• Journal of computational fluids engineering
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.89-97
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• 2016

In this study, direct code coupling, in which two codes share a single flow field, was conducted using 3-dimensional high resolution thermal hydraulics code, CUPID and 1-dimensional system analysis code, MARS. This approach provide the merit to use versatile capability of MARS for nuclear power plants and 3-dimensional T/H analysis capability of CUPID. Numerical Method to directly couple CUPID and MARS was described in this paper. The straight flow and manometer flow oscillation were calculated to verify conservation of coupled CUPID/MARS code in mass, momentum, and energy. This verification calculations indicates that the CUPID/MARS is coupled appropriately in numerical aspect and the coupled code can be applied to nuclear reactor thermal hydraulics after validation against integral transient experiments.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.46 no.5
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• pp.655-666
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• 2014

The CUPID code has been developed at KAERI for a transient, three-dimensional analysis of a two-phase flow in light water nuclear reactor components. It can provide both a component-scale and a CFD-scale simulation by using a porous media or an open media model for a two-phase flow. In this paper, recent advances in the CUPID code are presented in three sections. First, the domain decomposition parallel method implemented in the CUPID code is described with the parallel efficiency test for multiple processors. Then, the coupling of CUPID-MARS via heat structure is introduced, where CUPID has been coupled with a system-scale thermal-hydraulics code, MARS, through the heat structure. The coupled code has been applied to a multi-scale thermal-hydraulic analysis of a pool mixing test. Finally, CUPID-SG is developed for analyzing two-phase flows in PWR steam generators. Physical models and validation results of CUPID-SG are discussed.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.49 no.6
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• pp.1339-1345
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• 2017

In the framework of the EU funded project NURESAFE, the subchannel code CTF and the neutronics code DYN3D were integrated and coupled on the NURESIM platform. The developments achieved during this 3-year project include assembly-level and pin-by-pin multiphysics thermal hydraulics/neutron kinetics coupling. In order to test this coupling, a PWR rod ejection transient was simulated on a MOX/UOX minicore. The transient is simulated using two different models of the minicore. In the first simulation, both codes model the core with an assembly-wise resolution. In the second simulation, a pin-by-pin fuel-centered model is used in CTF for the central assembly, and a pin power reconstruction method is applied in DYN3D. The analysis shows the influence of the different models on global parameters, such as the power and the average fuel temperature, but also on local parameters such as the maximum fuel temperature.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.54 no.1
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• pp.97-109
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• 2022

Multi-dimensional coupling analysis is a research hot spot in nuclear reactor thermal hydraulic study and both the full-scale system transient response and local key three-dimensional thermal hydraulic phenomenon could be obtained simultaneously, which can achieve the balance between efficiency and accuracy in the numerical simulation of nuclear reactor. A one-dimensional to three-dimensional (1D-3D) coupling platform for the nuclear reactor multi-dimensional analysis is developed by XJTU-NuTheL (Nuclear Thermal-hydraulic Laboratory at Xi'an Jiaotong University) based on the CFD code Fluent and system code RELAP5 through the Dynamic Link Library (DLL) technology and Fluent user-defined functions (UDF). In this paper, the International Standard Problem (ISP) No. 43 is selected as the benchmark and the rapid boron dilution transient in the nuclear reactor is studied with the coupling code. The code validation is conducted first and the numerical simulation results show good agreement with the experimental data. The three-dimensional flow and temperature fields in the downcomer are analyzed in detail during the transient scenarios. The strong reverse flow is observed beneath the inlet cold leg, causing the de-borated water slug to mainly diffuse in the circumferential direction. The deviations between the experimental data and the transients predicted by the coupling code are also discussed.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.54 no.12
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• pp.4460-4473
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• 2022

The behaviour of the fission gas plays an important role in the fuel rod performance. In a previous work, we presented a physics-based model describing intra- and inter-granular behaviour of radioactive fission gas. The model was implemented in SCIANTIX, a mesoscale module for fission gas behaviour, and assessed against the CONTACT 1 irradiation experiment. In this work, we present the multi-scale coupling between the TRANSURANUS fuel performance code and SCIANTIX, used as mechanistic module for stable and radioactive fission gas behaviour. We exploit the coupled code version to reproduce two integral irradiation experiments involving standard fuel rod segments in steady-state operation (CONTACT 1) and during successive power transients (HATAC C2). The simulation results demonstrate the predictive capabilities of the code coupling and contribute to the integral validation of the models implemented in SCIANTIX.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.53 no.8
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• pp.2488-2498
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• 2021

