Development of a low-background neutron detector array

A low-background neutron detector array was developed to measure the cross section of the ^(13)C(a,n)^(16)O reaction,which is the neutron source for the s-process in AGB stars,in the Gamow window(E_(c.m.)=190±40 keV)at the China Jinping Underground Laboratory(CJPL).The detector array consists of 24^(3)He proportional counters embedded in a polyethylene cube.Owing to the deep underground location and a borated polyethylene shield around the detector array,a low background of 4.5(2)/h was achieved.The ^(51)V(p,n)^(51)Cr reaction was used to determine the neutron detection efficiency of the array for neutrons with energies E_(n)<1 MeV.Geant4 simulations are shown to effectively reproduce the experimental results.They were used to extrapolate the detection efficiency to higher energies for neutrons emitted in the ^(13)C(α,n)^(16)O reaction.The theoretical angular distributions of the ^(13)C(α,n)^(16)O reaction were shown to be important in the estimation of the uncertainties of the detection efficiency.

A study of the effect of local scour on the flow field near the spur dike

The flow field near a spur dike such as down flow and horseshoe vortex system(HVS)are susceptible to the topographic changes in the local scouring process,resulting in variation of the sediment transport with time.In this study,large eddy simulations with fixed-bed at different scouring stages were conducted to investigate the changes in flow field.The results imply that the bed deformation leads to an increase in flow rate per unit area,which represent the capability of sediment transportation by water,in the scour hole.Moreover,the intensity of turbulent kinetic energy and bimodal motion near the sand bed induced by the HVS were also varied.However,the peak moments between the two sediment transport mechanisms were different.Hence,understanding the complex feedback mechanism between topography and flow field is essential for the local scour problem.

Research on theoretical and numerical methods of single bubble oscillation

A comparison of theoretical investigation and numerical simulation of a single bubble oscillation is carried out in this paper.The theoretical research is based on solving Rayleigh-Plesset(R-P)equation and Keller-Miksis(K-M)equation using Runge-Kutta method.The numerical method focuses on the two discrete methods in the volume of fluid(VOF)method,geometric reconstruction(GR)and modified high resolution interface capturing(MHRIC).The results show that the interface captured by MHRIC in the collapse stage is more stable,and the evolution of bubble radius agrees better with the theoretical solution.The R-P equation and K-M equation,which omit the effect of the energy equation,have limitations when the bubble collapses under ultra-high pressure.