MPS eutectic reaction model development for severe accident phenomenon simulation

Abstract

During the postulated severe accident of nuclear reactor, eutectic reaction leads to low-temperature melting of fuel cladding and early failure of core structure. In order to model eutectic melting with the moving particle semi-implicit (MPS) method, the eutectic reaction model is developed to simulate the eutectic reaction phenomenon. The coupling of mass diffusion and phase diagram is applied to calculate the eutectic reaction with the uniform temperature. A heat transfer formula is proposed based on the phase diagram to handle the heat release or absorption during the process of eutectic reaction, and it can combine with mass diffusion and phase diagram to describe the eutectic reaction with temperature variation. The heat transfer formula is verified by the one-dimensional melting simulations and the predicted interface position agrees well with the theoretical solution. In order to verify the eutectic reaction models, the eutectic reaction of uranium and iron in two semi-infinite domains is simulated, and the profile of solid thickness decrease over time follows the parabolic law. The modified MPS method is applied to calculate Transient Reactor Test Facility (TREAT) experiment, the penetration rate in the simulations are agreeable with the experiment results. In addition, a hypothetical case based on the TREAT experiment is also conducted to validate the eutectic reaction with temperature variation, the results present continuity with the simulations of TREAT experiment. Thus the improved method is proved to be capable of simulating the eutectic reaction in the severe accident.

Keywords

• MPS method
• Phase diagram
• Eutectic reaction
• Mass diffusion
• Heat transfer