Thermal-hydraulic and stress analysis of AP1000 reactor containment during LOCA in dry cooling mode

Some kinds of break in the reactor coolant system may cause the coolant to exit rapidly from the failure site,which leads to the loss of coolant accident(LOCA).In this paper,a stress analysis of an AP1000 reactor containment is performed in an LOCA,with the passive containment cooling system(PCCS) being available and not available for cooling the wall's containment.The variations in the mechanical properties of the wall's containment,including elastic modulus,strength,and stress,are analyzed using the ABAQUS code.A general two-phase model is applied for modeling thermal-hydraulic behavior inside the containment.Obtained pressure and temperature from thermal-hydraulic models are considered as boundary conditions of the ABAQUS code to obtain distributions of temperature and stress across steel shell of the containment in the accident.The results indicate that if the PCCS fails,the peak pressure inside the containment exceeds the design value.However,the stress would still be lower than the yield stress value,and no risk would threaten the integrity of the containment.

Numerical and experimental analysis of the closed-cell aluminium foam under low velocity impact using computerized tomography technique

In the present work, the response of closed-cell aluminum foams under low-velocity impact has been studied numerically and experimentally. Computerized tomography is employed to access three-dimensional (3D) microstructure of the closed-cell aluminum foam. Effective parameters including foam density and the velocity of impactor on foam dynamic behavior are investigated. In order to show the validity and accuracy of results, some static experiments and low-velocity impact tests have been conducted. Results in dicate a remarkable agree me nt between the simulation and experimental data. Moreover, the results show that by increasing the density of foam samples, the highest difference between numerical and experimenidi results for peak stress and absorbed energy are 35.9% and 6.9%, respectively, which is related to the highest density. For impact velocities ranging from 3.1 to 4.2 m/s, the maximum discrepancy in peak stress and absorbed energy occur at an inipact velocity of 3.1 m/s in which corresponding errors are 33.3% and 6.6%, respectively. For the impact velocity of 40 m/s, the highest increase in peak stress and absorbed energy are 667.9% and 370.3% associated with the density of 0.5 and 0.3 g/cm^3, respectively.

High-order fully implicit SIMPLE-based model for fully implicit simulation of upward two-phase flow

The drift-flux model has a practical importance in two-phase flow analysis.In this study,a finite volume solution is developed for a transient four-equation drift-flux model through the staggered mesh,leading to the development of a fully implicit discretization method.The main advantage of the fully implicit method is its unconditional stability.Newton's scheme is a popular method of choice for the solution of a nonlinear system of equations arising from fully implicit discretization of field equations.However,the lack of convergence robustness and the construction of Jacobian matrix have created several difficulties for the researchers.In this paper,a fully implicit model is developed based on the SIMPLE algorithm for two-phase flow simulations.The drawbacks of Newton's method are avoided in the developed model.Different limiter functions are considered,and the stabilized method is developed under steady and transient conditions.The results obtained by the numerical modeling are in good agreement with the experimental data.As expected,the results prove that the developed model is not restricted by any stability limit.

Thermal-hydraulic performance analysis of a subchannel with square and triangle fuel rod arrangements using the entropy generation approach

The present paper discusses entropy generation in fully developed turbulent flows through a subchannel,arranged in square and triangle arrays. Entropy generation is due to contribution of both heat transfer and pressure drop. Our main objective is to study the effect of key parameters such as spacer grid, fuel rod power distribution,Reynolds number Re, dimensionless heat power ω, lengthto-fuel-diameter ratio λ, and pitch-to-diameter ratio ξ on subchannel entropy generation. The analysis explicitly shows the contribution of heat transfer and pressure drop to the total entropy generation. An analytical formulation is introduced to total entropy generation for situations with uniform and sinusoidal rod power distribution. It is concluded that power distribution affects entropy generation.A smoother power profile leads to less entropy generation.The entropy generation of square rod array bundles is more efficient than that of triangular rod arrays, and spacer grids generate more entropy.

Utilization of mechanical compression as a disinfestation technique for Hessian fly(Mayetiola destructor(say))in timothy hay:Field test

Baled timothy hay underwent testing at a hay processing plant in Canada to determine if mechanical compression(rebaling)could be used as a disinfestation protocol for Hessian fly(Mayetiola destructor(Say))puparia.Pressure sensitive films were randomly placed throughout the hay material,on the chamber walls,and in different orientations,to assess the hay compaction unit’s ability to induce the required pressure to crash a Hessian fly puparium in the hay.Attached to the pressure films were organdy cages containing wheat seedlings infested with Hessian fly puparia.The variables which were tested included the hold time(0.5 and 2.0 s),applied pressure(10.34 and 12.41 MPa),and timothy hay quality(low-moisture first cut,high-moisture first cut and high-moisture second cut hay).A total of 36 tests were conducted.For each test,10 Hessian fly cages and 10 pressure sensitive films were used.Each test cage contained approximately 168.56 Hessian fly puparia,translating into a total Hessian fly count of 60681 for the entire field test.Analysis of the pressure sensitive films showed that 100%of the hay experienced at least 200 kPa(29 psi)of pressure.Following the 75-day post experiment emergence period,0.0066%of the puparia survived,which may be due to the fact that the emerged puparia might have not been crushed and not subjected to a pressure of at least 20.6 kPa.The applied pressures affected Hessian fly emergence by considerably reducing the number of puparia that emerged.However,Hessian fly emerged from one of the cages in two tests.Most of the Hessian fly puparia were destroyed irrespective of the applied pressure,hold time or hay quality.