Nuclear Engineering and Design 253 (2012) 111

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Nuclear Engineering and Design

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/nucengdes

Numerical and experimental analysis of transient wave propagation through perforated plates for application to the simulation of LOCA in PWR
V. Faucher a,b, , F. Crouzet a,c , P. Piteau b , P. Galon a,b , P. Izquierdo b
a b c

LaMSID, UMR EDF-CEA-CNRS 2832, Clamart, F-92141, France CEA, DEN, DANS, DM2S, SEMT, DYN, Gif-sur-Yvette, F-91191, France EDF R&D, Analysis in Mechanics and Acoustics, Clamart, F-92141, France

h i g h l i g h t s
LOCA simulation: analyze effects of perforated plates on rarefaction waves propagation at reactor level. Localized impedance relations to account for singular head loss and acoustic delays. Experimental campaign to produce a reference solution for wave propagation through a thickorice plate. Qualication of a reference CFD code to produce reection/transmission solutions for any geometry. Calibration procedure for impedance relations using CFD reference solutions.

a r t i c l e

i n f o

a b s t r a c t
Loss of coolant accident is characterized by a transient rarefaction wave propagating inside the primary loop after pipe break, resulting in uid loading on internal structures, especially on the bafe surrounding the reactor core. In that case, loading comes from differences in rarefaction wave travel times, whether it propagates through the reactor core or through the by-pass between bafe and core barrel, yielding delays and pressure differences on both sides of bafe plates. Propagation is strongly inuenced by geometric obstacles such as holes in bafe reinforcement plates, which cannot be represented in a numerical model of the whole primary loop and has then to be replaced by suitable impedance relations. A methodology to validate and calibrate such impedance models, based on specic experimental results and high-order CFD simulations, is thus proposed. Models are tested and integrated into EUROPLEXUS fast-transient uidstructure dynamics software. 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Article history: Received 13 October 2011 Received in revised form 20 July 2012 Accepted 9 August 2012

1. Context Loss of coolant accident (LOCA) in a pressurized water nuclear reactor (PWR) consists in a brutal and total opening (guillotine break) of one of the main coolant pipes, rst resulting in a rarefaction wave propagating in the primary loop and especially through the core of reactor vessel. Between lower core plate and upper core plate (see Fig. 1), two propagation paths are possible, rst through fuel assemblies and second through the by-pass dened by the volume located between bafe and code barrel. Depending on structural obstacles which modify water ow and acoustic wave propagation, travel times differ from one path to another, yielding transient pressure loading on bafe. The resulting forces must be evaluated to predict the core degradation during the accident. In

Corresponding author at: LaMSID, UMR EDF-CEA-CNRS 2832, Clamart, F-92141, France. Tel.: +33 1 69 08 40 18; fax: +33 1 69 08 76 19. E-mail address: vincent.faucher@cea.fr (V. Faucher). 0029-5493/$ see front matter 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.nucengdes.2012.08.009

particular, formers (perforated reinforcement plates for bafe) are responsible for time delays in the by-pass to be precisely quantied (see Fig. 2). Representing holes in reinforcement plates is out of reach of numerical models for complete PWR primary loop and the effects of plates on water ow or transient wave is therefore neglected in most uidstructure LOCA simulations (see for instance (Brandt et al., 2010; Hermansky and Krajkovic, 2011; Casadei and Potapov, 2004)). However, to correctly compute the loading on the core bafe, simplied modeling is necessary, the inuence of perforated plates being described by specic localized impedance conditions. Such conditions classically consist rst in a singular head loss, yielding correct pressure drop through the plate once stationary ow is achieved, second in an inertial correction acting on acoustic waves propagating during transient regime. Parameter identication for impedances obeys geometric principles (see Section 2), but accurate calibration for every geometry is still challenging. Impedance approaches must also be validated by comparison to a reference solution, to determine whether

V. Faucher et al. / Nuclear Engineering and Design 253 (2012) 111

Fig. 1. PWR vessel and internal components.

Fig. 2. Bafe and perforated reinforcement plates.

current models with suitable coefcients are able to represent main physical phenomena or if new approaches must be proposed. The present paper is thus divided into three parts. First, existing impedance models are described and discussed. Second, a reference solution, both experimental and numerical, is sought for the case of a wave propagating through a thick orice plate. Third, this solution is used to validate simplied models and to design a calibration procedure which can be applied to any geometric conguration.

