Multiphysics Analysis of Spherical Fast Burst Reactors (original) (raw)

Nuclear Science and Engineering, 2009

Abstract

ABSTRACT Coupling neutronics to thermomechanics is important for the analysis of fast burst reactors, because the criticality and safety study of fast burst reactors depends on the thermomechanical behavior of fuel materials. For instance, the shut down mechanism or the transition between super and subcritical states are driven by the fuel material expansion or contraction. The material expansion or contraction is due to the temperature gradient which results from fission power. In this paper, we introduce a numerical model for coupling of neutron diffusion and thermomechanics in fast burst reactors. The goal is to have a better understanding of the relation between the reactivity insertion and the thermomechanical response of fuel materials. We perform a non-dimensional analysis of the coupled system which provides insight into the behavior of the transient. We also provide a semianalytical solution model to the coupled system for partial verification of our numerical solutions. We studied material behavior corresponding to different levels of reactivity insertion.

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