Lead-cooled fast reactor core outlet temperature oscillation characteristics and structural thermal fatigue analysis

Yun Jia, Simiao Tang, Liangming Pan, Luteng Zhang, Wan Sun, Zaiyong Ma, Longxiang Zhu and Qiang Lian

Energy, 2025, vol. 330, issue C

Abstract: In lead-cooled fast reactors (LFRs), non-isothermal coolant mixing can generate thermally driven oscillations within the liquid metal flow. These oscillations propagate from the fluid domain to adjacent solid structures, potentially inducing thermal fatigue damage under prolonged operational conditions, which raises critical safety concerns for nuclear systems. This study proposes a coupled fluid-solid interaction framework to systematically analyze the structural stress response to transient thermal fluctuations. A numerical model integrating finite volume method (FVM) for fluid dynamics and finite element method (FEM) for thermomechanical analysis is developed to simulate the thermal-hydraulic-structural coupling at the fluid-solid interface. Focusing on the core outlet region of the China Lead-based Experimental Fast Reactor (CLEAR-I), the work investigates (1) the mixing characteristics of liquid lead-bismuth eutectic (LBE) jets and (2) the resulting thermal stress profiles in the central measurement assembly.

Keywords: Lead-cooled fast reactor; Core outlet; Temperature oscillations; Stress; Fatigue (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:energy:v:330:y:2025:i:c:s0360544225024223

DOI: 10.1016/j.energy.2025.136780

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