verification. From the calculation result, the validity of the improved program was confirmed. (author)

How to effectively compute the reliability of a thermal-hydraulic nuclear passive system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zio, E.; Pedroni, N.

2011-01-01

Research highlights: → Optimized LS is the preferred choice for failure probability estimation. → Two alternative options are suggested for uncertainty and sensitivity analyses. → SS for simulation codes requiring seconds or minutes to run. → Regression models (e.g., ANNs) for simulation codes requiring hours or days to run. - Abstract: The computation of the reliability of a thermal-hydraulic (T-H) passive system of a nuclear power plant can be obtained by (i) Monte Carlo (MC) sampling the uncertainties of the system model and parameters, (ii) computing, for each sample, the system response by a mechanistic T-H code and (iii) comparing the system response with pre-established safety thresholds, which define the success or failure of the safety function. The computational effort involved can be prohibitive because of the large number of (typically long) T-H code simulations that must be performed (one for each sample) for the statistical estimation of the probability of success or failure. The objective of this work is to provide operative guidelines to effectively handle the computation of the reliability of a nuclear passive system. Two directions of computation efficiency are considered: from one side, efficient Monte Carlo Simulation (MCS) techniques are indicated as a means to performing robust estimations with a limited number of samples: in particular, the Subset Simulation (SS) and Line Sampling (LS) methods are identified as most valuable; from the other side, fast-running, surrogate regression models (also called response surfaces or meta-models) are indicated as a valid replacement of the long-running T-H model codes: in particular, the use of bootstrapped Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs) is shown to have interesting potentials, including for uncertainty propagation. The recommendations drawn are supported by the results obtained in an illustrative application of literature.

A new generation drilling rig: hydraulically powered and computer controlled

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Laurent, M.; Angman, P.; Oveson, D. [Tesco Corp., Calgary, AB, (Canada)

1999-11-01

Development, testing and operation of a new generation of hydraulically powered and computer controlled drilling rig that incorporates a number of features that enhance functionality and productivity, is described. The rig features modular construction, a large heated common drilling machinery room, permanently-mounted draw works which, along with the permanently installed top drive, significantly reduces rig-up/rig-down time. Also featured are closed and open hydraulic systems and a unique hydraulic distribution manifold. All functions are controlled through a programmable logic controller (PLC), providing almost unlimited interlocks and calculations to increase rig safety and efficiency. Simplified diagnostic routines, remote monitoring and troubleshooting are also part of the system. To date, two rigs are in operation. Performance of both rigs has been rated as `very good`. Little or no operational problems have been experienced; downtime has averaged 0.61 per cent since August 1998 when the the first of the two rigs went into operation. The most important future application for this rig is for use with the casing drilling process which eliminates the need for drill pipe and tripping. It also reduces the drilling time lost due to unscheduled events such as reaming, fishing and taking kicks while tripping. 1 tab., 6 figs.

Coupled thermo-hydro-mechanical calculations of the water saturation phase of a KBS-3 deposition hole. Influence of hydraulic rock properties on the water saturation phase

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Boergesson, Lennart; Hernelind, J.

1999-12-01

The wetting process in deposition holes designed according to the KBS-3-concept has been simulated with finite element calculations of the thermo-hydro-mechanical processes in the buffer, backfill and surrounding rock. The buffer material has been modelled according to the preliminary material models developed for swelling clay. The properties of the rock have been varied in order to investigate the influence of the rock properties and the hydraulic conditions on the wetting processes. In the modelling of the test holes the permeability of the rock matrix, the water supply from the backfill, the water pressure in the surrounding rock, the permeability of the disturbed zone around the deposition hole, the water retention properties of the rock, and the transmissivity of two fractures intersecting the deposition hole have been varied. The calculations indicate that the wetting takes about 5 years if the water pressure in the rock is high and if the permeability of the rock is so high that the properties of the bentonite determine the wetting rate. However, it may take considerably more than 30 years if the rock is very tight and the water pressure in the rock is low. The calculations also show that the influence of the rock structure is rather large except for the influence of the transmissivity T of the fractures, which turned out to be insignificant for the values used in the calculations

Hydraulic power take-off for wave energy systems

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Christensen, Georg Kronborg

2001-01-01

Investigation and laboratory experiments with a hydraulic power conversion system for converting forces from a 2.5m diamter float to extract energy from seawaves. The test rig consists of a hydraulic wave simulator and a hydraulic point absorber. The absorber converts the incomming forces to a co...... to a continous rotation of an electric generator. The experiments document efficiencies and losses for the conversion process. The experiments are used for verification and update of a computer model.......Investigation and laboratory experiments with a hydraulic power conversion system for converting forces from a 2.5m diamter float to extract energy from seawaves. The test rig consists of a hydraulic wave simulator and a hydraulic point absorber. The absorber converts the incomming forces...

Computational Modelling of Piston Ring Dynamics in 3D

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dlugoš Jozef

2014-12-01

Full Text Available Advanced computational models of a piston assembly based on the level of virtual prototypes require a detailed description of piston ring behaviour. Considering these requirements, the piston rings operate in regimes that cannot, in general, be simplified into an axisymmetric model. The piston and the cylinder liner do not have a perfect round shape, mainly due to machining tolerances and external thermo-mechanical loads. If the ring cannot follow the liner deformations, a local loss of contact occurs resulting in blow-by and increased consumption of lubricant oil in the engine. Current computational models are unable to implement such effects. The paper focuses on the development of a flexible 3D piston ring model based on the Timoshenko beam theory using the multibody system (MBS. The MBS model is compared to the finite element method (FEM solution.

Validation of a CFD code for Unsteady Flows with cyclic boundary Conditions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Jong-Tae; Kim, Sang-Baik; Lee, Won-Jae

2006-01-01

Currently Lilac code is under development to analyze thermo-hydraulics of a high-temperature gas-cooled reactor (GCR). Interesting thermo-hydraulic phenomena in a nuclear reactor are usually unsteady and turbulent. The analysis of the unsteady flows by using a three dimension CFD code is time-consuming if the flow domain is very large. Hopefully, flow domains commonly encountered in the nuclear thermo-hydraulics is periodic. So it is better to use the geometrical characteristics in order to reduce the computational resources. To get the benefits from reducing the computation domains especially for the calculations of unsteady flows, the cyclic boundary conditions are implemented in the parallelized CFD code LILAC. In this study, the parallelized cyclic boundary conditions are validated by solving unsteady laminar and turbulent flows past a circular cylinder

Thermal-Hydraulic Experiments and Modelling for Advanced Nuclear Reactor Systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Song, C. H.; Chung, M. K.; Park, C. K. and others

2005-04-01

The objectives of the project are to study thermal hydraulic characteristics of reactor primary system for the verification of the reactor safety and to evaluate new safety concepts of new safety design features. To meet the research goal, several thermal hydraulic experiments were performed and related thermal hydraulic models were developed with the experimental data which were produced through the thermal hydraulic experiments. Followings are main research topics; - Multi-dimensional Phenomena in a Reactor Vessel Downcomer - Condensation Load and Thermal Mixing in the IRWST - Development of Thermal-Hydraulic Models for Two-Phase Flow - Development of Measurement Techniques for Two-Phase Flow - Supercritical Reactor T/H Characteristics Analysis From the above experimental and analytical studies, new safety design features of the advanced power reactors were verified and lots of the safety issues were also resolved

Thermal-Hydraulic Experiments and Modelling for Advanced Nuclear Reactor Systems

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Song, C. H.; Chung, M. K.; Park, C. K. and others

2005-04-15

The objectives of the project are to study thermal hydraulic characteristics of reactor primary system for the verification of the reactor safety and to evaluate new safety concepts of new safety design features. To meet the research goal, several thermal hydraulic experiments were performed and related thermal hydraulic models were developed with the experimental data which were produced through the thermal hydraulic experiments. Followings are main research topics; - Multi-dimensional Phenomena in a Reactor Vessel Downcomer - Condensation Load and Thermal Mixing in the IRWST - Development of Thermal-Hydraulic Models for Two-Phase Flow - Development of Measurement Techniques for Two-Phase Flow - Supercritical Reactor T/H Characteristics Analysis From the above experimental and analytical studies, new safety design features of the advanced power reactors were verified and lots of the safety issues were also resolved.

A nodal model for the simulation of a PWR core

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Souza Pinto, R. de.

1981-06-01

A computer program FORTRAN language was developed to simulate the neutronic and thermal-hydraulic transient behaviour of a PWR reactor core. The reator power is calculated using a point kinectics model with six groups of delayed neutron precursors. The fission product decay heat was considered assuming three effective decay heat groups. A nodal model was employed for the treatment of heat transfer in the fuel rod, with integration of the heat equation by the lumped parameter technique. Axial conduction was neglected. A single-channel nodal model was developed for the thermo-hydrodynamic simulation using mass and energy conservation equations for the control volumes. The effect of the axial pressure variation was neglected. The computer program was tested, with good results, through the simulation of the transient behaviour of postulated accidents in a typical PWR. (Author) [pt

Hydraulic modelling of the CARA Fuel element

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Brasnarof, Daniel O.; Juanico, Luis; Giorgi, M.; Ghiselli, Alberto M.; Zampach, Ruben; Fiori, Jose M.; Yedros, Pablo A.

2004-01-01

The CARA fuel element is been developing by the National Atomic Energy Commission for both Argentinean PHWRs. In order to keep the hydraulic restriction in their fuel channels, one of CARA's goals is to keep its similarity with both present fuel elements. In this paper is presented pressure drop test performed at a low-pressure facility (Reynolds numbers between 5x10 4 and 1,5x10 5 ) and rational base models for their spacer grid and rod assembly. Using these models, we could estimate the CARA hydraulic performance in reactor conditions that have shown to be satisfactory. (author) [es

Application of an enriched FEM technique in thermo-mechanical contact problems

Science.gov (United States)

Khoei, A. R.; Bahmani, B.

2018-02-01

In this paper, an enriched FEM technique is employed for thermo-mechanical contact problem based on the extended finite element method. A fully coupled thermo-mechanical contact formulation is presented in the framework of X-FEM technique that takes into account the deformable continuum mechanics and the transient heat transfer analysis. The Coulomb frictional law is applied for the mechanical contact problem and a pressure dependent thermal contact model is employed through an explicit formulation in the weak form of X-FEM method. The equilibrium equations are discretized by the Newmark time splitting method and the final set of non-linear equations are solved based on the Newton-Raphson method using a staggered algorithm. Finally, in order to illustrate the capability of the proposed computational model several numerical examples are solved and the results are compared with those reported in literature.

Thermal hydraulic model descrition of TASS/SMR

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Yoon, Han Young; Kim, H. C.; Chung, Y. J.; Lim, H. S.; Yang, S. H

2001-04-01

The TASS/SMR code has been developed for the safety analysis of SMART. The governing equations were applied only to the primary coolant system in TASS which had been developed at KAERI. In TASS/SMR, the solution method is improved so that the primary and secondary coolant systems are solved simultaneously. Besides the solution method, thermal-hydraulic models are incorporated, in TASS/SMR, such as non-condensible gas model, helical steam generator heat transfer model, and passive residual heat removal system (PRHRS) heat transfer model for the application to SMART. The governing equtions of TASS/SMR are based on the drift-flux model so that the accidents and transients accompaning with two-phase flow can be analized. This report describes the governing equations and solution methods used in TASS/SMR and also includes the description for the thermal hydraulic models for SMART design.

Modelling and LPV control of an electro-hydraulic servo system

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Naus, G.J.L.; Wijnheijmer, F.P.; Post, W.J.A.E.M.; Steinbuch, M.; Teerhuis, A.P.

2006-01-01

This paper aims to show the modelling and control of an hydraulic servo system, targeting at frequency domain based controller design and the implementation of a LPV controller. The actual set-up consists of a mass, moved by a hydraulic cylinder and an electro-hydraulic servo valve. A nonlinear

A generalised porous medium approach to study thermo-fluid dynamics in human eyes.

Science.gov (United States)

Mauro, Alessandro; Massarotti, Nicola; Salahudeen, Mohamed; Romano, Mario R; Romano, Vito; Nithiarasu, Perumal

2018-03-22

The present work describes the application of the generalised porous medium model to study heat and fluid flow in healthy and glaucomatous eyes of different subject specimens, considering the presence of ocular cavities and porous tissues. The 2D computational model, implemented into the open-source software OpenFOAM, has been verified against benchmark data for mixed convection in domains partially filled with a porous medium. The verified model has been employed to simulate the thermo-fluid dynamic phenomena occurring in the anterior section of four patient-specific human eyes, considering the presence of anterior chamber (AC), trabecular meshwork (TM), Schlemm's canal (SC), and collector channels (CC). The computational domains of the eye are extracted from tomographic images. The dependence of TM porosity and permeability on intraocular pressure (IOP) has been analysed in detail, and the differences between healthy and glaucomatous eye conditions have been highlighted, proving that the different physiological conditions of patients have a significant influence on the thermo-fluid dynamic phenomena. The influence of different eye positions (supine and standing) on thermo-fluid dynamic variables has been also investigated: results are presented in terms of velocity, pressure, temperature, friction coefficient and local Nusselt number. The results clearly indicate that porosity and permeability of TM are two important parameters that affect eye pressure distribution. Graphical abstract Velocity contours and vectors for healthy eyes (top) and glaucomatous eyes (bottom) for standing position.

Prediction of Hydraulic Performance of a Scaled-Down Model of SMART Reactor Coolant Pump

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kwon, Sun Guk; Park, Jin Seok; Yu, Je Yong; Lee, Won Jae [Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

2010-08-15

An analysis was conducted to predict the hydraulic performance of a reactor coolant pump (RCP) of SMART at the off-design as well as design points. In order to reduce the analysis time efficiently, a single passage containing an impeller and a diffuser was considered as the computational domain. A stage scheme was used to perform a circumferential averaging of the flux on the impeller-diffuser interface. The pressure difference between the inlet and outlet of the pump was determined and was used to compute the head, efficiency, and break horse power (BHP) of a scaled-down model under conditions of steady-state incompressible flow. The predicted curves of the hydraulic performance of an RCP were similar to the typical characteristic curves of a conventional mixed-flow pump. The complex internal fluid flow of a pump, including the internal recirculation loss due to reverse flow, was observed at a low flow rate.

Lower Monumental Spillway Hydraulic Model Study

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Wilhelms, Steven

2003-01-01

A 1:40 Froudian Scale model was used to investigate the hydraulic performance of the Lower Monumental Dam spillway, stilling basin, and tailrace for dissolved gas reduction and stilling basin apron scour...

Full vessel CFD analysis on thermal-hydraulic characteristics of CPR1000 PWR

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chao Yanmeng; Yang Lixin; Zhang Mingqian

2014-01-01

To obtain flow distributions and thermal-hydraulic properties in a full vessel PWR under limited computation ability and time, a full vessel simulation model of CPR1000 was built based on two simplification methods. One simplified the inner geometry of the control rod guide tubes using equivalent flow area. Another substituted the core by a porous domain to maintain the pressure drop and temperature rise. After the computation, global and localized flow distributions, hydraulic loads of some main assemblies were obtained, as well as other thermal-hydraulic properties. The results indicate the flow distribution in the full vessel is asymmetrical. Therefore it is essential to use the full vessel model to simulate. The calculated thermal-hydraulic characteristics agree well with the operation statistics, providing the reference data for the reactor safety operation. (authors)

Modelling the Thermo-Mechanical Behavior of Magnesium Alloys during Indirect Extrusion

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Steglich, D.; Ertuerk, S.; Bohlen, J.; Letzig, D.; Brocks, W.

2010-01-01

One of the basic metal forming process for semi-finished products is extrusion. Since extrusion involves complex thermo-mechanical and multiaxial loading conditions resulting in large strains, high strain rates and an increase in temperature due to deformation, a proper yield criterion and hardening law should be used in the numerical modelling of the process. A phenomenological model based on a plastic potential has been proposed that takes strain, strain rate and temperature dependency on flow behaviour into consideration. A hybrid methodology of experiment and finite element simulation has been adopted in order to obtain necessary model parameters. The anisotropy/asymmetry in yielding was quantified by tensile and compression tests of specimens prepared from different directions. The identification of the corresponding model parameters was performed by a genetic algorithm. A fully coupled thermo-mechanical analysis has been used in extrusion simulations for calculation of the temperature field by considering heat fluxes and heat generated due to plastic deformation. The results of the approach adopted in this study appeared to be successful showing promising predictions of the experiments and thus may be extended to be applicable to other magnesium alloys or even other hcp metals.

Selection and benchmarking of computer codes for research reactor core conversions

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Yilmaz, Emin [School of Aerospace, Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK (United States); Jones, Barclay G [Nuclear Engineering Program, University of IL at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL (United States)

1983-09-01

A group of computer codes have been selected and obtained from the Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) Data Bank in France for the core conversion study of highly enriched research reactors. ANISN, WIMSD-4, MC{sup 2}, COBRA-3M, FEVER, THERMOS, GAM-2, CINDER and EXTERMINATOR were selected for the study. For the final work THERMOS, GAM-2, CINDER and EXTERMINATOR have been selected and used. A one dimensional thermal hydraulics code also has been used to calculate temperature distributions in the core. THERMOS and CINDER have been modified to serve the purpose. Minor modifications have been made to GAM-2 and EXTERMINATOR to improve their utilization. All of the codes have been debugged on both CDC and IBM computers at the University of IL. IAEA 10 MW Benchmark problem has been solved. Results of this work has been compared with the IAEA contributor's results. Agreement is very good for highly enriched fuel (HEU). Deviations from IAEA contributor's mean value for low enriched fuel (LEU) exist but they are small enough in general. Deviation of k{sub eff} is about 0.5% for both enrichments at the beginning of life (BOL) and at the end of life (EOL). Flux ratios deviate only about 1.5% from IAEA contributor's mean value. (author)

Selection and benchmarking of computer codes for research reactor core conversions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yilmaz, Emin; Jones, Barclay G.

1983-01-01

A group of computer codes have been selected and obtained from the Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) Data Bank in France for the core conversion study of highly enriched research reactors. ANISN, WIMSD-4, MC 2 , COBRA-3M, FEVER, THERMOS, GAM-2, CINDER and EXTERMINATOR were selected for the study. For the final work THERMOS, GAM-2, CINDER and EXTERMINATOR have been selected and used. A one dimensional thermal hydraulics code also has been used to calculate temperature distributions in the core. THERMOS and CINDER have been modified to serve the purpose. Minor modifications have been made to GAM-2 and EXTERMINATOR to improve their utilization. All of the codes have been debugged on both CDC and IBM computers at the University of IL. IAEA 10 MW Benchmark problem has been solved. Results of this work has been compared with the IAEA contributor's results. Agreement is very good for highly enriched fuel (HEU). Deviations from IAEA contributor's mean value for low enriched fuel (LEU) exist but they are small enough in general. Deviation of k eff is about 0.5% for both enrichments at the beginning of life (BOL) and at the end of life (EOL). Flux ratios deviate only about 1.5% from IAEA contributor's mean value. (author)

Thermo-Mechanical Modeling of Laser-Mig Hybrid Welding (lmhw)

Science.gov (United States)

Kounde, Ludovic; Engel, Thierry; Bergheau, Jean-Michel; Boisselier, Didier

2011-01-01

Hybrid welding is a combination of two different technologies such as laser (Nd: YAG, CO2…) and electric arc welding (MIG, MAG / TIG …) developed to assemble thick metal sheets (over 3 mm) in order to reduce the required laser power. As a matter of fact, hybrid welding is a lso used in the welding of thin materials to benefit from process, deep penetration and gap limit. But the thermo-mechanical behaviour of thin parts assembled by LMHW technology for railway cars production is far from being controlled the modeling and simulation contribute to the assessment of the causes and effects of the thermo mechanical behaviour in the assembled parts. In order to reproduce the morphology of melted and heat-affected zones, two analytic functions were combined to model the heat source of LMHW. On one hand, we applied a so-called "diaboloïd" (DB) which is a modified hyperboloid, based on experimental parameters and the analysis of the macrographs of the welds. On the other hand, we used a so-called "double ellipsoïd" (DE) which takes the MIG only contribution including the bead into account. The comparison between experimental result and numerical result shows a good agreement.

Thermo-mechanical design of the extraction grids for RF negative ion source at HUST

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zuo, Chen; Liu, Kaifeng, E-mail: kfliuhust@hust.edu.cn; Li, Dong; Mei, Zhiyuan; Zhang, Zhe; Chen, Dezhi

2017-01-15

Highlights: • An extraction system with cooling channels has been designed for HUST negative ion source. • Corresponding heat loads onto three grids has been used in thermo-mechanical analysis. • The analysis results could be very useful for driving the engineering design. - Abstract: Huazhong University of Science and Technology (HUST) is developing a small radio frequency negative ion source experimental setup to promote research on neutral beam injection ion sources. The extraction system for the negative ion source is the key component to obtain the negative ions. The extraction system is composed of three grids: the plasma grid, the extraction grid and the grounded grid. Each grid is impacted by different heat loads. As the grids have to fulfil specific requirements regarding ion extraction, beam optics, and thermo-mechanical issues, grid cooling systems have been included for ensuring reliable operation. This paper focuses on the thermo-hydraulic and thermo-mechanical design of the grids. Finite element calculations have been carried out to analyse the temperature and deformation of the grids under heat loads using the fluid dynamics code CFX. Based on these results, the cooling circuit design and cooling parameters are optimised to satisfy the grid requirements.

Long term thermo-hydro-mechanical interaction behavior study of the saturated, discontinuous granitic rock mass around the radwaste repository using a steady state flow algorithm

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kim, Jhin Wung; Bae, Dae Suk; Kang, Chul Hyung; Choi, Jong Won [Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, Taejeon (Korea)

2002-02-01

The objective of the present study is to understand the long term (500 years) thermo-hydro-mechanical interaction behavior of the 500 m depth underground radwaste repository in the saturated, discontinuous granitic rock mass using a steady state flow algorithm. The numerical model includes a saturated granitic rock mass with joints around the repository and a 45 .deg. C fault passing through the tunnel roof-wall intersection, and a canister with PWR spent fuels surrounded by the compacted bentonite and mixed-bentonite. Barton-Bandis joint constitutive model from the UDEC code is used for the joints. For the hydraulic analysis, a steady state flow algorithm is used for the groundwater flow through the rock joints. For the thermal analysis, heat transfer is modeled as isotropic conduction and heat decays exponentially with time. The results show that the variations of the hydraulic aperture, hydraulic conductivity, normal stress, normal displacements, and shear displacements of the joints are high in the vicinity of the repository and stay fairly constant on the region away from the repository. 14 refs., 15 figs., 11 tabs. (Author)

The use of the MacCormack scheme in computational hydraulics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Garcia, R.; Zhang, H.; Kahawita, R.

