Two-phase CFD modeling of flow causing the heater vibration

Vibrations of heater rods were observed in a heated annulus with water flow under boiling conditions. In order to find out the cause of such vibrations, CFD model of this annulus has been prepared in CFD code STAR-CCM+. Two-phase flow in the annulus was described using a two-fluid model with number of sub-models to describe the mass, momentum and energy transfer between phases. The model was validated using experimental data from reference. The validated model was used to perform a steady state calculation of flow parameters under different conditions. Results of CFD simulations were compared to experimentally detected vibration offset. It was found out that vibration increase caused by heating the channel is connected with the vibration offset. The results and their extension to nuclear safety were discussed. (author)