• 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.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.54 no.7
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• pp.2586-2591
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• 2022

In the present work, we have irradiated the DI-BSCCO superconducting tapes with the 100 keV deuterium ions to investigate the effect of ion irradiation on their critical current (Ic). The damage simulations are carried out using the binary collision approximation method to get the spatial distribution and depth profile of the damage events in the high temperature superconducting (HTS) tape. The point defects are formed near the surface of the HTS tape. These point defects change the vortex profile in the superconducting tape. Due to the long-range interaction of vortices with each other, the Ic of the tape degrades at the 77 K and self magnetic field. The radiation dose of 2.90 MGy degrades the 44% critical current of the tape. The results of the displacement per atom (dpa) and dose deposited by the deuterium ions are used to fit an empirical relation for predicting the degradation of the Ic of the tape. We include the dpa, dose and columnar defect terms produced by the incident particles in the empirical relation. The fitted empirical relation predicts that light ion irradiation degrades the Ic in the DI-BSCCO tape at the self field. This empirical relation can also be used in neutron irradiation to predict the lifetime of the DI-BSCCO tape. The change in the Ic of the DI-BSCCO tape due to deuterium irradiation is compared with the other second-generation HTS tape irradiated with energetic radiation.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.54 no.7
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• pp.2491-2509
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• 2022

As an important device in the nuclear island, the nuclear coolant pump can continuously provide power for medium circulation. The vane is one of the stationary parts in the nuclear coolant pump, which is installed between the impeller and the casing. The shape of the vane plays a significant role in the pump's overall performance and stability which are the important indicators during the safety serve process. Hence, the bionic concept is firstly applied into the design process of the vane to improve the performance of the nuclear coolant pump. Taking the scaled high-performance hydraulic model (on a scale of 1:2.5) of the coolant pump as the reference, a united bionic design approach is proposed for the unique structure of the guide vane of the nuclear coolant pump. Then, a new optimization design platform is established to output the optimal bionic vane. Finally, the comparative results and the corresponding mechanism are analyzed. The conclusions can be gotten as: (1) four parameters are introduced to configure the shape of the bionic blade, the significance of each parameter is herein demonstrated; (2) the optimal bionic vane is successfully obtained by the optimization design platform, the efficiency performance and the head performance of which can be improved by 1.6% and 1.27% respectively; (3) when compared to the original vane, the optimized bionic vane can improve the inner flow characteristics, namely, it can reduce the flow loss and decrease the pressure pulsation amplitude; (4) through the mechanism analysis, it can be found out that the bionic structure can induce the spanwise velocity and the vortices, which can reduce drag and suppress the boundary layer separation.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Aeronautical & Space Sciences
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• v.50 no.10
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• pp.677-690
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• 2022

By using an actuator disk method based flow solver, aerodynamic analysis is carried out for a dual ducted fan aircraft, which is one of the VTOL compound aircrafts, and its associated ground effect is analyzed. The characteristics and accuracy of the solver for ground effect analysis is evaluated through a comparison with the results obtained from the sliding mesh technique. The aerodynamic performance and flow field characteristics with respect to the distance from the ground are analyzed. As the ground distance decreases, the fan thrust increases, but the deterioration of total normal force and hovering flight efficiency is identified owing to the decrease in the vertical force of the duct, fuselage, and wing. By examining the flow field in the bottom of the fuselage, the ground vortices and fountain flow generated by the interaction of the fan wake and ground are identified, and their influence on the aerodynamic performance is analyzed. The strength and characteristics of outwash with respect to the ground distance and azimuth direction are analyzed through comparison/examination of velocity profile. Influence of the ground effect with respect to collective pitch angle is also identified.

• Progress in Superconductivity and Cryogenics
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.1-5
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• 2022

We investigate the effect of surface disorder on the lower critical field (H_c1) of MgB₂ thin films with a thickness of 850 nm, where the disorder on the surface region is produced by the irradiation of 140 keV Co ions with the dose of 1 × 10¹⁴ ions/cm². The thickness of the damaged region by the irradiation is around 143 nm, corresponding to ~17% of the whole thickness of the film, thereby forming the disordered MgB₂ overlayer on the pure MgB₂ layer. The magnetic field dependence of magnetization, M(H), for the pristine MgB₂ thin film and the film with overlayer is measured at various temperatures, and H_c1 is determined from the difference (△M) between the Meissner line and magnetization signal with the criterion of △M = 10^-3 emu. Intriguingly, the film with the disordered overlayer shows a remarkably large H_c1(0) = 108 Oe compared to the H_c1(0) = 84 Oe of pristine film, indicating that the disordered MgB₂ overlayer on the pure MgB₂ layer serves to prevent the penetration of vortices into the sample. These results provide new ideas for improving the superheating field to design high-performance superconducting radio-frequency cavities.

