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We present 3D hydrocode numerical modeling for oblique impacts (i) to estimate the melt production and (ii) to trace the evolution of the transient cavity shape till the crater collapse. Additional information is contained in the original extended abstract.
This paper describes the development and optimization of a conceptual thermal management system for electrified aircraft. Here, a vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) vehicle is analyzed with the following electrically sourced heat loads considered: motors, generators, rectifiers, and inverters. The vehicle will employ liquid-cooling techniques in order to acquire, transport, and reject waste heat from the vehicle. The purpose of this paper is to threefold: 1) Present a potential modeling framework for system level thermal management system simulation, 2) Analyze typical system characteristics, and 3) Perform optimization on a system developed for a specific vehicle to minimize weight gain, power utilization, and drag. Additionally, the paper will study the design process, specifically investigating the differences between steady state and transient sizing, comparing simulation techniques with a lower fidelity option and quantifying expected error.
Output of an eddy-resolving model of the North Atlantic is diagnosed in the vicinity of the Gulf Stream (GS), using the three-dimensional quasi-geostrophic transient wave activity flux diagnostic developed by Plumb [1986]. The model North Atlantic shows large transient wave activity along the model GS and along the edge of the Mediterranean Outflow. The fluxes show advection of wave activity by the GS from the separation point and radiation of wave activity from the GS in the top 1000 m.
The US nuclear industry is exploring options to improve operational economics and uprate the current fleet of light-water reactors by investigating transitioning to cladding performance–based safety criteria as opposed to the current limit, which requires complete avoidance of critical heat flux (CHF)/dryout. Past experience has shown that not all events leading to a dryout are severe enough to cause fuel performance degradation. Allowing temporary dryout of the fuel—that is, using a time-at-temperature (TaT) strategy—could allow for economic improvements via large power uprates and enhanced operational flexibility for current plants without compromising fuel integrity. To support this effort, the US Department of Energy is executing a comprehensive program that includes generating cladding material data under TaT conditions, developing new mechanistic models, and demonstrating modeling and simulation capabilities for transients of interest. This paper presents work performed to assess the CTF thermal-hydraulics subchannel code. CTF is a package used in the VERA core simulator, which will ultimately be used for TaT analysis. CTF will provide the thermal-hydraulic boundary conditions that will be needed for fuel performance analysis in the BISON code. Quantifying both the accuracy and uncertainty of post-CHF models will therefore be necessary. This paper outlines the strategy for the assessment of TaT and presents the results of using the steady-state and transient dryout experiments of the Boiling Fine-mesh Bundle Tests for CTF validation. The results show that the current model tends to overpredict steady-state critical power. This behavior translates to the transient tests, in which CTF is unable to capture transient dryout behavior. Some discussion of sensitivity analysis work being performed is provided to indicate which models must be further analyzed to properly model transient dryout and its uncertainty.
The explicit transient dynamics technology in use today for simulating the impact and subsequent transient dynamic response of a structure has its origins in the 'hydrocodes' dating back to the late 1940's. The growth in capability in explicit transient dynamics technology parallels the growth in speed and size of digital computers. Computer software for simulating the explicit transient dynamic response of a structure is characterized by algorithms that use a large number of small steps. In explicit transient dynamics software there is a significant emphasis on speed and simplicity. The finite element technology used to generate the spatial discretization of a structure is based on a compromise between completeness of the representation for the physical processes modelled and speed in execution. That is, since it is expected in every calculation that the deformation will be finite and the material will be strained beyond the elastic range, the geometry and the associated gradient operators must be reconstructed, as well as complex stress-strain models evaluated at every time step. As a result, finite elements derived for explicit transient dynamics software use the simplest and barest constructions possible for computational efficiency while retaining an essential representation of the physical behavior. The best example of this technology is the four-node bending quadrilateral derived by Belytschko, Lin and Tsay. Today, the speed, memory capacity and availability of computer hardware allows a number of the previously used algorithms to be 'improved.' That is, it is possible with today's computing hardware to modify many of the standard algorithms to improve their representation of the physical process at the expense of added complexity and computational effort. The purpose is to review a number of these algorithms and identify the improvements possible. In many instances, both the older, faster version of the algorithm and the improved and somewhat slower version of the algorithm are found implemented together in software. Specifically, the following seven algorithmic items are examined: the invariant time derivatives of stress used in material models expressed in rate form; incremental objectivity and strain used in the numerical integration of the material models; the use of one-point element integration versus mean quadrature; shell elements used to represent the behavior of thin structural components; beam elements based on stress-resultant plasticity versus cross-section integration; the fidelity of elastic-plastic material models in their representation of ductile metals; and the use of Courant subcycling to reduce computational effort.
