Boccaccini, L.V.

Fischer, U.

Franza, F.

Spagnuolo, G.A.

Fusion Engineering and Design

English

Gandolfo Alessandro Spagnuolo

Fabrizio Franza

Ulrich Fischer

Lorenzo Virgilio Boccaccini

Crossref

Identification of blanket design points using an integrated multi-physics approach

Spagnuolo, G. A.

Boccaccini, L. V.

KITopen

KIT – The Research University in the Helmholtz AssociationKarlsruhe Institute of TechnologyInstitute for Neutron Physics and Reactor TechnologyHermann-von-Helmholtz Platz 1, 76344Eggenstein-Leopoldshafen, Germanyalessandro.spagnuolo@kit.eduIdentification of Blanket design points using anintegrated multi-physics approachG.A. Spagnuolo1, F. Franza1, U. Fischer1, L.V. Boccaccini11Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Institute for Neutron Physics and Reactor Technology (INR) This work has been carried out within the framework of the EUROfusion Consortium and hasreceived funding from the Euratom research and training programme 2014-2018 under grantagreement No 633053. The views and opinions expressed herein do not necessarily reflect thoseof the European Commission.ABSTRACTThe Breeding Blanket (BB) is one of the key components for a fusion reactor. It is expected to sustain and remove considerable heat loads due to the heat flux coming from the plasma and the nuclearpower deposited by the fusion neutrons, to breed the tritium consumed in the fusion reactions and to shield the Vacuum Vessel (VV) both from the thermal and nuclear radiation. Therefore, in thedesign of the BB, the engineering requirements and constraints of nuclear, material and safety kind are involved. In the European DEMO project, several efforts are currently dedicated to thedevelopment of an integrated simulation-design tool that is able to carry out a multi-physics analysis, allowing the characterization of BB design points which are consistent from the neutronic, thermal-hydraulic and thermo-mechanical point of view. For this reason, at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology within the framework of EUROfusion activities, a new dedicated research campaign has beenrecently launched in order to set-up this coupling procedure. The first step of this approach starts with the definition of the reference geometry (from generic CAD files), which has been converted into amore suitable format for neutronic analysis with Monte Carlo codes (i.e. MCNP 5/6). In the second step, once the power density has been calculated, the results have been imported in a Finite ElementCode. In this study, the model of Helium Cooled Pebble Bed (HCPB) slice in the equatorial outboard module has been used for the characterization of BB design points.PROCEDUREThe approach has been articulated in the following phases:1. Import of the reference from CAD into ANSYS DesignModeler.2. Geometry decomposition (slicing and reparation of sharp angles, slivers, spikes, etc.)and geometry conversion into MCNP legacy Constructive Solid Geometry (CSG).3. Performing of neutronic analysis.4. Mapping of power density calculations into ANSYS Mechanical.GEOMETRY DECOMPOSITIONIt has been sliced in order to have simple configurationsuitable for the CSG representation;The VV, the gap between the VV inner wall and the BB havebeen introduced;The cooling channels have been filled to model the coolant;The corners of the cooling channels have been squared;An enclosure has been used to shape the Graveyard.CSG GEOMETRY CONVERSION AND NEUTRONIC ANALYSISThe elaborated CAD model has been exportedgenerating a geometric input for neutronic analysisbased on the CSG;It has been verified the conservation of the volumesusing the stochastic estimation on the ray tracing;Total volume average error equal to 0.01%;Maximum volume error between 0.811% and -0.725%;It has been used a mono-energetic test source biased inthe angular distribution;The reflecting boundary conditions have been imposedin the poloidal direction;It has been modelled the VV in order to take into accountof the neutron back scattering;The power density deposition has been assesseddefining a fmesh-tally with 1.88 million of elements.MAPPING OF HEAT GENERATIONA mesh sensitivity analysis has been carried out to determine an appropriated spatial discretization;A mesh composed of ~6.8·106 nodes connected in ~2.8·106 tetrahedral elements has been chosen allowingan accurate interpolation of the data between MCNP and ANSYS;A complete coupling has been performed admitting to use the neutronic outcomes for thermal-hydraulic andthermo-mechanical calculations.CONCLUSIONAt theoretical-computational research campaign has been performed by KIT to create an integrated multi-physics approach to be used for the identification and analysis of BB design points.A test model has been realised accomplishing the complete coupling between the software.The correctness and applicability of the approach have been demonstrated, and the great advantagesderived from using the same geometry for all the analyses involved in the design of the BB have been alsointroduced.CADANSYS ModelEditorMCNP5/6ANSYS Mechanical

Identification of Blanket design points using an integrated multi-physics approach

https://publikationen.bibliothek.kit.edu/1000059420/3889991

Identification of Blanket design points using an integrated multi-physics approach

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