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Thermal Hydraulics
The division provides a forum for focused technical dialogue on thermal hydraulic technology in the nuclear industry. Specifically, this will include heat transfer and fluid mechanics involved in the utilization of nuclear energy. It is intended to attract the highest quality of theoretical and experimental work to ANS, including research on basic phenomena and application to nuclear system design.
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2024 ANS Annual Conference
June 16–19, 2024
Las Vegas, NV|Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino
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The Standards Committee is responsible for the development and maintenance of voluntary consensus standards that address the design, analysis, and operation of components, systems, and facilities related to the application of nuclear science and technology. Find out What’s New, check out the Standards Store, or Get Involved today!
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Fusion Science and Technology
Latest News
Commercial nuclear innovation "new space" age
In early 2006, a start-up company launched a small rocket from a tiny island in the Pacific. It exploded, showering the island with debris. A year later, a second launch attempt sent a rocket to space but failed to make orbit, burning up in the atmosphere. Another year brought a third attempt—and a third failure. The following month, in September 2008, the company used the last of its funds to launch a fourth rocket. It reached orbit, making history as the first privately funded liquid-fueled rocket to do so.
Mofreh R. Zaghloul, A. René Raffray
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 47 | Number 1 | January 2005 | Pages 27-45
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/FST05-A596
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
This paper considers the physical processes and material removal mechanisms associated with the energy deposition in an inertial fusion energy liquid wall from the prompt X-ray spectrum of an indirect-drive inertial fusion target. These are important as the ablated material could generate aerosol in the chamber, which without adequate chamber clearing could result in a chamber environment unsuitable for driver propagation and/or target injection. Simple computations were used to identify and characterize the important material removal mechanisms relevant to the energy deposition regime under consideration. Explosive boiling was found to be the most relevant thermal response mechanism due to the high heating rate from the X-ray photon energy deposition. Investigation showed that explosive boiling occurs when the material temperature approaches the critical temperature and has a threshold value that can be derived from the material equation of state or the rate of homogeneous nucleation. Another important mechanism is mechanical spall that can result when shock wave-induced local tensile stresses exceed the spall strength of the material. Both explosive boiling and mechanical spall occur upon crossing the thermodynamic stability border (spinodal curve) either through rapid heating or through overexpansion of the material.Relevant material properties of the candidate liquid wall materials needed to perform the present assessment are compiled, derived, and presented. A simple energy deposition volumetric analysis is used to estimate both thermally ablated and mechanically spalled regions of the liquid wall material. The choice of liquid/wall combination is found to play an important role in reducing or eliminating the occurrence of spall in the liquid wall.