Modeling RD-14M Header Conditions: Coupling of STAR-CCM+ and CATHENA

Abstract

<p>The nuclear safety industry makes extensive use of thermalhydraulics system analysis and computational fluid dynamics codes for validation and predictive purposes. These codes take different approaches to provide the user with reasonable estimates of system and component behaviors. With each displaying its own strengths, it is only logical to pursue coupled systems of these codes to create increasingly accurate, versatile, and more computationally efficient safety analysis tools. This work presents results of the attempted coupling of CD-ADAPCO's STAR-CCM+, a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) code, to Atomic Energy of Canada's CATHENA thermalhydraulics (TH) code. This coupled system is used in the simulation of the conditions within an inlet header of the RD-14M experimental facility under single phase conditions in the initial phase of selected test. This inlet header is removed from a modified CATHENA test B9401 deck and instead modelled in STAR-CCM+. Custom applications were written to allow information exchange at the newly created boundaries to provide an attempt at a coupled system. Results are provided through multiple stages of development of the coupled system, from the unmodified B9401 test case of CATHENA into a coupled system with header behavior predicted by STAR-CCM+. Though successful information transfer between codes was established at each desired time step and interval, the current technique was found to be insufficient for establishing acceptable steady-state conditions for the commencement of more complex (transient and two-phase) conditions.</p>