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At least 37 records · Page 2
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2023

Characterizing the seismic response of a molten salt nuclear reactor

Abstract One Generation IV nuclear reactor, which uses a fluoride salt as a coolant, graphite reflector blocks as a moderator, and circulating buoyant TRISO pebbles as fuel is at an advanced stage of development. To characterize the seismic behavior of components of this reactor, validate numerical models for analysis, and develop recommendations for design, a set of earthquake‐simulator experiments on a scaled model of the reactor vessel and its internals was executed on a six‐degree‐of‐freedom earthquake simulator. The model was seismically isolated at its base using two types of spherical sliding bearings. The scaled model involved representations of the prototype reactor vessel, core barrel, reflector blocks, coolant, and spherical fuel pebbles. The material and geometric properties of different test components were selected based on a dynamic similitude scaling analysis and an approximate length scale of 0.4. Four sets of three‐component earthquake motions were used as inputs for testing. Instrumentation on the test specimen recorded the dynamic responses of the outer vessel, core barrel, and reflector‐block assembly, the hydrodynamic responses (sloshing and hydrodynamic pressure) of the liquid coolant, pebble consolidation under earthquake shaking, and the behavior of the isolation systems. This paper describes the design of the experiments and presents key results from the tests. The dynamic responses of the outer vessel, core barrel, and the reflector blocks revealed that the components responded as a unit for the intense shaking used in the experiments. The sloshing response of the fluid in a thin annulus near the perimeter of the vessel was heavily damped. The change in the packing fraction of the pebble bed under repeated, intense 3D earthquake shaking was less than 3%. Seismically isolating the vessel substantially reduced demands on its internal components.

Engineering↗
DOE OSTI2024

A MPET 2 -mPBPK model for subcutaneous injection of biotherapeutics with different molecular weights: From local scale to whole-body scale

Subcutaneous injection of biotherapeutics has attracted considerable attention in the pharmaceutical industry. However, there is limited understanding of the mechanisms underlying the absorption of drugs with different molecular weights and the delivery of drugs from the injection site to the targeted tissue. Here, we propose the MPET 2 -mPBPK model to address this issue. This multiscale model couples the MPET 2 model, which describes subcutaneous injection at the local tissue scale from a biomechanical view, with a post-injection absorption model at injection site and a minimal physiologically-based pharmacokinetic (mPBPK) model at whole-body scale. Utilizing the principles of tissue biomechanics and fluid dynamics, the local MPET 2 model provides solutions that account for tissue deformation and drug absorption in local blood vessels and initial lymphatic vessels during injection. Additionally, we introduce a model accounting for the molecular weight effect on the absorption by blood vessels, and a nonlinear model accounting for the absorption in lymphatic vessels. The post-injection model predicts drug absorption in local blood vessels and initial lymphatic vessels, which are integrated into the whole-body mPBPK model to describe the pharmacokinetic behaviors of the absorbed drug in the circulatory and lymphatic system. We establish a numerical model which links the biomechanical process of subcutaneous injection at local tissue scale and the pharmacokinetic behaviors of injected biotherapeutics at whole-body scale. With the help of the model, we propose an explicit relationship between the reflection coefficient and the molecular weight and predict the bioavalibility of biotherapeutics with varying molecular weights via subcutaneous injection. The considered drug absorption mechanisms enable us to study the differences in local drug absorption and whole-body drug distribution with varying molecular weights. This model enhances the understanding of drug absorption mechanisms and transport routes in the circulatory system for drugs of different molecular weights, and holds the potential to facilitate the application of computational modeling to drug formulation.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2026

Monitoring of Liquid Metal Reactor Heater Zones with Recurrent Neural Network Learning of Temperature Time Series

