Study on the Scaling of Core Flow Distribution Test

The identification of reactor hydraulic characteristics is essential process in the nuclear reactor design. Actually several core flow distribution tests were carried out with small scaled models. It is known that ABB-CE conducted the test for the design of System 80 reactor using a 3/16 scaled model reactor in the last 1970s. In domestic industry experimental studies was carried out in 1990s using a 1/5.03 scale reactor flow model of Yong-gwang nuclear units 3 and 4. Euh et al. studied the core flow distribution tests with 1/5 scaled test facilities for SMART and APR+ in 2000s, respectively. Theoritical basis for such tests are on Hetsroni's study. In this study he proposed seven important parameters which largely affect the hydraulics of the core flow distributions. Through the non-dimensionalization process using Pi theorem, he suggested four principal dimensionless groups; geometrical constrain (aspect ratio), relative wall roughness, Reynolds number, and Euler number. This paper studies the scaling of core flow distribution for a pool type sodium fast reactor (SFR). At first Hetsroni's study was intensively reviewed, and a general derivation of the dimensionless groups from the governing equations is presented