A deuterium-tritium fusion neutron generator can produce high-intensity monoenergetic neutrons, which is important for the research and development of nuclear technology, and the neutron target is one of the crucial components of a neutron generator. For the neutron target, the most important technical index is the temperature of the target. Excessive temperature could impact the efficiency of nuclear reactions on the target surface and lead to target damage. Consequently, the thermal-hydraulic performance of the neutron target is significant for the performance of the neutron generator.

In this paper, a curved channel with surface grooves was designed for the neutron target of a high-intensity neutron generator under design. The influence and mechanism of the curved angle and groove angle on the thermal-hydraulic performance of the minichannel were studied with the computational fluid dynamics method. The results indicated that a 45-deg curved channel with 135-deg surface grooves could enhance the turbulence within the minichannel, effectively improving the heat transfer performance of the neutron target with less pressure loss. Thus, the neutron target could withstand a higher-energy deuterium beam bombardment, increase neutron yield, and ease the pressure requirements on the cooling water pumps and sealing components.