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Virginia Tech

Numerical Simulation of Corium Jet Fragmentation

Abstract

dc:description.abstract

Severe accident studies have become important for understanding the environmental impact of nuclear power following the Three Mile Island (TMI) accident. Severe accident phenomena are interdisciplinary since they can include the interaction of molten corium with reactor structures and water, and the transport and release of fission products that carry vapors and aerosols. During an accident, molten corium may fall in the form of a jet into a water pool. The fragmentation of the corium jet is a critical process concerning Fuel-Coolant Interactions (FCI). A steam explosion could occur depending on jet fragmentation and dispersion in the water. A 2-D in-house CFD MATLAB script has been developed by employing the Volume of Fluid Method (VOF) to simulate jet fragmentation in a water pool. This research is the first study to use the Multidimensional Universal Limiter for Explicit Solution (MULES) algorithm to capture the interface behavior in the jet breakup process. The effect of the compression constant, the mesh sensitivity, and the face correction loop on the MULES are investigated in this thesis. Moreover, the effects of the jet inlet velocity and jet diameter on the jet breakup length are numerically studied using the newly developed code. The simulation results compared well with the experimental results and another numerical study found in the literature.

Degree

thesis:*
Name thesis:degree_name
Master of Science
Level thesis:degree_level
masters
Discipline thesis:degree_discipline
Nuclear Engineering
Department dc:contributor.department
Mechanical Engineering
Grantor dc:publisher
Virginia Tech
Year dc:date.issued
2022

Author and committee

dc:creator, dc:contributor.*
Author dc:creator
  • Akin, Yunus Eren
Chair dc:contributor.committeechair
  • Liu, Yang
Committee members dc:contributor.committeemember
  • Pacheco Duarte, Juliana
  • Pierson, Mark Alan

Subjects

dc:subject × 2

Rights

dc:rights
Statement dc:rights
  • In Copyright
Language dc:language.iso
en

Identifiers

dc:identifier.*
Dc Identifier Other
vt_gsexam:34676
OAI identifier oai:identifier
oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/110146

Chain of custody

source
Harvested from
Virginia Tech
Base URL
vtechworks.lib.vt.edu/oai/request
Last updated
2026-07-22
Source record
OAI-PMH GetRecord
related terms
citation

Akin, Yunus Eren. Numerical Simulation of Corium Jet Fragmentation. masters thesis, Virginia Tech, 2022. http://hdl.handle.net/10919/110146