Title: Multi-physics Simulations for Nuclear Reactor Cores

Speaker: Vincent Mousseau, Idaho National Labs

Date/Time: Tuesday, April 3, 2007, 9:00am – 10:00am

Location: CSRI Building, Room 90 (Sandia NM)

Brief Abstract: This talk will discuss the advantages and challenges of using a Physics-Based Preconditioned Jacobian-free Newton-Krylov (JFNK) method to solve the nonlinear system of equations that represent the key physics in a nuclear reactor core. The key physics in a nuclear reactor core include two-phase coolant flow, nonlinear heat conduction in the nuclear fuel, and neutron diffusion. The advantages will include accuracy, robustness, and efficient steady states. The challenges will include setting convergence criteria for multi-physics simulations and physics model requirements for improved accuracy. The advantages of the JFNK method and the modeling challenges result from the large range in physical length-scales and time-scales in nuclear reactor transients.

CSRI POC: Rod Schmidt, (505) 845-3057