The qualication procedure is based on the use of two different numerical tools. Detailed reference simulations are performed with Code Safari, a high-order CFD code developed by EDF. Simulations at industrial level are performed with EUROPLEXUS Software1,2

1 2

http://europlexus.jrc.ec.europa.eu/public/manual html/index.html. http://www.repdyn.fr.

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(abbreviated EPX in next paragraphs) a fast transient dynamics code for uids and structures, co-owned by French Commissariat lEnergie Atomique et aux Energies Alternatives (CEA) and the European Commission (Lepareux et al., 1985; Potapov et al., 2002; Potapov, 2003). Electricit de France (EDF) is involved as a major partner of the consortium built for EPX software development. For the sake of clarity and simplicity, in the following paragraphs, any localized change in geometry, such as a thick orice plate or a sudden enlargement, will be referred as geometric obstacle, acting on both uid ow and acoustic waves.

Friction head loss is proportional to pipe length L and writes: H= P= L v2 Dh 2 (2)

where Dh is the pipe hydraulic diameter, computed as the ratio between cross section and wet perimeter and the regular head loss coefcient, depending on the considered type of ow. Singular head loss writes in a similar way: H= P=k

v2
2

(3)

2. Impedance conditions for geometric obstacles acting on transient wave propagation The following impedance models are considered using a monodimensional approach. Even for multidimensional simulations, monodimensional conditions are still written through cell plane faces, i.e. perforated plates are assumed orthogonal to main ow direction.

Head loss coefcient k is obtained from analytical calculations in simple congurations, such as sudden enlargement, or from abacuses (IdelCik, 1969). Formula (3) represents an impedance relation, giving pressure drop as a function of ow velocity at a specic point and is implemented in that way in EPX explicit time-integration algorithm. 2.3. Acoustic impedance This impedance assumes acoustic plane waves propagating in stationary ow, i.e. convective effects on the ow are neglected. Pressure variation across singularity is then linked to the time derivative of local mass ow rate as: P = 2c 1 q v = 2 c S t t (4)

2.1. Existing models Many results can be found in the literature concerning the pressure drop generated by geometric obstacles in the presence of a steady ow, see for example the comprehensive database by IdelCik (1969). Acoustic inertial corrections have also been proposed, assuming waves propagate in a stationary ow (Baylac et al., 1971; Gibert, 1988). Nevertheless, none of these models provides a full representation of phenomena from initial pressurized steady state to nal stationary leak ow in the case of pipe break simulations, suggesting the use of a combination of both. Results for the response of an orice plate in aeroacoustic regime can be found in (Rienstra and Hirschberg, 2006) and (Hofmans et al., 2001), but the described approaches cannot be directly applied for the transient ows considered herein. Some attempts to extend head loss concepts to unsteady ows are available for friction losses in pipes. Two main approaches can be distinguished, whether friction coefcient depends on mean instantaneous velocity and its spatial and temporal derivatives (Brunone et al., 1991), or on a weighted sum of mean velocity variations (Zielke, 1968). Detailed information on these approaches and some variants are given in (Bergant et al., 2001), (Adamkowski and Lewandowski, 2006) and (Vitkovsky et al., 2006). Again, none of these approaches directly applies to the physics of transient ows, but this represents research directions in the case where combined stationary head loss and acoustic correction impedance models prove insufcient (see Section 5).

where q is the mass ow rate in pipe (q = vS ), and S the pipe cross section. is a characteristic time, computed in the case of a perforated plate through an analytical formulation (Gibert, 1988): = S L s 2c (5)

