Direct Numerical Simulation of Fluid Flow in a 5x5 Square Rod Bundle Using Nek5000

Understand

Rod bundle flows are commonplace in nuclear engineering, and are present in light water reactors (LWRs) as well as other more advanced concepts.

• Inhomogeneities in the bundle cross section can lead to complex flow phenomena, including varying local conditions of turbulence.
• Despite the decades of numerical and experimental investigations regarding this topic, and the importance of elucidating the physics of the flow field, to date there are few publicly available direct numerical simulations (DNS) of the flow in multiple-pin rod bundles.
• Thus a multiple-pin DNS study can provide significant value toward reaching a deeper understanding of the flow physics, as well as a reference simulation for development of various reduced-resolution analysis techniques.