Failure behavior of carbon steel pipe with local wall thinning near orifice

Monotonic four-point bending tests were conducted using pipe specimens having an orifice undergoing local wall thinning. The effects of local wall thinning on the fracture behaviors of pipe were investigated. Local wall thinning was machined on the inside of pipes in order to simulate erosion corrosion metal loss. The configurations of the eroded area were l = 100 mm in axial length, d/t = 0.5 and 0.8 in thickness ratio, and 2θ = 180° in angle. The area undergoing local wall thinning was subjected to either tensile or compressive stress. Failure type could be classified into ovalization, local buckling, and crack initiation, depending on thickness ratio, and stress at the eroded area. Three-dimensional elasto-plastic analyses were also carried out using the finite element method, which is able to accurately simulate fracture behaviors. Failure analysis map was constructed for pipes with or without orifice based on the results of finite element analyses in order to investigate the effect of orifice on the failure behaviors.     

Investigation of wall mass transfer characteristics downstream of an orifice

Numerical simulations were performed to determine the effect of Reynolds number and orifice to pipe diameter ratio (d_o/d) on the wall mass transfer rate downstream of an orifice. The simulations were performed for d_o/d of 0.475 for Reynolds number up to 70,000. The effect of d_o/d was determined by performing simulations at a Reynolds number of 70,000 for d_o/d of 0.375, 0.475 and 0.575. The momentum and mass transport equations were solved using the Low Reynolds Number (LRN) K-? turbulence model. The Sherwood number (Sh) profile downstream of the orifice was in relatively good agreement with existing experimental results. The Sh increases sharply downstream of the orifice, reaching a maximum within 1–2 diameters downstream of the orifice, before relaxing back to the fully developed pipe flow value. The Sh number well downstream of the orifice was in good agreement with results for fully developed pipe flow estimated from the correlation of Berger and Hau (1977). The peak Sh numbers from the simulations were higher than that predicted from Tagg et al. (1979) and Coney (1980).     

Bubble rise characteristics after the departure from a nucleation site in vertical upflow boiling of subcooled water

Rise characteristics of vapor bubbles after the departure from a nucleation site in forced convective subcooled flow boiling were studied visually using two synchronized high speed video cameras. The test section was a transparent glass tube of 20 mm in inside diameter, filtrated and deionized tap water was used as a working fluid, and the flow direction adopted was vertical upward. The outer surface of test section tube was electrically heated to generate vapor bubbles inside of the tube. In the present experiments, the mass flux and liquid subcooling were varied within 94–1435 kg/m² s and 2.2–10 K, respectively. Since the observations were performed at low heat fluxes to avoid the significant increase in the number of active nucleation sites, the obtained bubble images were clear enough to carry out the detailed image analysis for the rise characteristics of individual bubbles. The following three different bubble rise paths were observed after the departure from nucleation sites: some bubbles slid upward the vertical wall for long distance, while other bubbles were detached from the wall after sliding for several millimeters and then migrated toward the bulk liquid; after the migration, some of the detached bubbles were collapsed in subcooled liquid but others remained close to the wall and were reattached to the wall. The results of detailed image analyses suggested that the variation in bubble shape from flattened to more rounded was of primary importance for the occurrence of bubble detachment from the wall.     

Bubble lattice formation in titanium injected with krypton ions

Bubble lattice formation is one of the common features resulting from high-dose inert gas implantations into metals at ambient temperatures. In this paper we describe the bubble lattice alignment found during an investigation into the precipitation of krypton ions in titanium at 300 K. The bubbles were shown to be ordered into planes or sheets, parallel with the basal plane of the hexagonal-close-packed structure of the host matrix; however, within each bubble plane the bubble positions were random. This work adds to the sparse data on bubble lattices (a) in hcp metals, and (b) formed with inert gases other than helium. The hcp result appears important in assessing the two recent models of cavity lattice formation based on anisotropic interstitial diffusion.     

