• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.54 no.5
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• pp.1674-1685
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• 2022

The ball valve is an important device in the pipeline transportation system of nuclear power plants. Its operational stability and safety directly affect the normal working of nuclear power plants. In this study, the transient numerical simulation of the opening and closing process of a ball valve was conducted on the basis of the flow interruption capability experiment of the ball valve by using the moving mesh method and inlet and outlet variable boundary conditions. The flow rate and pressure difference with time of the opening and closing process of the ball valve were studied. The internal flow characteristics of the ball valve under different relative openings were analyzed in conjunction with the typical back-step flow structure. Results show that the transient numerical results agree well with the experimental results. The internal flow characteristics of the ball valve are similar at the same opening during opening and closing process. At small opening, the spool and outlet channels easily form a back-step flow structure. The disappearance and generation of backflow vortices during opening and closing occur at 85% opening and 75% opening, respectively. With the decrease in opening degree, the difference in vortex core area in the flow channel of the ball valve spool in the opening and closing process gradually appears. The research results provide some reference value for the design and optimization of ball valves.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.549-564
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• 2015

The three-dimensional unsteady incompressible Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes equations and k-${\varepsilon}$ double equations turbulent model were used to investigate the effect on the measurements of anemometers due to a passing high-speed train. Sliding mesh technology in Fluent was utilized to treat the moving boundary problem. The high-speed train considered in this paper was with bogies and inter-carriage gaps. Combined with the results of the wind tunnel test in a published paper, the accuracy of the present numerical method was validated to be used for further study. In addition, the difference of slipstream between three-car and eight-car grouping models was analyzed, and a series of numerical simulations were carried out to study the influences of the anemometer heights, the train speeds, the crosswind speeds and the directions of the induced slipstream on the measurements of the anemometers. The results show that the influence factors of the train-induced slipstream are the passing head car and tail car. Using the three-car grouping model to analyze the train-induced flow is reasonable. The maxima of horizontal slipstream velocity tend to reduce as the height of the anemometer increases. With the train speed increasing, the relationship between $V_{train}$ and $V_{induced\;slipstream}$ can be expressed with linear increment. In the absence of natural wind conditions, from the head car arriving to the tail car leaving, the induced wind direction changes about $330^{\circ}$, while under the crosswind condition the wind direction fluctuates around $-90^{\circ}$. With the crosswind speed increasing, the peaks of $V_X,{\mid}V_{XY}-V_{wind}{\mid}$ of the head car and that of $V_X$ of the tail car tend to enlarge. Thus, when anemometers are installed along high-speed railways, it is important to study the effect on the measurements of anemometers due to the train-induced slipstream.