ATHENA [Advanced Thermal Hydraulic Energy Network Analyzer] solutions to developmental assessment problems

The ATHENA (Advanced Thermal Hydraulic Energy Network Analyzer) code has been developed to perform transient simulation of the thermal hydraulic systems that may be found in fusion reactors, space reactors, and other advanced systems. As an assessment of current capability the code was applied to a number of physical problems, both conceptual and actual experiments. Results indicate that the numerical solution to the basic conservation equations is technically sound, and that generally good agreement can be obtained when modeling relevant hydrodynamic experiments. The assessment also demonstrates basic fusion system modeling capability and verifies compatibility of the code with both CDC and CRAY mainframes. Areas where improvements could be made include constitutive modeling, which describes the interfacial exchange term. 13 refs., 84 figs