Air-water multidimensional impingement flow on vertical flat wall

The emergency core cooling (ECC) water is supplied from the direct vessel injection (DVI) system in the Advanced Power Reactor 1400 MWe (APR1400) during a postulated large-break loss-of-coolant accident (LBLOCA). The velocity of ECC water exceeds 10 m/s in the early high pressure phase of LBLOCA and then is decreased to 2-3 m/s in the late phase of reflood. During the injection the flow behavior exhibits a complex mode involving impingement, bypass, entrainment, sweepout and condensation in the reactor downcomer. There is currently no model to accurately simulate the local and complicated flow behavior in the APR1400 downcomer during a LBLOCA. This study is aimed at developing models for the water film flow and deformation, both of which are expected to sizably affect the other multidimensional flow characteristics in the downcomer. Experimental studies are conducted to benchmark the predictive model by furnishing the boundary conditions for the analysis resorting to the Accelerated Liquid Phase Hydrodynamics Apparatus (ALPHA) and the Kinetic Aerodynamic Physics Parallelepiped Apparatus (KAPPA). The Poisson equation and potential theory are applied to formulate the behavior of the water film and air flow. In both the experimental and numerical studies, the temperature-dependent thermodynamic properties and the reactor vessel curvature are neglected to render the problem at hand tractable. The model is found to reasonably describe the downward film flow behavior. The water film is developed in proportion to the initial injection velocity of the ECC water. The downward velocity of water film is increased with the heights of injection. Regarding the film deformation the calculated results tend to deviate from the experimental data as the injected air velocity is increased. The disagreement is attributed to limitations inherent in the two-dimensional treatment and point source approach.     

Study on behavior of tritium in concrete wall

It is required to understand the tritium behavior in concrete for establishment of tritium safety technology of a fusion reactor or a tritium handling facility because the concrete wall is used as the final containment to prevent tritium release to the environment. This paper discusses about the effect of adsorption and diffusion of water and isotope exchange reaction between physically adsorbed water and chemically adsorbed water or structural water. It is known in this study that a large amount of tritium can be trapped to the concrete wall because cement paste has the nature of porous hydrophilic material.     

Fracture behavior of straight pipe and elbow with local wall thinning

Fracture behavior of pipes with local wall thinning is very important for the integrity of nuclear power plant. Then we studied the fracture behavior of straight pipe and elbow with local wall thinning. For the straight pipe, failure mode, limit load and allowable wall thinning limit based on plastic deformation ability have been studied systematically. Twenty two straight pipe specimens were tested. The failure mode was divided into four types; cracking, local buckling, ovalization and plastic collapse (ovalization+buckling). Maximum load was successfully evaluated using plastic section modulus and modified flow stress, in dependent to failure mode. For the elbow, plastic collapse and low cycle fatigue fracture by reversed loading have been tested using ten specimens. Observed failure modes were ovalization and local buckling under monotonic loading, and were local buckling and cracking under cyclic loading, especially local buckling promoted crack initiation. Test results were compared with ASME design curve and allowable limit of local wall thinning will be discussed.     

Benchmark database on the evolution of two-phase flows in a vertical pipe

Based on many years of experience, a new extensive and high-quality database was obtained for steady-state upward air-water flows in a vertical pipe with an inner diameter of 195.3 mm using the wire-mesh sensor technology. During the experiments, the sensor was always mounted on the top of the test section while the distance between gas injection and measuring plane was varied up to 18 different L/D by using gas injection chambers at different vertical positions. The gas was injected via holes in the pipe wall. In this new test series the pressure was kept at 0.25 MPa (absolute) at the location of the active gas injection while the temperature was constant at 30 °C ± 1 K. The experiments were done for 48 combinations of air and water superficial velocities varying from 0.04 m/s to 1.6 m/s for water and 0.0025 m/s to 3.2 m/s for air. From the raw data time-averaged data as: radial gas volume fraction profiles, bubble size distributions, radial volume fraction profiles decomposed according to the bubble size and the radial profiles of the gas velocity were calculated. The consistency of this data was thoroughly checked. They are characterized by a high resolution in space, which makes them suitable for the development and validation of CFD-grade closure models, e.g. for bubble forces and coalescence and break-up. It is also an ideal base to validate CFD approaches for poly-dispersed flow. For this reason it is proposed to use the database as a benchmark for modelling poly-dispersed flows.     

