A theoretical study on the fluid-structure interaction due to the pump in the pressurized water reactor

The propagation of pump-induced pressure pulsation in a reactor is important because of the potential for vibration and resultant damage of reactor internals. A hydrodynamic model has been developed to obtain the pressure fluctuation due to the operation of pumps in the annulus(between the core support barrel and reactor vessel of a pressurized water reactor)including the coolant inlet pipe. The mathematical analysis is formulated in accordance with the linearized Navier-Stokes equaling the solutions of the inlet pipe and the annulus, the inlet nozzle pressure(pressure at pipe and annulus interface)is to be calculated without assumptions. The geometric parameter effect on the pump-induced pressure pulsation is evaluated. Comparison of predicted and measured inlet nozzle pressure values for each forcing frequency shows good order of magnitude agreement. 6 figs., 1 tabs., 11 refs. (Author)