• Journal of Aerospace System Engineering
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.35-44
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• 2022

The study on the wake vortex behavior during the aircraft's take-off and landing flight phase is critical to the flight safety of the aircraft, following close behind and the economy of the airport. The study on the wake vortex behavior should include the understanding of the ground effect on the behavior of the multiple wake vortices, generated from aircraft during the take-off and landing flight phase. In thia study, numerical schemes that can consider the ground effect were devised, by applying a vorticity boundary condition and an image method into the existing two-dimensional Fourier-spectral method. The present method was validated by comparing the present results, with the computed and measured data in the published literature. It was shown that the present method can predict the generation and behavior of the secondary vortex near the ground with reasonable accuracy. In future, the effect of the atmospheric conditions such as the stratification and the wind shear on the behavior of the vortex pair will be studied.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.34 no.5
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• pp.395-405
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• 2022

Tornado-induced damages to high-rise buildings and low-rise buildings are quite different in nature. Tornado losses to high-rise buildings are generally associated with building envelope failures while tornado-induced damages to low-rise buildings are usually associated with structural or large component failures such as complete collapses, or roofs being torn off. While studies of tornado-induced structural damages tend to focus mainly on low-rise residential buildings, transmission towers, or nuclear power plants, the current rapid expansion of city centers and development of large-scale building complexes increases the risk of tornadoes impacting tall buildings. It is, therefore, important to determine how tornado-induced load affects tall buildings compared with those based on synoptic boundary layer winds. The present study applies an experimentally simulated tornado wind field to the Commonwealth Advisory Aeronautical Research Council (CAARC) building and estimates and compares its pressure coefficient effects against the Atmospheric Boundary Layer (ABL) flow field. Simulations are performed at the Wind Engineering, Energy and Environment (WindEEE) Dome which is capable of generating both ABL and tornadic winds. A model of the CAARC building at a scale of 1:200 for both ABL and tornado flows was built and equipped with pressure taps. Mean and peak surface pressures for TLV flow are reported and compared with the ABL induced wind for different time-averaging. By following a compatible definition of the pressure coefficients for TLV and ABL fields, the resulting TLV pressure field presents a similar trend to the ABL case. Also, the results show that, for the high-rise building model, the mean and 3-sec peak pressures are larger for the ABL case compared to the TLV case. These results provide a way forward for the code implementation of tornado-induced pressures on high-rise buildings.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.36 no.4
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• pp.221-236
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• 2023

The lateral component of turbulence and the vortices shed in the wake of a structure result in introducing dynamic wind load in the acrosswind direction and the resulting level of motion is typically larger than the corresponding alongwind motion for a dynamically sensitive structure. The underlying source mechanisms of the acrosswind load may be classified into motion-induced, buffeting, and Strouhal components. This study proposes a frequency domain framework to decompose the overall load into these components based on output-only measurements from wind tunnel experiments or full-scale measurements. First, the total acrosswind load is identified based on measured acceleration response by solving the inverse problem using the Kalman filter technique. The decomposition of the combined load is then performed by modeling each load component in terms of a Bayesian filtering scheme. More specifically, the decomposition and the estimation of the model parameters are accomplished using the unscented Kalman filter in the frequency domain. An aeroelastic wind tunnel experiment involving a tall circular cylinder was carried out for the validation of the proposed framework. The contribution of each load component to the acrosswind response is assessed by re-analyzing the system with the decomposed components. Through comparison of the measured and the re-analyzed response, it is demonstrated that the proposed framework effectively decomposes the total acrosswind load into components and sheds light on the overall underlying mechanism of the acrosswind load and attendant structural response. The delineation of these load components and their subsequent modeling and control may become increasingly important as tall slender buildings of the prismatic cross-section that are highly sensitive to the acrosswind load effects are increasingly being built in major metropolises.

• Advances in aircraft and spacecraft science
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.107-125
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• 2023

Drag reduction is significant research in aircraft design due to its effect on the cost of operation and carbon footprint reduction. Aircraft currently use conventional solid winglets to reduce the induced drag, adding extra structural weight. Fluidic on-demand winglets can effectively reduce drag for low-speed flight regimes without adding any extra weight. These utilize the spanwise airflow from the wingtips using hydraulic actuators to create jets that negate tip vortices. This study develops a computational model to investigate fluidic on-demand winglets. The well-validated computational model is applied to investigate the effect of injection velocity and angle on the aerodynamic coefficients of a rectangular wing. Further, the turbulence parameters such as turbulent kinetic energy (TKE) and turbulent dissipation rate are studied in detail at various velocity injections and at an angle of 30°. The results show that the increase in injection velocity shifted the vortex core away from the wing tip and the increase in injection angle shifted the vortex core in the vertical direction. Further, it was found that a 30° injection is efficient among all injection velocities and highly efficient at a velocity ratio of 3. This technology can be adopted in any aircraft, effectively working at various angles of attack. The culmination of this study is that the implementation of fluidic winglets leads to a significant reduction in drag at low speeds for low aspect ratio wings.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.29 no.3B
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• pp.231-237
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• 2009

This study presents a numerical model to simulate density currents developing two dimensionally. The ${\kappa}-{\varepsilon}$ model is used for the turbulence closure. Elliptic flow equations are solved by the finite volume method. In order to investigate the applicability of the numerical model, discontinuous density currents are simulated numerically. The vortices due to the instability at the interface are simulated, showing a good agreement with the experimental visualizations in the literature. It is also investigated that the transition from slumping phase to inertial phase occurs when a bore generated at the end wall overtakes the front. However, the propagation of the density current is retarded compared with the experimental results. Two-dimensional modeling seems to have an effect on underestimating the front velocity of the density current.