Model Development for Bubble Turbulent Diffusion and Bubble Diameter in Large Vertical Pipes

Multi-dimensional analyses have been expected recently with expanding computation resources for gas-liquid two- phase flow analyses of advanced nuclear systems such as passive safety systems and natural-circulation-type reactors. However, the applicability of previous constitutive equations for multi-dimensional analyses has not been fully investigated especially for the effects of flow path scale because the equations have been assessed for small-scale experiments. In this study, we analyzed the scale effects by the multi-dimensional two-fluid model code using data in 38 mm and 200 mm diameter pipes. We clarified a key-parameter to model the scale effects and developed models for the effects on phase distribution. The scale effects can be classified by the relative relationship between bubble diameter d_b and turbulent length scale l_T . Bubble-induced turbulence is increased under that d_b is smaller than l_T and bubble coalescence is predominated rather than breakup under that l_T is about three times larger than d_b and under higher void fraction. Based on these findings, we established new models for bubble turbulent diffusion and bubble diameter. The applicability was promising through assessments against the 38 mm and 200 mm pipes under different flow rates and against databases for 60 mm, 100 mm and 480 mm pipes.     

Assessment of thermo-mechanical behavior in CLAM steel first wall structures

The temperature and strain distributions of the mockup with distinct structural material (SS316L or China Low Activation Martensitic steel (CLAM)) in two-dimensional model were calculated and analyzed, based on a high heat flux (HHF) test recently reported with heat flux of 3.2 MW/m². The calculated temperature and strain results in the first wall (FW), in which SS316L is as the structural material, showed good agreement with HHF test. By substituting CLAM steel for SS316L the contrast analysis indicates that the thermo-mechanical property for CLAM steel is better than that of SS316 at the same condition. Furthermore, the thermo-mechanical behavior of the FW was analyzed under the condition of normal ITER operation combined effect of plasma heat flux and neutron heating.     

汽泡滑移现象及质量流速和热流密度对汽泡滑移生长的影响

以去离子水为工质,对较高系统压力下竖直矩形窄流道内的汽泡生长特性进行可视化研究.由于单位体积潜热的提高,系统压力升高将抑制汽泡的生长,使得在相同生长时间内汽泡的尺寸大幅减小;随着系统压力升高,汽泡在核化点处的生长时间会明显地缩短.压力较高时,汽泡生长主要是在滑移过程中进行,滑移过程中,会间歇性地离开又再附上加热壁面;汽...     

Study on intermittent flow behavior in a vertical channel under low-pressure condition

The intermittent flow behavior in a vertical annulus under a low-pressure condition was experimentally studied using a scaling experiment facility. The temperature and pressure variations in the channel had been obtained under the heat load ranging from 0 to 2.0 kW, initial subcooled water temperature ranging from 50 to 90 °C and length–diameter ratio ranging from 1.6 to 50. The effects of the heat load and length–diameter ratio of channel on the flow characteristics were investigated in detail. The experimental results showed that the steam bubbles erupted more frequently and regularly at a high heat load. The intermittent flow period decreased with increase of the heat load and aspect ratio. Based on the mechanism analysis, an empirical model considering the steam oscillation and the vapor–liquid interface rupture based on the experimental data was proposed. It was found that the accumulated steam basically increased linearly. The oscillation of the pressure and velocity decreased gradually with continuous steam accumulation. The Reynolds number of the liquid within the rising section was very small at the stagnation state since there was no forced circulation flow. Finally, a blockage was engendered in the pipeline with the steam accumulated.     

不同系统压力下汽泡生长特性及压力影响机理分析

为了探讨系统压力变化对窄流道内汽泡生长的影响,在不同系统压力(0.1～1 MPa)下采用高速摄像仪对2 mm竖直矩形窄流道内的汽泡生长进行可视化研究.研究表明,发现在0.1～0.3 MPa下汽泡的生长主要在核化点处进行,但在较高压力(Ps≥0.6 MPa)时汽泡生长主要是在滑移中进行,汽泡的尺寸也显著减小;由于汽泡行为发生变化,不同系统压力下加热壁面上的换热状况有着很大区别.用拉普拉斯数(La)和时间因子(ξ)分别对汽泡半径和汽泡生长时间进行无量纲化后,无量纲汽泡生长曲线遵循指数曲线变化;指数曲线的系数七随系统压力升高而减小.     