Advanced high-temperature fluid reactors (ARs), such as sodium fast reactors (SFRs) and molten salt cooled reactors (MSCRs) utilize high-temperature fluids at ambient pressure. To melt the fluid during reactor startup and prevent fluid freezing during cooldown, the thermal–hydraulic systems of such ARs include heater zones consisting of specific heaters with controllers, temperature sensors, and thermal insulation. The failure of heater zones due to insulation material degradation or improper installation, resulting in parasitic heat losses, can lead to fluid freezing. The detection of faults using a heat-transfer model is difficult because of a lack of knowledge of the experimental details. Data-driven machine learning of heater zone temperature time series offers a viable alternative. In this study, we benchmarked the performance of recurrent neural networks (RNNs) in an analysis of heat-up transient temperature time series of heater zones installed on a liquid sodium vessel. The RNN models include long short-term memory (LSTM) and gated recurrent unit (GRU) networks, as well as their bi-directional variants, BiLSTM and BiGRU. Anomalous temperature points were designated using a percentile-based threshold applied to residual fluctuations in the detrended temperature time series. Additionally, the impact of the exponentially weighted moving average (EWMA) method on detection accuracy was examined. The RNN models’ performance was assessed using precision, recall, and F 1 score metrics. Results demonstrated that RNN models effectively detect anomalies in temperature time series with the best models for each heater zone achieving F 1 scores of over 93%. To explain the variations in RNN model performance across different heater zones, we used Kullback–Leibler (KL) divergence to quantify the relative entropy between training and testing data, and the Detrended Fluctuation Analysis (DFA) to assess long-range temporal correlations. For datasets with strong long-range correlations and minimal relative entropy between training and testing data, GRU is the best-performing model. When the data exhibits weaker long-term correlations and a significant relative entropy between training and testing distributions, BiGRU shows the best performance. For the data sets with intermediate values of both KL divergence and DFA, the best performance is obtained with LSTM and BiLSTM, respectively.

gated recurrent unit↗
DOE OSTI2021

System Configuration Evaluation for Process Settling of Hanford Waste Solid Particles

Direct Feed High-Level Waste (DFHLW) is a potential flowsheet operations approach to initiating high-level waste (HLW) vitrification prior to completion of the Hanford Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant (WTP) Pretreatment Facility. A settle/decant process has been proposed to concentrate solids prior to delivery to the WTP HLW Facility during DFHLW operations, wherein the solids in a settled layer would be remixed with the supernatant liquid remaining after decanting operations to provide the feed at required solids concentrations. Settling would be used in lieu of purpose-built filtration or other solids separation equipment. Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) is providing baseline technical support to the Washington River Protection Solutions (WRPS) Flowsheet Integration group. To support planning for DFHLW, WRPS previously requested that PNNL evaluate the current data set available to predict the time needed for HLW solids to settle and the solids concentration and strength of that settled layer, to identify gaps in the understanding and predictive capability of HLW solids waste settling times, and to provide scoping estimates of the potential settling times. Eight technical gaps were identified for predicting settling times and characteristics of the formed sediment layers. In addition to the data gaps, an overarching observation was made that there is significant variation in behavior of settling rate and settled layer data. The settling time required to concentrate solids via a settle/decant process was determined from the limited data to have a difference of potentially more than a factor of 5,000 in the estimated settling times, varying from 0.2 to 1,060 days for example depending on process vessel depth and final sediment solids concentration. In contrast, successful processes of liquid-forward output streams resulting from in-tank settling and decanting forward liquid have been reported for operations conducted at the Hanford Site. The purpose of this current report is to further support DFHLW planning by evaluating double-shell tank (DST) and alternate vessel equipment and operational configurations to enable optimization of the settle/decant process to concentrate solids. Hanford waste processing behavior specific to liquid feed availability following a slurry transfer in a DST is summarized, including process stream characteristics and process equipment configurations. The performance of DST process equipment configurations is evaluated for possible improvements using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and simple analytical models. Potential new vessel design(s) specific to enabling effective settle/decant processes, and cursory summary of other separate and inline solids separations processes, are also provided. The CFD results indicated that improvement in outflow solids concentration was promoted by a reduction in the slurry flow rate, angling the distributor nozzles downward, and lifting the transfer pump. The solid-liquid analysis evaluating particle trajectory confirmed that the potential for particle ingestion (in the transfer pump) was decreased with increased radial separation between the inlet and outlet (transfer pump inlet), decreased inlet flow, and decreased liquid density and viscosity for a neutrally buoyant inlet flow. An assessment was also made of the potential for inflow configuration changes to result in the discrete mounding or piling of solids within the tank. Based on the characterization of the settled waste to date, HLW sediments will be unlikely to sustain a substantial angle of repose to facilitate significant variations in the elevation of the settled solids.

