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Investigating leak rates for "Leak-before-Break" assessments

An investigation into the thermo-mechanical closure effect when a fluid leaks through a crack is presented here. The extended finite element method is the modelling scheme adopted for this, and the application of heat flux and pressure jump conditions along the crack is one of the novel contributions of this work. By modelling the fluid as one dimensional steady state and obtaining a heat transfer coefficient, it has been shown here that coupling the fluid with the structure is possible all within a single element. Convergence studies done with analytical models as a benchmark demonstrate the accuracy of the new method. Simulations are performed with the new element for conditions seen in both gas cooled and water cooled reactors. Significant crack closure is observed when the bulk fluid temperature is 20oC hotter than the structure. It was also found that the amount of closure due to crack wall heating varies depending on the external boundary conditions, this is quantified in the thesis.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:607012
Date January 2013
CreatorsGill, Peter James
ContributorsDavey, Keith
PublisherUniversity of Manchester
Source SetsEthos UK
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeElectronic Thesis or Dissertation
Sourcehttps://www.research.manchester.ac.uk/portal/en/theses/investigating-leak-rates-for-leakbeforebreak-assessments(56a619de-7e2f-470e-9249-fbf273a5d79d).html

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