• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.49 no.8
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• pp.1629-1635
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• 2017

Reliable prediction of nuclear fuel rod behavior of nuclear power reactors constitutes a basic demand for steady-state calculations, design purposes, and fuel performance assessment. Perfect design of fuel rods as the first barrier against fission product release is very important. Simulation of fuel rod performance with a code or software is one of the fuel rod design steps. In this study, a software program called MARCODE is developed in MATLAB environment that can analyze the temperature distribution, gap conductance value, and fuel and clad displacement in both solid and annular fuel rods. With a comparison of the maximum fuel temperature, fuel average temperature, fuel surface temperature, and gap conductance in solid and annular fuel, the effects of a central hole on the fuel temperature distribution are investigated.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Systems Engineering
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.33-39
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• 2017

This paper describes the system engineering approach for the heat transfer analysis of plus7 fuel rod for APR1400 using, a commercial software, ANSYS. The fuel rod is composed of fuel pellets, fill gas, end caps, plenum spring and cladding. The heat is transferred from the pellet outward by conduction through the pellet, fill gas and cladding and further by convection from the cladding surface to the coolant in the flow channel. The goal of this paper is to demonstrate the temperature and heat flux change from the fuel centerline to the cladding surface when having maximum fuel centerline temperature at 100% power. This phenomenon is modelled using the ANSYS FEM code and analyzed for steady state temperature distribution across the fuel pellet and clad and the results were compared to the standard values given in APR1400 SSAR. Specifically the applicability of commercial software in the evaluation of nuclear fuel temperature distribution has been accounted. It is note that special codes have been used for fuel rod mechanical analysis which calculates interrelated effects of temperature, pressure, cladding elastic and plastic behavior, fission gas release, and fuel densification and swelling under the time-varying irradiation conditions. To satisfactorily meet this objective we apply system engineering methodologies to formulate the process and allow for verification and validation of the results acquired. The close proximity of the results obtained validated the accuracy of the FEM analysis of the 2D axisymmetric model and 3D model. This result demonstrated the validity of commercial software instead of proprietary in-house code that is more costly to develop and maintain.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.54 no.8
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• pp.3154-3165
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• 2022

During a loss-of-coolant accident (LOCA) in the pressurized water reactor (PWR), there is a possibility that high temperature and internal pressure of the fuel rods lead to ballooning of the cladding, which causes a partial blockage of flow area in a subchannel. Such flow blockage would influence the core coolant flow, thus affecting the core heat transfer during a reflooding phase and subsequent severe accident. However, most of the system analysis codes simulate the accident process based on the assumed channel blockage ratio, resulting in the fact that the simulation results are not consistent with the actual situation. This paper integrates the developed core Fuel Rod Thermal-Mechanical Behavior analysis (FRTMB) module into the self-developed severe accident analysis code ISAA. At the same time, the existing flow blockage model is improved to make it possible to simulate the change of flow distribution due to fuel rod deformation. Finally, the ISAA-FRTMB is used to simulate the QUENCH-LOCA-0 experiment to verify the correctness and effectiveness of the improved flow blockage model, and then the effect of clad ballooning on core heat transfer and subsequent parts of core degradation is analyzed.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.30 no.6
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• pp.507-517
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• 1998

Unlike conventional fuel types, fuel constituent redistribution and sodium intrusion into the fuel slug are the unique phenomena of the irradiated metallic fuel. A thermal calculation model on metallic U-10 wt.%Zr fuel rod for LMRs is developed with considerations given to these phenomena. The amount of constituent redistribution is estimated based on the thermotransport process. The temperature profile of fuel slug is predicted by taking into account of Zr redistribution, porosity formation and sodium logging effects. A sample calculation is performed and compared to experimental data in literature. As a result, the predicted redistribution and temperature profile are well agreed with experimental data, assuming that 15 times increment of ex-reactor diffusivity, $Q_{r}$ $^{*}$ is -50 kJ/mole and sodium is infiltrated only outside of the fuel slug. Furthermore, the redistribution effects on fuel integrity and fuel temperature profile are discussed.d.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.205-214
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• 2021