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
DOE OSTI2020

Process-Based Balance-of-System Cost Modeling for Offshore Wind Power Plants in the United States: Preprint

This work describes the development of a process based and open source balance of system cost model which provides the capability to evaluate both existing and novel offshore wind technologies. Individual design and installation steps are represented with bottom-up engineering models that compute the times and costs associated with the process; furthermore, operational constraints are assigned to each process so that delays due to weather and presence of marine mammals may be accounted for in the overall project timeline. The model structure, assumptions, inputs, and results are vetted with industry partners and compared against actual projects for validation; installation times are shown to agree with real data with relative errors of less than 35\%. Case studies are presented to demonstrate the functionality of the model. First, individual vessel efficiencies are computed for varying numbers of installation vessels and weather time series to show the diminishing returns of more than two feeder barges. Then, array cable capital costs and installation times are determined for a representative project with different turbine sizes. This quantifies the cost benefit tradeoffs of decreasing number of turbines, increased turbine spacing, and fewer turbine terminations and shows a net cost savings. These results demonstrate that the BOS model features the accuracy, functionality, and accessibility to serve as the foundation for a wide range of analyses to identify cost reduction potentials for offshore wind energy in the United States.

17 WIND ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2024

MOSCATO Development and Integration in Fiscal Year 2024

MOSCATO (Molten Salt Chemistry and Transport) is a multiphysics code that provides high-fidelity, coupled simulations of fluid flow, heat transfer, mass transfer, chemistry, electrochemical phenomena, and alloy evolution for molten salt equipment. In FY24, significant developments were made to the code package, enhancing its capabilities in many aspects. The improvements and advancements can be summarized as follows: 1. Implementation of tritium transport capabilities and validation with experimental data: To enable modeling of tritium and other fission gases within MSRs, we implemented gas transport within MOSCATO via inclusion of couple mass transport equations within the salt and structural alloys. Comparisons to experimental data from literature showed good agreement with respect to tritium release rates. 2. Preliminary implementation of two-phase flow models in MOSCATO: To model tritium and other gases above their solubility limits, we implemented preliminary two-phase flow models within MOSCATO to account for bubble transport. The first model adopted was the Level-Set approach, which can handle the high void fraction regime, but with a requirement for high mesh resolution thus high computational expense. In this report, we present a verification of the Level-Set method using a simple benchmark case. We also performed a demonstration of the code as applied to an experimental case involving cover gas flow through salt in an experimental vessel. The second model adopted was the Eulerian-Eulerian dispersed flow model, which is computationally cheaper but limited to low void fraction regimes, such as bubbly flow. Validation and verification have not yet been performed for the Eulerian-Eulerian approach, but a preliminary implementation was completed. 3. Validation with static corrosion experiments: Static corrosion experimental data for stainless steel coupons within molten salts was used to further validate the corrosion model in MOSCATO. To do so, we leveraged the existing models in MOSCATO and simulated the sample mass loss and mass gain phenomena. Several ion species, including Cr 2+ , Fe 2+ and H + , were simulated in salt using the PNP solver, while Cr 0 and Fe 0 were simulated with a diffusion solver in stainless steel. The mass loss of the samples was compared with experimental data, and good agreement was achieved. These combined activities served to further expand the capabilities of MOSCATO and make it more generally applicable to the full range of phenomena that can control chemistry and corrosion in molten salt reactors.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗
DOE OSTI2021