The wall film-wise condensation plays an important role in the heat transfer processes of heat exchangers, refrigerators, and air conditioner. In the field of nuclear engineering, steam condensation is often utilized in safety systems to remove the core decay heat under both transient and accident conditions. In particular, passive containment cooling system (PCCS), are designed to ensure containment safety under severe accident conditions. A computational fluid dynamics (CFD) scale analysis has been conducted to calculate the heat transfer rate of the PCCS. However, despite the increase in computing power, there are challenges in the long-term transient simulation of containment using CFD scale codes. In this study, a heat structure coupling between the CFD and system analysis codes was performed to efficiently analyze PCCS. In addition, the component unstructured program for interfacial dynamics (CUPID) was improved to analyze the condensation behavior of ternary gas mixtures. Thereafter, the condensation heat transfer on the primary side was calculated using the improved CUPID and CFD code, whereas that on the secondary side was simulated using MARS. Both the coupled codes were validated against the CONAN facility database. Finally, conjugate heat transfer simulations with wall condensation in the presence of non-condensable gases were appropriately performed.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.501-515
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• 2014

This paper presents a linear computational homogenization framework to evaluate the effective (or generalized) electromechanical coupling coefficient (EMCC) of adaptive structures with piezoelectric structural fiber (PSF) composite elements. The PSF consists of a silicon carbide (SiC) or carbon core fiber as reinforcement to a fragile piezo-ceramic shell. For the micro-scale analysis, a micromechanics model based on the variational asymptotic method for unit cell homogenization (VAMUCH) is used to evaluate the overall electromechanical properties of the PSF composites. At the macro-scale, a finite element (FE) analysis with the commercial FE code ABAQUS is performed to evaluate the effective EMCC for structures with the PSF composite patches. The EMCC is postprocessed from free-vibrations analysis under short-circuit (SC) and open-circuit (OC) electrodes of the patches. This linear two-scale computational framework may be useful for the optimal design of active structure multi-functional composites which can be used for multi-functional applications such as structural health monitoring, power harvest, vibration sensing and control, damping, and shape control through anisotropic actuation.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.231-257
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• 2022

Transmission lines systems are important components of the electrical power infrastructure. However, these systems are vulnerable to damage from high wind events such as hurricanes. This study presents the results from a 1:50 scale aeroelastic model of a multi-span transmission lines system subjected to simulated hurricane winds. The transmission lines system considered in this study consists of three lattice towers, four spans of conductors and two end-frames. The aeroelastic tests were conducted at the NSF NHERI Wall of Wind Experimental Facility (WOW EF) at the Florida International University (FIU). A horizontal distortion scaling technique was used in order to fit the entire model on the WOW turntable. The system was tested at various wind speeds ranging from 35 m/s to 78 m/s (equivalent full-scale speeds) for varying wind directions. A system identification (SID) technique was used to evaluate experimental-based along-wind aerodynamic damping coefficients and compare with their theoretical counterparts. Comparisons were done for two aeroelastic models: (i) a self-supported lattice tower, and (ii) a multi-span transmission lines system. A buffeting analysis was conducted to estimate the response of the conductors and compare it to measured experimental values. The responses of the single lattice tower and the multi-span transmission lines system were compared. The coupling effects seem to drastically change the aerodynamic damping of the system, compared to the single lattice tower case. The estimation of the drag forces on the conductors are in good agreement with their experimental counterparts. The incorporation of the change in turbulence intensity along the height of the towers appears to better estimate the response of the transmission tower, in comparison with previous methods which assumed constant turbulence intensity. Dynamic amplification factors and gust effect factors were computed, and comparisons were made with code specific values. The resonance contribution is shown to reach a maximum of 18% and 30% of the peak response of the stand-alone tower and entire system, respectively.