The effect of inlet flow conditions upon thermal mixing and conjugate heat transfer within the wall of a T-Junction
File(s)
Author(s)
Lampunio, Lisa
Duan, Yu
Eaton, Matthew D
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
This paper investigates the effects of different inlet velocity profiles on thermal mixing and conjugate heat transfer (CHT) within a T-junction. The flow domain is modelled using the Improved Delayed Detached Eddy Simulation (IDDES) turbulence model implemented within the commercial CFD software STAR-CCM+ 2020.1.1. The thermal analysis of the solid domain is also addressed within the CFD simulations. The OECD/NEA-Vattenfall experimental benchmark database is used to validate the CFD model. The effect of mesh sensitivity within the CFD simulations is also studied qualitatively and quantitatively. The influence of different inlet flow profiles on the CFD simulations is then assessed. Different combinations of inlet flow profiles, uniformly distributed and fully developed, are considered. Compared to the flow profile at the main pipe inlet, the flow profile at the branch pipe inlet presents a much more significant effect on the mean temperature distribution downstream of the T-junction. It is found that the flat flow profile at the branch inlet causes a higher temperature at the top wall, therefore a larger temperature gradient, and may lead to higher thermal stresses due to thermal stratification. The temperature distribution is more uniform for cases with the fully developed flow profile at the branch inlet. The variance of temperature is high at the sides of the pipe, regardless of the velocity profile used. The combination of flat flow profiles at both inlets causes the highest temperature variance. Moreover, the regions of maximum variance of temperature are located at different positions along the pipe section, depending on the combinations of inlet flow profiles.
Date Issued
2021-12-15
Date Acceptance
2021-09-26
Citation
Nuclear Engineering and Design: an international journal devoted to the thermal, mechanical, materials, and structural aspects of nuclear fission energy, 2021, 385, pp.1-20
ISSN
0029-5493
Publisher
Elsevier
Start Page
1
End Page
20
Journal / Book Title
Nuclear Engineering and Design: an international journal devoted to the thermal, mechanical, materials, and structural aspects of nuclear fission energy
Volume
385
Copyright Statement
© 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. This manuscript is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Licence http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
Identifier
http://gateway.webofknowledge.com/gateway/Gateway.cgi?GWVersion=2&SrcApp=PARTNER_APP&SrcAuth=LinksAMR&KeyUT=WOS:000714634600002&DestLinkType=FullRecord&DestApp=ALL_WOS&UsrCustomerID=1ba7043ffcc86c417c072aa74d649202
Subjects
Science & Technology
Technology
Nuclear Science & Technology
Thermal mixing
Thermal striping
Thermal stratification
IDDES-SST
Conjugate heat transfer
DETACHED-EDDY SIMULATION
TURBULENCE MODELS
FATIGUE DAMAGE
LES
TEMPERATURE
Publication Status
Published
Article Number
ARTN 111484
Date Publish Online
2021-10-25