Benchmarking of Probabilistic Fracture Mechanics Models in Grizzly

In 2020, as part of contract/task order 31310019N0006/31310020F0060, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission tasked Idaho National Laboratory (INL) with benchmarking the MOOSE/GRIZZLY code against the NRC’s Fracture Analysis of Vessels - Oak Ridge (FAVOR), version 16.1 code. Both codes can predict large light-water reactor vessel integrity deterministically and probabilistically. In fact, such predictions are the primary purpose of the FAVOR code, and are a main focus of the GRIZZLY code, although GRIZZLY is capable of modeling a wider range of geometries and problems. The vessel integrity modeling capabilities of the GRIZZLY code are still under development and being gradually expanded, and the capability to model vessel fracture by crack growth has not yet been integrated into GRIZZLY (although it does exist in pre-release versions). Thus, the present benchmark study focused on comparing predictions for the conditional probability of crack growth initiation (CPI) between GRIZZLY and FAVOR v16.1. The present benchmarking study expands on a previous study completed in 2020, which focused on single plate regions, various flaw types, and full vessel studies. The previous study was limited in scope and revealed some relatively large discrepancies, particularly in the case of weld regions. In the present study, detailed investigations into the sources of discrepancies between GRIZZLY and FAVOR were performed, with a focus on weld regions.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗
DOE OSTI2021

Toxicity of L19-Interleukin 2 Combined with Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy: A Phase 1 Study

The immunocytokine L19-IL2 delivers interleukin-2 to the tumor by exploiting the selective L19-dependent binding of extradomain B of fibronectin on tumor blood vessels. In preclinical models, L19-IL2 has been shown to enhance the local and abscopal effects of radiation therapy. The clinical safety of L19-IL2 monotherapy has been established previously. In this study, the safety and tolerability of L19-IL2 after stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) was assessed.

62 RADIOLOGY AND NUCLEAR MEDICINE↗
DOE OSTI2020

Comparison of edge turbulence characteristics between DIII-D and C-Mod simulations with XGC1

The physical processes taking place at the separatrix and scrape-off layer regions are crucial for the operation of tokamaks as they govern the interaction of hot plasma with the vessel walls. Numerical modeling of the edge with state-of-the-art codes attempts to elucidate the complex interactions between neoclassical drifts, turbulence, poloidal and parallel flows that control the physical set-up of the SOL region. Here, we present post-processing analysis of simulation results from the gyrokinetic code XGC1, comparing and contrasting edge turbulence characteristics from a simulation of the DIII-D tokamak against a simulation of the Alcator C-Mod tokamak. We find that the equilibrium ExB flux across the separatrix has a similar poloidal pattern in both discharges which can be explained by rB-drifts and trapped ion excursions. Furthermore, collisionality is noted to play a major role in the way that it prevents local charge accumulations from having more global effects in the C-Mod case. In both cases, turbulent electron heat flux is observed to be higher than the ion one and is possibly related to the need of electrons to maintain quasineutrality through the only channel available to them for exiting the confinement. By Fourier analysis, we identify turbulent frequencies and growth rates of the dominant mode in both simulations. In the case of C-Mod, these numbers point to the presence of a drift wave. In the DIII-D case, further linear simulations with the Gene code reveal a trapped electron mode. Furthermore, using a blob detection and tracking tool, we present the amplitude and size distributions of the blobs from both simulations. The amplitude distributions are in qualitative agreement with experimental observations while the size distributions are consistent with the fact that most of the blobs are not connecting to the divertor plates and suggest that they are generated by the shearing of the turbulent modes.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2024

Material Model Parameters Optimization in Liquid Mercury Target Dynamics Simulation With Machine Learning Surrogates

