Coupled irradiation-thermal-mechanical analysis of the solid-state core in a heat pipe cooled reactor

Yugao Ma; Jiusong Liu; Hongxing Yu; Changqing Tian; Shanfang Huang; Jian Deng; Xiaoming Chai; Yu Liu; Xiaoqiang He

Nuclear Engineering and Technology (Jun 2022)

Coupled irradiation-thermal-mechanical analysis of the solid-state core in a heat pipe cooled reactor

Yugao Ma,
Jiusong Liu,
Hongxing Yu,
Changqing Tian,
Shanfang Huang,
Jian Deng,
Xiaoming Chai,
Yu Liu,
Xiaoqiang He

Affiliations

Yugao Ma: Department of Engineering Physics, Tsinghua University, Beijing, 100084, China; Science and Technology on Reactor System Design Technology Laboratory, Nuclear Power Institute of China, Chengdu, 610213, China
Jiusong Liu: Science and Technology on Reactor System Design Technology Laboratory, Nuclear Power Institute of China, Chengdu, 610213, China
Hongxing Yu: Science and Technology on Reactor System Design Technology Laboratory, Nuclear Power Institute of China, Chengdu, 610213, China
Changqing Tian: Science and Technology on Reactor System Design Technology Laboratory, Nuclear Power Institute of China, Chengdu, 610213, China
Shanfang Huang: Department of Engineering Physics, Tsinghua University, Beijing, 100084, China; Corresponding author. Department of Engineering Physics, Tsinghua University, Beijing, 100084, China.
Jian Deng: Science and Technology on Reactor System Design Technology Laboratory, Nuclear Power Institute of China, Chengdu, 610213, China
Xiaoming Chai: Science and Technology on Reactor System Design Technology Laboratory, Nuclear Power Institute of China, Chengdu, 610213, China; Corresponding author. Science and Technology on Reactor System Design Technology Laboratory, Nuclear Power Institute of China, Chengdu, 610213, China.
Yu Liu: Science and Technology on Reactor System Design Technology Laboratory, Nuclear Power Institute of China, Chengdu, 610213, China
Xiaoqiang He: Science and Technology on Reactor System Design Technology Laboratory, Nuclear Power Institute of China, Chengdu, 610213, China

Journal volume & issue: Vol. 54, no. 6
pp. 2094 – 2106

Abstract

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The solid-state core of a heat pipe cooled reactor operates at high temperatures over 1000 K with thermal and irradiation-induced expansion during burnup. The expansion changes the gap thickness between the solid components and the material properties, and may even cause the gap closure, which then significantly influences the thermal and mechanical characteristics of the reactor core. This study developed an irradiation behavior model for HPRTRAN, a heat pipe reactor system analysis code, to introduce the irradiation effects such as swelling and creep. The megawatt heat pipe reactor MegaPower was chosen as an application case. The coupled irradiation-thermal-mechanical model was developed to simulate the irradiation effects on the heat transfer and stresses of the whole reactor core. The results show that the irradiation deformation effect is significant, with the irradiation-induced strains up to 2.82% for fuel and 0.30% for monolith at the end of the reactor lifetime. The peak temperatures during the lifetime are 1027.3K for the fuel and 956.2K for monolith. The gap closure enhances the heat transfer but caused high stresses exceeding the yield strength in the monolith.

Published in Nuclear Engineering and Technology

ISSN: 1738-5733 (Print)
Publisher: Elsevier
Country of publisher: Korea, Republic of
LCC subjects: Technology: Electrical engineering. Electronics. Nuclear engineering: Nuclear engineering. Atomic power
Website: http://www.journals.elsevier.com/nuclear-engineering-and-technology

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