Density stratification in a large enclosure is a crucial phenomenon to heat transfer and sustainable passive heat removal of a sodium fast reactor during reactivity transients. However, engineering turbulence models were identified to have unsatisfactory performance in predicting propagation of a stratified front. Yet, the scarcity of high-resolution data for stratification hampers the development of models. To explor e applications of leveraging direct numerical simulation (DNS) data to support turbulence model development, this work conducted DNS using NekRS to study a long stratification transient in the High-Resolution Jet (HiRJET) experimental facility. Here, this work considers an experiment run where light fluid is injected into a tank containing a denser fluid with a relative density difference of 1.5%. Formation of the stratified layer is identified as impingement of the buoyant jet promoting mixing of the two fluids. Based on the transient statistics, transport of the concentration can be characterized by regions with dominating effects of turbulent mixing, buoyant dissipation, and molecular diffusion, respectively, as moving away from the elevation of jet impingement. Concentration near the stratified front also exhibits oscillation at Brunt-Väisälä frequency. Preliminary validation of the simulation showed encouraging agreement of the concentration distribution with the reference experiment.
Diffraction-before-destruction imaging with ultrashort X-ray pulses can visualize non-equilibrium processes, such as chemical reactions, with sub-femtosecond precision in the native environment. Here, a nanospecimen diffracts a single X-ray flash before it disintegrates. The sample structure can be reconstructed from the coherent diffraction image (CDI). State-of-the-art X-ray snapshots lack high spatial resolution because of weak diffraction signal. Bleaching effects from photo-ionization significantly restrain image brightness scaling. We find that non-linear transient ion resonances can overcome this barrier if X-ray laser pulses are shorter than in most experiments. We compared snapshots from individual ≈ 100 nm Xe nanoparticles as a function of pulse duration and incoming X-ray fluence. Our experimental results and Monte Carlo simulations suggest that transient resonances can increase ionic scattering cross sections significantly beyond literature values. This provides a novel avenue towards substantial improvement of the spatial resolution in CDI in combination with sub-femtosecond temporal precision at the nanoscale.
In this paper a recently developed coupling between system code TRACE and nodal neutronics code Ants is presented. The TRAC/RELAP Advanced Computational Engine (TRACE) is a reactor system code developed by U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). The code has been designed to analyse loss-of-coolant accidents (LOCAs), operational transients and other accident scenarios in light water reactors. Ants is the reduced order nodal neutronics code of the Kraken framework. The diffusion solution method in Ants is based on the Analytic Function Expansion Nodal method (AFEN) and Flux Expansion Nodal Method (FENM). Rectangular, hexagonal and triangular geometries are supported. Both steady state and burnup problems including micro-depletion can be simulated. The coupling is implemented using VTT's multi-physics driver Cerberus and the Exterior Communications Interface (ECI) which is supplied with TRACE and enables the coupling of TRACE without source code modifications. The main focus in the paper is on describing the TRACE-Ants coupling in detail in order to share to other code developers what we have learned from the ECI based coupling process. The coupled code system is briefly tested by simulating a simple transient in a SMR core initiated by control rod movement. The results of the test calculation look reasonable and more complicated test cases will be modelled in the near future.
Using numerical simulations, this work demonstrates a concept called back-end ignition for lighting-off and pre-heating a catalytic monolith in a power generation system. In this concept, a downstream heat source (e.g. a flame) or resistive heating in the downstream portion of the monolith initiates a localized catalytic reaction which subsequently propagates upstream and heats the entire monolith. The simulations used a transient numerical model of a single catalytic channel which characterizes the behavior of the entire monolith. The model treats both the gas and solid phases and includes detailed homogeneous and heterogeneous reactions. An important parameter in the model for back-end ignition is upstream heat conduction along the solid. The simulations used both dry and wet CO chemistry as a model fuel for the proof-of-concept calculations; the presence of water vapor can trigger homogenous reactions, provided that gas-phase temperatures are adequately high and there is sufficient fuel remaining after surface reactions. With sufficiently high inlet equivalence ratio, back-end ignition occurs using the thermophysical properties of both a ceramic and metal monolith (coated with platinum in both cases), with the heat-up times significantly faster for the metal monolith. For lower equivalence ratios, back-end ignition occurs without upstream propagation. Once light-off and propagation occur, the inlet equivalence ratio could be reduced significantly while still maintaining an ignited monolith as demonstrated by calculations using complete monolith heating.