2.2. Stationary head loss Head loss accounts for the effects of friction (friction loss) or geometric obstacles (singular head loss). It is represented as an addition term H in Bernoulli equation for a steady incompressible irrotational non-viscous ow as follows: 1 2 1 2 P1 + gz1 + v = P2 + gz2 + v + 2 1 2 2 H (1)

where s is the equivalent ow section (sum of hole sections in plate), and L a characteristic length, taking into account three-dimensional effects of geometric obstacle on wave propagation. Analytical formulations for L are given in (Gibert, 1988; Crouzet et al., 2011) in the case of sudden enlargement and sudden contraction congurations. Value for a thick orice is obtained by considering it as a combination of the former congurations. However, for complex geometries, analytical value is not available for L. One point of the present paper is then to provide a way to identify this parameter through comparison with a reference solution obtained in exact geometry. Reference solution is obtained by means of a test bed dedicated to simple congurations such as thick orice plate and sudden enlargement in cylindrical pipes. To develop an identication and calibration procedure that applies to any kind of three-dimensional geometries, relying only on tests is obviously not suitable. A numerical reference solution is needed instead and requires a fully trusted software. Experiments shall thus also be used to validate the threedimensional CFD code Code Safari for this kind of simulations and qualify it as a numerical tool for a generic identication strategy. 3. Experimental campaign Tests are performed on a test bed initially designed to analyze pressure loads on structures due to different travel times of a rarefaction wave in two parallel pipes (see. Fig. 3), the main pipe schematically representing the reactor core (also called core pipe) and auxiliary pipe, equipped with several orice plates, representing the by-pass and perforated reinforcement plates (also called by-pass pipe). In order to produce simpler solutions for the analysis of waves propagating through geometric obstacles, the by-pass pipe is removed (see Fig. 4). Connecting elbows from the by-pass pipe to the core pipe remain due to technological constraints, but

where density , pressure P and velocity v are expressed at two points 1 and 2, respectively upstream and downstream ow perturbation. In the special case of a ow into a rigid pipe with constant cross section, incompressibility assumption leads to constant mass ow rate and head loss results in pressure drop.

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Fig. 5. Fragmentation bursting disks rear view of disks and failure cones.

Table 1 Captor locations. Captor name C1 C2 C3 Position 275 mm above thick orice plate 175 mm below thick orice plate 175 mm below sudden enlargement

Fig. 3. Experimental facility at CEA/Saclay, France.

their inuence is neglected. A thick orice plate is placed in the middle of the core pipe. The test bed is lled with cold water up to a pressure that triggers the bursting of a failure disk placed at the bottom end of the junction pipe (failure pressure is 70 bars). Water accumulators are disposed at the top end of the core pipe to supply the system with water during several milliseconds and to prevent pipes from instantaneously draining away. Two main geometric obstacles appear in the experimental conguration: a sudden enlargement between the junction pipe and

the core pipe and a thick orice plate in the middle of the core pipe. Bursting disk are graphite fragmentation disks: once maximum pressure is reached, a failure cone is instantaneously detached and pipe section completely opens (see Fig. 5). Among all pressure sensors implemented on the test bed, three are analysed. Their locations are given on Table 1 (C1 and C2 in the core pipe and C3 in the junction pipe, see Fig. 4). A rst simulation model for the global pipe emptying, i.e. the rst 100 milliseconds following disk rupture, is built with EPX using 1-D-pipe elements and localized impedance elements accounting for ow obstacles at bottom outlet, sudden enlargement and orice plate. Only head losses are used for impedance, the aim of this rst model being to demonstrate the capability of EPX to correctly capture pipe emptying phenomena and to validate the values for head loss coefcients computed from geometric formulae (see Table 2 for obtained values). Accumulators are modeled with liquid and gas separated by a Lagrangian interface. Liquid equation of state is: P = c2 (6)

Fig. 4. Experimental setup.

V. Faucher et al. / Nuclear Engineering and Design 253 (2012) 111 Table 2 Computed head loss coefcients. Geometric obstacle Bottom outlet Sudden enlargement between junction pipe and core pipe Thick orice plate Computed head loss coefcient 1 0.47 3 210

Fig. 6. Pressure drop above thick orice plate (sensor C1).

where c is the speed of sound, assumed constant. The value for c takes into account the exibility of pipes, by means of Allievi correction (Allievi, 1902), as well as gas dissolved in water. Its experimentally measured value is 1300 m s1 . For each sensor, measured and simulated pressures are plotted as a function of time. Global pipe emptying above and below the orice plate (see Figs. 6 and 7). Agreement between numerical simulation and experiment is quite satisfactory, with the fast pipe emptying below the orice plate correctly reproduced, even if the computed pressure after pipe emptying is not accurate, since the model used for water does not account for the presence of air, as well as the potential cavitation occurring in water at very low pressure. In particular, correct slope is obtained for transient pressure drop. Above the orice plate (sensor C1), pressure oscillations and steady ush are quite well reproduced. Pressure in junction pipe (see Fig. 8).