A pulsed spallation target is subjected to very short (∼0.7μs) but intense loads (23.3 kJ) from repeated proton pulses, which knock away neutrons from the mercury atoms’ nuclei for a wide range application in physics, engineering, medicine, petroleum exploration, biology, chemistry, etc. The effect of this pulsed loading on the stainless-steel target module which contains the flowing mercury target material is difficult to predict not only due to its short but intense explosive-like physical reaction, but also the nonlinear material behavior of the liquid mercury in the structure. Injecting small helium bubbles in the mercury has been an efficient method of mitigating the pressure wave at high power level stage. However, prediction of the resultant loading on the target is more difficult when helium gas is intentionally injected into the mercury. A 2-phase material model that incorporates the Rayleigh-Plesset (R-P) model is expected to address this complex multi-physics dynamics problem by including the bubble dynamics in the liquid mercury. A parameter sensitivity study was firstly employed to understand their impact on the simulation strains. The investigated parameters included E, μ, γ, σ, n, VFgas, and gas cumulative volume curve control parameters a and b. Verification and validation results from sparse polynomial expansions (SPE) method and directional Gaussian smoothing (DGS) optimization show that the surrogate model had training error of ∼7% and validation error of ∼15%, indicating that machine learning methods and surrogate models can help optimize the uncertain parameters in the complex 2-phase material model. This approach is expected to fill the knowledge gap between unknown liquid-gas mixture material model and measured vessel strain responses.

Lin, Lianshan↗
DOE OSTI2021

OWL and Waste Form Characteristics (Annual Status Update)

This report represents completion of milestone deliverable M2SF-21SN010309012 “Annual Status Update for OWL and Waste Form Characteristics” that provides an annual update on status of fiscal year (FY 2020) activities for the work package SF-20SN01030901 and is due on January 29, 2021. The Online Waste Library (OWL) has been designed to contain information regarding United States (U.S.) Department of Energy (DOE)-managed (as) high-level waste (DHLW), spent nuclear fuel (SNF), and other wastes that are likely candidates for deep geologic disposal, with links to the current supporting documents for the data (when possible; note that no classified or official-use-only (OUO) data are planned to be included in OWL). There may be up to several hundred different DOE-managed wastes that are likely to require deep geologic disposal. This draft report contains versions of the OWL model architecture for vessel information (Appendix A) and an excerpt from the OWL User’s Guide (Appendix B and SNL 2020), which are for the current OWL Version 2.0 on the Sandia External Collaboration Network (ECN).

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗
DOE OSTI2021

A process to verify numerical models for seismic fluid-structure interaction in advanced reactor vessels

Seismic design and qualification of a liquid-filled advanced nuclear reactor will have to account for fluid-structure interaction (FSI). Interaction between the tank, internal components, and contained liquid will rely on analysis of numerical models that must be verified and validated. Here this study demonstrates a verification process for models of a base-supported cylindrical tank by comparing numerical predictions and analytical solutions. The numerical models are consistent with the assumptions made to derive analytical solutions, namely, either a rigid or a linear elastic tank, ideal fluid, and small-amplitude, unidirectional, horizontal inputs. One software platform is used to illustrate the process. Seismic FSI analysis is performed using the Arbitrary Lagrangian-Eulerian (ALE) and Incompressible Computational Fluid Dynamics (ICFD) solvers in LS-DYNA. Reported responses are those used for design, including hydrodynamic pressures on the tank wall, shear forces and moments at the tank base, and wave heights of the contained liquid. The accuracy of the numerical results is discussed. The numerical models are verified for calculating the pressures on the tank wall and reactions at its base. Accurate simulation of wave action is challenging for both solvers. Recommendations for modeling, code development, and steps for verification are provided. Although focused on reactor vessels and one software platform, the verification process described herein is broadly applicable to liquid-filled vessels and other finite element codes.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗
DOE OSTI2024

