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With the increased requirement for nuclear power generation as an effective countermeasure against global warming, Mitsubishi has developed the advanced pressurized water reactor (APWR) by adopting a new component of the emergency core cooling system (ECCS), a new instrumentation and control system, and other newfound improvements. The ECCS introduces a new passive component called the advanced accumulator which integrates both functions of the conventional accumulator and the low-pressure pump without any moving parts. The advanced accumulator uses a new fluidic device that automatically regulates flow rates of injected water in case of a loss of coolant accident (LOCA). This fluidic device is referred to as a flow damper. The design method of the flow damper and the standpipe was separately published (Shiraishi, 2011). This paper, then, describes the development and experiments with scale models of the advanced accumulator, and the satisfactory results obtained.

For the Japan Sodium-cooled Fast Reactor, an experimental study on the fluctuating pressure of the hot legs was carried out with tests using a 1/3-scale model. The total resistance coefficient is consistent with the published data, and our research has given some additional data up to the Reynolds number of 8.0x106. The flow pattern in the postcritical regime is independent of a Reynolds number. The statistical examination revealed that fluctuating pressures on the pipe wall depend on the mean velocity but not on the viscosity of the fluid. Negative spikes of pressure appeared for high velocity. Based on these experimental data it is concluded that, there are similarity laws for the scale of a model and the property of fluid, but not for the velocity in the pipe. Theoretical considerations also gave a discussion how to extrapolate the fluctuating pressure to the actual hot-leg conditions.

For the Japan Atomic Energy Agency sodium-cooled fast reactor, an experimental study on the fluctuating pressure of the hot legs was carried out with tests in a 1/3-scale model. The total resistance coefficient is consistent with published data, and, additionally, our research has given data up to the Reynolds number of 8.0×106. The flow visualization and velocity measurement confirmed the independence of the flow on the Reynolds number. Pressures on the pipe wall were statistically examined to predict the characteristics of fluctuating pressures of the hot legs. It reveals that generation of fluctuating pressure is dominant on the boundary of flow separation and reattachment.

A 1/3 scale flow-induced vibration test facility that simulates the hot-leg piping of the JNC sodium-cooled fast reactor (JSFR) is used to investigate the pressure fluctuations of the pipe, where the high velocity fluid flows inside the piping. By the measurement of the pressure drop in the elbow piping while changing the Reynolds number, the similarity law of this model is confirmed. To evaluate the flow-induced vibrations for the hot-leg and cold-leg pipes, the random force distributions along the pipe and their correlations are measured with pressure sensors in a water loop. It is found that a flow velocity-dependent periodic phenomenon in the rear region of the elbow, and the maximum flow-induced random vibration force in the pipe are observed in the region of flow separation downstream the elbow. Finally, a design method is proposed with power spectral densities of the pressure fluctuations classified into four sections, correlation lengths in the axial direction divided into three sections, and with correlation lengths in the tangential direction into four sections.Copyright © 2005 by ASME