1985-01-01

This manuscript describes the development of a numerical model that solves shallow water problems based upon an enhanced version of the MacCormack explicit scheme (MS). The MS has been successfully applied to solve numerous problems in gas dynamics. However, the standard application of the MS to solve the shallow water equations can cause in certain test cases non-linear instabilities and non-symmetrical results that eventually destroy the solution. By examining the calculation 'cell' one can show that the MS is not symmetric in space, which explains why it cannot be used directly in the treatment of hydraulic problems most of which possess irregular boundaries thereby resulting in a flow with no 'preferred direction'. This is contrary to what is usually encountered in aerodynamics. The enhanced MacCormack scheme is obtained by a simple modification to the original formulation resulting in a symmetric scheme. The scheme has been applied to the computation of the flowfield in a real life situation with satisfactory results. (author)

Characteristic thermal-hydraulic problems in NHRs: Overview of experimental investigations and computer codes

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Falikov, A A; Vakhrushev, V V; Kuul, V S; Samoilov, O B; Tarasov, G I [OKBM, Nizhny Novgorod (Russian Federation)

1997-09-01

The paper briefly reviews the specific thermal-hydraulic problems for AST-type NHRs, the experimental investigations that have been carried out in the RF, and the design procedures and computer codes used for AST-500 thermohydraulic characteristics and safety validation. (author). 13 refs, 10 figs, 1 tab.

Thermo-osmosis in Membrane Systems: A Review

Science.gov (United States)

Barragán, V. María; Kjelstrup, Signe

2017-06-01

We give a first review of experimental results for a phenomenon little explored in the literature, namely thermal osmosis or thermo-osmosis. Such systems are now getting increased attention because of their ability to use waste heat for separation purposes. We show that this volume transport of a solution or a pure liquid caused by a temperature difference across a membrane can be understood as a property of the membrane system, i. e. the membrane with its adjacent solutions. We present experimental values found in the literature of thermo-osmotic coefficients of neutral and hydrophobic as well as charged and hydrophilic membranes, with water and other permeant fluids as well as electrolyte solutions. We propose that the coefficient can be qualitatively explained by a formula that contains the entropy of adsorption of permeant into the membrane, the hydraulic permeability, and a factor that depends on the interface resistance to heat transfer. A variation in the entropy of adsorption with hydrophobic/hydrophilic membranes and structure breaking/structure making cations could then explain the sign of the permeant flux. Systematic experiments in the field are lacking and we propose an experimental program to mend this situation.

Thermo Wigner operator in thermo field dynamics: its introduction and application

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fan Hongyi; Jiang Nianquan

2008-01-01

Because in thermo-field dynamics (TFD) the thermo-operator has a neat expression in the thermo-entangled state representation, we need to introduce the thermo-Wigner operator (THWO) in the same representation. We derive the THWO in a direct way, which brings much conveniece to calculating the Wigner functions of thermo states in TFD. We also discuss the condition for existence of a wavefunction corresponding to a given Wigner function in the context of TFD by using the explicit form of the THWO.

Nonequilibrium statistical averages and thermo field dynamics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Marinaro, A.; Scarpetta, Q.

1984-01-01

An extension of thermo field dynamics is proposed, which permits the computation of nonequilibrium statistical averages. The Brownian motion of a quantum oscillator is treated as an example. In conclusion it is pointed out that the procedure proposed to computation of time-dependent statistical average gives the correct two-point Green function for the damped oscillator. A simple extension can be used to compute two-point Green functions of free particles

Comparison of physical and semi-empirical hydraulic models for flood inundation mapping

Science.gov (United States)

Tavakoly, A. A.; Afshari, S.; Omranian, E.; Feng, D.; Rajib, A.; Snow, A.; Cohen, S.; Merwade, V.; Fekete, B. M.; Sharif, H. O.; Beighley, E.

2016-12-01

Various hydraulic/GIS-based tools can be used for illustrating spatial extent of flooding for first-responders, policy makers and the general public. The objective of this study is to compare four flood inundation modeling tools: HEC-RAS-2D, Gridded Surface Subsurface Hydrologic Analysis (GSSHA), AutoRoute and Height Above the Nearest Drainage (HAND). There is a trade-off among accuracy, workability and computational demand in detailed, physics-based flood inundation models (e.g. HEC-RAS-2D and GSSHA) in contrast with semi-empirical, topography-based, computationally less expensive approaches (e.g. AutoRoute and HAND). The motivation for this study is to evaluate this trade-off and offer guidance to potential large-scale application in an operational prediction system. The models were assessed and contrasted via comparability analysis (e.g. overlapping statistics) by using three case studies in the states of Alabama, Texas, and West Virginia. The sensitivity and accuracy of physical and semi-eimpirical models in producing inundation extent were evaluated for the following attributes: geophysical characteristics (e.g. high topographic variability vs. flat natural terrain, urbanized vs. rural zones, effect of surface roughness paratermer value), influence of hydraulic structures such as dams and levees compared to unobstructed flow condition, accuracy in large vs. small study domain, effect of spatial resolution in topographic data (e.g. 10m National Elevation Dataset vs. 0.3m LiDAR). Preliminary results suggest that semi-empericial models tend to underestimate in a flat, urbanized area with controlled/managed river channel around 40% of the inundation extent compared to the physical models, regardless of topographic resolution. However, in places where there are topographic undulations, semi-empericial models attain relatively higher level of accuracy than they do in flat non-urbanized terrain.

Coupled Model of channels in parallel and neutron kinetics in two dimensions; Modelo acoplado de canales en paralelo y cinetica neutronica en dos dimensiones

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Cecenas F, M.; Campos G, R.M. [Instituto de Investigaciones Electricas, Av. Reforma 113, Col. Palmira, 62490 Cuernavaca, Morelos (Mexico)]. E-mail: mcf@iie.org.mx; Valle G, E. del [IPN, ESFM, 07738 Mexico D.F. (Mexico)

2004-07-01

In this work an arrangement of thermohydraulic channels is presented that represent those four quadrants of a nucleus of reactor type BWR. The channels are coupled to a model of neutronic in two dimensions that allow to generate the radial profile of power of the reactor. Nevertheless that the neutronic pattern is of two dimensions, it is supplemented with axial additional information when considering the axial profiles of power for each thermo hydraulic channel. The stationary state is obtained the one it imposes as frontier condition the same pressure drop for all the channels. This condition is satisfied to iterating on the flow of coolant in each channel to equal the pressure drop in all the channels. This stationary state is perturbed later on when modifying the values for the effective sections corresponding to an it assembles. The calculation in parallel of the neutronic and the thermo hydraulic is carried out with Vpm (Virtual parallel machine) by means of an outline teacher-slave in a local net of computers. (Author)

Modeling Studies to Constrain Fluid and Gas Migration Associated with Hydraulic Fracturing Operations

Science.gov (United States)

Rajaram, H.; Birdsell, D.; Lackey, G.; Karra, S.; Viswanathan, H. S.; Dempsey, D.

2015-12-01

The dramatic increase in the extraction of unconventional oil and gas resources using horizontal wells and hydraulic fracturing (fracking) technologies has raised concerns about potential environmental impacts. Large volumes of hydraulic fracturing fluids are injected during fracking. Incidents of stray gas occurrence in shallow aquifers overlying shale gas reservoirs have been reported; whether these are in any way related to fracking continues to be debated. Computational models serve as useful tools for evaluating potential environmental impacts. We present modeling studies of hydraulic fracturing fluid and gas migration during the various stages of well operation, production, and subsequent plugging. The fluid migration models account for overpressure in the gas reservoir, density contrast between injected fluids and brine, imbibition into partially saturated shale, and well operations. Our results highlight the importance of representing the different stages of well operation consistently. Most importantly, well suction and imbibition both play a significant role in limiting upward migration of injected fluids, even in the presence of permeable connecting pathways. In an overall assessment, our fluid migration simulations suggest very low risk to groundwater aquifers when the vertical separation from a shale gas reservoir is of the order of 1000' or more. Multi-phase models of gas migration were developed to couple flow and transport in compromised wellbores and subsurface formations. These models are useful for evaluating both short-term and long-term scenarios of stray methane release. We present simulation results to evaluate mechanisms controlling stray gas migration, and explore relationships between bradenhead pressures and the likelihood of methane release and transport.

Advances in thermal hydraulic and neutronic simulation for reactor analysis and safety

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tentner, A.M.; Blomquist, R.N.; Canfield, T.R.; Ewing, T.F.; Garner, P.L.; Gelbard, E.M.; Gross, K.C.; Minkoff, M.; Valentin, R.A.

1993-01-01

This paper describes several large-scale computational models developed at Argonne National Laboratory for the simulation and analysis of thermal-hydraulic and neutronic events in nuclear reactors and nuclear power plants. The impact of advanced parallel computing technologies on these computational models is emphasized

Results of laboratory and in-situ measurements for the description of coupled thermo-hydro-mechanical processes in clays

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Goebel, Ingeborg; Alheid, Hans-Joachim [BGR Hannover, Stilleweg 2, D-30655 Hannover (Germany); Jockwer, Norbert [Gesellschaft fuer Anlagen- und Reaktorsicherheit (GRS) mbH, Theodor-Heuss-Str. 4, 38122 Braunschweig (Germany); Mayor, Juan Carlos [ENRESA, Emilio Vargas 7, E-Madrid (Spain); Garcia-Sineriz, Jose Luis [AITEMIN, c/ Alenza, 1 - 28003 Madrid (Spain); Alonso, Eduardo [International Center for Numerical Methods in Engineering, CIMNE, Edificio C-1, Campus Norte UPC, C/Gran Capitan, s/n, 08034 Barcelona (Spain); Weber, Hans Peter [NAGRA, Hardstrasse 73, CH-5430 Wettingen (Switzerland); Ploetze, Michael [ETHZ, Eidgenoessische Technische Hochschule Zuerich, ETH Zentrum, HG Raemistrasse 101, CH-8092 Zuerich (Switzerland); Klubertanz, Georg [COLENCO Power Engineering Ltd, CPE, Taefern Str. 26, 5405 Baden-Daettwil (Switzerland); Ammon, Christian [Rothpletz, Lienhard, Cie AG, Schifflaendestrasse 35, 5001 Aarau (Switzerland)

2004-07-01

The Heater Experiment at the Mont Terri Underground Laboratory aims at producing a validated model of thermo-hydro-mechanically (THM) coupled processes. The experiment consists of an engineered barrier system where in a vertical borehole, a heater is embedded in bentonite blocks, surrounded by the host rock, Opalinus Clay. The experimental programme comprises permanent monitoring before, during, and after the heating phase, complemented by geotechnical, hydraulic, and seismic in-situ measurements as well as laboratory analyses of mineralogical and rock mechanics properties. After the heating, the experiment was dismantled for further investigations. Major results of the experimental findings are outlined. (authors)

Thermal-hydraulic unreliability of passive systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tzanos, C.P.; Saltos, N.T.

1995-01-01

Advanced light water reactor designs like AP600 and the simplified boiling water reactor (SBWR) use passive safety systems for accident prevention and mitigation. Because these systems rely on natural forces for their operation, their unavailability due to hardware failures and human error is significantly smaller than that of active systems. However, the coolant flows predicted to be delivered by these systems can be subject to significant uncertainties, which in turn can lead to a significant uncertainty in the predicted thermal-hydraulic performance of the plant under accident conditions. Because of these uncertainties, there is a probability that an accident sequence for which a best estimate thermal-hydraulic analysis predicts no core damage (success sequence) may actually lead to core damage. For brevity, this probability will be called thermal-hydraulic unreliability. The assessment of this unreliability for all the success sequences requires very expensive computations. Moreover, the computational cost increases drastically as the required thermal-hydraulic reliability increases. The required computational effort can be greatly reduced if a bounding approach can be used that either eliminates the need to compute thermal-hydraulic unreliabilities, or it leads to the analysis of a few bounding sequences for which the required thermal-hydraulic reliability is relatively small. The objective of this paper is to present such an approach and determine the order of magnitude of the thermal-hydraulic unreliabilities that may have to be computed

Installation of aerosol behavior model into multi-dimensional thermal hydraulic analysis code AQUA

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kisohara, Naoyuki; Yamaguchi, Akira

1997-12-01

The safety analysis of FBR plant system for sodium leak phenomena needs to evaluate the deposition of the aerosol particle to the components in the plant, the chemical reaction of aerosol to humidity in the air and the effect of the combustion heat through aerosol to the structural component. For this purpose, ABC-INTG (Aerosol Behavior in Containment-INTeGrated Version) code has been developed and used until now. This code calculates aerosol behavior in the gas area of uniform temperature and pressure by 1 cell-model. Later, however, more detailed calculation of aerosol behavior requires the installation of aerosol model into multi-cell thermal hydraulic analysis code AQUA. AQUA can calculate the carrier gas flow, temperature and the distribution of the aerosol spatial concentration. On the other hand, ABC-INTG can calculate the generation, deposition to the wall and flower, agglomeration of aerosol particle and figure out the distribution of the aerosol particle size. Thus, the combination of these two codes enables to deal with aerosol model coupling the distribution of the aerosol spatial concentration and that of the aerosol particle size. This report describes aerosol behavior model, how to install the aerosol model to AQUA and new subroutine equipped to the code. Furthermore, the test calculations of the simple structural model were executed by this code, appropriate results were obtained. Thus, this code has prospect to predict aerosol behavior by the introduction of coupling analysis with multi-dimensional gas thermo-dynamics for sodium combustion evaluation. (J.P.N.)

Numerical Analysis of Thermo Hydraulic Conditions in Car Fog Lamp

Science.gov (United States)

Ramšak, M.; Žunič, Z.; Škerget, L.; Jurejevčič, T.

2009-08-01

In the article a coupled heat transfer in the solid and fluid inside of a car fog lamp is presented using CFD software CFX [1]. All three basic principles of heat transfer are dealt with: conduction, convection and radiation. Two different approaches to radiation modeling are compared. Laminar and turbulent flow modeling are compared since computed Rayleight number indicates transitional flow regime. Results are in good agreement with the measurements.

Extended Analytic Linear Model of Hydraulic Cylinder With Respect Different Piston Areas and Volumes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Petr KOŇAŘÍK

2009-06-01

Full Text Available Standard analytic linear model of hydraulic cylinder usually comes from assumptions of identical action piston areas on both sides of hydraulic cylinder (double piston rod and suitable operation point, which is usually chosen in the middle of piston. By reason of that volumes inside of cylinder are than same. Moreover for control of that arrangement of hydraulic cylinder, usually controlled by 4/3 servovalve, the same mount of flows comes in and comes out to each of chambers of hydraulic cylinder. Presented paper deal with development of extended form of analytic linear model of single piston rod hydraulic cylinder which respects different action piston areas and volumes inside of chambers of hydraulic cylinder and also two different input flows of hydraulic cylinder. In extended model are also considered possibilities of different dead volumes in hoses and intake parts of hydraulic cylinder. Dead volume has impact on damping of hydraulic cylinder. Because the system of hydraulic cylinder is generally presented as a integrative system with inertia of second order: eq , we can than obtain time constants and damping of hydraulic cylinder for each of analytic form model. The model has arisen for needs of model fractionation on two parts. Part of behaviour of chamber A and part of behaviour of chamber B of cylinder. It was created for the reason of analysis and synthesis of control parameters of regulation circuit of multivalve control concept of hydraulic drive with separately controlled chamber A and B which could be then used for.

Effects of model layer simplification using composite hydraulic properties

Science.gov (United States)

Kuniansky, Eve L.; Sepulveda, Nicasio; Elango, Lakshmanan

2011-01-01

Groundwater provides much of the fresh drinking water to more than 1.5 billion people in the world (Clarke et al., 1996) and in the United States more that 50 percent of citizens rely on groundwater for drinking water (Solley et al., 1998). As aquifer systems are developed for water supply, the hydrologic system is changed. Water pumped from the aquifer system initially can come from some combination of inducing more recharge, water permanently removed from storage, and decreased groundwater discharge. Once a new equilibrium is achieved, all of the pumpage must come from induced recharge and decreased discharge (Alley et al., 1999). Further development of groundwater resources may result in reductions of surface water runoff and base flows. Competing demands for groundwater resources require good management. Adequate data to characterize the aquifers and confining units of the system, like hydrologic boundaries, groundwater levels, streamflow, and groundwater pumping and climatic data for recharge estimation are to be collected in order to quantify the effects of groundwater withdrawals on wetlands, streams, and lakes. Once collected, three-dimensional (3D) groundwater flow models can be developed and calibrated and used as a tool for groundwater management. The main hydraulic parameters that comprise a regional or subregional model of an aquifer system are the hydraulic conductivity and storage properties of the aquifers and confining units (hydrogeologic units) that confine the system. Many 3D groundwater flow models used to help assess groundwater/surface-water interactions require calculating ?effective? or composite hydraulic properties of multilayered lithologic units within a hydrogeologic unit. The calculation of composite hydraulic properties stems from the need to characterize groundwater flow using coarse model layering in order to reduce simulation times while still representing the flow through the system accurately. The accuracy of flow models with

FLICA III. A digital computer program for thermal-hydraulic analysis of reactors and experimental loops

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Plas, Roger.

1975-05-01

This computer program describes the flow and heat transfer in steady and transient state in two-phase flows. It is the present stage of the evolution about FLICA, FLICA II and FLICA II B codes which have been used and developed at CEA for the thermal-hydraulic analysis of reactors and experimental loops with heating rod bundles. In the mathematical model all the significant terms of the fundamental hydrodynamic equations are taken into account with the approximations of turbulent viscosity and conductivity. The two-phase flow is calculated by the homogeneous model with slip. In the flow direction an implicit resolution scheme is available, which make possible to study partial or total flow blockage, with upstream and downstream effects. A special model represents the helical wire effects in out-of pile experimental rod bundles [fr

Multiphase flow models for hydraulic fracturing technology

Science.gov (United States)

Osiptsov, Andrei A.

2017-10-01

The technology of hydraulic fracturing of a hydrocarbon-bearing formation is based on pumping a fluid with particles into a well to create fractures in porous medium. After the end of pumping, the fractures filled with closely packed proppant particles create highly conductive channels for hydrocarbon flow from far-field reservoir to the well to surface. The design of the hydraulic fracturing treatment is carried out with a simulator. Those simulators are based on mathematical models, which need to be accurate and close to physical reality. The entire process of fracture placement and flowback/cleanup can be conventionally split into the following four stages: (i) quasi-steady state effectively single-phase suspension flow down the wellbore, (ii) particle transport in an open vertical fracture, (iii) displacement of fracturing fluid by hydrocarbons from the closed fracture filled with a random close pack of proppant particles, and, finally, (iv) highly transient gas-liquid flow in a well during cleanup. The stage (i) is relatively well described by the existing hydralics models, while the models for the other three stages of the process need revisiting and considerable improvement, which was the focus of the author’s research presented in this review paper. For stage (ii), we consider the derivation of a multi-fluid model for suspension flow in a narrow vertical hydraulic fracture at moderate Re on the scale of fracture height and length and also the migration of particles across the flow on the scale of fracture width. At the stage of fracture cleanaup (iii), a novel multi-continua model for suspension filtration is developed. To provide closure relationships for permeability of proppant packings to be used in this model, a 3D direct numerical simulation of single phase flow is carried out using the lattice-Boltzmann method. For wellbore cleanup (iv), we present a combined 1D model for highly-transient gas-liquid flow based on the combination of multi-fluid and

Coupled 3D neutronics/thermal hydraulics modeling of the SAFARI-1 MTR

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rosenkrantz, Adam; Avramova, Maria; Ivanov, Kostadin; Prinsloo, Rian; Botes, Danniëll; Elsakhawy, Khalid

2014-01-01

Highlights: • Development of 3D coupled neutronics/thermal–hydraulic model of SAFARI-1. • Verification of 3D steady-state NEM based neutronics model for SAFARI-1. • Verification of 3D COBRA-TF based thermal–hydraulic model of SAFARI-1. • Quantification of the effect of correct modeling of thermal–hydraulic feedback. - Abstract: The purpose of this study was to develop a coupled accurate multi-physics model of the SAFARI-1 Material Testing Reactor (MTR), a facility that is used for both research and the production of medical isotopes. The model was developed as part of the SAFARI-1 benchmarking project as a cooperative effort between the Pennsylvania State University (PSU) and the South African Nuclear Energy Corporation (Necsa). It was created using a multi-physics coupling of state of the art nuclear reactor simulation tools, consisting of a neutronics code and a thermal hydraulics code. The neutronics tool used was the PSU code NEM, and the results from this component were verified using the Necsa neutronics code OSCAR-4, which is utilized for SAFARI-1 core design and fuel management. On average, the multiplication factors of the neutronics models agreed to within 5 pcm and the radial assembly-averaged powers agreed to within 0.2%. The thermal hydraulics tool used was the PSU version of COBRA-TF (CTF) sub-channel code, and the results of this component were verified against another thermal hydraulics code, the RELAP5-3D system code, used at Necsa for thermal–hydraulics analysis of SAFARI-1. Although only assembly-averaged results from RELAP5-3D were available, they fell within the range of values for the corresponding assemblies in the comprehensive CTF solution. This comparison allows for the first time to perform a quantification of steady-state errors for a low-powered MTR with an advanced thermal–hydraulic code such as CTF on a per-channel basis as compared to simpler and coarser-mesh RELAP5-3D modeling. Additionally, a new cross section

A geometrical multi-scale numerical method for coupled hygro-thermo-mechanical problems in photovoltaic laminates.

Science.gov (United States)

Lenarda, P; Paggi, M

A comprehensive computational framework based on the finite element method for the simulation of coupled hygro-thermo-mechanical problems in photovoltaic laminates is herein proposed. While the thermo-mechanical problem takes place in the three-dimensional space of the laminate, moisture diffusion occurs in a two-dimensional domain represented by the polymeric layers and by the vertical channel cracks in the solar cells. Therefore, a geometrical multi-scale solution strategy is pursued by solving the partial differential equations governing heat transfer and thermo-elasticity in the three-dimensional space, and the partial differential equation for moisture diffusion in the two dimensional domains. By exploiting a staggered scheme, the thermo-mechanical problem is solved first via a fully implicit solution scheme in space and time, with a specific treatment of the polymeric layers as zero-thickness interfaces whose constitutive response is governed by a novel thermo-visco-elastic cohesive zone model based on fractional calculus. Temperature and relative displacements along the domains where moisture diffusion takes place are then projected to the finite element model of diffusion, coupled with the thermo-mechanical problem by the temperature and crack opening dependent diffusion coefficient. The application of the proposed method to photovoltaic modules pinpoints two important physical aspects: (i) moisture diffusion in humidity freeze tests with a temperature dependent diffusivity is a much slower process than in the case of a constant diffusion coefficient; (ii) channel cracks through Silicon solar cells significantly enhance moisture diffusion and electric degradation, as confirmed by experimental tests.

