Numerical simulations of fluid-structure thermal interaction phenomena at a T-junction of liquid metal fast reactor piping systems

Fluid-structure thermal interaction phenomena characterized by stationary random temperature fluctuations, namely thermal striping are observed in the downstream region of a T-junction piping system of liquid metal fast reactor (LMFR). Therefore the piping walls located in the downstream region must be protected against the stationary random thermal process which might induced high-cycle fatigue. This paper describes the evaluation system based on numerical simulation methods for the thermal striping, and numerical results of the thermal striping at a T-junction piping system under the various parameters, i.e., velocity ratio and diameter ratio between both the pipes and Reynolds number. Finally, thermohydraulic characteristics on the thermal striping are indicated for the various parameters based on the above numerical results. (author)