Comparison of experimental results with CFD simulations for pressure loss in perforated plates

To understand the internal workings of a nuclear reactor, it is important to understand the fundamental physics that take place inside of said system. Given the difficulty and cost of constructing an experiment that simulates the internal conditions of a nuclear reactor such as a Pressurized Water Reactor (PWR), experiments in smaller scale are preferable. Those can be used as primary models that validate computational simulations, which can be used for more complex scenarios. Inside the PWRs, there are the nozzles from the fuel element, made of perforated plates. Those are important components through which water runs, and whose design heavily affects the functionality of the reactors. Pressure drop and velocity profiles of the perforated plates are some of the factors that are worthy to be studied in order to optimize its performance. To study these parameters, prototypes are made to simulate the real life conditions. The perforated plate prototypes can be fabricated by addictive manufacturing. It is an easier, faster and cheaper method of exploring different geometries and situations. In this method, however there are intrinsic differences in comparison with the more traditional fabrication methods, such as machining. The way the layers are added, for example, makes the roughness significantly higher than the machined prototypes. This work has the objective to compare both fabrication methods as well as the computational simulations of both. (author)