Since the Columbia accident, the threat to the Shuttle launch vehicle from debris during the liftoff timeframe has been assessed by the Liftoff Debris Team at NASA/MSFC. In addition to engineering methods of analysis, CFD-generated flow fields during the liftoff timeframe have been used in conjunction with 3-DOF debris transport methods to predict the motion of liftoff debris. Early models made use of a quasi-steady flow field approximation with the vehicle positioned at a fixed location relative to the ground; however, a moving overset mesh capability has recently been developed for the Loci/CHEM CFD software which enables higher-fidelity simulation of the Shuttle transient plume startup and liftoff environment. The present work details the simulation of the launch pad and mobile launch platform (MLP) with truncated solid rocket boosters (SRBs) moving in a prescribed liftoff trajectory derived from Shuttle flight measurements. Using Loci/CHEM, time-accurate RANS and hybrid RANS/LES simulations were performed for the timeframe T0+0 to T0+3.5 seconds, which consists of SRB startup to a vehicle altitude of approximately 90 feet above the MLP. Analysis of the transient flowfield focuses on the evolution of the SRB plumes in the MLP plume holes and the flame trench, impingement on the flame deflector, and especially impingment on the MLP deck resulting in upward flow which is a transport mechanism for debris. The results show excellent qualitative agreement with the visual record from past Shuttle flights, and comparisons to pressure measurements in the flame trench and on the MLP provide confidence in these simulation capabilities.
Rolling-element bearing forces vary nonlinearly with bearing deflection. Thus an accurate rotordynamic transient analysis requires bearing forces to be determined at each step of the transient solution. Analyses have been carried out to show the effect of accurate bearing transient forces (accounting for non-linear speed and load dependent bearing stiffness) as compared to conventional use of average rolling-element bearing stiffness. Bearing forces were calculated by COBRA-AHS (Computer Optimized Ball and Roller Bearing Analysis - Advanced High Speed) and supplied to the rotordynamics code ARDS (Analysis of Rotor Dynamic Systems) for accurate simulation of rotor transient behavior. COBRA-AHS is a fast-running 5 degree-of-freedom computer code able to calculate high speed rolling-element bearing load-displacement data for radial and angular contact ball bearings and also for cylindrical and tapered roller beatings. Results show that use of nonlinear bearing characteristics is essential for accurate prediction of rotordynamic behavior.
A dual flow-path inlet for a turbine based combined cycle (TBCC) propulsion system is to be tested in order to evaluate methodologies for performing a controlled inlet mode transition. Prior to experimental testing, simulation models are used to test, debug, and validate potential control algorithms which are designed to maintain shock position during inlet disturbances. One simulation package being used for testing is the High Mach Transient Engine Cycle Code simulation, known as HiTECC. This paper discusses the development of a mode transition schedule for the HiTECC simulation that is analogous to the development of inlet performance maps. Inlet performance maps, derived through experimental means, describe the performance and operability of the inlet as the splitter closes, switching power production from the turbine engine to the Dual Mode Scram Jet. With knowledge of the operability and performance tradeoffs, a closed loop system can be designed to optimize the performance of the inlet. This paper demonstrates the design of the closed loop control system and benefit with the implementation of a Proportional-Integral controller, an H-Infinity based controller, and a disturbance observer based controller; all of which avoid inlet unstart during a mode transition with a simulated disturbance that would lead to inlet unstart without closed loop control.
A dual flow-path inlet system is being tested to evaluate methodologies for a Turbine Based Combined Cycle (TBCC) propulsion system to perform a controlled inlet mode transition. Prior to experimental testing, simulation models are used to test, debug, and validate potential control algorithms. One simulation package being used for testing is the High Mach Transient Engine Cycle Code simulation, known as HiTECC. This paper discusses the closed loop control system, which utilizes a shock location sensor to improve inlet performance and operability. Even though the shock location feedback has a coarse resolution, the feedback allows for a reduction in steady state error and, in some cases, better performance than with previous proposed pressure ratio based methods. This paper demonstrates the design and benefit with the implementation of a proportional-integral controller, an H-Infinity based controller, and a disturbance observer based controller.
To improve the economics of commercial nuclear energy generation, U.S. utilities are currently seeking licensing approval to operate UO2 fuel to higher burnups. One significant safety issue that must be addressed to obtain approval is the potential for fine fragmentation/pulverization of the fuel during a loss-of-coolant accident (LOCA). The cause of pulverization has been hypothesized to be the rapid increase of pressure in fission gas bubbles in the high burnup region of the fuel during a LOCA. To better understand this phenomenon, a novel phase-field model of the fission gas bubble microstructure in UO2 has been developed and implemented in Idaho National Laboratory (INL)'s Marmot application for phase-field simulation of nuclear materials. Simulations of the bubble response to steady-state and transient conditions were conducted. Simulation results were used to inform a mechanistic model of pulverization in BISON, INL’s fuel performance simulation code.