Fig. 8. Pressure drop in junction pipe (sensor C3).

(a) Pressure drop during 10 ms. (b) Zoom on rst 3 ms. Multiple transmissions/reections of pressure waves in junction pipe between bottom outlet and sudden enlargement are accurately reproduced. A small phase shift can be observed (see Fig. 8b), which may be attributed to an inaccurate bottom outlet condition and to the absence of acoustic impedance to account for transient effects of the sudden enlargement between the junction pipe and the core pipe. 3.1. Concluding remarks on experiments and work orientation Agreement between simple EPX 1-D pipe model and experimental data is satisfactory enough to ensure that no misunderstood phenomenon occurs during tests. They can thus be used to carry out rigorous validation procedure of a numerical tool for 3-D transmission/reection of rarefaction waves through geometric obstacles, i.e. Code Safari. As already written, the recourse to an additional software is motivated by the need for: understanding and interpreting tests by means of an accurate simulation of 3-D effects in the vicinity of geometric obstacles, obtaining fully qualied numerical reference solutions to calibrate simplied impedance relations used in EPX in congurations without experimental results. To achieve these goals, a high-precision code is mandatory, solving NavierStokes equations for the ow with a minimum number of hypotheses.

Fig. 7. Pressure drop below thick orice plate (sensor C2).

V. Faucher et al. / Nuclear Engineering and Design 253 (2012) 111

Fig. 9. Section of core pipe used for Code Safari simulations.

Let us remark that the proposed validation procedure described below is dedicated only to the thick orice plate located in the middle of the core pipe, since two pressure sensors are used below the obstacle (see Section 4), which is not the case in the junction pipe. Moreover, the physics within the junction pipe is more complex than in the core pipe, with effects of the jet shape at the bottom outlet and frequent wave reections/transmissions. Providing a detailed modeling of this part of the system able to improve the pressure signal shown in Fig. 8 is beyond the scope of the paper.

4. Qualication of Code Safari for three-dimensional simulation of rarefaction waves through a thick orice plate with water equation of state 4.1. Code Safari for the simulation of water ows Code Safari is dedicated to compressible ows using Large Eddy Simulation (LES) with high-order nite-difference schemes on structured grids (Daude et al., 2008, 2012). Geometries exhibiting cylindrical symmetry can be handled by rotating plane meshes, except for the singular zone close to the axis of symmetry. This zone is taken into account thanks to a Cartesian mesh and different overlapping meshes connected through a Chimera approach (Steger et al., 1985). Code Safari being a priori designed for aeroacoustics with perfect gas equation of state, its use in the framework of LOCA simulation requires new equations of state for liquid water. An equation of state strictly identical to that used in EPX has been implemented (see Eq. (6)), allowing to t experimental measures via the adjustment of sound speed.

Inlet is positioned 1175 mm below the orice plate, where experimental pressure time history is available and used as imposed pressure (see Fig. 10). From this input signal, Code Safari calculates pressure wave propagation through the orice plate, as well as transient velocity eld. Simulated pressure is compared to the data measured at sensors C1 and C2. Outlet section is placed 2349 mm above the orice plate. The boundary condition at the pipe outlet is an imposed atmospheric pressure. The calculated solution is correct until a non-physical reected wave interacts with the wave propagating upwards, yielding a simulation time of approximately 4 ms. Views of computational model are given in Fig. 11, with composite mesh and overlapping sub-meshes. Spatial discretization is rened in the vicinity of the thick orice plate to accurately capture three-dimensional phenomena. The sound speed in the equation of state used for water is set to 1300 m s1 . 4.3. Results Compared pressures between experiment and simulation are given for sensors C1 and C2 in Figs. 12 and 13 respectively. Pressure variations are correctly reproduced with Code Safari for both transmitted and reected waves. In particular, the delay induced by the orice plate is well captured, which is demonstrated

4.2. Experiment/simulation comparison method and model for Code Safari To build a complete model of the test bed is not suitable for Code Safari, which lacks appropriate boundary conditions for pipes, mandatory for a correct ow modeling at the bottom outlet and in accumulators. It is thus chosen to represent an independent section of the core pipe including the thick orice plate, the main goal being to perform a detailed analysis of reection/transmission through this geometric obstacle. The connecting elbow from former by-pass pipe is suppressed from computational domain (see Fig. 9).