Hydraulic modeling of thermal discharges into shallow, tidal affected streams

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Copp, H.W.; Shashidhara, N.S.

1981-01-01

A two-unit nuclear fired power plant is being constructed in western Washington state. Blowdown water from cooling towers will be discharged into the Chehalis River nearby. The location of a diffuser is some 21 miles upriver from Grays Harbor on the Pacific Ocean. Because the Chehalis River is classified as an excellent stream from the standpoint of water quality, State regulatory agencies required demonstration that thermal discharges would maintain water quality standards within fairly strict limits. A hydraulic model investigation used a 1:12 scale, undistorted model of a 1300-foot river reach in the vicinity of the diffuser. The model scale was selected to insure fully turbulent flows both in the stream and from the diffuser (Reynolds similitude). Model operation followed the densimetric Froude similitude. Thermistors were employed to measure temperatures in the model; measurements were taken by computer command and such measurements at some 250 positions were effected in about 2.5 seconds

Efficient modeling of metallic interconnects for thermo-mechanical simulation of SOFC stacks: homogenized behaviors and effect of contact

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Tadesse Molla, Tesfaye; Kwok, Kawai; Frandsen, Henrik Lund

2016-01-01

temperature, deformations involving the elastic, creep as well as effect of changes in the geometry due to contact should be accounted for. The constitutive law can be applied using 3D modeling, but for simple presentation of the theory, 2D plane strain formulation is used to model the corrugated metallic......Currently thermo-mechanical analysis of the entire solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) stack at operational conditions is computationally challenging if the geometry of metallic interconnects is considered explicitly. This is particularly the case when creep deformations in the interconnect are considered...... model to calculate the homogenized mechanical response of corrugated metallic interconnects at high temperatures.Thereafter, a constitutive law for the homogenized structure (effective material law) is developed. In order to properly describe the mechanical behavior of the interconnect at high...

Thermal-Hydraulics analysis of pressurized water reactor core by using single heated channel model

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Reza Akbari

2017-08-01

Full Text Available Thermal hydraulics of nuclear reactor as a basis of reactor safety has a very important role in reactor design and control. The thermal-hydraulic analysis provides input data to the reactor-physics analysis, whereas the latter gives information about the distribution of heat sources, which is needed to perform the thermal-hydraulic analysis. In this study single heated channel model as a very fast model for predicting thermal hydraulics behavior of pressurized water reactor core has been developed. For verifying the results of this model, we used RELAP5 code as US nuclear regulatory approved thermal hydraulics code. The results of developed single heated channel model have been checked with RELAP5 results for WWER-1000. This comparison shows the capability of single heated channel model for predicting thermal hydraulics behavior of reactor core.

The InterFrost benchmark of Thermo-Hydraulic codes for cold regions hydrology - first inter-comparison results

Science.gov (United States)

Grenier, Christophe; Roux, Nicolas; Anbergen, Hauke; Collier, Nathaniel; Costard, Francois; Ferrry, Michel; Frampton, Andrew; Frederick, Jennifer; Holmen, Johan; Jost, Anne; Kokh, Samuel; Kurylyk, Barret; McKenzie, Jeffrey; Molson, John; Orgogozo, Laurent; Rivière, Agnès; Rühaak, Wolfram; Selroos, Jan-Olof; Therrien, René; Vidstrand, Patrik

2015-04-01

The impacts of climate change in boreal regions has received considerable attention recently due to the warming trends that have been experienced in recent decades and are expected to intensify in the future. Large portions of these regions, corresponding to permafrost areas, are covered by water bodies (lakes, rivers) that interact with the surrounding permafrost. For example, the thermal state of the surrounding soil influences the energy and water budget of the surface water bodies. Also, these water bodies generate taliks (unfrozen zones below) that disturb the thermal regimes of permafrost and may play a key role in the context of climate change. Recent field studies and modeling exercises indicate that a fully coupled 2D or 3D Thermo-Hydraulic (TH) approach is required to understand and model the past and future evolution of landscapes, rivers, lakes and associated groundwater systems in a changing climate. However, there is presently a paucity of 3D numerical studies of permafrost thaw and associated hydrological changes, and the lack of study can be partly attributed to the difficulty in verifying multi-dimensional results produced by numerical models. Numerical approaches can only be validated against analytical solutions for a purely thermic 1D equation with phase change (e.g. Neumann, Lunardini). When it comes to the coupled TH system (coupling two highly non-linear equations), the only possible approach is to compare the results from different codes to provided test cases and/or to have controlled experiments for validation. Such inter-code comparisons can propel discussions to try to improve code performances. A benchmark exercise was initialized in 2014 with a kick-off meeting in Paris in November. Participants from USA, Canada, Germany, Sweden and France convened, representing altogether 13 simulation codes. The benchmark exercises consist of several test cases inspired by existing literature (e.g. McKenzie et al., 2007) as well as new ones. They

Thermo-electric transport in gauge/gravity models with momentum dissipation

Science.gov (United States)

Amoretti, Andrea; Braggio, Alessandro; Maggiore, Nicola; Magnoli, Nicodemo; Musso, Daniele

2014-09-01

We present a systematic definition and analysis of the thermo-electric linear response in gauge/gravity systems focusing especially on models with massive gravity in the bulk and therefore momentum dissipation in the dual field theory. A precise treatment of finite counter-terms proves to be essential to yield a consistent physical picture whose hydrodynamic and beyond-hydrodynamics behaviors noticeably match with field theoretical expectations. The model furnishes a possible gauge/gravity description of the crossover from the quantum-critical to the disorder-dominated Fermi-liquid behaviors, as expected in graphene.

Assessment of core thermo-hydrodynamic models of REFLA-1D with CCTF data

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Okubo, Tsutomu; Murao, Yoshio

1983-07-01

In order to assess the core thermo-hydrodynamic models of REFLA-1D/MODE3, which is the latest version of REFLA-1D, several calculations of the core thermo-hydrodynamics have been performed for the CCTF Core-I series tests. The measured initial and boundary conditions were used for these calculations. The calculational results showed that the water accumulation model of Case 2 could predict the CCTF results fairly well as it could for the JAERI small scale facility. The calculated results for the base case and the EM tests were in good agreement with the CCTF data. The parameter effects, such as system pressure, initial clad temperature, Acc injection rate, LPCI injection rate and initial down-comer wall temperature, were predicted correctly, except for the high system pressure and the high LPCI injection rate tests. (author)

Thermo hydraulics of a steam boiler forced circulation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tucakovic, Dragan; Zivanovic, Titoslav; Stevanovic, Vladimir

2006-01-01

In order to minimize the dryout at the steam boiler furnace in the Thermal Power Plant Kolubara B, designed are inner rifled wall tubes. This type of tubes, with many spiral grooves cut into the bore, prevents film boiling and enables the nucleate boiling be still maintained under the condition of vapour quality being app. 1. To verify the choice of the rifled tubes instead of the cheaper, smooth tubes type being justified, analyzed is the change of the actual and critical vapour quality with the furnace height, under uniform and non-uniform heat flu through evaporator walls. Furthermore, made are hydraulic calculations for various steam boiler loads, in case of both rifled and smooth tubes types, with the purpose to check the rifles influence to pressure drop increase in comparison with the smooth tubes. Also, checked is the selection of the circulation pump. Key words: evaporator, forced circulation, rifled tubes, critical vapour quality, pressure drop

Evaluation of Regression and Neuro_Fuzzy Models in Estimating Saturated Hydraulic Conductivity

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

J. Behmanesh

2015-06-01

Full Text Available Study of soil hydraulic properties such as saturated and unsaturated hydraulic conductivity is required in the environmental investigations. Despite numerous research, measuring saturated hydraulic conductivity using by direct methods are still costly, time consuming and professional. Therefore estimating saturated hydraulic conductivity using rapid and low cost methods such as pedo-transfer functions with acceptable accuracy was developed. The purpose of this research was to compare and evaluate 11 pedo-transfer functions and Adaptive Neuro-Fuzzy Inference System (ANFIS to estimate saturated hydraulic conductivity of soil. In this direct, saturated hydraulic conductivity and physical properties in 40 points of Urmia were calculated. The soil excavated was used in the lab to determine its easily accessible parameters. The results showed that among existing models, Aimrun et al model had the best estimation for soil saturated hydraulic conductivity. For mentioned model, the Root Mean Square Error and Mean Absolute Error parameters were 0.174 and 0.028 m/day respectively. The results of the present research, emphasises the importance of effective porosity application as an important accessible parameter in accuracy of pedo-transfer functions. sand and silt percent, bulk density and soil particle density were selected to apply in 561 ANFIS models. In training phase of best ANFIS model, the R2 and RMSE were calculated 1 and 1.2×10-7 respectively. These amounts in the test phase were 0.98 and 0.0006 respectively. Comparison of regression and ANFIS models showed that the ANFIS model had better results than regression functions. Also Nuro-Fuzzy Inference System had capability to estimatae with high accuracy in various soil textures.

Thermo-mecano-metallurgical modelling of welding: application to welded joints in nuclear power plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cosimo, Alejandro

2014-01-01

The Thermo-Mecano-Metallurgical (TMM) modelling of welding is considered in this thesis, where the high non-linearity and the multiphysics character of the problem makes necessary to study different areas of Computational Mechanics. Each of the main problems, specifically the thermal, the mechanical and the metallurgical problems, are separately investigated. In the context of Computational Welding Mechanics (CWM), their coupling is solved by means of a staggered approach making the hypothesis that they are weakly-coupled. In the case of the thermal problem, the primary complication is stated by the solid/liquid phase change. Classical formulations dealing with the solution of this problem suffer from instabilities associated to the discontinuity of the temperature gradient at the phase change boundary. This issue is studied in this work by considering an enriched finite element formulation with the ability of representing the gradient discontinuity inside finite elements. It is remarked that the proposed method avoids the use of an auxiliary equation to determine the enrichment position, which is common for level set formulations. The mechanical behaviour of bodies during solidification is revisited and implemented as part of the Finite Element (FE) framework OOFELIE. When possible, microstructure evolution must be considered in order to correctly predict Weld Residual Stresses (WRS). In this context, the implementation of a particular model for predicting microstructure evolution comes in association with the restriction that it can be applied to a reduced number of materials. In order to deal with this issue, the conception of a computational tool flexible enough to describe a wide range of materials is undertaken. Additionally, a model describing the Titanium alloy Ti6Al4V is particularly considered. The high computational cost of welding problems is addressed by means of the formulation of Hyper-Reduced Order Models (HROMs), and the parallelization of the FE

Using statistical sensitivities for adaptation of a best-estimate thermo-hydraulic simulation model

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Liu, X.J.; Kerner, A.; Schaefer, A.

2010-01-01

On-line adaptation of best-estimate simulations of NPP behaviour to time-dependent measurement data can be used to insure that simulations performed in parallel to plant operation develop synchronously with the real plant behaviour even over extended periods of time. This opens a range of applications including operator support in non-standard-situations, improving diagnostics and validation of measurements in real plants or experimental facilities. A number of adaptation methods have been proposed and successfully applied to control problems. However, these methods are difficult to be applied to best-estimate thermal-hydraulic codes, such as TRACE and ATHLET, with their large nonlinear differential equation systems and sophisticated time integration techniques. This paper presents techniques to use statistical sensitivity measures to overcome those problems by reducing the number of parameters subject to adaptation. It describes how to identify the most significant parameters for adaptation and how this information can be used by combining: -decomposition techniques splitting the system into a small set of component parts with clearly defined interfaces where boundary conditions can be derived from the measurement data, -filtering techniques to insure that the time frame for adaptation is meaningful, -numerical sensitivities to find minimal error conditions. The suitability of combining those techniques is shown by application to an adaptive simulation of the PKL experiment.

The use of the MacCormack scheme in computational hydraulics

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Garcia, R. [Universidad Central de Venezuela, Inst. de Mecanica de Fluidos, Caracas (Venezuela); Zhang, H.; Kahawita, R. [Ecole Polytechnique, Dept. of Civil Engineering, Montreal, Quebec (Canada)

1985-07-01

This manuscript describes the development of a numerical model that solves shallow water problems based upon an enhanced version of the MacCormack explicit scheme (MS). The MS has been successfully applied to solve numerous problems in gas dynamics. However, the standard application of the MS to solve the shallow water equations can cause in certain test cases non-linear instabilities and non-symmetrical results that eventually destroy the solution. By examining the calculation 'cell' one can show that the MS is not symmetric in space, which explains why it cannot be used directly in the treatment of hydraulic problems most of which possess irregular boundaries thereby resulting in a flow with no 'preferred direction'. This is contrary to what is usually encountered in aerodynamics. The enhanced MacCormack scheme is obtained by a simple modification to the original formulation resulting in a symmetric scheme. The scheme has been applied to the computation of the flowfield in a real life situation with satisfactory results. (author)

Thermo-mechanical ratcheting in jointed rock masses

KAUST Repository

Pasten, C.

2015-09-01

Thermo-mechanical coupling takes place in jointed rock masses subjected to large thermal oscillations. Examples range from exposed surfaces under daily and seasonal thermal fluctuations to subsurface rock masses affected by engineered systems such as geothermal operations. Experimental, numerical and analytical results show that thermo-mechanical coupling can lead to wedging and ratcheting mechanisms that result in deformation accumulation when the rock mass is subjected to a biased static-force condition. Analytical and numerical models help in identifying the parameter domain where thermo-mechanical ratcheting can take place.

Thermo-mechanical ratcheting in jointed rock masses

KAUST Repository

Pasten, C.; Garcí a, M.; Santamarina, Carlos

2015-01-01

Thermo-mechanical coupling takes place in jointed rock masses subjected to large thermal oscillations. Examples range from exposed surfaces under daily and seasonal thermal fluctuations to subsurface rock masses affected by engineered systems such as geothermal operations. Experimental, numerical and analytical results show that thermo-mechanical coupling can lead to wedging and ratcheting mechanisms that result in deformation accumulation when the rock mass is subjected to a biased static-force condition. Analytical and numerical models help in identifying the parameter domain where thermo-mechanical ratcheting can take place.

Thermo-mechanical constitutive modeling of unsaturated clays based on the critical state concepts

OpenAIRE

Tourchi, Saeed; Hamidi, Amir

2015-01-01

A thermo-mechanical constitutive model for unsaturated clays is constructed based on the existing model for saturated clays originally proposed by the authors. The saturated clays model was formulated in the framework of critical state soil mechanics and modified Cam-clay model. The existing model has been generalized to simulate the experimentally observed behavior of unsaturated clays by introducing Bishop's stress and suction as independent stress parameters and modifying the hardening rul...

EFFECTIVE APPLICATIO N OF LIDAR DATA IN T WO - DIMENSIONAL HYDRAULIC MODELLING

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bakuła Krzysztof

2014-12-01

Full Text Available This paper presents aspects of ALS data usage in two - dimensional hydraulic modelling including generation of high - precision digital terrain models, t heir effective processing which is a compromise between the resolution and the accuracy of the processed data, as well as information about the roughness of the land cover providing information that could compete with information from topographic databases and orthophotomaps. Still evolving ALS technology makes it possible to collect the data with constantly increasing spatial resolution that guarantees correct representation of the terrain shape and height. It also provides a reliable description of the la nd cover. However, the size of generated files may cause roblems in their effective usage in the 2D hydraulic modeling where Saint - Venant’s equations are implemented. High - resolution elevation models make it impossible or prolong the duration of the calcu lations for large areas in complex algorithms defining a model of the water movement, which is directly related to the cost of the hydraulic analysis. As far as an effective usage of voluminous datasets is concerned, the data reduction is recommended. Suc h a process should reduce the size of the data files, maintain their accuracy and keep the appropriate structure to allow their further application in the hydraulic modelling. An application of only a few percent of unprocessed datasets, selected with the use of specified filtering algorithms and spatial analysis tools, can give the same result of the hydraulic modeling obtained in a significantly shorter time than the result of the comparable operation on unprocessed datasets. Such an approach, however, is not commonly used, which means the most reliable hydraulic models are applied only in small areas in the largest cities. Another application of ALS data is its potential usage in digital roughness model creation for 2D hydraulic models. There are many po ssibilities of roughness

Thermo hydraulic and quench propagation characteristics of SST-1 TF coil

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sharma, A.N., E-mail: ansharma@ipr.res.in [Institute for Plasma Research, Gandhinagar (India); Pradhan, S. [Institute for Plasma Research, Gandhinagar (India); Duchateau, J.L. [CEA Cadarache, 13108 St Paul lez Durance Cedex (France); Khristi, Y.; Prasad, U.; Doshi, K.; Varmora, P.; Patel, D.; Tanna, V.L. [Institute for Plasma Research, Gandhinagar (India)

2014-02-15

Highlights: • Details of SST-1 TF coils, CICC. • Details of SST-1 TF coil cold test. • Quench analysis of TF magnet. • Flow changes following quench. • Predictive analysis of assembled magnet system. - Abstract: SST-1 toroidal field (TF) magnet system is comprising of sixteen superconducting modified ‘D’ shaped TF coils. During single coil test campaigns spanning from June 10, 2010 till January 24, 2011; the electromagnetic, thermal hydraulic and mechanical performances of each TF magnet have been qualified at its respective nominal operating current of 10,000 A in either two-phase or supercritical helium cooling conditions. During the current charging experiments, few quenches have initiated either as a consequence of irrecoverable normal zones or being induced in some of the TF magnets. Quench evolution in the TF coils have been analyzed in detail in order to understand the thermal hydraulic and quench propagation characteristics of the SST-1 TF magnets. The same were also simulated using 1D code Gandalf. This paper elaborates the details of the analyses and the quench simulation results. A predictive quench propagation analysis of 16 assembled TF magnets system has also been reported in this paper.

A computational method for oleo-acoustics, application to hydraulic shock absorbers

NARCIS (Netherlands)

B. Koren (Barry); P.F.M. Michielsen (Paul); J.-W. Kars; P. Wesseling

1995-01-01

textabstractTo predict high-frequency oil-flow phenomena in hydraulic-shock-absorber designs, a mathematical-physical model is proposed. The model consists of the 2-D unsteady Euler equations in axial-symmetric coordinates and an appropriate equation of state for oil. The main topic of the paper is

Hydraulic Study For Kuala Sungai Kemaman

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Siti Aishah Hashim

2006-01-01

Hydraulic study for Kuala Sungai Kemaman is carried out to determine the cause of sedimentation at the river mouth and erosion of the shoreline south of the Kuala Sungai Kemaman. Computer model MIKE 21 is used in this study. The modeling work consist of setting up the model area, calibration and verification of the model, sedimentation study and review several alternatives and chose the most suitable one to solve the sedimentation and erosion problem. (Author)

TRSM-a thermal-hydraulic real-time simulation model for PWR

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhou Weichang

1997-01-01

TRSM (a Thermal-hydraulic Real-time Simulation Model) has been developed for PWR real-time simulation and best-estimate prediction of normal operating and abnormal accident conditions. It is a non-equilibrium two phase flow thermal-hydraulic model based on five basic conservation equations. A drift flux model is used to account for the unequal velocities of liquid and gaseous mixture, with or without the presence of the noncondensibles. Critical flow models are applied for break flow and valve flow calculations. A 5-regime two phase heat convection model is applied for clad-to-coolant as well as fluid-to-tubing heat transfer. A rigorous reactor coolant pump model is used to calculate the pressure drop and rise for the suction and discharge ends with complete pump characteristics curves included. The TRSM model has been adapted in the full-scale training simulator of Qinshan Nuclear Power Plant 300 MW unit to simulate the thermal-hydraulic performance of the NSSS. The simulation results of a cold leg LOCA and a steam generator tube rupture (SGTR) accident are presented

On the choice of the demand and hydraulic modeling approach to WDN real-time simulation

Science.gov (United States)

Creaco, Enrico; Pezzinga, Giuseppe; Savic, Dragan

2017-07-01

This paper aims to analyze two demand modeling approaches, i.e., top-down deterministic (TDA) and bottom-up stochastic (BUA), with particular reference to their impact on the hydraulic modeling of water distribution networks (WDNs). In the applications, the hydraulic modeling is carried out through the extended period simulation (EPS) and unsteady flow modeling (UFM). Taking as benchmark the modeling conditions that are closest to the WDN's real operation (UFM + BUA), the analysis showed that the traditional use of EPS + TDA produces large pressure head and water discharge errors, which can be attenuated only when large temporal steps (up to 1 h in the case study) are used inside EPS. The use of EPS + BUA always yields better results. Indeed, EPS + BUA already gives a good approximation of the WDN's real operation when intermediate temporal steps (larger than 2 min in the case study) are used for the simulation. The trade-off between consistency of results and computational burden makes EPS + BUA the most suitable tool for real-time WDN simulation, while benefitting from data acquired through smart meters for the parameterization of demand generation models.

Determining Columbia and Snake River Project Tailrace and Forebay Zones of Hydraulic Influence using MASS2 Modeling

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rakowski, Cynthia L.; Serkowski, John A.; Richmond, Marshall C.; Perkins, William A.

2010-12-01

Although fisheries biology studies are frequently performed at US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) projects along the Columbia and Snake Rivers, there is currently no consistent definition of the ``forebay'' and ``tailrace'' regions for these studies. At this time, each study may use somewhat arbitrary lines (e.g., the Boat Restriction Zone) to define the upstream and downstream limits of the study, which may be significantly different at each project. Fisheries researchers are interested in establishing a consistent definition of project forebay and tailrace regions for the hydroelectric projects on the lower Columbia and Snake rivers. The Hydraulic Extent of a project was defined by USACE (Brad Eppard, USACE-CENWP) as follows: The river reach directly upstream (forebay) and downstream (tailrace) of a project that is influenced by the normal range of dam operations. Outside this reach, for a particular river discharge, changes in dam operations cannot be detected by hydraulic measurement. The purpose of this study was to, in consultation with USACE and regional representatives, develop and apply a consistent set of criteria for determining the hydraulic extent of each of the projects in the lower Columbia and Snake rivers. A 2D depth-averaged river model, MASS2, was applied to the Snake and Columbia Rivers. New computational meshes were developed most reaches and the underlying bathymetric data updated to the most current survey data. The computational meshes resolved each spillway bay and turbine unit at each project and extended from project to project. MASS2 was run for a range of total river flows and each flow for a range of project operations at each project. The modeled flow was analyzed to determine the range of velocity magnitude differences and the range of flow direction differences at each location in the computational mesh for each total river flow. Maps of the differences in flow direction and velocity magnitude were created. USACE

DYNREL - the reference calculation (coupled code utilization on analysis of RIA-transient)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Strmensky, C.; Darilek, P.

