Numerical analysis on stability of nuclear fuel plates with inlet support comb
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2019
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Nuclear Engineering and Design
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Resumo
Many nuclear research reactors use or are planned with cores containing flat-plate-type fuel elements. One of the
problems of this fuel element design is the mechanical stability of the fuel plates. High-velocity coolant flowing
through the narrow channels that separate the plates can cause large deflections of these plates leading to local
overheating, structural failure or plate collapse. In particular, in real fuel elements and experimental tests, flowinduced
deflections at the leading edge and along the length of the plates have been detected. Some authors have
indicated that the use of a support comb removes the leading-edge static divergence, but it has been also suggested
that, even with the comb, there are significant deflections away from the inlet.
In this work, a fluid-structure interaction study is conducted to examine the effectiveness of using an inlet
comb on the mechanical stability of fuel plates. The system consists of two fuel plates bounded by three-equal
coolant channels. The pressure loadings caused by the fluid flow are calculated using a CFD model and the
structural response of the plates and the support comb are determined by means of an FEA model. The two-way
fluid-structure interaction method was employed for coupling the fluid and solid solvers.
The results presented here show that the static divergence at the inlet end is effectively eliminated with the
installation of a support comb. Nevertheless, the main contribution of this work is the detection of deformation
of the plates along their length and that it was an increasing function of the fluid velocity in the channels. As a
consequence, the flow channels could be constricted or completely closed, thus affecting the safe operation of the
nuclear reactor. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first numerical analysis reported in the literature that
models the fluid-structure interaction phenomenon of adjacent plates with the support comb located at the
midpoint of their inlet end.
Como referenciar
MANTECON, JAVIER G.; MATTAR NETO, MIGUEL. Numerical analysis on stability of nuclear fuel plates with inlet support comb. Nuclear Engineering and Design, v. 342, p. 240-248, 2019. DOI: 10.1016/j.nucengdes.2018.12.009. Disponível em: http://repositorio.ipen.br/handle/123456789/30013. Acesso em: 22 Feb 2025.
Esta referência é gerada automaticamente de acordo com as normas do estilo IPEN/SP (ABNT NBR 6023) e recomenda-se uma verificação final e ajustes caso necessário.