This paper presents the results of a one-dimensional numerical simulation of the transient chilldown of a vertical stainless steel tube with liquid nitrogen. The direction of flow is downward (with gravity) through the tube. Heat transfer correlations for film, transition, and nucleate boiling, as well as critical heat flux, rewetting temperature, and the temperature at the onset of nucleate boiling were used to model the convection to the tube wall. Chilldown curves from the simulations were compared with data from 55 recent liquid nitrogen chilldown experiments. With these new correlations the simulation is able to predict the time to rewetting temperature and time to onset of nucleate boiling to within 25% for mass fluxes ranging from 61.2 to 1150 kg/(sq m s), inlet pressures from 175 to 817 kPa, and subcooled inlet temperatures from 0 to 14 K below the saturation temperature.
A SAM model for a 200 MWth generic pebble bed high-temperature gas-cooled reactor (PBHTGR) is presented in this work. As an extension to the modeling effort from FY-22 (Ooi et al. (2022)), an improved core channel approach is used to model the pebble bed of the reactor. The improvement greatly simplifies the model and reduces the run time of the model. Furthermore, the SAM model is coupled to the Griffin reactor physics model from Stewart et al. (2021) using the MOOSE MultiApp system where neutronics calculations are performed by the Griffin model and thermal hydraulics calculations by the SAM model. Favorable predictions are produced by the SAM/Griffin coupled model for steady-state normal operating condition. A load-following transient is also simulated with the coupled model where the neutronics and thermal hydraulics responses of the core are predicted correctly by the model. A protected Pressurized Loss of Forced Cooling (PLOFC) accident is simulated with the SAM model, in which the reactor power is determined using the decay heat curve, and therefore the Griffin model is not needed and thus decoupled. A simplified RCCS (Reactor Cavity Cooling System) loop is added to the model to remove decay heat from the core during the transient. Qualitatively, the prediction by the SAM model matches the expected behavior of a PB-HTGR during a PLOFC accident.
Here we examine the large‐scale transport characteristics of the new ``Middle Atmosphere" NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies climate model (E2.2). First we evaluate the stratospheric transport circulation in historical atmosphere‐only simulations integrated with interactive trace gas and aerosol chemistry. Compared to lower vertical resolution model versions, E2.2 exhibits improved tropical ascent and older stratospheric mean ages that are more consistent with observed values. In the troposphere, poleward transport to the Arctic and interhemispheric mean ages in E2.2 are comparable to models participating in the Chemistry Climate Modeling Initiative. In addition to validating E2.2 we also assess its ``transport sensitivity" using the coupled atmosphere‐ocean abrupt 4xCO2 and transient 1%CO2 simulations submitted to the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project, Phase 6, along with a 2xCO2 simulation used to evaluate the linearity of the transport circulation's response to increased CO2. We show that decreases (increases) in a stratospheric mean age (idealized surface loss) tracer scale linearly with increased lower stratospheric upwelling, which also increases linearly with warming tropical sea surface temperatures (SSTs). Abrupt 2xCO2 and 4xCO2 experiments constrained with (fixed) pre‐industrial SSTs are also used to quantify the relative importance of rapid adjustments versus SST feedbacks to the transport circulation responses in the model. Finally, sensitivity experiments are presented to illustrate the impact of changes in the convective parameterization on stratospheric transport.
The High Temperature Test Facility (HTTF) at Oregon State University is an integral system test facility to simulate postulated reactor transients of prismatic high-temperature gas-cooled reactors(HTGRs). A series of test campaigns was launched, providing abundant test data that could be used to benchmark reactor system analysis codes like the System Analysis Module (SAM). In this study, a SAM model of the facility is developed based on the two-dimensional (2D) ring model approach. All components including the ceramic matrix, graphite heaters, helium coolant channels, core barrel, upcomer, pressure vessel, and reactor cavity cooling system are modeled as concentric cylindrical rings. The model is used to simulate one of the benchmark problems-Pressurized Conduction Cooldown (PCC)-within the scope of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development Nuclear Energy Agency International HTTF Benchmark. The simulations consist of two parts. In the first part, operating and boundary conditions as well as thermophysical properties of materials are specified for the benchmark problem. In this work, results from the first part will be used in code-to-code comparison. In the second part, the SAM model is used to simulate Test PG-27, which is the first PCC test carried out in the HTTF, with only two of the ten heater banks activated. The results in the second part are used for code-to-data comparison. Because the helium coolant flow rate is not measured in this facility, it is estimated using the input power and inlet/outlet coolant temperatures. Additionally, radial heat flow in the ceramic blocks is complicated by hundreds of cylindrical coolant channels and heater rods embedded in them. As such, it is necessary to deduce an effective thermal conductivity for the ceramic to analyze the core thermal behavior. SAM predictions of the helium coolant and ceramic temperatures are compared with test data measured in three equivalent sectors. Overall, the SAM results agree reasonably well with test data within the variation of data among the three sectors, which demonstrates SAM's capability in capturing transient effects in HTGR using the simplified 2D ring model.