Fig. 10. Imposed experimental pressure drop at inlet section.

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Fig. 11. Computational model for Code Safari.

by the correct slope of the pressure drop curve above the orice plate. The differences appearing after 3.5 ms above the orice plate, i.e. for sensor C1, are due to spurious reections on outlet section and must not be considered. Provided an equation of state allowing to set sound speed in water to experimentally measured value, comparison between experiment and simulation is satisfactory enough to qualify Code Safari as a reference numerical tool to calculate reection/transmission of rarefaction waves through three-dimensional geometric obstacles.

5. Qualication and calibration of impedance models for LOCA simulations with EPX The next step in the qualication and calibration procedure of impedance models is to determine whether a combination of head loss and acoustic impedances with suitable parameters is able to reproduce the effect of the considered thick orice plate on rarefaction wave propagation with respect to a solution obtained with Code Safari. Head loss coefcients dene emptying steady regime and are set from geometric formulae which proved accurate in Section 3. They

Fig. 12. Pressure above thick orice plate (sensor C1).

Fig. 13. Pressure below thick orice plate (sensor C2).

V. Faucher et al. / Nuclear Engineering and Design 253 (2012) 111

Fig. 14. Incident pressure signal for reference numerical solution.

Fig. 15. Pressure above orice plate. Table 3 Values for characteristic length and time in EPX. Simulation name EPX L0 EPX L1 EPX L2 EPX L3 Value for characteristic length L 0 7.11 cm 8.78 cm 11.7 cm Value for characteristic time 0 1.215 ms 1.5 ms 2 ms

are thus excluded from calibration procedure, which is dedicated to the characteristic length for acoustic impedance. In the case of a thick orice plate, the found value (if one acceptable value exists) shall be compared to that given by analytical formulae from (Gibert, 1988; Crouzet et al., 2011).

5.1. Reference solution for calibration To design a generic calibration procedure for any geometric singularity, the reference solution must be provided numerically, since implementing an experiment for every conguration is out of purpose. Moreover, the reference solution must be easy to understand from a physical point of view, so that the phenomena impedance which the models are able to reproduce or not would clearly be identied. In the present case, it has been chosen to simulate the propagation of a simple half-triangular pressure signal, dropping linearly from an arbitrary initial pressure to an arbitrary nal pressure in a given time (cf. Fig. 14). Initial uid velocity is set to zero in the entire domain. Parameters for input signal are set according to the physics of LOCA, to avoid wrong scale effects with highly non-linear problems. The initial pressure is thus 70 bars, the nal pressure is 60 bars and the drop time is 0.01 ms. The reference solution is calculated with Code Safari using the computational model from Section 4, incident pressure signal described above being imposed at inlet section. The sound speed in water is again set to 1300 m s1 and outlet boundary condition is unchanged. The simulated pressure is plotted above and below the orice plate, at a distance from the orice plate corresponding to sensors C1 and C2 (see Figs. 15 and 16 respectively). For each position, the pressure is measured either inside the ow or close to the pipe wall. Fig. 15 shows inertial effects for the wave propagation through the orice plate, with a pressure dropping time of 2 ms above the orice plate. Measured pressure inside the ow above the orice also exhibits oscillations due to multiple wave reections/transmissions within the orice plate thickness and three-dimensional effects in the vicinity of the geometric obstacle. and acoustic impedance on the other hand, yielding pressure drop expression from Eqs. (3) and (4): P=k

v2
2

2 c

v t

(7)

Head loss coefcient k is 3210 (see Section 3). Analytical characteristic time computed from (Gibert, 1988; Crouzet et al., 2011) considering a thick orice plate as a combination of a sudden narrowing and a sudden enlargement is = 1.215 ms for the present conguration, corresponding to a characteristic length L = 7.11 cm (see Eq. (5)). A Monte-Carlo algorithm is used to calibrate the procedure, leading to an optimal value = 1.5 ms (i.e. L = 8.78 cm). For comparison purposes, the results for extremal values = 0 ms and = 2 ms (i.e. L = 0 cm and L = 11.7 cm) are given, as well as those obtained with the analytical formula. The selected values are given in Table 3. Figs. 17 and 18 display the simulated pressures as a function of time at the sensors C1 and C2 and for the selected values of characteristic time or length.

