Numerical investigation on thermal performance of rotating target for CANS

Compact Accelerator-driven Neutron Sources (CANS) demonstrate significant potential for applications in both scientific and industrial fields. A critical challenge for further expanding CANS’s applications is to improve the neutron yield, which requires a highly-efficient thermal dissipation ability for neutron targets to bear the high power of incident beam. By employing the rotating target, the bearable thermal load of neutron target can be significantly enhanced. Therefore, a quantitative evaluation of the thermal dissipation capacity of rotating target is in need. With the finite volume method, we conduct a systematic numerical investigation on the thermal performance of the rotating target. Particularly, we study the effects of the number of target piece, the rotation speed, the flow rate of coolant, and the incident beam power with different beam spot distributions on the temperature of the neutron-producing layer of the target. These results allow us to quantify the thermal performance of rotating target while meeting stringent engineering criteria. Our results provide a robust foundation for the application of rotating targets in CANS.