Utilisation of computational fluid dynamics techniques for design of molybdenum target specification

Abstract

A three-dimensional computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model to investigate the hydraulic behaviour within a model of the liner and irradiation rig, located in the central portion of the HIFAR fuel element is described. Flow visualisation and LDV measurements are performed to better understand the fluid flow around the narrow spaces within the irradiation rig, annular target cans and liner. Based on the unstructured meshing consisted of triangular elements and tetrahedrons within the flow space generated for the geometrical structure, the CFD model was able to predict complex flow structures inside the liner containing the irradiation rig and target cans. The reliability of the model was validated against experiments. The predicted flow behaviour was comparable to the experimental observations. Predicted velocities were also found to be in good agreement with LDV measurements. © 2003 The Authors