Fluid-structure interactions in PWR vessels during blowdown

For analysis of blowdown loadings and dynamic response of PWR vessel internals several computer codes have been developed at Karlsruhe. The goal is to provide advanced codes which permit a 'best estimate' analysis of the deformations and stresses of the internal structures, in particular the core barrel, such that the safety margins can be evaluated. The stresses reach their maxima during the initial subcooled period of the blowdown in which two-phase phenomena are important in the blowdown pipe only. In this period, the computed results with and without fluid-structural interactions show that the coupling between the water in the downcomer and the rather thin elastic core barrel is of dominant importance. Without coupling the core barrel oscillates with much higher frequencies than with coupling. The amplitudes and stresses are about twice as large initially. Later, the decoupled analysis can result in a meaningless overestimation of the structural response. By comparison of computations for incompressible and for compressible fluid with and without coupling we have found that a correct treatment of the fluid-structure coupling is more important than the description of pressure waves. (orig.)