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    Specifications for a coupled neutronics thermal-hydraulics SFR test case

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    Coupling neutronics/thermal-hydraulics calculations for the design of nuclear reactors is a growing trend in the scientific community. This approach allows to properly represent the mutual feedbacks between the neutronic distribution and the thermal-hydraulics properties of the materials composing the reactor, details which are often lost when separate analysis are performed. In this work, a test case for a generation IV sodium-cooled fast reactor (SFR), based on the ASTRID concept developed by CEA, is proposed. Two sub-assemblies (SA) characterized by different fuel enrichment and layout are considered. Specifications for the test case are provided including geometrical data, material compositions, thermo-physical properties and coupling scheme details. Serpent and ANSYS-CFX are used as reference in the description of suitable inputs for the performing of the benchmark, but the use of other code combinations for the purpose of validation of the results is encouraged. The expected outcome of the test case are the axial distribution of volumetric power generation term (q'''), density and temperature for the fuel, the cladding and the coolant

    Magnetic induction and electric potential solvers for incompressible MHD flows

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    This work describes the theoretical background and the implementation of OpenFOAM solvers suitable for the simulation of incompressible magneto-hydrodynamic (MHD) flows. This class is a topic of interest for many research activities and industrial applications including nuclear fusion reactors, materials engineering and metallurgy. The main purpose of this document is to help the reader to get accustomed with the relevant phenomena and peculiar challenges of this kind of problems. In order to accomplish this goal it will focus the attention on the 2D MHD flows that arise in a rectangular duct with walls of arbitrary electrical conductivity when an electric conductive fluid moves in the presence of a transverse magnetic field

    Three-dimensional MHD flow and heat transfer in a channel with internal obstacle

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    The magnetohydrodynamic flow and heat transfer of a liquid metal in a channel past a circular cylinder with walls of non-uniform conductivity were investigated. The applied magnetic field was transversal to the forced flow (x-direction) and coplanar with the obstacle, featuring non-null components in both the z- and y-directions. Moreover, the cylinder was displaced by the duct centreline toward the bottom wall and its surface was at uniform temperature, so that a ΔT was present between the obstacle and the fluid at the inlet. Non-uniform thickness for the duct-bounding walls is considered which leads to the promotion of jets close to the less-conductive surfaces. The flow features and heat transfer for this case were numerically investigated for different values of the Reynolds number (20 ≤ Re ≤ 80) and Hartmann number (0 ≤ Ha ≤ 100). Their effects on the flow features, pressure drop and heat transfer are analysed and discussed in detail in the present paper. The additional pressure drop introduced by the cylinder presence is found to be independent by Re and decreasing with Ha. Enhanced heat transfer is observed for an increasing Ha with NuMHD/Nu = 1.25. at Ha = 100 due to the augmented mass flow rate in the bottom sub-channel

    Electromagnetic coupling phenomena in co-axial rectangular channels

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    In the Water-Cooled Lithium Lead (WCLL) blanket, the eutectic alloy lithium-lead (PbLi) is used as tritium breeder and carrier, neutron multiplier and heat transfer medium. The liquid metal is distributed to and collected from the breeding zone through a compact poloidal manifold composed of two co-axial rectangular channels. The external channel, tasked with distribution, and the internal one, assigned to the collection, are co-flowing and share an electrically conductive wall (c_w=0.1). The liquid metal, interacting with the reactor magnetic field, leads to the arising of MagnetoHydroDynamic (MHD) effects that are expected to significantly modify the flow feature and electrically couple the external and internal channels. In this work, the general-purpose CFD code Ansys CFX 18.2 is used to study the coupling phenomena in a wide range of magnetic fields (up to Ha=2000) for a prototypical square co-axial channel. Characteristic flow features and their evolution with increasing magnetic field and varying mass flow rate between the channels are discussed and compared with the uncoupled case, which is in turn composed by a rectangular electro-conductive annulus (external) and a square electro-conductive duct (internal). A correlation is found linking the pressure loss in the studied configuration and an equivalent square channel through a corrective factor , which exhibits an asymptotic behavior for Ha > 1000

    Numerical study of laminar magneto-convection in a differentially heated square duct

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    Magnetohydrodynamic pressure drops are one of the main issues for liquid metal blanket in fusion reactors. Minimize the fluid velocity at few millimeters per second is one strategy that can be employed to address the problem. For such low velocities, buoyant forces can effectively contribute to drive the flow and therefore must be considered in the blanket design. In order to do so, a CFD code able to represent magneto-convective phenomena is required. This work aims to gauge the capability of ANSYS© CFX-15 to solve such cases. The laminar flow in a differentially heated duct was selected as validation benchmark. A horizontal and uniform magnetic field was imposed over a square duct with a linear and constant temperature gradient perpendicular to the field. The fully developed flow was analyzed for Gr = 10^5 and Hartmann number (M) ranging from 10^2 to 10^3. Both insulating and conducting duct walls were considered. Strong dampening of the flow in the center of the duct was observed, whereas high velocity jets appeared close to the walls parallel to the magnetic field. The numerical results were validated against theoretical and numerical results founding an excellent agreement

    Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis

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    The present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed

    CFD simulation of the magnetohydrodynamic flow inside the WCLL breeding blanket module

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    The interaction between the molten metal and the plasma-containing magnetic field in the breeding blanket causes the onset of a magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) flow. To properly design the blanket, it is important to quantify how and how much the flow features are modified compared with an ordinary hydrodynamic flow. This paper aims to characterize the evolution of the fluid inside one of the proposed concepts for DEMO, the Water-Cooled Lithium Lead (WCLL), focusing on the central cell of the equatorial outboard module. A preliminary validation was required to gauge the capability of ANSYS CFX to deal with MHD problems. The buoyant and pressure-driven fully developed laminar flows in a square duct were selected as benchmarks. Numerical results were compared with theoretical solutions and an excellent agreement was found. The channel analysis was realized on a simplified version of the latest available design geometry, developed by ENEA, for M ≤1000. The simulation highlighted the formation of high velocity jets close to the baffle and the onset of an asymmetrical potential distribution

    Variations on the Author

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    “Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship

    Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis

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    We provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
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