HELIUM LEAK TEST MODELING OF A SPENT NUCLEAR FUEL CANISTER

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is considering the development of one or more federal consolidated interim storage facilities (CISFs) to be used to store commercial spent nuclear fuel (SNF) at locations in the U.S. One of the first technical challenges of a CISF is performing an inspection of SNF canisters upon their receipt to confirm they can be placed into the CISF’s licensed storage configuration. The canister receipt inspection is critical to CISF site operations. The test is conceived as being a helium (He) leak check, intended to confirm that the confinement boundary of a SNF canister is intact. SNF canisters are filled with He when they are sealed, so detection of a He leak indicates that a through-wall flaw has occurred in the canister confinement boundary. Other measurements are planned to occur upon canister receipt in addition to the He leak check such as krypton-85 measurements, which would indicate confinement breaches of one or more fuel rods in addition to a breach of the SNF canister. However, the He leak check has been identified as one of such high importance and has such significant technical challenges that a full-scale demonstration is needed to confirm the He leak test’s viability and to assist in planning relative to its operational requirements. A modeling methodology for simulating the He detection test was developed to help inform the test plan and the design of the test vessels. To develop the modeling methodology a detailed computational fluid dynamics (CFD) benchmark model was constructed to compare against leak rate test data from a transportation package for radioactive material. This report is focused on modeling efforts to simulate the benchmark leak test.

Suffield, Sarah R.↗
DOE OSTI2022

Combined Normal and Disruption, Electromagnetic Transient, Thermal, and Structural Analysis of COMPASS Upgrade

We report that COMPASS Upgrade is a replacement for the COMPASS device at the Institute of Plasma Physics (IPP) of the Czech Academy of Sciences. It is a cryogenic copper machine with a major radius of 0.89 m, with 5 T at the plasma centerline and 2-MA plasma current. It is intended to develop ITER relevant plasma densities and high power fluxes in the divertor region. The entire vacuum vessel is planned to reach 500 °C. The COMPASS-U TF coil is a bitter plate-like design with radial conductor plates that extend the width of the TF inner leg. Currents redistribute radially based on resistive and inductive effects. This necessitates an electromagnetic (EM) transient analysis of the coil current distribution. For copper coils like COMPASS Upgrade, the solution must be coupled with a thermal solution to properly include the temperature-dependent resistive effects. The EM transient solution includes the TF magnetic loads, and a stress pass on the results produces in-plane loads. The EM solution chosen requires inclusion of all the conducting and nonconducting regions surrounding the TF coil. With the TF current distribution solved, the addition of the poloidal coils and resulting background fields allows the determination of the out-of-plane loads. Integration of the Joule heating produced from the EM solution produces temperature distributions throughout the shot, which can be read in to a structural pass to include thermal stresses in the evaluation. This is true of both TF and PF temperature prediction with appropriate packing fractions. Currents in the PF coils, with computed background fields, produce Lorentz loads. Time transients of the PF currents produce startup eddy currents in the structures included in the model; inclusion of the vessel and other passive structures allows these to be included in a stress pass. The EM transient solution includes all the elements needed for a disruption analysis with prescribed motions and quench of the plasma. From a model originally intended to simulate current diffusion in the TF coil, the analysis can be refined to be used to predict the performance of most of the components of the tokamak or provide boundary conditions for more detailed submodels. In this article, the use of the current diffusion model for bounding assessments of the COMPASS Upgrade TF, PF, vessel, external structure, and disruption analyses will be presented.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2021

Material Interactions in Severe Accidents – Benchmarking the MELCOR V2.2 Eutectics Model for a BWR-3 MARK-I Station Blackout: Part I – Single Case Analysis