松辽盆地南部喜山期构造演化与铀成矿

分析了松辽盆地在喜山旋回中所处的应力场、喜山期构造运动及所产生的地貌环境,认为喜山期构造运动为松辽盆地砂岩型铀矿形成创造了有利的构造地貌条件,主要成矿时间为始新世、上新世。松辽盆地南部盆缘剥蚀天窗区构造发育,成矿作用明显,是寻找地浸砂岩型铀矿的有利地段。     

单个浸没孔气泡动力学特性的数值模拟

核电厂发生严重事故时可利用池洗效应去除泄漏的放射性气溶胶。对池洗过程进行两相数值模拟研究是有必要的,在使用两相计算流体力学(CFD)程序计算之前需要确定气泡注入点处的边界条件。基于整合池洗研究(IPRESCA)项目框架和流体体积法(VOF),对单个浸没孔气泡动力学特性进行数值模拟研究,捕捉浸没孔处气泡的大小、形状和脱离频率,并对气泡注入速度对气泡脱离频率的影响进行敏感性分析。利用DBSCAN聚类算法获得了气泡质心高度,并计算得到了不同高度的气泡上升速度。给出了平均空泡份额沿z轴方向的分布,以及平均空泡份额和平均混合速度在不同高度平面沿水平及径向的分布。     

单个浸没孔气泡动力学特性的数值模拟

In severe accidents of a nuclear power plant, the released radioactive aerosols can be removed by pool scrubbing effect. Two-phase numerical simulation of the pool scrubbing process is necessary. The boundary conditions at the bubble injection point need to be determined before using the two-phase CFD program. Based on the framework of Integration of Pool scrubbing Research to Enhance Source-term Calculations (IPRESCA) project and the volume of fluid (VOF) method, a numerical simulation of gas injected bubble dynamics from single submerged orifice was carried out. Bubble size, shape, and detachment frequency at the orifice were captured. Sensitivity analysis of the influence of bubble injection speed on bubble detachment frequency was carried out. The bubble centroid height was obtained by DBSCAN clustering algorithm, and the bubble rising velocity at different heights was calculated. The distribution of the mean void fraction along the z-axis direction and the distribution of mean void fraction and mean mixture velocity along the horizontal lines and radius in central plane at different height are given.     

Flow transport and mixing induced by horizontal jets impinging on a vertical wall of the multi-compartment PANDA facility

In the frame of the OECD/NEA SETH project an experimental campaign has been carried out in the PANDA facility to investigate gas transport and mixing induced by a plume or a jet in the large-scale multi-compartment PANDA facility. The paper summarizes the results of the horizontal jet test series consisting of eight tests. Horizontal jets impinging on a vertical wall of one of the cylindrical PANDA containment vessels have been generated by changing various parameters, such as: type of injected fluid (steam or a mixture of steam and helium), fluid injection velocity, elevation (with respect to the containment vessel) of the injection exit, initial fluid composition in the vessels, and location of the vent line. The initial jet Froude number has been varied between 17 and 36 and in one of the test condensation occurred. The paper shows the effect of these parameters variation on the test evolution with respect to jet impingement location in the vertical curved wall and variation of impingement location as a function of buoyancy variation. Fluid mixing and stratification, characteristics of gas transport between the compartment and the effect of condensation on the overall phenomena evolution are analyzed in the paper.     

Density evolution in formation of swift heavy ion tracks in insulators

Swift heavy ion irradiation leaves a latent ion track around the ion path in many materials. Here we report computational molecular dynamics (MD) simulation results on track formation in several insulating materials, quartz, amorphous silica (a-SiO₂), zinc oxide and diamond, concentrating especially in mass transport leading to density variations in the track volume during the initial stages of track formation. These details are largely unobservable in experiments due to the picosecond timescale and very local nature, and also in many computational models of track formation. Earlier a low-density core - high-density shell fine structure has been observed in latent tracks in amorphous silica, and here we study if other materials than silica show similar behavior. The results highlight the dynamical nature of track formation, that includes competing effects of heat and mass transport, rapid quenching of the heated area and recrystallization.     

Second phase formation at microvoids and gas atom entrapment at fusion reactor first wall surfaces

Results of cascade production and annealing studies for iron are projected to the currently considered fusion reactor first wall materials. Collision cascades initiated by primary knock-on atoms (PKA) with energies above 50 keV, in iron, separate into distinct subregions. Most PKA produced during fission reactor neutron irradiation have energies below 50 keV, but the energies of PKA produced by 14.1 MeV neutron irradiation commonly lie in the 50–500 keV range in iron and vanadium alloys. Computer experiment simulation indicates that, when present, carbon, silicon, and nitrogen, freed by irradiation from bulk precipitates, should tend to re-precipitate on the facets of microvoids which form in cascade subregions during short-term annealing.