Numerical Investigation on Large Scale Eddy Structure in Unsteady Pipe Elbow Flow at High Reynolds Number Conditions with Large Eddy Simulation Approach

Flow induced vibration in primary cooling system of the Japan Sodium cooled Fast Reactor (JSFR) has been investigated. The primary cooling system consists of a large diameter pipe and a pipe elbow with short curvature radius corresponding to its diameter (short-elbow). Flow-induced vibration by flow through the short-elbow is an important issue in design study of the JSFR, because it may affect to structural integrity of the piping. In this paper, numerical simulations for several pipe elbows with different pipe diameters and curvature radii in literature were conducted at Reynolds number conditions from Re=500 to 1.47x107 to investigate unsteady flow behavior through the short-elbow, including validation study of an in-house LES code (MUGTHES). Numerical results in each condition were compared with the experimental results in literature. Unsteady flow characteristics and pressure fluctuation generation mechanism in the short-elbow were clarified in relation to the large-scale eddy motion.