2003-01-01

DYNREL is coupled code, comprising DYN3D and RELAP5 programs. The coupled code has been developed during four years. Now DYNREL is tested on selected RIA and thermo-hydraulic transient calculations. This material describes some results from selected RIA transient calculation (initiated by control rod movement). DYNREL modelled the whole nuclear reactors. The core is modeled as 313 or 349 independent thermo-hydraulic channels with 10 or 20 axial layers. Thermo-hydraulic part contains about 700 components that covered the six loops' model of nuclear power plant in detail. The calculated results are compared with DYN3D/M3, DYN3D/H1.1 results (Authors)

Dynamics Of Karstification: A Model Applied To Hydraulic Structures In Karst Terranes

Science.gov (United States)

Dreybrodt, W.

1992-01-01

To model the development of karst channels from primary fissures in limestone, a computer simulation of solutional widening of a fracture by calcite agressive water is proposed. The parameters defining the problem are the initial width a0 of the fracture, its length l, and the hydraulic gradient i driving water through it. The dissolution rates limestone determine how fast enlargement of the fractures proceeds. At a calcite concentration, c, far from equilibrium, the dissolution follows a first-order rate law, F(1)=α0(ceq-c); close to the equilibrium concentration, ceq, a slow fourth-order rate law F(4)=β0(ceq-c)4 is valid. The results show that, at the time of initiation, the water flow through the karst channels increases slowly in time until an abrupt increase occurs. After this moment of breakthrough, the channel enlarges rapidly and evenly over its entire length by first-order kinetics. Breakthrough times have been calculated for karstification under natural conditions for low hydraulic gradients as functions of a0, l, and i. Special attention is given to karstification in the vicinity of hydraulic structures where hydraulic gradients are high (>0.5) and channel lengths are below 200 m. We find that the breakthrough event will occur in less than 100 years, if: (i/l) > (5.3·10-8a0 -2.63PCO2 -0.77) where l is in m and a0 is in cm, (i/l) is given in m-1, and PCO2[atm] is the CO2 pressure of the water entering the fracture. After this event, the channels will widen to a width of about 1 cm within only 10 years, which can cause considerable leakage near or through hydraulic structures. Finally, critical values of the parameters i, l, a0, which give the conditions of failure in various types of hydraulic structures are discussed.

Thermo-mechanical modeling of laser treatment on titanium cold-spray coatings

Science.gov (United States)

Paradiso, V.; Rubino, F.; Tucci, F.; Astarita, A.; Carlone, P.

2018-05-01

Titanium coatings are very attractive to several industrial fields, especially aeronautics, due to the enhanced corrosion resistance and wear properties as well as improved compatibility with carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP) materials. Cold sprayed titanium coatings, among the others deposition processes, are finding a widespread use in high performance applications, whereas post-deposition treatments are often used to modify the microstructure of the cold-sprayed layer. Laser treatments allow one to noticeably increase the superficial properties of titanium coatings when the process parameters are properly set. On the other hand, the high heat input required to melt titanium particles may result in excessive temperature increase even in the substrate. This paper introduces a thermo-mechanical model to simulate the laser treatment effects on a cold sprayed titanium coating as well as the aluminium substrate. The proposed thermo-mechanical finite element model considers the transient temperature field due to the laser source and applied boundary conditions using them as input loads for the subsequent stress-strain analysis. Numerical outcomes highlighted the relevance of thermal gradients and thermally induced stresses and strains in promoting the damage of the coating.

Theoretical Modeling of Rock Breakage by Hydraulic and Mechanical Tool

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hongxiang Jiang

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Rock breakage by coupled mechanical and hydraulic action has been developed over the past several decades, but theoretical study on rock fragmentation by mechanical tool with water pressure assistance was still lacking. The theoretical model of rock breakage by mechanical tool was developed based on the rock fracture mechanics and the solution of Boussinesq’s problem, and it could explain the process of rock fragmentation as well as predicating the peak reacting force. The theoretical model of rock breakage by coupled mechanical and hydraulic action was developed according to the superposition principle of intensity factors at the crack tip, and the reacting force of mechanical tool assisted by hydraulic action could be reduced obviously if the crack with a critical length could be produced by mechanical or hydraulic impact. The experimental results indicated that the peak reacting force could be reduced about 15% assisted by medium water pressure, and quick reduction of reacting force after peak value decreased the specific energy consumption of rock fragmentation by mechanical tool. The crack formation by mechanical or hydraulic impact was the prerequisite to improvement of the ability of combined breakage.

VHTR core modeling: coupling between neutronic and thermal-hydraulics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Limaiem, I.; Damian, F.; Raepsaet, X.; Studer, E.

2005-01-01

Following the present interest in the next generation nuclear power plan (NGNP), Cea is deploying special effort to develop new models and qualify its research tools for this next generation reactors core. In this framework, the Very High Temperature Reactor concept (VHTR) has an increasing place in the actual research program. In such type of core, a strong interaction exists between neutronic and thermal-hydraulics. Consequently, the global core modelling requires accounting for the temperature feedback in the neutronic models. The purpose of this paper is to present the new neutronic and thermal-hydraulics coupling model dedicated to the High Temperature Reactors (HTR). The coupling model integrates a new version of the neutronic scheme calculation developed in collaboration between Cea and Framatome-ANP. The neutronic calculations are performed using a specific calculation processes based on the APOLLO2 transport code and CRONOS2 diffusion code which are part of the French reactor physics code system SAPHYR. The thermal-hydraulics model is characterised by an equivalent porous media and 1-D fluid/3-D thermal model implemented in the CAST3M/ARCTURUS code. The porous media approach involves the definition of both homogenous and heterogeneous models to ensure a correct temperature feedback. This study highlights the sensitivity of the coupling system's parameters (radial/axial meshing and data exchange strategy between neutronic and thermal-hydraulics code). The parameters sensitivity study leads to the definition of an optimal coupling system specification for the VHTR. Besides, this work presents the first physical analysis of the VHTR core in steady-state condition. The analysis gives information about the 3-D power peaking and the temperature coefficient. Indeed, it covers different core configurations with different helium distribution in the core bypass. (authors)

Coupled thermo-hydro-mechanical experiment at Kamaishi mine. Technical note 08-96-01. Measurement data related to excavation of the test pit

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fujita, T.; Chijimatsu, M.; Sugita, Y.; Ishikawa, H.

1997-07-01

It is an important part of the near field performance assessment of nuclear waste disposal to evaluate coupled thermo-hydro-mechanical (T-H-M) phenomena, e.g., thermal effects on groundwater flow through rock matrix and water seepage into the buffer material, the generation of swelling pressure of the buffer material, and thermal stresses potentially affecting porosity and fracture apertures of the rock. An in-situ T-H-M experiment named Engineered Barrier Experiment ' has been conducted at the Kamaishi Mine, of which host rock is granodiorite, in order to establish conceptual models of the coupled T-H-M processes and to build confidence in mathematical models and computer codes. In 1995, fourteen boreholes were excavated in order to install the various sensors. After the hydraulic tests, mechanical tests were carried out to obtain the rock properties. After that, a test pit, 1.7 m in diameter and 5.0 m in depth, was excavated. During the excavation, the change of pore pressure, displacement and temperature of rock mass were measured. Furthermore, pit convergence was measured. This note shows the results of mechanical tests and measurement data during the excavation of test pit. (author)

Evaluating soil moisture and hydraulic conductivity in semi-arid rangeland soils

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Whitaker, M.P.L.

1993-01-01

The US DOE's Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management (DOE-OCRWM) Fellowship Program supports various disciplines of academic research related to the isolation of radionuclides from the biosphere. The purpose of this paper is to provide an example of a university research application in the specific discipline of hydrology and water resources (a multi-disciplinary field encompassing engineering and the earth sciences), and to discuss how this research pertains to the objectives of the DOE-OCRWM Fellowship Program. The university research application is twofold: One portion focuses on the spatial variability of soil moisture (θ) and the other section compares point measurements with small watershed estimates of hydraulic conductivity (K) in a semi-arid rangeland soil in Arizona. For soil moisture measurements collected over a range of horizontal sampling intervals, no spatial correlation was evident. This outcome is reassuring to computer modelers who have assumed no spatial correlation for soil moisture over smaller scales. In regard to hydraulic conductivity, point measurements differed significantly from small watershed estimates of hydraulic conductivity which were derived from a calibrated and verified rainfall-runoff computer model. The estimates of saturated hydraulic conductivity (Ks) were obtained from previous computer simulations in which measured data was collected in the same research location as the present study

Fundamentals, current state of the development of, and prospects for further improvement of the new-generation thermal-hydraulic computational HYDRA-IBRAE/LM code for simulation of fast reactor systems

Science.gov (United States)

Alipchenkov, V. M.; Anfimov, A. M.; Afremov, D. A.; Gorbunov, V. S.; Zeigarnik, Yu. A.; Kudryavtsev, A. V.; Osipov, S. L.; Mosunova, N. A.; Strizhov, V. F.; Usov, E. V.

2016-02-01

The conceptual fundamentals of the development of the new-generation system thermal-hydraulic computational HYDRA-IBRAE/LM code are presented. The code is intended to simulate the thermalhydraulic processes that take place in the loops and the heat-exchange equipment of liquid-metal cooled fast reactor systems under normal operation and anticipated operational occurrences and during accidents. The paper provides a brief overview of Russian and foreign system thermal-hydraulic codes for modeling liquid-metal coolants and gives grounds for the necessity of development of a new-generation HYDRA-IBRAE/LM code. Considering the specific engineering features of the nuclear power plants (NPPs) equipped with the BN-1200 and the BREST-OD-300 reactors, the processes and the phenomena are singled out that require a detailed analysis and development of the models to be correctly described by the system thermal-hydraulic code in question. Information on the functionality of the computational code is provided, viz., the thermalhydraulic two-phase model, the properties of the sodium and the lead coolants, the closing equations for simulation of the heat-mass exchange processes, the models to describe the processes that take place during the steam-generator tube rupture, etc. The article gives a brief overview of the usability of the computational code, including a description of the support documentation and the supply package, as well as possibilities of taking advantages of the modern computer technologies, such as parallel computations. The paper shows the current state of verification and validation of the computational code; it also presents information on the principles of constructing of and populating the verification matrices for the BREST-OD-300 and the BN-1200 reactor systems. The prospects are outlined for further development of the HYDRA-IBRAE/LM code, introduction of new models into it, and enhancement of its usability. It is shown that the program of development and

A nonlinear magneto-thermo-elastic coupled hysteretic constitutive model for magnetostrictive alloys

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jin Ke; Kou Yong; Zheng Xiaojing

2012-01-01

This paper presents a general hysteretic constitutive law of nonlinear magneto-thermo-elastic coupling for magnetostrictive alloys. The model considered here is thermodynamically motivated and based on the Gibbs free energy function. A nonlinear part of the elastic strain arising from magnetic domain rotation induced by the pre-stress is taken into account. Furthermore, the movement of the domain walls is incorporated to describe hysteresis based on Jiles–Atherton's model. Then a set of closed and analytical expressions of the constitutive law for the magnetostrictive rods and films are obtained, and the parameters appearing in the model can be determined by those measurable experiments in mechanics and physics. Comparing this model with other existing models in this field, the quantitative results show that the relationships obtained here are more effective to describe the effects of the pre-stress or in-plane residual stress and ambient temperature on the magnetization or the magnetostriction hysteresis loops. - Highlights: ► A general hysteretic constitutive law of nonlinear magneto-thermo-elastic coupling for magnetostrictive materials is proposed. ► Model is thermodynamically motivated and the reversible magnetic domain rotation and irreversible domain wall motion are taken. ► The predictions are in good accordance with the experimental data including both rods and films. ► Magnetostrictive alloys are sensitive to environment temperature and pre-stress or residual stress.

RELAP5 model to simulate the thermal-hydraulic effects of grid spacers and cladding rupture during reflood

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Nithianandan, C.K.; Klingenfus, J.A.; Reilly, S.S. [B& W Nuclear Technologies, Lynchburg, VA (United States)

1995-09-01

Droplet breakup at spacer grids and a cladding swelled and ruptured locations plays an important role in the cooling of nuclear fuel rods during the reflooding period of a loss-of-coolant accident (LOCA) in a pressurized water reactor (PWR). During the reflood phase, a spacer grid affects the thermal-hydraulic system behavior through increased turbulence, droplet breakup due to impact on grid straps, grid rewetting, and liquid holdup due to grid form losses. Recently, models to simulate spacer grid effects and blockage and rupture effects on system thermal hydraulics were added to the B&W Nuclear Technologies (BWNT) version of the RELAP5/MOD2 computer code. Several FLECHT-SEASET forced reflood tests, CCTF Tests C1-19 and C2-6, SCTF Test S3-15, and G2 Test 561 were simulated using RELAP5/MOD2-B&W to verify the applicability of the model at the cladding swelled and rupture locations. The results demonstrate the importance of modeling the thermal-hydraulic effects due to grids, and clad swelling and rupture to correctly predict the clad temperature response during the reflood phase of large break LOCA. The RELAP5 models and the test results are described in this paper.

CRAB-II: a computer program to predict hydraulics and scram dynamics of LMFBR control assemblies and its validation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Carelli, M.D.; Baker, L.A.; Willis, J.M.; Engel, F.C.; Nee, D.Y.

1982-01-01

This paper presents an analytical method, the computer code CRAB-II, which calculates the hydraulics and scram dynamics of LMFBR control assemblies of the rod bundle type and its validation against prototypic data obtained for the Clinch River Breeder Reactor (CRBR) primary control assemblies. The physical-mathematical model of the code is presented, followed by a description of the testing of prototypic CRBR control assemblies in water and sodium to characterize, respectively, their hydraulic and scram dynamics behavior. Comparison of code predictions against the experimental data are presened in detail; excellent agreement was found. Also reported are experimental data and empirical correlations for the friction factor of the absorber bundle in the entire flow range (laminar to turbulent) which represent an extension of the state-of-the-art, since only fuel and blanket assemblies friction factor correlations were previously reported in the open literature

Modeling the evolution of channel shape: Balancing computational efficiency with hydraulic fidelity

Science.gov (United States)

Wobus, C.W.; Kean, J.W.; Tucker, G.E.; Anderson, R. Scott

2008-01-01

The cross-sectional shape of a natural river channel controls the capacity of the system to carry water off a landscape, to convey sediment derived from hillslopes, and to erode its bed and banks. Numerical models that describe the response of a landscape to changes in climate or tectonics therefore require formulations that can accommodate evolution of channel cross-sectional geometry. However, fully two-dimensional (2-D) flow models are too computationally expensive to implement in large-scale landscape evolution models, while available simple empirical relationships between width and discharge do not adequately capture the dynamics of channel adjustment. We have developed a simplified 2-D numerical model of channel evolution in a cohesive, detachment-limited substrate subject to steady, unidirectional flow. Erosion is assumed to be proportional to boundary shear stress, which is calculated using an approximation of the flow field in which log-velocity profiles are assumed to apply along vectors that are perpendicular to the local channel bed. Model predictions of the velocity structure, peak boundary shear stress, and equilibrium channel shape compare well with predictions of a more sophisticated but more computationally demanding ray-isovel model. For example, the mean velocities computed by the two models are consistent to within ???3%, and the predicted peak shear stress is consistent to within ???7%. Furthermore, the shear stress distributions predicted by our model compare favorably with available laboratory measurements for prescribed channel shapes. A modification to our simplified code in which the flow includes a high-velocity core allows the model to be extended to estimate shear stress distributions in channels with large width-to-depth ratios. Our model is efficient enough to incorporate into large-scale landscape evolution codes and can be used to examine how channels adjust both cross-sectional shape and slope in response to tectonic and climatic

Views on the future of thermal hydraulic modeling

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ishii, M. [Purdue Univ., West Lafayette, IN (United States)

1997-07-01

It is essential for the U.S. NRC to sustain the highest level of the thermal-hydraulics and reactor safety research expertise and continuously improve their accident analysis capability. Such expertise should span over four different areas which are strongly related to each other. These are: (1) Reactor Safety Code Development, (2) Two-phase Flow Modeling, (3) Instrumentation and Fundamental Experimental Research, and (4) Separate Effect and Integral Test. The NRC is already considering a new effort in the area of advanced thermal-hydraulics effort. Its success largely depends on the availability of a significantly improved two-phase flow formulation and constitutive relations supported by detailed experimental data. Therefore, it is recommended that the NRC start significant research efforts in the areas of two-phase flow modeling, instrumentation, basic and separate effect experiments which should be pursued systematically and with clearly defined objectives. It is desirable that some international program is developed in this area. This paper is concentrated on those items in the thermal-hydraulic area which eventually determine the quality of future accident analysis codes.

Views on the future of thermal hydraulic modeling

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ishii, M.

1997-01-01

It is essential for the U.S. NRC to sustain the highest level of the thermal-hydraulics and reactor safety research expertise and continuously improve their accident analysis capability. Such expertise should span over four different areas which are strongly related to each other. These are: (1) Reactor Safety Code Development, (2) Two-phase Flow Modeling, (3) Instrumentation and Fundamental Experimental Research, and (4) Separate Effect and Integral Test. The NRC is already considering a new effort in the area of advanced thermal-hydraulics effort. Its success largely depends on the availability of a significantly improved two-phase flow formulation and constitutive relations supported by detailed experimental data. Therefore, it is recommended that the NRC start significant research efforts in the areas of two-phase flow modeling, instrumentation, basic and separate effect experiments which should be pursued systematically and with clearly defined objectives. It is desirable that some international program is developed in this area. This paper is concentrated on those items in the thermal-hydraulic area which eventually determine the quality of future accident analysis codes

REFLA-1D/MODE3: a computer code for reflood thermo-hydrodynamic analysis during PWR-LOCA

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Murao, Yoshio; Okubo, Tsutomu; Sugimoto, Jun; Iguchi, Tadashi; Sudoh, Takashi.

1985-02-01

This manual describes the REFLA-1D/MODE3 reflood system analysis code. This code can solve the core thermo-hydrodynamics under forced flooding conditions and gravity feed conditions in a system similar to FLECHT-SET Phase A. This manual describes the REFLA-1D/MODE3 models and provides application information required to utilize the code. (author)

The off-line computation system for supervising performance of JOYO: JOYPAC system, 2

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Suzuki, Tomoo; Hasegawa, Akira; Akimoto, Masayuki; Miyamoto, Yoshiaki; Katsuragi, Satoru

1976-10-01

HONEYCOMB is a code for detailed calculations in analyzing nuclear characteristics of the reactor. It performs criticality calculation in diffusion model and burn up calculation, for 3-dimensional hexagonal-z geometry. It can predict the critical insertion depth of control rods and calculate the 3-dimensional power distribution required by thermo-hydraulic calculation. Power distribution and burn up are also obtained for fuel pins, if necessary, as well as for assemblies. FDCAL-2 predicts coolant flow distribution in every coolant channel between inlet and outlet plenums in the reactor vessel. In calculating the flow distribution in the assemblies, the subchannel model is used, and the thermal mixing effect is expressed in terms of an apparent heat transfer coefficient. FATEC-3 calculates temperature distribution within some assemblies, optionally specified in the given core matrix. At the same time, it estimates the hot-spot temperature, one of the informations for confirming the safe operation. FACAL-2 and FATEC-3 have been combined so as to remove their unnecessary overlapping parts, and have consequently formed a detailed calculation code for analyzing thermo-hydraulic characteristics of the reactor, FDCAL-3. FDCAL-3 has been linked to HONEYCOMB as a segment of overlay structure, and this combination of HONEYCOMB and FDCAL-3 forms the detailed calculation subsystem in the JOYPAC system. The detailed calculation subsystem produces the data file of the detailed fundamental informations such as distributions of neutron flux, power etc. about the reactor under stationary performance. This file is required by the quick and simple calculation subsystem SMART and the recording subsystem MASTOR described in Part I. Thus, times of resorting to the time-consuming detailed calculation are reduced as far as possible, and supervision of reactor performance is realized in both features of practically sufficient accuracy and reasonable computer cost. (JPN)

Thermo-mechanical Modelling of Pebble Beds in Fusion Blankets and its Implementation by a Return-Mapping Algorithm

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gan, Yixiang; Kamlah, Marc

2008-01-01

In this investigation, a thermo-mechanical model of pebble beds is adopted and developed based on experiments by Dr. Reimann at Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe (FZK). The framework of the present material model is composed of a non-linear elastic law, the Drucker-Prager-Cap theory, and a modified creep law. Furthermore, the volumetric inelastic strain dependent thermal conductivity of beryllium pebble beds is taken into account and full thermo-mechanical coupling is considered. Investigation showed that the Drucker-Prager-Cap model implemented in ABAQUS can not fulfill the requirements of both the prediction of large creep strains and the hardening behaviour caused by creep, which are of importance with respect to the application of pebble beds in fusion blankets. Therefore, UMAT (user defined material's mechanical behaviour) and UMATHT (user defined material's thermal behaviour) routines are used to re-implement the present thermo-mechanical model in ABAQUS. An elastic predictor radial return mapping algorithm is used to solve the non-associated plasticity iteratively, and a proper tangent stiffness matrix is obtained for cost-efficiency in the calculation. An explicit creep mechanism is adopted for the prediction of time-dependent behaviour in order to represent large creep strains in high temperature. Finally, the thermo-mechanical interactions are implemented in a UMATHT routine for the coupled analysis. The oedometric compression tests and creep tests of pebble beds at different temperatures are simulated with the help of the present UMAT and UMATHT routines, and the comparison between the simulation and the experiments is made. (authors)

Empirical flow parameters : a tool for hydraulic model validity

Science.gov (United States)

Asquith, William H.; Burley, Thomas E.; Cleveland, Theodore G.