5.2. Pipe simulation with impedance relations in EPX A model equivalent to the one used with Code Safari is designed for EPX using 1-D pipe elements. The orice plate is replaced by nodal impedance relations: stationary head loss on the one hand

Fig. 16. Pressure below orice plate.

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Fig. 17. Pressure above orice plate.

Fig. 19. Validation of calibration procedure pressure above orice plate.

The reference solution from Code Safari inside the ow is also plotted. The pressure simulated with no acoustic impedance (i.e. EPX L0) is far from the reference solution above as well as below the orice plate. On the contrary, the solutions calculated for the three non-zero values are quite close to Code Safari solution, which demonstrates the capability of the proposed impedance models to reproduce the preponderant effects of thick orice plate on rarefaction wave propagation. The agreement between EPX and Code Safari is degraded after 2.5 ms in Fig. 18, which corresponds to the time necessary for the waves reected on inlet boundary condition to inuence the measured pressure at sensor C2. As this condition is handled in different manner in each code, the observed variations are not signicant. Global agreement is satisfactory for a longer time in Fig. 17 (i.e. 4.5 ms), due to the longer pipe section modeled above the orice plate and the location of sensor C1. In both cases, the optimal value = 1.5 ms (L = 8.78 cm), produces a good agreement between EPX and Code Safari. This value remains close to the analytical value, the slight difference however conrming the interest for the suggested calibration procedure, especially for complex geometries such as multi-perforated plates, for which analytical computation of characteristic time is difcult. 5.3. Final qualication of calibration procedure by comparing impedance models to experiment To perform nal validation for the proposed calibration procedure, based on analytical wave propagation simulation with

Code Safari, calibrated impedance models are used in EPX to simulate the wave propagation in pipe section from Section 3 with experimental pressure imposed as inlet boundary condition, given by Fig. 10. Results are shown in Figs. 19 and 20 for pressure above and below the thick orice plate respectively. A satisfactory agreement is obtained between experiment, Code Safari simulation and EPX simulation, which demonstrates that the calibration procedure using an analytical inlet pressure signal provides a robust value for the characteristic length, correctly reproducing the effect of thick orice plate with a more physical signal. 6. Generalized procedure for application to LOCA analysis Experimental and numerical results presented above are obtained for a quasi one-dimensional case. Thus using a 1-D impedance model is completely justied in that case. In the framework of LOCA analysis where the purpose is to reproduce the propagation of rarefaction waves through a series of reinforcement plates with several holes, the procedure must be further assessed. In the following, the validity of 1-D approach is discussed and a generalization of the calibration procedure is proposed. 6.1. Validity of the one-dimensional approach The proposed 1-D calibration procedure has been developed upon the assumption of plane waves. In a 3-D geometry with a

Fig. 18. Pressure below orice plate.

Fig. 20. Validation of calibration procedure pressure below orice plate.

10

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Fig. 21. Propagation of the rst transmitted wave above plate orice. Isovalues of pressure.

preferential direction, quasi plane wave assumption is valid except in the vicinity of the geometric obstacle where 3-D effects become predominant. An estimation of the zone with signicant 3-D effects is made for the orice plate in a cylindrical pipe on the basis of the analysis of transient front wave shape. The propagation of a triangular rarefaction wave calculated with Code Safari, see Section 5, is taken as a representative case for this estimation. Isovalues of pressure are presented in Fig. 21 with a special attention paid in the rst transmitted wave above the orice plate. Denoting D the pipe diameter, the zone in which 3-D effects are preponderant lies within a distance from the obstacle between 2-D and 3-D. For an industrial conguration with a series of reinforcement plates, the parameter of interest is the ratio r dened as: r= h , e

