This paper presents a numerical study to tackle thermal striping phenomena occuring in piping systems. It is here applied to the Residual Heat Removal (RHR) bypass system. A large Eddy Simulation (L.E.S.) approach is used to model the turbulent flow in a T-junction. The thermal coupling between the Finite Volume CFD Code_Saturne and the Finite Element thermal code Syrthes, gives access to the instantaneous field inside the fluid and the solid. By using the instantaneous solid thermal fields, mechanical computations (as presented in (Stephan et al 2002)) are performed to yield the instantaneous mechanical stresses seen by the pipework T-junction and elbow.
Thermal fatigue of the coolant circuits of PWR plants is a major issue for nuclear safety. The problem is especially accute in mixing zones, like T-junctions, where large differences in water temperature between the two inlets and high levels of turbulence can lead to large temperature fluctuations at the wall. Until recently, studies on the matter had been tackled at EDF using steady methods: the fluid flow was solved with a CFD code using an averaged turbulence model, which led to the knowledge of the mean temperature and temperature variance at each point of the wall. But, being based on averaged quantities, this method could not reproduce the unsteady and 3D effects of the problem, like phase lag in temperature oscillations between two points, which can generate important stresses. Benefiting from advances in computer power and turbulence modelling, a new methodology is now applied, that allows to take these effects into account. The CFD tool Code_Saturne, developped at EDF, is used to solve the fluid flow using an unsteady L.E.S. approach. It is coupled with the thermal code Syrthes, which propagates the temperature fluctuations into the wall thickness. The instantaneous temperature field inside the wall can then be extracted and used for structure mechanics computations (mainly with EDF thermomechanics tool Code_Aster, see joint paper [1]). The purpose of this paper is to present the application of this methodology to the simulation of a straight T-junction mockup, similar to the Residual Heat Remover (RHR) junction found in N4 type PWR nuclear plants, and designed to study thermal striping and cracks propagation. The results are generally in good agreement with the measurements; yet, in certain areas of the flow, progress is still needed in L.E.S. modelling and in the treatment of instantaneous heat transfer at the wall.
Following the incident (through-wall crack and crazing zones) of May 1998 on the principal mixing zone of the residual heat removal system at CIVAUX nuclear plant, EDF has initiated a R&D program to understand the incident and assess the risks of damage on other nuclear plants mixing zones. The program includes different sectors of developments: assessment of temperature fluctuations in mixing zones, study of high-cycle thermal fatigue behavior of austenitic steel and development of mechanical methodologies for damage assessment and propagation of crazing zones (thermal striping). The paper develops an attempt to calculate the spatial and temporal variations of fluid thermal fluctuations in a mixing zone, using a Large Eddy Simulation method (LES). Distribution of temperature in the wall is evaluated in the same calculation. This temperature distribution is then used to estimate the stress variations and fatigue damage of the pipe by using finite elements calculation or simplified methods.
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