Thermo-Fluid-Solid Coupling Analysis on the Hot Water Pipeline in the Nuclear Reactor Water System

Abstract

This paper proposed a modeling method of the thermo-fluid-solid coupling simulation for the hot water pipeline with the insulation layer outside in the nuclear reactor. The temperature and stress distributions are analyzed and compared with the tests; the effects of the insulation layer thickness and support interval are investigated. The maximum stress occurs at the support points. The maximum stress increases approximately linearly with the increase of the support interval. The maximum deflection occurs at the middle of the two supports. The maximum deflection increases rapidly with the increase of the support interval, which is approximately in a parabolic relationship. The axial elongation ratio increases with the insulation layer thickness. The simulation results agree with the test results very well with regard of both stress and temperature distributions. The simulation method can also be used for the stress and temperature analysis in various cases, such as chemical-vessel and gas-oil pipeline with various thermal fluids inside.