considered as well. As a result of this rst analysis, a series of representative uid domains with one or more obstacles placed across a quasi-1-D ow, can be proposed. The lateral surface for each uid domain is assumed orthogonal to the ow and thus impermeable. Some illustrative examples of such 3-D domains are given in Fig. 22. The second point recalls the major motivation for the qualication of Code Safari as a reference tool for the 3-D simulation of rarefaction wave propagations (see Sections 3 and 4). It shall be used to compute the needed reference solution for each uid domain previously dened, instead of costly and numerous experiments. The holes in the various plates, assumed rigid, shall be handled using the Chimera approach. The reference solutions shall be obtained by imposing an analytical plane wave, such as the one used in Section 5, at the inlet of each uid domain. Concerning the third point, the strategy for each uid domain with obstacle(s) shall stick to that proposed in Section 5:

where h is the distance between two consecutive reinforcement plates, and e the by-pass width i.e. the average distance between core barrel and bafe, see Fig. 21. For the nuclear reactors considered in the framework of the present study, the parameter r ranges between 2 and 4. On the basis of the conclusions made for a cylindrical pipe, this means that 3-D effects generated by one reinforcement plate to another are small, but not totally negligible, especially for r being close to 2. It is thus reasonable to use the same proposed 1-D impedance model for industrial applications, though an ad hoc calibration is required. 6.2. Calibration procedure for the industrial case Extending the proposed calibration procedure to the actual 3-D geometry of the by-pass, yields three main issues: 1. to design one or more subproblems to analytically study the 3-D effects of the actual perforated plates on a quasi-1-D ow, 2. to obtain a reference solution for the rarefaction wave propagation in the actual geometry for this(these) problems(s), 3. to dene an algorithm to nd the optimal parameters for the face impedance models replacing the plate(s) in EPX. The rst point follows the statements expressed above. Whether each perforated plate can be handled individually or several consecutive plates must be considered simultaneously depends on the distance between them. Plates with multiple holes may be

to build a simplied model for EPX, using volumetric elements for the uid and the impedance model for the plate(s), which is(are) not explicitly represented, to perform a Monte-Carlo analysis based on a comparison between the solution produced by EPX and the reference solution to nd the optimal parameters for the impedance model.

Fig. 22. Illustrative examples of uid domains used to calibrate impedance models.

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11

7. Conclusion Computational models for the simulation of the mechanical consequences of LOCA at reactor scale require simplied impedance relations to account for localized geometric obstacles acting on wave propagations during transient pipe emptying. A combination of stationary head loss to obtain correct nal mass ow rate and acoustic impedance to reproduce delays in transient rarefaction wave propagation is proposed in EPX software. The present paper provides a complete analysis of the capabilities of this solution. The reference experimental solutions for a rarefaction wave propagating through obstacles are obtained for two congurations (i.e. a thick orice plate and a sudden enlargement in an cylindrical pipe). The solution for a thick orice plate is used to qualify high precision numerical code Code Safari as a tool to calculate other reference solutions in any conguration and for any pressure signal. A qualication/calibration procedure is then designed for EPX impedance models based on propagation simulation of an analytical wave using Code Safari, bringing answers to the initial main issues: the proposed impedance combination is able to reproduce the preponderant three-dimensional effects of a thick orice plate on wave propagation in a simplied geometry, the values for impedance parameters can be deduced from analytical simulations performed with Code Safari. Calibration of characteristic lengths for acoustic impedance and head loss coefcients in complex geometries such as multiperforated plates has still to be carried out. The proposed procedure is functional, but it implies the systematic use of Code Safari, which may require a high expertise level in an engineering framework. A potential way to overcome this drawback would be to qualify three-dimensional simulations with EPX from Code Safari results. This would simplify the access to numerical reference solutions, EPX relying on unstructured meshes, which greatly simplies dataset building. However, the advantages of the rigorous procedure proposed in the present work must be preserved: Code Safari provides qualied results with a minimal number of hypotheses and must remain the reference program each time a new geometric conguration has to be tested. Once qualied in this conguration, three-dimensional EPX simulations can be performed to analyze similar congurations. Acknowledgments The work described in the present paper has been carried out in the framework of a bipartite collaboration between Electricit de

France (EDF) and Commissariat lEnergie Atomique et aux Energies Alternatives (CEA). References
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