Here in this analysis, the two material interaction models available in the MELCOR code are benchmarked for a severe accident at a BWR under representative Fukushima Daiichi boundary conditions. This part of the benchmark investigates the impact of each material interaction model on accident progression through a detailed single case analysis. It is found that the eutectics model simulation exhibits more rapid accident progression for the duration of the accident. The slower accident progression exhibited by the interactive materials model simulation, however, allows for a greater degree of core material oxidation and hydrogen generation to occur, as well as elevated core temperatures during the ex-vessel accident phase. The eutectics model simulation exhibits more significant degradation of core components during the late in-vessel accident phase – more debris forms and relocates to the lower plenum before lower head failure. The larger debris bed observed in the eutectics model simulation also reaches higher temperatures, presenting a more significant thermal challenge to the lower head until its failure. At the end of the simulated accident scenario, however, core damage is comparable between both simulations due to significant core degradation that occurs during the ex-vessel phase in the interactive materials model simulation. A key difference between the two models’ performance is the maximum temperatures that can be reached in the core and therefore the maximum ΔT between any two components. When implementing the interactive materials model, users have the option to modify the liquefaction temperature of the ZrO 2 -interactive and UO 2 -interactive materials as a way to mimic early fuel rod failure due to material interactions. Through modification of the liquefaction of high melting point materials with significant mass, users may inadvertently limit maximum core temperatures for fuel, cladding, and debris components.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗
DOE OSTI2023

Parallel Implicit Hydrodynamics with Material Strength for High Explosive Burn Calculations

High explosives are almost always evolving in some form of metal containment vessel. This fact requires that a materials model for the evolution of the metal containment vessel be part of any simulation of the HE. Since the actual form of the strength model to be used is an open question, we incorporate the material strength properties in a relatively agnostic fashion, which will accommodate many strength models. The only restriction is that the stress components be a function of density, specific internal energy and velocities. In addition, the timescales and rates of the chemical reactions in the HE vary between thousands of seconds and nanoseconds. A hydrodynamics capable of operating in anticipation of the eventual violent release of energy via these chemical reactions is a necessity. The central issue in creating a hydrodynamics capable of spanning these timescales is to forgo the use of a Courant time step control necessary in an explicit hydrodynamics. The Courant time-step arises because of characteristic velocities associated with the material, such as the sound speed or, in materials with strength, characteristic longitudinal and transverse speeds associated with compression and shear. The method used to circumvent the need for a Courant time-step limit is to develop an implicit calculation of the advanced particle pressure and shear modulus derived from the conservation laws of mass, momentum and specific internal energy. This process creates the implicit hydrodynamics needed for the HE calculations of interest to this study.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2022

Development, verification, and validation of comprehensive acoustic fluid-structure interaction capabilities in an open-source computational platform

The acoustic fluid-structure interaction (FSI) formulation is a practical numerical approach for the seismic analysis of fluid-filled tanks. However, there are no verification and validation studies reported in the literature that demonstrate the ability of an acoustic FSI numerical model to predict responses important to structural and mechanical design for intense translational and rotational earthquake inputs. Herein, an acoustic FSI formulation is implemented in the open-source Multiphysics Object-Oriented Simulation Environment (MOOSE), and is formally verified and validated using analytical solutions and code-to-code verification, and experimental data, respectively. The analytical solutions are for small amplitude, unidirectional seismic inputs. The code-to-code verification utilizes a previously verified and validated Arbitrary Lagrangian-Eulerian (ALE) numerical model in the commercial finite element code LS-DYNA. The validation studies utilize a comprehensive data set assembled from results of 3D earthquake-simulator tests of a fluid-filled vessel. The acoustic numerical model in MOOSE is verified and validated for hydrodynamic pressures and support reactions except for cases that involve significant convective response. For small amplitude inputs, numerically predicted wave heights match those of the analytical solutions. The numerical model is not verified and validated for wave height calculations under intense 3D seismic inputs. The run times for the acoustic FSI simulations in MOOSE are an order of magnitude, or more, shorter than for the corresponding ALE simulations in LS-DYNA. The utility of the MOOSE acoustic FSI implementation is demonstrated by seismic analysis of a building equipped with a fluid-filled, advanced nuclear reactor.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