Simultaneous measurement of the structures of the velocity and thermal boundary layers in the rod bundle channel

Abstract

The complex geometry of the rod bundle fuel assemblies makes the measurement of velocity and temperature difficult, which hinders the design and optimization of the thermohydraulic performance of the advanced fuel assemblies. In the present study, Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) and Laser-Induced Fluorescence (LIF) techniques are used to simultaneously measure and reconstruct the structures of the velocity and thermal boundary layers. The velocity and temperature distributions near the rod surface under different flow and heat transfer conditions are quantitatively analyzed and compared. The experimental results indicate that increasing the heat flux would increase the near-wall velocity gradient and decrease the temperature gradient. The buoyancy increases with the increase of the heat flux, reducing the turbulent fluctuation in the channel, thereby weakening the generation and diffusion of the turbulent vortex. The dimensionless velocity distribution is obtained by fitting the experimental data to the Spalding formula. Based on the structure of the boundary layer, the increase of buoyancy significantly reduces the proportion of the logarithmic law layer in comparison to the inner layer of the boundary layer. This weakens the convective heat transfer in the channel. The increase of the Reynolds number increases the turbulent fluctuation in the channel and weakens the influence of the buoyancy. Thus, under constant heat flux, the increase of the Reynolds number increases the proportion of the logarithmic law layer in comparison to the inner layer, which enhances the convective heat transfer in the channel.