2013-01-01

The objectives of this project were (1) To determine and present from existing data in Texas, relations between observed stream flow, topographic slope, mean section velocity, and other hydraulic factors, to produce charts such as Figure 1 and to produce empirical distributions of the various flow parameters to provide a methodology to "check if model results are way off!"; (2) To produce a statistical regional tool to estimate mean velocity or other selected parameters for storm flows or other conditional discharges at ungauged locations (most bridge crossings) in Texas to provide a secondary way to compare such values to a conventional hydraulic modeling approach. (3.) To present ancillary values such as Froude number, stream power, Rosgen channel classification, sinuosity, and other selected characteristics (readily determinable from existing data) to provide additional information to engineers concerned with the hydraulic-soil-foundation component of transportation infrastructure.

Thermal hydraulic and neutron kinetic simulation of the Angra 2 reactor using a RELAP5/PARCS coupled model

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Reis, Patricia A.L.; Costa, Antonella L.; Hamers, Adolfo R.; Pereira, Claubia; Rodrigues, Thiago D.A.; Mantecon, Javier G.; Veloso, Maria A.F., E-mail: patricialire@yahoo.com.br, E-mail: antonella@nuclear.ufmg.br, E-mail: adolforomerohamers@hotmail.com, E-mail: claubia@nuclear.ufmg.br, E-mail: thiagodanielbh@gmail.com, E-mail: mantecon1987@gmail.com, E-mail: dora@nuclear.ufmg.br [Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (UFMG), Belo Horizonte, MG (Brazil). Departamento de Engenharia Nuclear; Instituto Nacional de Ciencias e Tecnologia de Reatores Nucleares Inovadores (INCT/CNPq), Belo Horizonte (Brazil); Miro, Rafael; Verdu, Gumersindo, E-mail: rmiro@iqn.upv.es, E-mail: gverdu@iqn.upv.es [Universidad Politecnica de Valencia (Spain). Departamento de Ingenieria Quimica y Nuclear

2015-07-01

The computational advances observed in the last two decades have been provided direct impact on the researches related to nuclear simulations, which use several types of computer codes, including coupled between them, allowing representing with very accuracy the behavior of nuclear plants. Studies of complex scenarios in nuclear reactors have been improved by the use of thermal-hydraulic (TH) and neutron kinetics (NK) coupled codes. This technique consists in incorporating three-dimensional (3D) neutron modeling of the reactor core into codes, mainly to simulate transients that involve asymmetric core spatial power distributions and strong feedback effects between neutronics and reactor thermal-hydraulics. Therefore, this work presents preliminary results of TH RELAP5 and the NK PARCS calculations applied to model of the Angra 2 reactor. The WIMSD-5B code has been used to generate the macroscopic cross sections used in the NK code. The results obtained are satisfactory and represent important part of the development of this methodology. The next step is to couple the codes. (author)

Transient thermal, hydraulic, and mechanical analysis of a counter flow offset strip fin intermediate heat exchanger using an effective porous media approach

Science.gov (United States)

Urquiza, Eugenio

This work presents a comprehensive thermal hydraulic analysis of a compact heat exchanger using offset strip fins. The thermal hydraulics analysis in this work is followed by a finite element analysis (FEA) to predict the mechanical stresses experienced by an intermediate heat exchanger (IHX) during steady-state operation and selected flow transients. In particular, the scenario analyzed involves a gas-to-liquid IHX operating between high pressure helium and liquid or molten salt. In order to estimate the stresses in compact heat exchangers a comprehensive thermal and hydraulic analysis is needed. Compact heat exchangers require very small flow channels and fins to achieve high heat transfer rates and thermal effectiveness. However, studying such small features computationally contributes little to the understanding of component level phenomena and requires prohibitive computational effort using computational fluid dynamics (CFD). To address this issue, the analysis developed here uses an effective porous media (EPM) approach; this greatly reduces the computation time and produces results with the appropriate resolution [1]. This EPM fluid dynamics and heat transfer computational code has been named the Compact Heat Exchanger Explicit Thermal and Hydraulics (CHEETAH) code. CHEETAH solves for the two-dimensional steady-state and transient temperature and flow distributions in the IHX including the complicating effects of temperature-dependent fluid thermo-physical properties. Temperature- and pressure-dependent fluid properties are evaluated by CHEETAH and the thermal effectiveness of the IHX is also calculated. Furthermore, the temperature distribution can then be imported into a finite element analysis (FEA) code for mechanical stress analysis using the EPM methods developed earlier by the University of California, Berkeley, for global and local stress analysis [2]. These simulation tools will also allow the heat exchanger design to be improved through an

E-SCAPE: A scale facility for liquid-metal, pool-type reactor thermal hydraulic investigations

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Van Tichelen, Katrien, E-mail: kvtichel@sckcen.be [SCK-CEN, Boeretang 200, 2400 Mol (Belgium); Mirelli, Fabio, E-mail: fmirelli@sckcen.be [SCK-CEN, Boeretang 200, 2400 Mol (Belgium); Greco, Matteo, E-mail: mgreco@sckcen.be [SCK-CEN, Boeretang 200, 2400 Mol (Belgium); Viviani, Giorgia, E-mail: giorgiaviviani@gmail.com [University of Pisa, Lungarno Pacinotti 43, 56126 Pisa (Italy)

2015-08-15

Highlights: • The E-SCAPE facility is a thermal hydraulic scale model of the MYRRHA fast reactor. • The focus is on mixing and stratification in liquid-metal pool-type reactors. • Forced convection, natural convection and the transition are investigated. • Extensive instrumentation allows validation of computational models. • System thermal hydraulic and CFD models have been used for facility design. - Abstract: MYRRHA (Multi-purpose hYbrid Research Reactor for High-tech Applications) is a flexible fast-spectrum research reactor under design at SCK·CEN. MYRRHA is a pool-type reactor with lead bismuth eutectic (LBE) as primary coolant. The proper understanding of the thermal hydraulic phenomena occurring in the reactor pool is an important issue in the design and licensing of the MYRRHA system and liquid-metal cooled reactors by extension. Model experiments are necessary for understanding the physics, for validating experimental tools and to qualify the design for the licensing. The E-SCAPE (European SCAled Pool Experiment) facility at SCK·CEN is a thermal hydraulic 1/6-scale model of the MYRRHA reactor, with an electrical core simulator, cooled by LBE. It provides experimental feedback to the designers on the forced and natural circulation flow patterns. Moreover, it enables to validate the computational methods for their use with LBE. The paper will elaborate on the design of the E-SCAPE facility and its main parameters. Also the experimental matrix and the pre-test analysis using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and system thermal hydraulics codes will be described.

Overview of results of the first phase of validation activities for the IFMIF High Flux Test Module

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Arbeiter, Frederik; Chen Yuming; Dolensky, Bernhard; Freund, Jana; Heupel, Tobias; Klein, Christine; Scheel, Nicola; Schlindwein, Georg

2012-01-01

Highlights: ► Validation of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) modeling approach for application in the IFMIF High Flux Test Module. ► Fabrication of prototypes of the irradiation capsules of the IFMIF High Flux Test Module. - Abstract: The international fusion materials irradiation facility (IFMIF) is projected to create an experimentally validated database of material properties relevant for fusion reactor designs. The IFMIF High Flux Test Module is the dedicated experiment to irradiate alloys in the temperature range 250–550 °C and up to 50 displacements per atom per irradiation cycle. The High Flux Test Module is developed to maximize the specimen payload in the restricted irradiation volume, and to minimize the temperature spread within each specimen bundle. Low pressure helium mini-channel cooling is used to offer a high integration density. Due to the demanding thermo-hydraulic and mechanical conditions, the engineering design process (involving numerical neutronic, thermo-hydraulic and mechanical analyses) is supported by extensive experimental validation activities. This paper reports on the prototype manufacturing, thermo-hydraulic modeling experiments and component tests, as well as on mechanical testing. For the testing of the 1:1 prototype of the High Flux Test Module, a dedicated test facility, the Helium Loop Karlsruhe-Low Pressure (HELOKA-LP) has been taken into service.

A model selection support system for numerical simulations of nuclear thermal-hydraulics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gofuku, Akio; Shimizu, Kenji; Sugano, Keiji; Yoshikawa, Hidekazu; Wakabayashi, Jiro

1990-01-01

In order to execute efficiently a dynamic simulation of a large-scaled engineering system such as a nuclear power plant, it is necessary to develop intelligent simulation support system for all phases of the simulation. This study is concerned with the intelligent support for the program development phase and is engaged in the adequate model selection support method by applying AI (Artificial Intelligence) techniques to execute a simulation consistent with its purpose and conditions. A proto-type expert system to support the model selection for numerical simulations of nuclear thermal-hydraulics in the case of cold leg small break loss-of-coolant accident of PWR plant is now under development on a personal computer. The steps to support the selection of both fluid model and constitutive equations for the drift flux model have been developed. Several cases of model selection were carried out and reasonable model selection results were obtained. (author)

Stability analysis for a delay differential equations model of a hydraulic turbine speed governor

Science.gov (United States)

Halanay, Andrei; Safta, Carmen A.; Dragoi, Constantin; Piraianu, Vlad F.

2017-01-01

The paper aims to study the dynamic behavior of a speed governor for a hydraulic turbine using a mathematical model. The nonlinear mathematical model proposed consists in a system of delay differential equations (DDE) to be compared with already established mathematical models of ordinary differential equations (ODE). A new kind of nonlinearity is introduced as a time delay. The delays can characterize different running conditions of the speed governor. For example, it is considered that spool displacement of hydraulic amplifier might be blocked due to oil impurities in the oil supply system and so the hydraulic amplifier has a time delay in comparison to the time control. Numerical simulations are presented in a comparative manner. A stability analysis of the hydraulic control system is performed, too. Conclusions of the dynamic behavior using the DDE model of a hydraulic turbine speed governor are useful in modeling and controlling hydropower plants.

Nonlinear dynamic modeling for smart material electro-hydraulic actuator development

Science.gov (United States)

Larson, John P.; Dapino, Marcelo J.

2013-03-01

Smart material electro-hydraulic actuators use hydraulic rectification by one-way check valves to amplify the motion of smart materials, such as magnetostrictives and piezoelectrics, in order to create compact, lightweight actuators. A piston pump driven by a smart material is combined with a hydraulic cylinder to form a self-contained, power-by-wire actuator that can be used in place of a conventional hydraulic system without the need for hydraulic lines and a centralized pump. The performance of an experimental actuator driven by a 12.7 mm diameter, 114 mm length Terfenol-D rod is evaluated over a range of applied input frequencies, loads, and currents. The peak performance achieved is 37 W, moving a 220 N load at a rate of 17 cm/s and producing a blocked pressure of 12.5 MPa. Additional tests are conducted to quantify the dynamic behavior of the one-way reed valves using a scanning laser vibrometer to identify the frequency response of the reeds and the effect of the valve seat and fluid mass loading. A lumped-parameter model is developed for the system that includes valve inertia and fluid response nonlinearities, and the model results are compared with the experimental data.

Sensitiveness Analysis of Neutronic Parameters Due to Uncertainty in Thermo-hydraulic parameters on CAREM-25 Reactor; Analisis de Sensibilidad de los Parametros Neutronicos ante Incertezas en los Parametros Termohidraulicos en el Reactor CAREM-25

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Serra, Oscar [Comision Nacional de Energia Atomica, Centro Atomico Bariloche (Argentina)

2000-07-01

Some studies were done about the effect of the uncertainty in the values of several thermo-hydraulic parameters on the core behaviour of the CAREM-25 reactor.By using the chain codes CITVAP-THERMIT and the perturbation the reference states, it was found that concerning to the total power, the effects were not very important, but were much bigger for the pressure.Furthermore were hardly significant in the presence of any perturbation on the void fraction calculation and the fuel temperature.The reactivity and the power peaking factor had highly important changes in the case of the coolant flow.We conclude that the use of this procedure is adequate and useful to our purpose.

Model-based nonlinear control of hydraulic servo systems: Challenges, developments and perspectives

Science.gov (United States)

Yao, Jianyong

2018-06-01

Hydraulic servo system plays a significant role in industries, and usually acts as a core point in control and power transmission. Although linear theory-based control methods have been well established, advanced controller design methods for hydraulic servo system to achieve high performance is still an unending pursuit along with the development of modern industry. Essential nonlinearity is a unique feature and makes model-based nonlinear control more attractive, due to benefit from prior knowledge of the servo valve controlled hydraulic system. In this paper, a discussion for challenges in model-based nonlinear control, latest developments and brief perspectives of hydraulic servo systems are presented: Modelling uncertainty in hydraulic system is a major challenge, which includes parametric uncertainty and time-varying disturbance; some specific requirements also arise ad hoc difficulties such as nonlinear friction during low velocity tracking, severe disturbance, periodic disturbance, etc.; to handle various challenges, nonlinear solutions including parameter adaptation, nonlinear robust control, state and disturbance observation, backstepping design and so on, are proposed and integrated, theoretical analysis and lots of applications reveal their powerful capability to solve pertinent problems; and at the end, some perspectives and associated research topics (measurement noise, constraints, inner valve dynamics, input nonlinearity, etc.) in nonlinear hydraulic servo control are briefly explored and discussed.

Thermo-economic optimization of an endoreversible four-heat-reservoir absorption-refrigerator

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Qin Xiaoyong; Chen Lingen; Sun Fengrui; Wu Chih

2005-01-01

Based on an endoreversible four-heat-reservoir absorption-refrigeration-cycle model, the optimal thermo-economic performance of an absorption-refrigerator is analyzed and optimized assuming a linear (Newtonian) heat-transfer law applies. The optimal relation between the thermo-economic criterion and the coefficient of performance (COP), the maximum thermo-economic criterion, and the COP and specific cooling load for the maximum thermo-economic criterion of the cycle are derived using finite-time thermodynamics. Moreover, the effects of the cycle parameters on the thermo-economic performance of the cycle are studied by numerical examples

Thermal-hydraulic modeling of flow inversion in a research reactor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kazeminejad, H.

2008-01-01

The course of loss of flow accident and flow inversion in a pool type research reactor, with scram enabled under natural circulation condition is numerically investigated. The analyses were performed by a lumped parameters approach for the coupled kinetic-thermal-hydraulics, with continuous feedback due to coolant and fuel temperature effects. A modified Runge-Kutta method was adopted for a better solution to the set of stiff differential equations. Transient thermal-hydraulics during the process of flow inversion and establishment of natural circulation were considered for a 10-MW IAEA research reactor. Some important parameters such as the peak temperatures for the hot channel were obtained for both high-enriched and low enriched fuel. The model prediction is also verified through comparison with other computer code results reported in the literature for detailed simulations of loss of flow accidents (LOFA) and the agreement between the results for the peak clad temperatures and key parameters has been satisfactory. It was found that the flow inversion and subsequent establishment of natural circulation keep the peak cladding surface temperature below the saturation temperature to avoid the escalation of clad temperature to the level of onset of nucleate boiling and sub-cooled void formation to ensure the safe operation of the reactor

Simulation model for the dynamic behavior of the hydraUlic circuito of PWR reactors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hirdes, V.R.T.R.

1987-01-01

The present work consist of the development of a computer code for the simulations of hydraulic transients caused by stoppages of the primary coolant pumps of nuclear reactors and it applied to the hydraulic circuits typical of PWR reactor. The code calculates the time-histories of the mass flux, rotation speed, electric and hydraulic torque and dynamic head of the pumps. It can be used for any combination of active and inactive pumps. Several transients were analysed and the results were compared with comparared with data from the Angra-I nuclear power plant. The results were considered satisfactory. (author) [pt

Steady state thermal-hydraulic analyses of the MITICA cooling circuits

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zaupa, M., E-mail: matteo.zaupa@igi.cnr.it [Università degli Studi di Padova, Via 8 Febbraio 2, Padova 35122 (Italy); Consorzio RFX, Corso Stati Uniti 4, Padova 35127 (Italy); Sartori, E.; Dalla Palma, M.; Fellin, F.; Marcuzzi, D.; Pavei, M.; Rizzolo, A. [Consorzio RFX, Corso Stati Uniti 4, Padova 35127 (Italy)

2016-02-15

Megavolt ITER Injector Concept Advancement is the full scale prototype of the heating and current drive neutral beam injectors for ITER, to be built at Consorzio RFX (Padova). The engineering design of its components is challenging: the total heat loads they will be subjected to (expected between 2 and 19 MW), the high heat fluxes (up to 20 MW/m{sup 2}), and the beam pulse duration up to 1 h, set demanding requirements for reliable active cooling circuits. In support of the design, the thermo-hydraulic behavior of each cooling circuit under steady state condition has been investigated by using one-dimensional models. The final results, obtained considering a number of optimizations for the cooling circuits, show that all the requirements in terms of flow rate, temperature, and pressure drop are properly fulfilled.

Hydraulic modelling of drinking water treatment plant operations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

L. C. Rietveld

2009-06-01

Full Text Available The flow through a unit of a drinking water treatment plant is one of the most important parameters in terms of a unit's effectiveness. In the present paper, a new EPAnet library is presented with the typical hydraulic elements for drinking water treatment processes well abstraction, rapid sand filtration and cascade and tower aeration. Using this treatment step library, a hydraulic model was set up, calibrated and validated for the drinking water treatment plant Harderbroek. With the actual valve position and pump speeds, the flows were calculated through the several treatment steps. A case shows the use of the model to calculate the new setpoints for the current frequency converters of the effluent pumps during a filter backwash.

Visual and intelligent transients and accidents analyzer based on thermal-hydraulic system code

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Meng Lin; Rui Hu; Yun Su; Ronghua Zhang; Yanhua Yang

2005-01-01

Full text of publication follows: Many thermal-hydraulic system codes were developed in the past twenty years, such as RELAP5, RETRAN, ATHLET, etc. Because of their general and advanced features in thermal-hydraulic computation, they are widely used in the world to analyze transients and accidents. But there are following disadvantages for most of these original thermal-hydraulic system codes. Firstly, because models are built through input decks, so the input files are complex and non-figurative, and the style of input decks is various for different users and models. Secondly, results are shown in off-line data file form. It is not convenient for analysts who may pay more attention to dynamic parameters trend and changing. Thirdly, there are few interfaces with other program in these original thermal-hydraulic system codes. This restricts the codes expanding. The subject of this paper is to develop a powerful analyzer based on these thermal-hydraulic system codes to analyze transients and accidents more simply, accurately and fleetly. Firstly, modeling is visual and intelligent. Users build the thermalhydraulic system model using component objects according to their needs, and it is not necessary for them to face bald input decks. The style of input decks created automatically by the analyzer is unified and can be accepted easily by other people. Secondly, parameters concerned by analyst can be dynamically communicated to show or even change. Thirdly, the analyzer provide interface with other programs for the thermal-hydraulic system code. Thus parallel computation between thermal-hydraulic system code and other programs become possible. In conclusion, through visual and intelligent method, the analyzer based on general and advanced thermal-hydraulic system codes can be used to analysis transients and accidents more effectively. The main purpose of this paper is to present developmental activities, assessment and application results of the visual and intelligent

Development of new NSSS thermal-hydraulic model for Korean standard nuclear power plant(UCN-3/4) simulator

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Kyung Doo; Jeong, Jae Jun

2001-09-01

The NSSS thermal-hydraulic programs installed in the domestic full-scope power plant simulators were provided in early 1980s by foreign vendors. Because of limited computational capability at that time, they usually adopt very simplified physical models for a real-time simulation of NSSS thermal-hydraulic phenomena, which entails inaccurate results and the possibility of so-called 'negative training', especially for complicated two-phase flows in the reactor coolant system. To resolve the problem, we developed a realistic NSSS T/H program (named 'ARTS-UCN' code) for the improvement of the Korean Standard Nuclear Power Plant full-scope simulator. ARTS Code, developed as an NSSS T/H model for the KNPEC no. 2 simulator using the RETRAN03 code, was selected as a reference code for ARTS-UCN code development. For the development of ARTS, the followings have been performed: - Improvement of the robustness of RETRAN - Improvement of the real-time simulation capability of RETRAN - Optimum input data generation for the NSSS simulation - New model development that cannot be efficiently modeled by RETRAN - Assessment of the ARTS code. The systematic assessment of ARTS has been conducted in both personal computers (Windows 98, Visual fortran) and the simulator development environment (Windows NT, GSE simulator development tool). The results were resonable in terms of accuracy, real-time simulation and robustness

Hydraulic performance of Compacted Clay Liners (CCLs) under combined temperature and leachate exposures.

Science.gov (United States)

Aldaeef, A A; Rayhani, M T

2014-12-01

Experimental investigations were carried out to investigate the effect of thermo-chemical exposures on the hydraulic performance of Compacted Clay Liners (CCLs) in landfills. Hydraulic conductivity of most CCL specimens was increased by two to three times their initial values when exposed to 55 °C for 75 days. CCL specimens also experienced increases in their hydraulic conductivities when exposed to leachate at room temperature. This behaviour could be due to the decrease in viscosity when the permeant was changed from tap water to leachate. However, as the leachate exposure time exceeded the first 15 days, hydraulic conductivity readings decreased to as much as one order of magnitude after 75 days of leachate permeation at room temperature. The gradual decrease in the CCLs hydraulic conductivities was most likely due to chemical precipitation and clogging of pore voids within the soils which seemed to reduce the effective pore volume. The rate of hydraulic conductivity reduction due to leachate permeation was slower at higher temperatures, which was attributed to the lower permeant viscosity and lower clogging occurrence. The observed hydraulic behaviours were correlated to the physical, mineral, and chemical properties of the CCLs and described below. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Thermo Techno Modern Analytical Equipment for Research and Industrial Laboratories

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Khokhlov, S.V.

2014-03-01

Full Text Available A brief overview of some models of Thermo Techno analytical equipment and possible areas of their application is given. Thermo Techno Company was created in 2000 as a part of representative office of international corporation Thermo Fisher Scientific — world leader in manufacturing analytical equipments. Thermo Techno is a unique company in its integrated approach in solving the problems of the user, which includes a series of steps: setting the analytical task, selection of effective analysis methods, sample delivery and preparation as well as data transmitting and archiving.

