An experimental and numerical study of developed single phase axial turbulent flow in a smooth rod bundle

A combined experimental and numerical model of a turbulent single phase coolant, flowing axially along the fuel pins of a nuclear reactor, was developed. The experimental rig represented two interconnected subchannels of a square array at a pitch/diameter ratio of 1.193. Air was the working fluid, and measurements were made of the mean radial velocity profiles, wall shear stress variation, turbulence velocity spectra and intensities. The numerically predicted wall shear distribution and mean velocity profiles, obtained using an empirical two-dimensional mixing length and eddy diffusivity concept to represent fluid turbulence, showed good agreement with the experimental results. (Author)