Currently, the interim storage pools of spent fuels in South Korea are expected to become saturated from 2024. It is required to prepare an operation plan of a domestic dry storage facility during a long-term period, with the researches on safety evaluation methods. This study modified the FRAPCON code to predict the spent fuel integrity evaluation such as the axial cladding temperature, the hoop stress and hydrogen distribution in dry storage. The cladding temperature in dry storage was calculated using the COBRA-SFS code with the burnup information which was calculated using the FRAPCON code. The hoop stress was calculated using the ideal gas equation with spent fuel information such as rod internal pressure. Numerical analysis method was used to calculate the degree of hydrogen diffusion according to the hydrogen concentration and temperature distribution during a dry storage period. Before 50 years of dry storage, the cladding temperature and hoop stress decreased rapidly. However, after 50 years, they decreased gradually and the cladding temperature was below 400 K. The initial temperature distribution and hydrogen concentration showed a parabolic line, but hydrogen was transferred by the hydrogen concentration and temperature gradient over time.

• 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.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.54 no.5
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• pp.1914-1928
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• 2022

To improve the heat transfer efficiency of the reactor fuel assembly, it is necessary to accurately calculate the two-phase flow boiling characteristics and the critical heat flux (CHF) in the fuel assembly. In this paper, a Eulerian two-fluid model combined with the extended wall boiling model was used to numerically simulate the 5 × 5 fuel rod bundle with spacer grids (four sets of mixing vane grids and four sets of simple support grids without mixing vanes). We calculated and analyzed 11 experimental conditions under different pressure, inlet temperature, and mass flux. After comparing the CHF and the location of departure from the nucleate boiling obtained by the numerical simulation with the experimental results, we confirmed the reliability of computational fluid dynamic analysis for the prediction of the CHF of the rod bundle and the boiling characteristics of the two-phase flow. Subsequently, we analyzed the influence of the spacer grid and mixing vanes on the void fraction, liquid temperature, and secondary flow distribution. The research in this article provides theoretical support for the design of fuel assemblies.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Tribologists and Lubrication Engineers Conference
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• 2002.10b
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• pp.195-196
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• 2002

Studied is fretting wear behaviour of transversely vibrating tube which is supported by springs and dimples. This simulates the fuel rod fretting due to flow-induced vibration in a nuclear reactor. The contact between spacer grid springs and fuel cladding tubes arc brought into focus in this paper. From the mechanical viewpoint, a concave contact shape of spring is considered to perform a wider distribution of the contact stress. Sliding/impacting experiments are conducted in air at room temperature with the conditions of positive contact force and gap existence to accommodate the mechanical condition between the fuel rod and the grid spring during reactor operation. It is found that wear region is separated and wear volume becomes larger as the supporting condition becomes poorer. Spring and dimple cause similar wear.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.53 no.5
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• pp.1602-1611
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• 2021

A varying degree of eccentricity always exists in the initial configuration of a nuclear fuel rod. Its impact on traditional LWR fuel is limited as the radial gap closes relatively early during irradiation. However, the effect of misalignment is expected to be more relevant in rods with highly conductive fuels, large initial gaps and low conductivity filling gases. In this paper, we study similar characteristics in the experimental setup of two fuel disc irradiation campaigns carried out in the OECD Halden Boiling Water Reactor. Using the multi-dimensional fuel performance code OFFBEAT, we combine 2-D axisymmetric and 3-D simulations to investigate the effect of eccentricity on the fuel temperature distribution. At the same time, we illustrate how the advent of modern tools with multi-dimensional capabilities might further improve the design and interpretation of in-pile separate-effect tests and we outline the potential of such an analysis for upcoming experiments.

• Proceedings of the KSME Conference
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• 2002.08a
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• pp.47-50
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• 2002

The numerical simulation of a 271-rod fuel assembly of nuclear Liquid-Metal Fast Reactor (LMFR) with an infernal blockage has been carried out. Internal blockage within a subassembly is addressed in the safety assessment because it potentially has very serious consequences for the reactor as a whole. Three dimensional calculations were performed using the SABRE4 computer code for the range of blockage positions and sizes to investigate the seriousness and detectability of the internal blockage. The magnitude and location of the peak temperatures together with the temperature distribution at the subassembly exit were calculated in order to look at the potential for damage within the subassembly, and the possibility of blockage detection. The analysis result shows that the 6-subchannel blockage causes large temperature rise within a assembly with practically no change in mixed mean temperature at the assembly exit.