Development of realistic thermal-hydraulic system analysis codes ; development of thermal hydraulic test requirements for multidimensional flow modeling

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Suh, Kune Yull; Yoon, Sang Hyuk; Noh, Sang Woo; Lee, Il Suk [Seoul National University, Seoul (Korea)

2002-03-01

This study is concerned with developing a multidimensional flow model required for the system analysis code MARS to more mechanistically simulate a variety of thermal hydraulic phenomena in the nuclear stem supply system. The capability of the MARS code as a thermal hydraulic analysis tool for optimized system design can be expanded by improving the current calculational methods and adding new models. In this study the relevant literature was surveyed on the multidimensional flow models that may potentially be applied to the multidimensional analysis code. Research items were critically reviewed and suggested to better predict the multidimensional thermal hydraulic behavior and to identify test requirements. A small-scale preliminary test was performed in the downcomer formed by two vertical plates to analyze multidimensional flow pattern in a simple geometry. The experimental result may be applied to the code for analysis of the fluid impingement to the reactor downcomer wall. Also, data were collected to find out the controlling parameters for the one-dimensional and multidimensional flow behavior. 22 refs., 40 figs., 7 tabs. (Author)

Methodology for thermal-hydraulics analysis of pool type MTR fuel research reactors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Umbehaun, Pedro Ernesto

2000-01-01

This work presents a methodology developed for thermal-hydraulic analysis of pool type MTR fuel research reactors. For this methodology a computational program, FLOW, and a model, MTRCR-IEAR1 were developed. FLOW calculates the cooling flow distribution in the fuel elements, control elements, irradiators, and through the channels formed among the fuel elements and among the irradiators and reflectors. This computer program was validated against experimental data for the IEA-R1 research reactor core at IPEN-CNEN/SP. MTRCR-IEAR1 is a model based on the commercial program Engineering Equation Solver (EES). Besides the thermal-hydraulic analyses of the core in steady state accomplished by traditional computational programs like COBRA-3C/RERTR and PARET, this model allows to analyze parallel channels with different cooling flow and/or geometry. Uncertainty factors of the variables from neutronic and thermalhydraulic calculation and also from the fabrication of the fuel element are introduced in the model. For steady state analyses MTRCR-IEAR1 showed good agreement with the results of COBRA-3C/RERTR and PARET. The developed methodology was used for the calculation of the cooling flow distribution and the thermal-hydraulic analysis of a typical configuration of the IEA-R1 research reactor core. (author)

Hydraulic head interpolation using ANFIS—model selection and sensitivity analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Kurtulus, Bedri; Flipo, Nicolas

2012-01-01

The aim of this study is to investigate the efficiency of ANFIS (adaptive neuro fuzzy inference system) for interpolating hydraulic head in a 40-km 2 agricultural watershed of the Seine basin (France). Inputs of ANFIS are Cartesian coordinates and the elevation of the ground. Hydraulic head was measured at 73 locations during a snapshot campaign on September 2009, which characterizes low-water-flow regime in the aquifer unit. The dataset was then split into three subsets using a square-based selection method: a calibration one (55%), a training one (27%), and a test one (18%). First, a method is proposed to select the best ANFIS model, which corresponds to a sensitivity analysis of ANFIS to the type and number of membership functions (MF). Triangular, Gaussian, general bell, and spline-based MF are used with 2, 3, 4, and 5 MF per input node. Performance criteria on the test subset are used to select the 5 best ANFIS models among 16. Then each is used to interpolate the hydraulic head distribution on a (50×50)-m grid, which is compared to the soil elevation. The cells where the hydraulic head is higher than the soil elevation are counted as "error cells." The ANFIS model that exhibits the less "error cells" is selected as the best ANFIS model. The best model selection reveals that ANFIS models are very sensitive to the type and number of MF. Finally, a sensibility analysis of the best ANFIS model with four triangular MF is performed on the interpolation grid, which shows that ANFIS remains stable to error propagation with a higher sensitivity to soil elevation.

The hydraulic capacity of deteriorating sewer systems.

Science.gov (United States)

Pollert, J; Ugarelli, R; Saegrov, S; Schilling, W; Di Federico, V

2005-01-01

Sewer and wastewater systems suffer from insufficient capacity, construction flaws and pipe deterioration. Consequences are structural failures, local floods, surface erosion and pollution of receiving waters bodies. European cities spend in the order of five billion Euro per year for wastewater network rehabilitation. This amount is estimated to increase due to network ageing. The project CARE-S (Computer Aided RE-habilitation of Sewer Networks) deals with sewer and storm water networks. The final project goal is to develop integrated software, which provides the most cost-efficient system of maintenance, repair and rehabilitation of sewer networks. Decisions on investments in rehabilitation often have to be made with uncertain information about the structural condition and the hydraulic performance of a sewer system. Because of this, decision-making involves considerable risks. This paper presents the results of research focused on the study of hydraulic effects caused by failures due to temporal decline of sewer systems. Hydraulic simulations are usually carried out by running commercial models that apply, as input, default values of parameters that strongly influence results. Using CCTV inspections information as dataset to catalogue principal types of failures affecting pipes, a 3D model was used to evaluate their hydraulic consequences. The translation of failures effects in parameters values producing the same hydraulic conditions caused by failures was carried out through the comparison of laboratory experiences and 3D simulations results. Those parameters could be the input of 1D commercial models instead of the default values commonly inserted.

Thermo-mechanical modeling of the obduction process based on the Oman ophiolite case

OpenAIRE

Duretz , Thibault; Agard , Philippe; Yamato , Philippe; Ducassou , Céline; Burov , Evgenii ,; Gerya , T. V.

2016-01-01

International audience; Obduction emplaces regional-scale fragments of oceanic lithosphere (ophiolites) over continental lithosphere margins of much lower density. For this reason, the mechanisms responsible for obduction remain enigmatic in the framework of plate tectonics. We present two-dimensional (2D) thermo-mechanical models of obduction and investigate possible dynamics and physical controls of this process. Model geometry and boundary conditions are based on available geological and g...

Growth model for large branched three-dimensional hydraulic crack system in gas or oil shale

Science.gov (United States)

Chau, Viet T.

2016-01-01

Recent analysis of gas outflow histories at wellheads shows that the hydraulic crack spacing must be of the order of 0.1 m (rather than 1 m or 10 m). Consequently, the existing models, limited to one or several cracks, are unrealistic. The reality is 105–106 almost vertical hydraulic cracks per fracking stage. Here, we study the growth of two intersecting near-orthogonal systems of parallel hydraulic cracks spaced at 0.1 m, preferably following pre-existing rock joints. One key idea is that, to model lateral cracks branching from a primary crack wall, crack pressurization, by viscous Poiseuille-type flow, of compressible (proppant-laden) frac water must be complemented with the pressurization of a sufficient volume of micropores and microcracks by Darcy-type water diffusion into the shale, to generate tension along existing crack walls, overcoming the strength limit of the cohesive-crack or crack-band model. A second key idea is that enforcing the equilibrium of stresses in cracks, pores and water, with the generation of tension in the solid phase, requires a new three-phase medium concept, which is transitional between Biot’s two-phase medium and Terzaghi’s effective stress and introduces the loading of the solid by pressure gradients of diffusing pore water. A computer program, combining finite elements for deformation and fracture with volume elements for water flow, is developed to validate the new model. This article is part of the themed issue ‘Energy and the subsurface’. PMID:27597791

Three-dimensional model of the thermo-hydrodynamic neutron interaction in the core of water reactors (stationary states)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mastrangelo, Victor.

1977-01-01

A thermo-hydrodynamic neutron interaction model for permanent working conditions is developed in the case of closed circuits (boiling water reactors) and open circuits (pressurized water reactors). Two numerical convergence acceleration methods are then worked out for the resolution of linear problems by successive iterations. A physical study is devoted to the convergence of the thermo-hydrodynamic neutron interaction process. The model developed is applied to the calculation of the power distribution for the core of a 980 MWe BWR-6 type boiling water power station and to the study of normal and accidental working configurations of the pressurized water core of a 900 MWe PWR-CP1 unit [fr

Analysis of hydraulic characteristics for stream diversion in small stream

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ahn, Sang-Jin; Jun, Kye-Won [Chungbuk National University, Cheongju(Korea)

2001-10-31

This study is the analysis of hydraulic characteristics for stream diversion reach by numerical model test. Through it we can provide the basis data in flood, and in grasping stream flow characteristics. Analysis of hydraulic characteristics in Seoknam stream were implemented by using computer model HEC-RAS(one-dimensional model) and RMA2(two-dimensional finite element model). As a result we became to know that RMA2 to simulate left, main channel, right in stream is more effective method in analysing flow in channel bends, steep slope, complex bed form effect stream flow characteristics, than HEC-RAS. (author). 13 refs., 3 tabs., 5 figs.

Nuclear materials thermo-physical property database and property analysis using the database

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jeong, Yeong Seok

2002-02-01

It is necessary that thermo-physical properties and understand of nuclear materials for evaluation and analysis to steady and accident states of commercial and research reactor. In this study, development of nuclear materials thermo-properties database and home page. In application of this database, it is analyzed of thermal conductivity, heat capacity, enthalpy, and linear thermal expansion of fuel and cladding material and compared thermo-properties model in nuclear fuel performance evaluation codes with experimental data in database. Results of compare thermo-property model of UO 2 fuel and cladding major performance evaluation code, both are similar

Global thermo-mechanical effects from a KBS-3 type repository

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hakami, E.; Olofsson, Stig-Olof

1998-01-01

-level layouts also cause a de-stressed zone extending in depth well beyond that induced by a single-level layout. The 3DEC model with altered properties at the repository region shows very similar results to the main model. The global effect from the excavated repository tunnels and deposition holes is therefore not significant. However, further numerical computations with repository tunnels and deposition holes modeled explicitly are needed to study the local thermo-mechanical response in the repository region

Neural networks for the analysis of margins of safety through code BE+U

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Villamizar, M.; Martorell, S.; Villanueva, J. F.; Carlos, S.; Sanchez, A.; Serradell, V.; Mendizabal, R.; Pelayo, F.; Sol, I.

2011-01-01

This paper presents the use of tools S oft Computing , in particular the use of artificial neural networks and the method of decomposition of variance as sensitivity analysis, which allows understanding and modeling the relations between variables uncertain input inputs (defined by functions of distribution of Thermo-hydraulic model parameters) and output outputs variable presentation takes place on LOCA accident in a PWR as application.

Neural networks for the analysis of margins of safety through code BE+U; Redes neuronales para el analisis de margenes de seguridad mediante codigos be+u

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Villamizar, M.; Martorell, S.; Villanueva, J. F.; Carlos, S.; Sanchez, A.; Serradell, V.; Mendizabal, R.; Pelayo, F.; Sol, I.

2011-07-01

This paper presents the use of tools {sup S}oft Computing{sup ,} in particular the use of artificial neural networks and the method of decomposition of variance as sensitivity analysis, which allows understanding and modeling the relations between variables uncertain input inputs (defined by functions of distribution of Thermo-hydraulic model parameters) and output outputs variable presentation takes place on LOCA accident in a PWR as application.

Comparison of thermo-hydraulic analysis with measurements for HELIOS. The scaled integral test loop for PEACER

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cho, Jae Hyun; Lim, Jun; Kim, Ji Hak; Hwang, Il Soon

2009-01-01

A scaled-down Lead-Bismuth Eutectic circulating integral test loop named as HELIOS (Heavy Eutectic liquid metal Loop for Integral test of Operability and Safety of PEACER) has been employed to characterize steady-state isothermal forced circulation behavior and non-isothermal natural circulation capability of the lead and lead-alloy cooled advanced nuclear energy systems (LACANES). In this time, thermal-hydraulic experiments have been carried out using HELIOS following rigorous calibration campaigns on sensors for temperature and pressure, especially isothermal steady-state forced convection using by the pump. The isothermal steady-state forced convection test was performed to obtain the pressure loss information including friction loss coefficients and form loss coefficients. Then its data were compared with multi-approaching analysis including hand calculation results and computer simulation code results. (MARS-LBE, CFX). We report the results of comparisons between the analysis and measurements together. (author)

A Comuputerized DRBEM model for generalized magneto-thermo-visco-elastic stress waves in functionally graded anisotropic thin film/substrate structures

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mohamed Abdelsabour Fahmy

Full Text Available A numerical computer model, based on the dual reciprocity boundary element method (DRBEM for studying the generalized magneto-thermo-visco-elastic stress waves in a rotating functionally graded anisotropic thin film/substrate structure under pulsed laser irradiation is established. An implicit-implicit staggered algorithm was proposed and implemented for use with the DRBEM to get the solution for the temperature, displacement components and thermal stress components through the structure thickness. A comparison of the results for different theories is presented in the presence and absence of rotation. Some numerical results that demonstrate the validity of the proposed method are also presented.

STEADY-SHIP: a computer code for three-dimensional nuclear and thermal-hydraulic analyses of marine reactors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Itagaki, Masafumi; Naito, Yoshitaka; Tokuno, Yukio; Matsui, Yasushi.

1988-01-01

A code STEADY-SHIP has been developed to calculate three-dimensional distributions of neutron flux, power and coolant temperature in the reactor core of the nuclear ship MUTSU. The code consists of two parts, that is, a few-group three-dimensional neutron diffusion module DIFFUSION-SHIP and a thermal-hydraulic module HYDRO-SHIP: In the DIFFUSION-SHIP the leakage iteration method is used for solving the three-dimensional neutron diffusion equation with small computer core memory and short computing time; The HYDRO-SHIP performs the general thermal-hydraulic calculation for evaluating feedbacks required in the neutronic calculation by the DIFFUSION-SHIP. The macroscopic nuclear constants are generated by a module CROSS-SHIP as functions of xenon poison, fuel temperature, moderator temperature and moderator density. A module LOCAL-FINE has the capability of computing a detailed rod power distribution for each local node in the core, using the boundary conditions on the surface of the node which were supplied by the STEADY-SHIP whole-core calculation. The applicability of this code to marine reactors has been demonstrated by comparing the computed results with the data measured during the MUTSU land-loaded core critical experiments and with the data obtained during the hot-zero-power tests performed for the actual MUTSU plant. (author)

A conjugate thermo-electric model for a composite medium.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Oscar Chávez

Full Text Available Electrical transmission signals have been used for decades to characterize the internal structure of composite materials. We theoretically analyze the transmission of an electrical signal through a composite material which consists of two phases with different chemical compositions. We assume that the temperature of the biphasic system increases as a result of Joule heating and its electrical resistivity varies linearly with temperature; this last consideration leads to simultaneously study the electrical and thermal effects. We propose a nonlinear conjugate thermo-electric model, which is solved numerically to obtain the current density and temperature profiles for each phase. We study the effect of frequency, resistivities and thermal conductivities on the current density and temperature. We validate the prediction of the model with comparisons with experimental data obtained from rock characterization tests.

Thermo-mechanical constitutive modeling of unsaturated clays based on the critical state concepts

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Saeed Tourchi

2015-04-01

Full Text Available A thermo-mechanical constitutive model for unsaturated clays is constructed based on the existing model for saturated clays originally proposed by the authors. The saturated clays model was formulated in the framework of critical state soil mechanics and modified Cam-clay model. The existing model has been generalized to simulate the experimentally observed behavior of unsaturated clays by introducing Bishop's stress and suction as independent stress parameters and modifying the hardening rule and yield criterion to take into account the role of suction. Also, according to previous studies, an increase in temperature causes a reduction in specific volume. A reduction in suction (wetting for a given confining stress may induce an irreversible volumetric compression (collapse. Thus an increase in suction (drying raises a specific volume i.e. the movement of normal consolidation line (NCL to higher values of void ratio. However, some experimental data confirm the assumption that this reduction is dependent on the stress level of soil element. A generalized approach considering the effect of stress level on the magnitude of clays thermal dependency in compression plane is proposed in this study. The number of modeling parameters is kept to a minimum, and they all have clear physical interpretations, to facilitate the usefulness of model for practical applications. A step-by-step procedure used for parameter calibration is also described. The model is finally evaluated using a comprehensive set of experimental data for the thermo-mechanical behavior of unsaturated soils.

Thermo-driven microcrawlers fabricated via a microfluidic approach

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang Wei; Yao Chen; Zhang Maojie; Ju Xiaojie; Xie Rui; Chu Liangyin

2013-01-01

A novel thermo-driven microcrawler that can transform thermal stimuli into directional mechanical motion is developed by a simple microfluidic approach together with emulsion-template synthesis. The microcrawler is designed with a thermo-responsive poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAM) hydrogel body and a bell-like structure with an eccentric cavity. The asymmetric shrinking–swelling circulation of the microcrawlers enables a thermo-driven locomotion responding to repeated temperature changes, which provides a novel model with symmetry breaking principle for designing biomimetic soft microrobots. The microfluidic approach offers a novel and promising platform for design and fabrication of biomimetic soft microrobots. (paper)

PyFLOWGO: An open-source platform for simulation of channelized lava thermo-rheological properties

Science.gov (United States)

Chevrel, Magdalena Oryaëlle; Labroquère, Jérémie; Harris, Andrew J. L.; Rowland, Scott K.

2018-02-01

Lava flow advance can be modeled through tracking the evolution of the thermo-rheological properties of a control volume of lava as it cools and crystallizes. An example of such a model was conceived by Harris and Rowland (2001) who developed a 1-D model, FLOWGO, in which the velocity of a control volume flowing down a channel depends on rheological properties computed following the thermal path estimated via a heat balance box model. We provide here an updated version of FLOWGO written in Python that is an open-source, modern and flexible language. Our software, named PyFLOWGO, allows selection of heat fluxes and rheological models of the user's choice to simulate the thermo-rheological evolution of the lava control volume. We describe its architecture which offers more flexibility while reducing the risk of making error when changing models in comparison to the previous FLOWGO version. Three cases are tested using actual data from channel-fed lava flow systems and results are discussed in terms of model validation and convergence. PyFLOWGO is open-source and packaged in a Python library to be imported and reused in any Python program (https://github.com/pyflowgo/pyflowgo)

Parametric model of servo-hydraulic actuator coupled with a nonlinear system: Experimental validation

Science.gov (United States)

Maghareh, Amin; Silva, Christian E.; Dyke, Shirley J.

2018-05-01

Hydraulic actuators play a key role in experimental structural dynamics. In a previous study, a physics-based model for a servo-hydraulic actuator coupled with a nonlinear physical system was developed. Later, this dynamical model was transformed into controllable canonical form for position tracking control purposes. For this study, a nonlinear device is designed and fabricated to exhibit various nonlinear force-displacement profiles depending on the initial condition and the type of materials used as replaceable coupons. Using this nonlinear system, the controllable canonical dynamical model is experimentally validated for a servo-hydraulic actuator coupled with a nonlinear physical system.

Hydraulic modeling of mussel habitat at a bridge-replacement site, Allegheny River, Pennsylvania, USA

Science.gov (United States)

Fulton, John W.; Wagner, Chad R.; Rogers, Megan E.; Zimmerman, Gregory F.

2010-01-01

The Allegheny River in Pennsylvania supports a large and diverse freshwater-mussel community, including two federally listed endangered species, Pleurobema clava(Clubshell) and Epioblasma torulosa rangiana (Northern Riffleshell). It is recognized that river hydraulics and morphology play important roles in mussel distribution. To assess the hydraulic influences of bridge replacement on mussel habitat, metrics such as depth, velocity, and their derivatives (shear stress, Froude number) were collected or computed.

Thermal-hydraulic feedback model to calculate the neutronic cross-section in PWR reactions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Santiago, Daniela Maiolino Norberto

2011-01-01

In neutronic codes,it is important to have a thermal-hydraulic feedback module. This module calculates the thermal-hydraulic feedback of the fuel, that feeds the neutronic cross sections. In the neutronic co de developed at PEN / COPPE / UFRJ, the fuel temperature is obtained through an empirical model. This work presents a physical model to calculate this temperature. We used the finite volume technique of discretized the equation of temperature distribution, while calculation the moderator coefficient of heat transfer, was carried out using the ASME table, and using some of their routines to our program. The model allows one to calculate an average radial temperature per node, since the thermal-hydraulic feedback must follow the conditions imposed by the neutronic code. The results were compared with to the empirical model. Our results show that for the fuel elements near periphery, the empirical model overestimates the temperature in the fuel, as compared to our model, which may indicate that the physical model is more appropriate to calculate the thermal-hydraulic feedback temperatures. The proposed model was validated by the neutronic simulator developed in the PEN / COPPE / UFRJ for analysis of PWR reactors. (author)

Simulated performance of the Thermo Active Building System (TABS) with respect to the provided thermal comfort and primary energy use

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kolarik, Jakub; Olesen, Bjarne W.; Toftum, Jørn

2009-01-01

The central module of an office building conditioned by a Thermo Active Building System (TABS) coupled with constant volume ventilation was evaluated by means of dynamic computer simulations. Additionally, the same building model was simulated with a conventional all air VAV ventilation system fo...

Thermal-hydraulic process for cooling, heating and power production with low-grade heat sources in residential sector

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Borgogno, R.; Mauran, S.; Stitou, D.; Marck, G.

2017-01-01

Highlights: • Assessment of solar thermal-hydraulic process for tri-generation application. • Choice of the most suitable working fluid pair (R1234yf/R1233zd). • Evaluation of the global annual performance in Mediterranean climate. • Global annual COP and heat amplification achieving 0.24 and 1.2 respectively. • Global annual performance achieving an electric efficiency of 3.7%. - Abstract: A new process based on thermal-hydraulic conversion actuated by low-grade thermal energy is investigated. Input thermal energy can be provided by the means of solar collectors, as well as other low temperature energy sources. In the following article, “thermo-hydraulic” term refers to a process involving an incompressible fluid used as an intermediate medium to transfer work hydraulically between different thermal operated components or sub-systems. The system aims at providing trigeneration energy features for the residential sector, that is providing heating, cooling and electrical power for meeting the energy needs of domestic houses. This innovative system is made of two dithermal processes (working at two different levels of temperatures) and featuring two different working fluids. The first process is able to directly supply either electrical energy generated by an hydraulic turbine or drives the second process thanks to the incompressible fluid, which is similar to a heat pump effect for heating or cooling purposes. The innovative aspect of this process relies on the use of an hydraulic transfer fluid to transfer the work between each sub-system and therefore simplifying the conversion chain. A model, assuming steady-state operation, is developed to assess the energy performances of different variants of this thermo-hydraulic process with various heat source temperatures (80–110 °C) or heat sinks (0–30 °C), as well as various pairs of working fluids. For instance, in the frame of a single-family home, located in the Mediterranean region, the working

Transient computational fluid dynamics analysis of emergency core cooling injection at natural circulation conditions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Scheuerer, Martina; Weis, Johannes

2012-01-01

Highlights: ► Pressurized thermal shocks are important phenomena for plant life extension and aging. ► The thermal-hydraulics of PTS have been studied experimentally and numerically. ► In the Large Scale Test Facility a loss of coolant accident was investigated. ► CFD software is validated to simulate the buoyancy driven flow after ECC injection. - Abstract: Within the framework of the European Nuclear Reactor Integrated Simulation Project (NURISP), computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software is validated for the simulation of the thermo-hydraulics of pressurized thermal shocks. A proposed validation experiment is the test series performed within the OECD ROSA V project in the Large Scale Test Facility (LSTF). The LSTF is a 1:48 volume-scaled model of a four-loop Westinghouse pressurized water reactor (PWR). ROSA V Test 1-1 investigates temperature stratification under natural circulation conditions. This paper describes calculations which were performed with the ANSYS CFD software for emergency core cooling injection into one loop at single-phase flow conditions. Following the OECD/NEA CFD Best Practice Guidelines (Mahaffy, 2007) the influence of grid resolution, discretisation schemes, and turbulence models (shear stress transport and Reynolds stress model) on the mixing in the cold leg were investigated. A half-model was used for these simulations. The transient calculations were started from a steady-state solution at natural circulation conditions. The final calculations were obtained in a complete model of the downcomer. The results are in good agreement with data.

