Development and implementation of a CTF code verification suite

Nathan W. Porter, Robert K. Salko, Martin Pilch

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

8 Scopus citations

Abstract

CTF is a thermal hydraulic subchannel code developed to predict light water reactor (LWR) core behavior. It is a version of Coolant Boiling in Rod Arrays (COBRA) developed by Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) and North Carolina State University (NCSU) and used in the Consortium for the Advanced Simulation of LWRs (CASL). In this work, the existing CTF code verification matrix is expanded, which ensures that the code is a faithful representation of the underlying mathematical model. The suite of code verification tests are mapped to the underlying conservation equations of CTF and significant gaps are addressed. As such, five new problems are incorporated: isokinetic advection, conduction, pressure drop, convection, and pipe boiling. Convergence behavior and numerical errors are quantified for each of the tests and all tests converge at the correct rate to their corresponding analytic solution. A new verification utility that generalizes the code verification process is used to incorporate these problems into the CTF automated test suite.

Original languageEnglish
Article number110879
JournalNuclear Engineering and Design
Volume370
DOIs
StatePublished - Dec 15 2020

Funding

Thanks to Lindsay Gilkey (SNL) for her technical review of this document. Sandia National Laboratories is a multimission laboratory managed and operated by National Technology & Engineering Solutions of Sandia, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Honeywell International Inc. for the U.S. Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration under contract DE-NA0003525. This research is supported by and performed in conjunction with the Consortium for Advanced Simulation of Light Water Reactors (http://www.casl.gov), an Energy Innovation Hub (http://www.energy.gov/hubs) for Modeling and Simulation of Nuclear Reactors under US Department of Energy Contract No. DE-AC05-00OR22725. This paper describes objective technical results and analysis. Any subjective views or opinions that might be expressed in the paper do not necessarily represent the views of the U.S. Department of Energy or the United States Government. Thanks to Lindsay Gilkey (SNL) for her technical review of this document. Sandia National Laboratories is a multimission laboratory managed and operated by National Technology & Engineering Solutions of Sandia, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Honeywell International Inc., for the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration under contract DE-NA0003525. This research is supported by and performed in conjunction with the Consortium for Advanced Simulation of Light Water Reactors (http://www.casl.gov), an Energy Innovation Hub (http://www.energy.gov/hubs) for Modeling and Simulation of Nuclear Reactors under US Department of Energy Contract No. DE-AC05-00OR22725. This paper describes objective technical results and analysis. Any subjective views or opinions that might be expressed in the paper do not necessarily represent the views of the U.S. Department of Energy or the United States Government.

Keywords

  • CTF
  • Code verification
  • Discretization error
  • Subchannel

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Development and implementation of a CTF code verification suite'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this