• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
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• v.40 no.3
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• pp.157-164
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• 2016

The performance of convective heat transfer in rod bundle flow was experimentally evaluated using a twist-vane spacer grid. A $4{\times}4$ square-arrayed rod bundle was prepared as the test section, with a pitch-to-diameter ratio(P/D) of ~1.35. To check the convective heat transfer performance, the circumferential and longitudinal variations in rod-wall temperatures were measured downstream of the twist-vane spacer grid. In the circumferential measurements, the rod-wall temperature toward the twist-vane tip showed the lowest value, which might be due to the deflected water flow caused by the twist-vane. On the other hand, the wall temperature of the longitudinal measurements near the twist-vane spacer grid decreased dramatically, which implies that the convective heat transfer performance was enhanced. A heat transfer enhancement of ~35 % was achieved near downstream of the twist-vane spacer grid, as compared with the upstream value. Based on the present experimental data, a correlation for predicting the heat transfer performance of a twist-vane spacer grid was proposed.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
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• v.41 no.1
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• pp.53-62
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• 2017

The forced convection heat transfer performance of a twist-vane spacer grid for a dual-cooled annular fuel assembly was examined experimentally. The twist-vane spacer grid was uniquely designed to enhance mixing inside subchannels and mixing between adjacent subchannels. For testing, a $4{\times}4$ square-arrayed rod bundle with narrow gaps between rods was prepared as the dual-cooled annular fuel assembly to be simulated. The pitch-to-rod diameter ratio of simulated dual-cooled annular fuel assembly was 1.08. The experiments were performed under the following conditions: axial bulk velocity, 1.5 m/s and heat flux, $26kW/m^2$. With regard to the circumferential temperature distribution, the lowest rod-wall temperatures upstream and downstream were measured at the subchannel center and the position toward the tip of twist-vane, respectively. With regard to the axial temperature distribution, behind the twist-vane spacer grid, the rod-wall temperature decreased drastically, and the Nusselt number was enhanced by up to 56 %. The present measured data indicate that the twist-vane spacer grid can effectively improve the forced convection heat transfer in the dual-cooled annular fuel assembly with narrow gaps.

• 한국전산유체공학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2002.05a
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• pp.79-87
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• 2002

The present work analyzed the effect of mixing vane shape on the flow structure and heat transfer downstream of mixing vane in a subchannel of fuel assembly, by obtaining velocity and pressure fields, turbulent intensity, flow-mixing factors, heat transfer coefficient and friction factor using three-dimensional RANS analysis. NJl5, NJ25, NJ35, NJ45, which were designed by the authors, were tested to evaluate the performances in enhancing the heat transfer. Standard $\kappa-\epsilon$ model is used as a turbulence closure model, and, periodic and symmetry conditions are set as boundary conditions. The flow blockage ratio is kept constant, but the twist angle of mixing vane is changed. The results with three turbulence models( $\kappa-\epsilon$, $\kappa-\omega$, RSM) were compared with experimental data.