Tissue perfusion during normovolemic hemodilution investigated by a hydraulic model of the cardiovascular system.

Science.gov (United States)

Mirhashemi, S; Messmer, K; Intaglietta, M

1987-01-01

Normovolemic hemodilution on a whole body basis is studied by means of a steady flow, hydraulic analogue simulation of the cardiovascular system, based on the Casson's model and current hemodynamic and rheological data. The vasculature is divided into serially connected compartments whose hydraulic resistance is characterized by the average diameter, length, number of vessels, and the corresponding rheological properties of blood formulated by Dintenfass (1971) and Lipowsky et al. (1980). This model computes the pressure distributions in all compartments, where the calculated venous pressure modulates the cardiac function according to the Starling mechanism for cardiac performance. The alterations of flow induced by the action of the heart are added to the effects due to changes in peripheral vascular resistance as a result of hematocrit variation. This model shows that when the response of heart to the changes of venous pressure is impaired, the maximum oxygen carrying capacity occurs at 40% hematocrit (H) where it is 1% higher than normal hematocrit (H = 44%). The normal cardiac response to the changes of venous pressure, causes the maximum oxygen carrying capacity to occur at 32% H where it is 12% greater than that at normal hematocrit. Mean arteriolar pressure and capillary pressure increase while venular pressure is slightly reduced during normovolemic hemodilution.

The thermo-elastic instability model of melting of alkali halides in the Debye approximation

Science.gov (United States)

Owens, Frank J.

2018-05-01

The Debye model of lattice vibrations of alkali halides is used to show that there is a temperature below the melting temperature where the vibrational pressure exceeds the electrostatic pressure. The onset temperature of this thermo-elastic instability scales as the melting temperature of NaCl, KCl, and KBr, suggesting its role in the melting of the alkali halides in agreement with a previous more rigorous model.

Water transport through tall trees: A vertically-explicit, analytical model of xylem hydraulic conductance in stems.

Science.gov (United States)

Couvreur, Valentin; Ledder, Glenn; Manzoni, Stefano; Way, Danielle A; Muller, Erik B; Russo, Sabrina E

2018-05-08

Trees grow by vertically extending their stems, so accurate stem hydraulic models are fundamental to understanding the hydraulic challenges faced by tall trees. Using a literature survey, we showed that many tree species exhibit continuous vertical variation in hydraulic traits. To examine the effects of this variation on hydraulic function, we developed a spatially-explicit, analytical water transport model for stems. Our model allows Huber ratio, stem-saturated conductivity, pressure at 50% loss of conductivity, leaf area, and transpiration rate to vary continuously along the hydraulic path. Predictions from our model differ from a matric flux potential model parameterized with uniform traits. Analyses show that cavitation is a whole-stem emergent property resulting from nonlinear pressure-conductivity feedbacks that, with gravity, cause impaired water transport to accumulate along the path. Because of the compounding effects of vertical trait variation on hydraulic function, growing proportionally more sapwood and building tapered xylem with height, as well as reducing xylem vulnerability only at branch tips while maintaining transport capacity at the stem base, can compensate for these effects. We therefore conclude that the adaptive significance of vertical variation in stem hydraulic traits is to allow trees to grow tall and tolerate operating near their hydraulic limits. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

National Laboratory of Hydraulics. 1996 progress report; Laboratoire National d`Hydraulique. Rapport d`activite 1996

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1996-12-31

This progress report of the National Laboratory of Hydraulics (LNH) of Electricite de France (EdF) summarizes, first, the research and development studies carried out in 1996 for the development of research tools for industrial fluid mechanics and environmental hydraulics and for the development of computer tools (computer codes and softwares for fluid mechanics modeling, modeling of reactive, compressible, two-phase and turbulent flows and of complex chemical kinetics using finite elements and finite volume methods). A second parts describes the research studies performed for other services of EdF, concerning: the functioning of nuclear reactors (thermohydraulic studies of the reactor vessel and of the primary coolant circuit, gas flows following severe accidents, fluid-structure thermal coupling etc...), fossil fuel power plants, the equipment and operation of thermal power plants and hydraulic power plants, the use of electric power. A third part summarizes the river and marine hydraulic studies carried out for other companies. (J.S.) 63 refs.

Cost-effective computational method for radiation heat transfer in semi-crystalline polymers

Science.gov (United States)

Boztepe, Sinan; Gilblas, Rémi; de Almeida, Olivier; Le Maoult, Yannick; Schmidt, Fabrice

2018-05-01

This paper introduces a cost-effective numerical model for infrared (IR) heating of semi-crystalline polymers. For the numerical and experimental studies presented here semi-crystalline polyethylene (PE) was used. The optical properties of PE were experimentally analyzed under varying temperature and the obtained results were used as input in the numerical studies. The model was built based on optically homogeneous medium assumption whereas the strong variation in the thermo-optical properties of semi-crystalline PE under heating was taken into account. Thus, the change in the amount radiative energy absorbed by the PE medium was introduced in the model induced by its temperature-dependent thermo-optical properties. The computational study was carried out considering an iterative closed-loop computation, where the absorbed radiation was computed using an in-house developed radiation heat transfer algorithm -RAYHEAT- and the computed results was transferred into the commercial software -COMSOL Multiphysics- for solving transient heat transfer problem to predict temperature field. The predicted temperature field was used to iterate the thermo-optical properties of PE that varies under heating. In order to analyze the accuracy of the numerical model experimental analyses were carried out performing IR-thermographic measurements during the heating of the PE plate. The applicability of the model in terms of computational cost, number of numerical input and accuracy was highlighted.

CFD Application and OpenFOAM on the 2-D Model for the Moderator System of Heavy-Water Reactors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chang, Se Myong; Park, A. Y.; Kim, Hyoung Tae

2011-01-01

The flow in the complex pipeline system in a calandria tank of CANDU reactor is transported through the distribution of heat sources, which also exerts the pressure drop to the coolant flow. So the phenomena should be considered as multi-physics both in the viewpoints of heat transfer and fluid dynamics. In this study, we have modeled the calandria tank system as two-dimensional simplified one preliminarily that is yet far from the real objects, but to see the essential physics and to test the possibility of the present CFD(computational fluid dynamics) methods for the thermo-hydraulic problem in the moderator system of heavy-water reactors

Fabrication and testing of an energy-harvesting hydraulic damper

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Li, Chuan; Tse, Peter W

2013-01-01

Hydraulic dampers are widely used to dissipate energy during vibration damping. In this paper, an energy-harvesting hydraulic damper is proposed for collecting energy while simultaneously damping vibration. Under vibratory excitation, the flow of hydraulic oil inside the cylinder of the damper is converted into amplified rotation via a hydraulic motor, whose output shaft is connected to an electromagnetic generator capable of harvesting a large amount of energy. In this way, the vibration is damped by both oil viscosity and the operation of an electrical mechanism. An electromechanical model is presented to illustrate both the electrical and mechanical responses of the system. A three-stage identification approach is introduced to facilitate the model parameter identification using cycle-loading experiments. A prototype device is developed and characterized in a test rig. The maximum power harvested during the experiments was 435.1 W (m s −1 ) −1 , using a predefined harmonic excitation with an amplitude of 0.02 m, a frequency of 0.8 Hz, and an optimal resistance of 2 Ω. Comparison of the experimental and computational results confirmed the effectiveness of both the electromechanical model and the three-stage identification approach in realizing the proposed design. (paper)

Thermo-hydric characterization of partially saturated porous media; Caracterisation thermo-hydrique de milieux poreux partiellement satures d'eau

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Simon Salager; Frederic Jamin; Moulay Said El Youssoufi; Christian Saix [Laboratoire de Mecanique et Genie Civil, Universite Montpellier II, cc 048, Place Eugene Bataillon, 34095 Montpellier (France)

2005-07-01

We present a contribution to the thermo-hydric characterization of partially saturated porous media by water, through the characteristic curve. This curve defines the relation between suction and degree of saturation. Using this curve for a given temperature, a model is used to predict it for other temperatures. An experimental device called pressure cell was made in a thermo-regulated environment. The model was validated by several tests on a ceramic and silty clayey sand, at 20 and 60 C. The results obtained lead to a characteristic surface which can be considered as a generalization of the classical characteristic curve. (authors)

Real-time dynamic hydraulic model for water distribution networks: steady state modelling

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Osman, Mohammad S

2016-09-01

Full Text Available equipment (pipes, reservoirs, pumps, valves, etc.) was used as a pilot WDN. Further information of the various other DHM components has been published [1]. The steady-state hydraulic model calculates the network hydraulic variables at a particular... from the abstraction point to the two low-level concrete reservoirs. On this pipeline there is a 2” tie-off to an alternate consumer as well as another 2” tie-off (5 m length) to the pump station sump. Water from the pump station is pumped to two...

Neutronic and thermal-hydraulic analysis of devices for irradiation of LEU targets type of UALx-Al and U-Ni to production of 99Mo in reactor IEA-R1 and RMB

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Domingos, Douglas Borges

2014-01-01

In this work neutronic and thermal-hydraulic analyses were made to compare three types of targets (UAl 2 -Al, U-Ni cylindrical and U-Ni plate) used for the production of 99 Mo by fission of 235 U. Some experiments were conducted to validate the neutronic and thermal-hydraulics methodologies used in this work. For the neutronic calculations the computational programs NJOY99.0, AMPX-II and HAMMERTECHNION were used to generate the cross sections. SCALE 6.0 and CITATION computational programs were used for three-dimensional calculations of the reactor cores, fuel burning and the production of 99 Mo. The computational programs MTRCR-IEAR1 and ANSYS CFX were used to calculate the thermal and hydraulic parameters of the irradiation devices and for comparing them to limits and design criteria. First were performed neutronic and thermal-hydraulic analyzes for the reactor IEA-R1 with the targets of UAl 2 -Al (10 mini plates). Analyses have shown that the total activity obtained for 99 Mo on the mini plates does not meet the demand of Brazilian hospitals (450 Ci/week) and that no limit of thermo-hydraulic design is overtaken. Next, the same calculations were performed for the three target types in Multipurpose Brazilian Reactor (MBR). The neutronic analyzes demonstrated that the three targets meet the demand of Brazilian hospitals. The thermal hydraulic analysis shows that a minimum speed of 7 m/s for the target UAl 2 -Al, 8 m/s for the cylindrical target U-Ni and 9 m/s for the target U-Ni plate will be necessary in the irradiation device to not exceed the design limits. Were performed experiments using a test bench for validate the methodologies for the thermal-hydraulic calculation. The experiments performed to validate the neutronic calculations were made in the reactor IPEN/MB-01. All experiments were simulated with the methodologies described above and the results compared. The simulations results showed good agreement with experimental results. (author)

Computational mechanics research and support for aerodynamics and hydraulics at TFHRC year 1 quarter 4 progress report.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lottes, S.A.; Kulak, R.F.; Bojanowski, C. (Energy Systems)

2011-12-09

The computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and computational structural mechanics (CSM) focus areas at Argonne's Transportation Research and Analysis Computing Center (TRACC) initiated a project to support and compliment the experimental programs at the Turner-Fairbank Highway Research Center (TFHRC) with high performance computing based analysis capabilities in August 2010. The project was established with a new interagency agreement between the Department of Energy and the Department of Transportation to provide collaborative research, development, and benchmarking of advanced three-dimensional computational mechanics analysis methods to the aerodynamics and hydraulics laboratories at TFHRC for a period of five years, beginning in October 2010. The analysis methods employ well-benchmarked and supported commercial computational mechanics software. Computational mechanics encompasses the areas of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD), Computational Wind Engineering (CWE), Computational Structural Mechanics (CSM), and Computational Multiphysics Mechanics (CMM) applied in Fluid-Structure Interaction (FSI) problems. The major areas of focus of the project are wind and water effects on bridges - superstructure, deck, cables, and substructure (including soil), primarily during storms and flood events - and the risks that these loads pose to structural failure. For flood events at bridges, another major focus of the work is assessment of the risk to bridges caused by scour of stream and riverbed material away from the foundations of a bridge. Other areas of current research include modeling of flow through culverts to assess them for fish passage, modeling of the salt spray transport into bridge girders to address suitability of using weathering steel in bridges, CFD analysis of the operation of the wind tunnel in the TFCHR wind engineering laboratory, vehicle stability under high wind loading, and the use of electromagnetic shock absorbers to improve vehicle stability

Rainfall-runoff and hydraulic modelling integration in the Blatina River

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Timko, J.

2017-01-01

This paper investigates the use and integration of rainfall-runoff modelling and hydrologic modelling of Blatina river catchment. Characteristics of physical-geographical sphere and its components were created within the model, enhancing the robustness of input data for the mathematical modelling of landscape runoff. Rainfall-runoff model HEC-HMS utilised in this research allows using a wide range of methodologies to determine the movement of water in the riverbed, water losses in the basin, hydraulic and hydrological methods of transformation and base-flow. Loss and transformation of water in the basin were modeled with curve numbers method SCS-CN. The simulated hydrograph was calibrated using rainfall-runoff event from June 2009. The same event was also modelled after the deforestation of the focus area. Using hydraulic model MIKE 21, a flood of focus rainfall-runoff area was simulated under both current real and changed land cover scenarios. (authors)

A three-dimensional coupled thermo-hydro-mechanical model for deformable fractured geothermal systems

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Salimzadeh, Saeed; Paluszny, Adriana; Nick, Hamidreza M.

2018-01-01

A fully coupled thermal-hydraulic-mechanical (THM) finite element model is presented for fractured geothermal reservoirs. Fractures are modelled as surface discontinuities within a three-dimensional matrix. Non-isothermal flow through the rock matrix and fractures are defined and coupled to a mec......A fully coupled thermal-hydraulic-mechanical (THM) finite element model is presented for fractured geothermal reservoirs. Fractures are modelled as surface discontinuities within a three-dimensional matrix. Non-isothermal flow through the rock matrix and fractures are defined and coupled....... The model has been validated against several analytical solutions, and applied to study the effects of the deformable fractures on the injection of cold water in fractured geothermal systems. Results show that the creation of flow channelling due to the thermal volumetric contraction of the rock matrix...

Combining multi-objective optimization and bayesian model averaging to calibrate forecast ensembles of soil hydraulic models

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Vrugt, Jasper A [Los Alamos National Laboratory; Wohling, Thomas [NON LANL

2008-01-01

Most studies in vadose zone hydrology use a single conceptual model for predictive inference and analysis. Focusing on the outcome of a single model is prone to statistical bias and underestimation of uncertainty. In this study, we combine multi-objective optimization and Bayesian Model Averaging (BMA) to generate forecast ensembles of soil hydraulic models. To illustrate our method, we use observed tensiometric pressure head data at three different depths in a layered vadose zone of volcanic origin in New Zealand. A set of seven different soil hydraulic models is calibrated using a multi-objective formulation with three different objective functions that each measure the mismatch between observed and predicted soil water pressure head at one specific depth. The Pareto solution space corresponding to these three objectives is estimated with AMALGAM, and used to generate four different model ensembles. These ensembles are post-processed with BMA and used for predictive analysis and uncertainty estimation. Our most important conclusions for the vadose zone under consideration are: (1) the mean BMA forecast exhibits similar predictive capabilities as the best individual performing soil hydraulic model, (2) the size of the BMA uncertainty ranges increase with increasing depth and dryness in the soil profile, (3) the best performing ensemble corresponds to the compromise (or balanced) solution of the three-objective Pareto surface, and (4) the combined multi-objective optimization and BMA framework proposed in this paper is very useful to generate forecast ensembles of soil hydraulic models.

CFD Analysis on the Thermal Hydraulic Performance of an SAH Duct with Multi V-Shape Roughened Ribs

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anil Kumar

2016-05-01

Full Text Available This study presents the heat transfer and fluid flow characteristics in a rib-roughened SAH (solar air heater channel. The artificial roughness of the rectangular channel was in the form of a thin circular wire in discrete multi V-pattern rib geometries. The effect of this geometry on heat transfer, fluid flow, and performance augmentation was investigated using the CFD (computational fluid dynamics. The roughness parameters were a relative discrete distance of 0.69, a relative rib height of 0.043, a relative rib pitch of 10, a relative rib width of 6.0, and a flow-attack-angle of 60°. The discrete width ratios and Reynolds numbers ranged from 0.5 to 2.0 and from 2000 to 20,000, respectively. The CFD results using the renormalization k-epsilon model were in good agreement with the empirical relationship. This model was used to investigate the heat transfer and fluid flow characteristics in the multi V-pattern rib roughened SAH channel. The thermo-hydraulic performance was found to be the best for the discrete width ratio of 1.0. A discrete multi V-pattern rib combined with dimple staggered ribs also had better overall thermal performance compared to other rib shapes.

PTA-1 computer program for treating pressure transients in hydraulic networks including the effect of pipe plasticity

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Youngdahl, C.K.; Kot, C.A.

1977-01-01

Pressure pulses in the intermediate sodium system of a liquid-metal-cooled fast breeder reactor, such as may originate from a sodium/water reaction in a steam generator, are propagated through the complex sodium piping network to system components such as the pump and intermediate heat exchanger. To assess the effects of such pulses on continued reliable operation of these components and to contribute to system designs which result in the mitigation of these effects, Pressure Transient Analysis (PTA) computer codes are being developed for accurately computing the transmission of pressure pulses through a complicated fluid transport system, consisting of piping, fittings and junctions, and components. PTA-1 provides an extension of the well-accepted and verified fluid hammer formulation for computing hydraulic transients in elastic or rigid piping systems to include plastic deformation effects. The accuracy of the modeling of pipe plasticity effects on transient propagation has been validated using results from two sets of Stanford Research Institute experiments. Validation of PTA-1 using the latter set of experiments is described briefly. The comparisons of PTA-1 computations with experiments show that (1) elastic-plastic deformation of LMFBR-type piping can have a significant qualitative and quantitative effect on pressure pulse propagation, even in simple systems; (2) classical fluid-hammer theory gives erroneous results when applied to situations where piping deforms plastically; and (3) the computational model incorporated in PTA-1 for predicting plastic deformation and its effect on transient propagation is accurate

A Generic Model Based Tracking Controller for Hydraulic Valve-Cylinder Drives

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hansen, Anders Hedegaard; Schmidt, Lasse; Pedersen, Henrik Clemmensen

2016-01-01

in the entire range of operation, rather than reducing stationary errors, and may be parameterized from the desired gain margin, as well as linear model parameters. The proposed control design approaches are evaluated in an experimentally validated, nonlinear simulation model of a hydraulic valve-cylinder drive......The control of hydraulic valve-cylinder drives is still an active subject of research, and various linear and particularly nonlinear approaches has been proposed, especially in the last two-three decades. In many cases the proposed controllers appear to produce excellent tracking ability due...... generally has failed to break through in industry. This paper discusses the dominant properties necessary to take into account when considering position tracking control of hydraulic valve-cylinder drives, and presents two generally applicable, generic control design approaches that combines non...

Thermal-hydraulic modeling of porous bed reactors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Araj, K.J.; Nourbakhsh, H.P.

1987-01-01

Optimum design of nuclear reactor core requires an iterative approach between the thermal-hydraulic, neutronic and operational analysis. This paper concentrates on the thermal-hydraulic behavior of a hydrogen cooled, small particle bed reactor (PBR). The PBR core, modeled here, consists of a hexagonal array of fuel elements embedded in a moderator matrix. The fuel elements are annular packed beds of fuel particles held between two porous cylindrical frits. These particles, 500 to 600 μm in diameter, have a uranium carbide core, which is coated by two layers of graphite and an outer coating of zirconium carbide. Coolant flow, radially inward, from the cold frit through the packed bed and hot frit and axially out the channel, formed by the hot frit, to a common plenum. 5 refs., 1 fig., 2 tabs

Recent Developments in Multiscale and Multiphase Modelling of the Hydraulic Fracturing Process

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yong Sheng

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Recently hydraulic fracturing of rocks has received much attention not only for its economic importance but also for its potential environmental impact. The hydraulically fracturing technique has been widely used in the oil (EOR and gas (EGR industries, especially in the USA, to extract more oil/gas through the deep rock formations. Also there have been increasing interests in utilising the hydraulic fracturing technique in geological storage of CO2 in recent years. In all cases, the design and implementation of the hydraulic fracturing process play a central role, highlighting the significance of research and development of this technique. However, the uncertainty behind the fracking mechanism has triggered public debates regarding the possible effect of this technique on human health and the environment. This has presented new challenges in the study of the hydraulic fracturing process. This paper describes the hydraulic fracturing mechanism and provides an overview of past and recent developments of the research performed towards better understandings of the hydraulic fracturing and its potential impacts, with particular emphasis on the development of modelling techniques and their implementation on the hydraulic fracturing.

ANN Model for Predicting the Impact of Submerged Aquatic Weeds Existence on the Hydraulic Performance of Branched Open Channel System Accompanied by Water Structures

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Abdeen, Mostafa A. M.; Abdin, Alla E.

