Effects of periodic cavitation on steam–water flow regime transition and mixing near steam nozzle exit

Supersonic steam injection from underwater vehicles into surrounding bulk water exhibits the formation of coherent structures due to the interfacial interaction between the steam and water. The mixing between the two is a function of the rate of growth of shear layer. In present work, experimental study is conducted with minor contribution from the CFD, to highlight the phenomena associated to the high-pressure steam injection into a pool of water under the influence of periodic cavitation which occurs near the steam's nozzle exit with its opening being at right angle to the opening of the exit nozzle. PIV setup along with piezoelectric acoustic emission sensors as well as LM35 temperature sensors and pitot tubes were applied to characterize the growth of the shear layer as a function of periodic cavitation with a range of steam's operating pressure. Based on the normalized shear growth rate as well as the Strouhal number and the normalized pitot thickness, the effect of rising in the cavitation on the variations of the thickness of the shear layer was studied. It was observed that higher area under the influence of the shear layer was due to the domination of the coherent flow structures, which influenced improved mixing between the steam and water. Comparison of our data with the available shear growth rate in literature shows good agreement when compared as a function of Mach number.

Quantitative analysis method for laminar-turbulence transition process of mechanical seal by a catastrophic model

Fluid flow regime has an important influence on the lubrication performance of mechanical seal. A novel method is proposed to analyze the flow regime transition quantitatively based on a cusp catastrophic model with dimensionless analysis. Furthermore, from this method, a turbulence transition factor is derived strictly to describe the turbulent transition process of mechanical seal, which is verified by the published results. Then this factor is applied to hydrodynamic lubrication mechanical seal to analyze the influence of flow regime on sealing performance. The results indicate that the performance parameters of mechanical seal are greatly influenced by the transition of fluid flow regime, and the stability of mechanical seal decreases in the transition to turbulent flow. The novel method of flow regime transition analysis provides a new insight into the turbulence model.

Investigation on Rod Bundle CHF Mechanistic Model for DNB and DO Prediction Under Wide Parameter Range

For a water cooled reactor, the key thermal-hydraulic parameters span a wide range corresponding to different CHF regimes. Under accident conditions, due to the flow regime transition and interchannel mixing effect, the corresponding CHF can transition from the DO to DNB regime. In order to continuously and accurately predict DNB and DO regime CHF under wide parameter range for rod bundle channel, a comprehensive CHF mechanistic model covering the DNB and DO regime CHF prediction is established based on the rod bundle CHF-regime criterion. The DNB regime CHF mechanistic model of superheated liquid layer depletion under turbulence fluctuation bubbles and the mature DO regime CHF mechanistic model are combined to form the comprehensive CHF model. Furthermore, the comprehensive CHF model is assessed by 5 × 5 rod bundle CHF experimental data independently obtained by the Nuclear Power Institute of China (NPIC). The statistical evaluation and parametric trend analysis show that the maximum mean error of P/M is within ±22%, and the local pressure, mass flux, and quality do not have any effects on the average deviations of the predicted flux P from the measured flux M. This indicates that the comprehensive CHF mechanistic model can accurately and continuously predict the DNB and DO regime CHF in the rod bundle channel.