2007-01-01

The existence of hydraulic structures in a branched open channel system urges the need for considering the gradually varied flow criterion in evaluating the different hydraulic characteristics in this type of open channel system. Computations of hydraulic characteristics such as flow rates and water surface profiles in branched open channel system with hydraulic structures require tremendous numerical effort especially when the flow cannot be assumed uniform. In addition, the existence of submerged aquatic weeds in this branched open channel system adds to the complexity of the evaluation of the different hydraulic characteristics for this system. However, this existence of aquatic weeds can not be neglected since it is very common in Egyptian open channel systems. Artificial Neural Network (ANN) has been widely utilized in the past decade in civil engineering applications for the simulation and prediction of the different physical phenomena and has proven its capabilities in the different fields. The present study aims towards introducing the use of ANN technique to model and predict the impact of submerged aquatic weeds existence on the hydraulic performance of branched open channel system. Specifically the current paper investigates a branched open channel system that consists of main channel supplies water to two branch channels that are infested by submerged aquatic weeds and have water structures such as clear over fall weirs and sluice gates. The results of this study showed that ANN technique was capable, with small computational effort and high accuracy, of predicting the impact of different infestation percentage for submerged aquatic weeds on the hydraulic performance of branched open channel system with two different hydraulic structures

Overview of results of the first phase of validation activities for the IFMIF High Flux Test Module

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Arbeiter, Frederik, E-mail: frederik.arbeiter@kit.edu [Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Karlsruhe (Germany); Chen Yuming; Dolensky, Bernhard; Freund, Jana; Heupel, Tobias; Klein, Christine; Scheel, Nicola; Schlindwein, Georg [Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Karlsruhe (Germany)

2012-08-15

Highlights: Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Validation of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) modeling approach for application in the IFMIF High Flux Test Module. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Fabrication of prototypes of the irradiation capsules of the IFMIF High Flux Test Module. - Abstract: The international fusion materials irradiation facility (IFMIF) is projected to create an experimentally validated database of material properties relevant for fusion reactor designs. The IFMIF High Flux Test Module is the dedicated experiment to irradiate alloys in the temperature range 250-550 Degree-Sign C and up to 50 displacements per atom per irradiation cycle. The High Flux Test Module is developed to maximize the specimen payload in the restricted irradiation volume, and to minimize the temperature spread within each specimen bundle. Low pressure helium mini-channel cooling is used to offer a high integration density. Due to the demanding thermo-hydraulic and mechanical conditions, the engineering design process (involving numerical neutronic, thermo-hydraulic and mechanical analyses) is supported by extensive experimental validation activities. This paper reports on the prototype manufacturing, thermo-hydraulic modeling experiments and component tests, as well as on mechanical testing. For the testing of the 1:1 prototype of the High Flux Test Module, a dedicated test facility, the Helium Loop Karlsruhe-Low Pressure (HELOKA-LP) has been taken into service.

DCS Hydraulics Submittal, Bullock County, Alabama, USA

Data.gov (United States)

Federal Emergency Management Agency, Department of Homeland Security — Hydraulics data includes spatial datasets and data tables necessary for documenting the hydraulic procedures for computing flood elevations for a flood insurance...

DCS Hydraulics Submittal, Butler County, Alabama, USA

Data.gov (United States)

Federal Emergency Management Agency, Department of Homeland Security — Hydraulics data includes spatial datasets and data tables necessary for documenting the hydraulic procedures for computing flood elevations for a flood insurance...

DCS Hydraulics Submittal, Covington County, Alabama, USA

Data.gov (United States)

Federal Emergency Management Agency, Department of Homeland Security — Hydraulics data includes spatial datasets and data tables necessary for documenting the hydraulic procedures for computing flood elevations for a flood insurance...

Finite element implementation of a thermo-damage-viscoelastic constitutive model for hydroxyl-terminated polybutadiene composite propellant

Science.gov (United States)

Xu, Jinsheng; Han, Long; Zheng, Jian; Chen, Xiong; Zhou, Changsheng

2017-11-01

A thermo-damage-viscoelastic model for hydroxyl-terminated polybutadiene (HTPB) composite propellant with consideration for the effect of temperature was implemented in ABAQUS. The damage evolution law of the model has the same form as the crack growth equation for viscoelastic materials, and only a single damage variable S is considered. The HTPB propellant was considered as an isotropic material, and the deviatoric and volumetric strain-stress relations are decoupled and described by the bulk and shear relaxation moduli, respectively. The stress update equations were expressed by the principal stresses σ_{ii}R and the rotation tensor M, the Jacobian matrix in the global coordinate system J_{ijkl} was obtained according to the fourth-order tensor transformation rules. Two models having complex stress states were used to verify the accuracy of the constitutive model. The test results showed good agreement with the strain responses of characteristic points measured by a contactless optical deformation test system, which illustrates that the thermo-damage-viscoelastic model perform well at describing the mechanical properties of an HTPB propellant.

COBRA-SFS [Spent Fuel Storage]: A thermal-hydraulic analysis computer code: Volume 2, User's manual

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rector, D.R.; Cuta, J.M.; Lombardo, N.J.; Michener, T.E.; Wheeler, C.L.

1986-11-01

COBRA-SFS (Spent Fuel Storage) is a general thermal-hydraulic analysis computer code used to predict temperatures and velocities in a wide variety of systems. The code was refined and specialized for spent fuel storage system analyses for the US Department of Energy's Commercial Spent Fuel Management Program. The finite-volume equations governing mass, momentum, and energy conservation are written for an incompressible, single-phase fluid. The flow equations model a wide range of conditions including natural circulation. The energy equations include the effects of solid and fluid conduction, natural convection, and thermal radiation. The COBRA-SFS code is structured to perform both steady-state and transient calculations; however, the transient capability has not yet been validated. This volume contains the input instructions for COBRA-SFS and an auxiliary radiation exchange factor code, RADX-1. It is intended to aid the user in becoming familiar with the capabilities and modeling conventions of the code

Modelling of thermo-hydro-mechanical couplings and damage of viscoplastic rocks in the context of radioactive waste storage

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kharkhour, H.

2002-12-01

Trying to develop a model taking into account the complex rheology of a geologic media characterized by visco-plasticity, damage and thermo-hydro-mechanical couplings is unusual in geotechnics. This is not the case for radioactive waste storage that presents specificities from several viewpoints. Indeed, the scales of time and space concerned by this type of storage are disproportionate to those of civil engineering works or mines. Another specificity of the radioactive waste storage lies in the coupled processes involved. No effect likely to compromise the long-term security of the storage could be ignored. For example this is the case of damage, a phenomenon which does not necessarily lead to a major change of the mechanical behavior of the works but can influence the permeability of the medium in relation with a migration of radionuclides. It can be conceived that this phenomenon finds all its importance in the context of the thermo-hydro-mechanical couplings of a waste storage with high activity. However, the interaction between the damage and the THM coupled processes was the object of very few research subject up to now. This. is even more true for viscoplastic media considered as ductile, and therefore, less prone to cracking than brittle media. It is exactly in this 'original' but difficult context that took place the research presented in this report. This study was dedicated to the analysis of the phenomena and the thermal, hydraulic and mechanical couplings occurring in the near and far field of a high activity radioactive waste storage. Two examples of geological media were considered in this report: the clayey rock of Callovo-Oxfordian, called ' Argilites de l'Est ', target rock of the ANDRA project to carry out a subterranean laboratory for the study of long life radioactive waste storage; and the salt rock of the. subterranean laboratory in the old salt mine of Asse in Germany. (author)

Estimation of changes in dynamic hydraulic force in a magnetically suspended centrifugal blood pump with transient computational fluid dynamics analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Masuzawa, Toru; Ohta, Akiko; Tanaka, Nobuatu; Qian, Yi; Tsukiya, Tomonori

2009-01-01

The effect of the hydraulic force on magnetically levitated (maglev) pumps should be studied carefully to improve the suspension performance and the reliability of the pumps. A maglev centrifugal pump, developed at Ibaraki University, was modeled with 926 376 hexahedral elements for computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analyses. The pump has a fully open six-vane impeller with a diameter of 72.5 mm. A self-bearing motor suspends the impeller in the radial direction. The maximum pressure head and flow rate were 250 mmHg and 14 l/min, respectively. First, a steady-state analysis was performed using commercial code STAR-CD to confirm the model's suitability by comparing the results with the real pump performance. Second, transient analysis was performed to estimate the hydraulic force on the levitated impeller. The impeller was rotated in steps of 1 degrees using a sliding mesh. The force around the impeller was integrated at every step. The transient analysis revealed that the direction of the radial force changed dynamically as the vane's position changed relative to the outlet port during one circulation, and the magnitude of this force was about 1 N. The current maglev pump has sufficient performance to counteract this hydraulic force. Transient CFD analysis is not only useful for observing dynamic flow conditions in a centrifugal pump but is also effective for obtaining information about the levitation dynamics of a maglev pump.

Standardization of Thermo-Fluid Modeling in Modelica.Fluid

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Franke, Rudiger; Casella, Francesco; Sielemann, Michael; Proelss, Katrin; Otter, Martin; Wetter, Michael

2009-09-01

This article discusses the Modelica.Fluid library that has been included in the Modelica Standard Library 3.1. Modelica.Fluid provides interfaces and basic components for the device-oriented modeling of onedimensional thermo-fluid flow in networks containing vessels, pipes, fluid machines, valves and fittings. A unique feature of Modelica.Fluid is that the component equations and the media models as well as pressure loss and heat transfer correlations are decoupled from each other. All components are implemented such that they can be used for media from the Modelica.Media library. This means that an incompressible or compressible medium, a single or a multiple substance medium with one or more phases might be used with one and the same model as long as the modeling assumptions made hold. Furthermore, trace substances are supported. Modeling assumptions can be configured globally in an outer System object. This covers in particular the initialization, uni- or bi-directional flow, and dynamic or steady-state formulation of mass, energy, and momentum balance. All assumptions can be locally refined for every component. While Modelica.Fluid contains a reasonable set of component models, the goal of the library is not to provide a comprehensive set of models, but rather to provide interfaces and best practices for the treatment of issues such as connector design and implementation of energy, mass and momentum balances. Applications from various domains are presented.

Thermo-magneto-elastoplastic coupling model of metal magnetic memory testing method for ferromagnetic materials

Science.gov (United States)

Shi, Pengpeng; Zhang, Pengcheng; Jin, Ke; Chen, Zhenmao; Zheng, Xiaojing

2018-04-01

Metal magnetic memory (MMM) testing (also known as micro-magnetic testing) is a new non-destructive electromagnetic testing method that can diagnose ferromagnetic materials at an early stage by measuring the MMM signal directly on the material surface. Previous experiments have shown that many factors affect MMM signals, in particular, the temperature, the elastoplastic state, and the complex environmental magnetic field. However, the fact that there have been only a few studies of either how these factors affect the signals or the physical coupling mechanisms among them seriously limits the industrial applications of MMM testing. In this paper, a nonlinear constitutive relation for a ferromagnetic material considering the influences of temperature and elastoplastic state is established under a weak magnetic field and is used to establish a nonlinear thermo-magneto-elastoplastic coupling model of MMM testing. Comparing with experimental data verifies that the proposed theoretical model can accurately describe the thermo-magneto-elastoplastic coupling influence on MMM signals. The proposed theoretical model can predict the MMM signals in a complex environment and so is expected to provide a theoretical basis for improving the degree of quantification in MMM testing.

Adaptive PID and Model Reference Adaptive Control Switch Controller for Nonlinear Hydraulic Actuator

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xin Zuo

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Nonlinear systems are modeled as piecewise linear systems at multiple operating points, where the operating points are modeled as switches between constituent linearized systems. In this paper, adaptive piecewise linear switch controller is proposed for improving the response time and tracking performance of the hydraulic actuator control system, which is essentially piecewise linear. The controller composed of PID and Model Reference Adaptive Control (MRAC adaptively chooses the proportion of these two components and makes the designed system have faster response time at the transient phase and better tracking performance, simultaneously. Then, their stability and tracking performance are analyzed and evaluated by the hydraulic actuator control system, the hydraulic actuator is controlled by the electrohydraulic system, and its model is built, which has piecewise linear characteristic. Then the controller results are compared between PID and MRAC and the switch controller designed in this paper is applied to the hydraulic actuator; it is obvious that adaptive switch controller has better effects both on response time and on tracking performance.

Water Hydraulic Systems

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Conrad, Finn

2005-01-01

The paper presents research results using IT-Tools for CAD and dynamic modelling, simulation, analysis, and design of water hydraulic actuators for motion control of machines, lifts, cranes and robots. Matlab/Simulink and CATIA are used as IT-Tools. The contributions include results from on......-going research projects on fluid power and mechatronics based on tap water hydraulic servovalves and linear servo actuators and rotary vane actuators for motion control and power transmission. Development and design a novel water hydraulic rotary vane actuator for robot manipulators. Proposed mathematical...... modelling, control and simulation of a water hydraulic rotary vane actuator applied to power and control a two-links manipulator and evaluate performance. The results include engineering design and test of the proposed simulation models compared with IHA Tampere University’s presentation of research...

GSTARS computer models and their applications, part I: theoretical development

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, C.T.; Simoes, F.J.M.

2008-01-01

GSTARS is a series of computer models developed by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation for alluvial river and reservoir sedimentation studies while the authors were employed by that agency. The first version of GSTARS was released in 1986 using Fortran IV for mainframe computers. GSTARS 2.0 was released in 1998 for personal computer application with most of the code in the original GSTARS revised, improved, and expanded using Fortran IV/77. GSTARS 2.1 is an improved and revised GSTARS 2.0 with graphical user interface. The unique features of all GSTARS models are the conjunctive use of the stream tube concept and of the minimum stream power theory. The application of minimum stream power theory allows the determination of optimum channel geometry with variable channel width and cross-sectional shape. The use of the stream tube concept enables the simulation of river hydraulics using one-dimensional numerical solutions to obtain a semi-two- dimensional presentation of the hydraulic conditions along and across an alluvial channel. According to the stream tube concept, no water or sediment particles can cross the walls of stream tubes, which is valid for many natural rivers. At and near sharp bends, however, sediment particles may cross the boundaries of stream tubes. GSTARS3, based on FORTRAN 90/95, addresses this phenomenon and further expands the capabilities of GSTARS 2.1 for cohesive and non-cohesive sediment transport in rivers and reservoirs. This paper presents the concepts, methods, and techniques used to develop the GSTARS series of computer models, especially GSTARS3. ?? 2008 International Research and Training Centre on Erosion and Sedimentation and the World Association for Sedimentation and Erosion Research.

Multi-scale modeling of the thermo-mechanical behavior of particle-based composites

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Di Paola, F.

2010-01-01

The aim of this work was to perform numerical simulations of the thermal and mechanical behavior of a particle-based nuclear fuel. This is a refractory composite material made of UO 2 spherical particles which are coated with two layers of pyrocarbon and embedded in a graphite matrix at a high volume fraction (45%). The objective was to develop a multi-scale modeling of this composite material which can estimate its mean behavior as well as the heterogeneity of the local mechanical variables. The first part of this work was dedicated to the modeling of the microstructure in 3D. To do this, we developed tools to generate random distributions of spheres, meshes and to characterize the morphology of the microstructure towards the finite element code Cast3M. A hundred of numerical samples of the composite were created. The second part was devoted to the characterization of the thermo-elastic behavior by the finite element modeling of the samples. We studied the influence of different modeling parameters, one of them is the boundary conditions. We proposed a method to vanish the boundary conditions effects from the computed solution by analyzing it on an internal sub-volume of the sample obtained by erosion. Then, we determined the effective properties (elastic moduli, thermal conductivity and thermal expansion) and the stress distribution within the matrix. Finally, in the third part we proposed a multi-scale modeling to determine the mean values and the variance and covariance of the local mechanical variables for any macroscopic load. This statistical approach have been used to estimate the intra-phase distribution of these variables in the composite material. (author) [fr

Multi-scale modeling of the thermo-mechanical behavior of particle-based composites

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Di Paola, F.

2010-11-01

The aim of this work was to perform numerical simulations of the thermal and mechanical behavior of a particle-based nuclear fuel. This is a refractory composite material made of UO 2 spherical particles which are coated with two layers of pyrocarbon and embedded in a graphite matrix at a high volume fraction (45 %). The objective was to develop a multi-scale modeling of this composite material which can estimate its mean behavior as well as the heterogeneity of the local mechanical variables. The first part of this work was dedicated to the modeling of the microstructure in 3D. To do this, we developed tools to generate random distributions of spheres, meshes and to characterize the morphology of the microstructure towards the finite element code Cast3M. A hundred of numerical samples of the composite were created. The second part was devoted to the characterization of the thermo-elastic behavior by the finite element modeling of the samples. We studied the influence of different modeling parameters, one of them is the boundary conditions. We proposed a method to vanish the boundary conditions effects from the computed solution by analyzing it on an internal sub-volume of the sample obtained by erosion. Then, we determined the effective properties (elastic moduli, thermal conductivity and thermal expansion) and the stress distribution within the matrix. Finally, in the third part we proposed a multi-scale modeling to determine the mean values and the variance and covariance of the local mechanical variables for any macroscopic load. This statistical approach have been used to estimate the intra-phase distribution of these variables in the composite material. (author)

Experimental studies of thermo-hydraulic processes during passive safety systems operation in new WWER NPP projects

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Morozov, A.V.; Remizov, O.V.; Kalyakin, D.S.

2014-01-01

The results of experimental study of thermal-hydraulic processes during operation of the passive safety systems of WWER reactors of new generation are given. The interaction processes of counter flows of saturated steam and cold water in vertical steam-line of the auxiliary passive core reflood system from secondary hydraulic accumulator are studied. The peculiarities of undeveloped boiling on single horizontal tube heating by steam and steam-gas mixture, which is character for WWER steam generator condensing mode, are investigated [ru

Thermo-hydro-mechanical behaviour of Boom clay; Comportement thermo-hydro-mecanique de l'argile de Boom

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Le, T.T

2008-01-15

This thesis studied the thermo-hydro-mechanical properties of Boom clay, which was chosen to be the host material for the radioactive waste disposal in Mol, Belgium. Firstly, the research was concentrated on the soil water retention properties and the hydro-mechanical coupling by carrying out axial compression tests with suction monitoring. The results obtained permitted elaborating a rational experimental procedure for triaxial tests. Secondly, the systems for high pressure triaxial test at controlled temperature were developed to carry out compression, heating, and shearing tests at different temperatures. The obtained results showed clear visco-elasto-plastic behaviour of the soil. This behaviour was modelled by extending the thermo-elasto-plastic model of Cui et al. (2000) to creep effect. (author)

Morphodynamic Modeling Using The SToRM Computational System

Science.gov (United States)

Simoes, F.

2016-12-01

The framework of the work presented here is the open source SToRM (System for Transport and River Modeling) eco-hydraulics modeling system, which is one of the models released with the iRIC hydraulic modeling graphical software package (http://i-ric.org/). SToRM has been applied to the simulation of various complex environmental problems, including natural waterways, steep channels with regime transition, and rapidly varying flood flows with wetting and drying fronts. In its previous version, however, channel bed was treated as static and the ability of simulating sediment transport rates or bed deformation was not included. The work presented here reports SToRM's newly developed extensions to expand the system's capability to calculate morphological changes in alluvial river systems. The sediment transport module of SToRM has been developed based on the general recognition that meaningful advances depend on physically solid formulations and robust and accurate numerical solution methods. The basic concepts of mass and momentum conservation are used, where the feedback mechanisms between the flow of water, the sediment in transport, and the bed changes are directly incorporated in the governing equations used in the mathematical model. This is accomplished via a non-capacity transport formulation based on the work of Cao et al. [Z. Cao et al., "Non-capacity or capacity model for fluvial sediment transport," Water Management, 165(WM4):193-211, 2012], where the governing equations are augmented with source/sink terms due to water-sediment interaction. The same unsteady, shock-capturing numerical schemes originally used in SToRM were adapted to the new physics, using a control volume formulation over unstructured computational grids. The presentation will include a brief overview of these methodologies, and the result of applications of the model to a number of relevant physical test cases with movable bed, where computational results are compared to experimental data.

Operating problem of low specific speed pumps operating in closed hydraulic loop

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rajput, A.K.

1979-01-01

Results of the studies of pressure pulsations caused by the centrifugal pump driving a typical sodium test loop are presented. The method of characteristics has been used for solving the equations of unsteady fluid flow in closed hydraulic loops with various boundary points, important of which are pump, control valve and heater tank (acting hydraulically as surge tank). Mathematical and computational models used for calculations are described. (M.G.B.)

Investigation research on the evaluation of a coupled thermo-hydro-mechanical-chemical phenomena. 4

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ishihara, Yoshinao; Sagawa, Hiroshi; Matsuoka, Fushiki; Chijimatsu, Masakazu; Amemiya, Kiyoshi

2005-02-01

In order to realize a coupling analysis in the near field of the geological disposal system, the coupling analysis code 'COUPLYS (Coupling analysis system)' on the Thermo-Hydro-Mechanical-Chemical (THMC) phenomena by THAMES, Dtransu-3D·EL and PHREEQC, those are existing analysis code, is developed in this study. (1) We have introduced 8 nodes element for THAMES code in order to solve the coupled thermal, hydraulic and mechanical phenomena. Furthermore, in order to obtain the reliable resolution, each phenomenon is solved separately instead of full coupling. (2) In order to upgrade Dtransu-3D·EL model, we have introduced gas diffusion independent on aqueous element. (3) We have adopted surface site density for the bentonite depend on water content and CSH solid phase based on the ratio of C/S for cementitious material in the geochemistry module, and studied on the methodology of time mesh for kinetic model and separate method for pore water chemistry in the bentonite. (4) In order to develop THMC code, we have modified Multi p hreeqc to keep efficiency distributed processing for geochemical calculation and modified COUPLYS to calculate continuous treatment, and studied on the coupling module. After THAMES, Dtransu, PHREEQC and the hydraulic conductivity module were installed in COUPLYS, verification study was carried out to check basic function. (5) In order to ensure efficiency of analysis processor, we have developed supporting tool for graphic processor for THMC code and supporting tool of interpretation for geochemistry results. (author)

Magnetic Field and Torque Output of Packaged Hydraulic Torque Motor

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Liang Yan

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Hydraulic torque motors are one key component in electro-hydraulic servo valves that convert the electrical signal into mechanical motions. The systematic characteristics analysis of the hydraulic torque motor has not been found in the previous research, including the distribution of the electromagnetic field and torque output, and particularly the relationship between them. In addition, conventional studies of hydraulic torque motors generally assume an evenly distributed magnetic flux field and ignore the influence of special mechanical geometry in the air gaps, which may compromise the accuracy of analyzing the result and the high-precision motion control performance. Therefore, the objective of this study is to conduct a detailed analysis of the distribution of the magnetic field and torque output; the influence of limiting holes in the air gaps is considered to improve the accuracy of both numerical computation and analytical modeling. The structure and working principle of the torque motor are presented first. The magnetic field distribution in the air gaps and the magnetic saturation in the iron blocks are analyzed by using a numerical approach. Subsequently, the torque generation with respect to the current input and assembly errors is analyzed in detail. This shows that the influence of limiting holes on the magnetic field is consistent with that on torque generation. Following this, a novel modified equivalent magnetic circuit is proposed to formulate the torque output of the hydraulic torque motor analytically. The comparison among the modified equivalent magnetic circuit, the conventional modeling approach and the numerical computation is conducted, and it is found that the proposed method helps to improve the modeling accuracy by taking into account the effect of special geometry inside the air gaps.